FE Civil Cheat Sheet.
The night-before summary, built like the exam.

The numbers to remember

• 110 questions total
• 6-hour total appointment; 5 hours 20 minutes of actual exam time
• 8-minute tutorial, 2-minute nondisclosure agreement, 25-minute scheduled break
• Exam fee: $225 to NCEES
• Computer-based test (CBT) at Pearson VUE centers, closed book with an electronic reference
• Both SI and US Customary System units appear
• Only specific approved calculators allowed (Casio fx-115/fx-991, HP 33s/35s, TI-30X/TI-36X families); list reviewed annually
• One attempt per testing window, max 3 attempts per 12 months
• Results typically post in 7-10 business days

Content domains and weights

• Geotechnical Engineering: 10-15
• Structural Engineering: 10-15
• Water Resources and Environmental Engineering: 10-15
• Transportation Engineering: 9-14
• Statics: 8-12
• Mathematics and Statistics: 8-12
• Construction Engineering: 8-12
• Mechanics of Materials: 7-11
• Fluid Mechanics: 6-9
• Surveying: 6-9
• Engineering Economics: 5-8
• Materials: 5-8
• Dynamics: 4-6
• Ethics and Professional Practice: 4-6

High-yield review areas

• Geotechnical, Structural, and Water Resources together can reach up to 45 questions — prioritize depth here first.
• Transportation Engineering is close behind at up to 14 questions; don't treat it as an afterthought.
• Statics and Mathematics/Statistics underpin problems across other domains, so weakness here compounds elsewhere.
• Ethics and Engineering Economics are conceptual, lower-question domains — efficient for a final quick pass.

Top traps

• Bringing a calculator that isn't on the current year's approved list — the list is reviewed annually, so re-check it even if you tested before.
• Studying from a textbook instead of practicing with the actual electronic reference you'll have on screen.
• Assuming a specific numeric passing score exists — NCEES uses a scaled score, and no fixed cutoff percentage is published.
• Ignoring unit-system switching — both SI and US Customary units appear, and misreading units mid-problem is a common, avoidable miss.
• Under-budgeting the single 25-minute break — decide in advance where in your pacing you'll take it.
• Expecting instant results — plan for the 7-10 business day turnaround rather than checking obsessively the next morning.
• Spending equal study time across all 14 domains instead of weighting toward the domains worth the most questions.
• Forgetting the retake limit — only one attempt per testing window and no more than three attempts in any 12-month period, so a rushed re-schedule can cost you a full cycle.