Just found out I failed the FE Environmental exam for a 3rd time. I have severe ADHD/OCD/anxiety and I deeply struggle with getting stuck on problems/panic attacks during the exam. Any advice, helpful comments on my scores, or tips for studying is deeply appreciated.

So let me address the most obvious part based on how you set up this discussion. You may not like my answer, but if you keep reading you'll probably understand where I am coming from.

Above all else you should stop making excuses because you're more likely to repeat your failures.

I don't know you so you may be completely honest about your apparent diagnoses, completely bullshitting, or something in between. I do know that oftentimes people self-diagnose or exaggerate their mental afflictions because we have gone beyond recognizing the need for mental health awareness to the point of elevating that sense of victimhood as a status symbol with ailments as nothing more than fashionable accessories. If you do have these problems and aren't simply making excuses, I would encourage you to talk to a medical professional and see what can be done to help mitigate this. If your conditions are all severe as you mention, there should be medications to help and if costs are the problem there are often assistance programs and generics. Also there are ADA accommodations that NCEES offers that are comparable to those offered by colleges and universities. If you've made it to this point in your academic/engineering career, you have likely used these services. I actually credit you because you've made it so far and have consistently been on the cusp of passing throughout your attempts so I am not questioning your capabilities. If you are already using these accommodations for your FE exams, you just have to keep studying and find other ways to overcome those hindrances.

I was a bit fortunate. I passed my FE (civil) on the first try earlier this year. For some context, I was diagnosed with ADHD, mixed type bipolar, and ASD several years ago. Around that time, I was a year out from graduating but suffered personal loss that ended up causing me to fail out of engineering. I took over four years to get back to school after working odd jobs losing a lot of my grasp on the technical knowledge. I transfered to another university so all my final year's worth of courses were spread out for two years and I always felt like I was trying to catch up on pre-req knowledge but never fully feeling caught up. I did pretty well my last three of four semesters but even then my overall GPA was around 2.50 because of my carried over failures. Anyway, I know what it was like to be on medications and knowing that they aren't a silver bullet. I also used testing accomodations from my diagnoses up until I failed out of engineering. Oddly enough, I told myself when I started back up that if I couldn't get through it without medications or accommodations, I would change career paths. In the real world, billable hours and efficiency are critical...at least in the private sector. Honestly, my problems have never entirely gone away, but I suppress them. As I told my therapist, the only thing that worked for me was faking being fine until I made it. If I could put on that mask long enough for people to buy that I was fine when I was out in public, then I could manage to act like things were fine enough in private. Yeah, I get that it sounds like canned bullshit you might see on r/thanksimcured but I'm sharing that it is possible to overcome weaknesses. We all got em even if they look different from one person to the next.

Another bit of advice as how I approached my FE: -Answer the questions in order within 2-3 minutes (on average) and don't go back to previous questions until the end of that portion of the exam. Also, don't flag the questions you are unsure about (I'll explain later). -if you don't know the answer off the top of your head, select an answer anyway. Don't underestimate how your mind might instictively connect some of the important details that you can psych yourself out on by actively overthinkng. Some studies show that you are more likely to make the best decision on things if you consider a problem and then do something else before coming back to it than actively thinking it through to a pulp in the moment. -Read the question completely and see if there are different ways it can be interpreted. Then see if the answers seem to follow one line of questioning or the other. -Make sure you are aware of related terminology. Just because you can search your reference book doesn't mean that one exact word will show up so make sure you know which related concepts might yield the right reference material/equations. -After you have gone through and answered EVERY question even with a guess, go back and review ALL of your answers. Give yourself ~10-15 seconds to see the question and your answer. If you have any strong reason to doubt, ask yourself if there is an answer that gives you a stronger indication of being right than that sense of doubt. If not, stay with the original. By not bookmarking questions during the first run through, you are more likely to see questions that maybe you came across a relevant equation or bit of information in a subsequent question that you might have otherwise forgotten to review because it wasn't flagged. -Also, take as short of a break as possible, but take one for sure. A small break will let you use the restroom and manage some of your anxiety. Too long of a break and you will get out of and have to get back into test taking mode. -Don't be afraid to finish earlier than others as long as you have answered everything. The more you try to take up time for the sake of it the more likely you are to potentially psych yourself out of a good answer to a bad one.

In any case, if it doesn't work out, realize that there are plenty of career paths still open for you regardless of your FE or plans for a PE. Yes, getting your license will only open even more opportunities, but once you start working you have more than one path available.

Anyway, I don't mean to sound like a jerk at times, just being honest. You genuinely seem close to passing. Also, keep in mind luck can go a long ways. Your score isn't just based on you but also other people taking it around the same time as you so results are only part of a snapshot in the moment in time not if you are objectively good enough overall.

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