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

The numbers to remember

• 110 questions total.
• Appointment: 6 hours, of which 5 hours 20 minutes is actual exam time (plus a 2-minute NDA, 8-minute tutorial, 25-minute break).
• Fee: $225 (since Jan 1, 2024); $250 for Alberta/APEGA; +$25 international scheduling fee for foreign-entity examinees.
• Scoring: correct answers only, no penalty for wrong answers.
• Passing score: not published by NCEES — results are pass/fail only.
• Results: typically back in 7–10 business days.
• Retakes: one per testing window, max 3 per 12 months.
• Units: both SI and USCS appear on the exam.

Content domains and weights

• Dynamics, Kinematics, and Vibrations: 10–15
• Fluid Mechanics: 10–15
• Thermodynamics: 10–15
• Mechanical Design and Analysis: 10–15
• Mechanics of Materials: 9–14
• Statics: 9–14
• Heat Transfer: 7–11
• Material Properties and Processing: 7–11
• Mathematics: 6–9
• Electricity and Magnetism: 5–8
• Measurements, Instrumentation, and Controls: 5–8
• Probability and Statistics: 4–6
• Ethics and Professional Practice: 4–6
• Engineering Economics: 4–6

High-yield review areas

• The six heaviest domains (Dynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Mechanical Design and Analysis, Mechanics of Materials, Statics) can together carry up to 88 of the 110 questions — review these last, right before you walk in.
• Refresh unit conversions between SI and USCS specifically, since both systems appear throughout the exam and a missed conversion can sink an otherwise-correct method.
• Skim the lighter domains (ethics, economics, probability) for quick formula recall — they're usually fast points once the method clicks.
• Statics and Mechanics of Materials share core free-body-diagram skills, so reviewing them back-to-back reinforces both at once.
• Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer both lean on the same energy-balance fundamentals, making them efficient to study together as well.

Top traps

• Leaving a question blank — there's no penalty for a wrong guess, so an educated guess always beats skipping.
• Assuming a passing percentage exists to chase — NCEES does not publish one; focus on breadth of correct answers instead.
• Mixing unit systems mid-calculation — double-check whether a problem is stated in SI or USCS before plugging into a formula.
• Losing track of appointment time — remember only 5 hr 20 min of the 6-hour block is exam time, so pace against that number, not the full appointment.
• Over-investing in one hard question — with 110 questions to get through, flag it, move on, and return only if time remains.
• Forgetting the retake ceiling — you get one attempt per testing window and no more than three attempts in any 12-month period, so treat each sitting as a real opportunity, not a free trial run.