FS Exam – What’s Blocking You?

by DrNettleman | Dec 16, 2021

Things Blocking You From Passing the FS Exam

https://youtu.be/ZMeztJ_q_rk

The Fundamentals of Surveying exam is a serious exam that will bring new career opportunity to you once successfully passed. Unfortunately, for many exam takers, there are roadblocks to exam success. In this blog, Dr. Nettleman will explore the three most common blocks that can cause exam takers to not pass their exam.

The first block is fear. Whether it’s rational or irrational, fear of failure is a large factor in exam success. For example, a past student had a rational fear of the FS exam. This student had previous taken the exam 21 times and each time this student failed. Luckily, this student found our online course and he passed his exam on the 22^nd try. An example of irrational fear would be a highly success college student at the end of her studies and now faces the FS exam. This student has been very successful so far, but her fear of failure in the face of past success can cause panic during exam time. Understand the reasons behind fear, and putting together strategies to overcome that fear, can mean the difference between a pass and fail grade.

The second common block is an old-time excuse we’ve all used: “I’m just too busy.” It’s amazing the number of students who we have seen purchase test prep products and let those products sit, unused, for months, before they actually sat down and began to study. We all have work and personal obligations that require our daily attention, but there is always an hour or so of time throughout the day that could be spent studying. Using time management strategies, or just identifying a certain daily time period, is enough to overcome this block.

The third common block is students simply do not have the knowledge to pass the exam. The FS exam requires substantial book knowledge and mathematics. Some examinees may have over 20 years of practical experience, but not the book knowledge to succeed on the FS. Oftentimes college graduates of land surveying programs struggle to pass the FS because their BS or AS program lacked some fundamental aspects covered on the FS exam. In that case, these students will need to find additional study materials beyond their college coursework to pass the FS exam. Ultimately, the student needs to fill in the holes to overcome their lack of knowledge.

In the end, the best advice we can give is this: Just dive in and get started. Like someone said before, “A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.” Opening a book is the first step to success on the FS exam. If you’re not sure where to start, Dr. Nettleman is happy to give anyone advice about the FS exam and what a career as a professional land surveyor might look like for them.