Passed FE Civil 6 years after graduation

I'll try to keep this short and sweet in effort to dilude any pageantry.

I graduated 6 years ago with a construction tech degree and 2.8 GPA. I didn't try in school and just wanted to get out. I worked through school and didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.

I graduated and started working at a design/ build/ manufacturing small company and after getting sober, married and having a child, I knew it was time to step it up.

I started studying for the FE with no clue of what or how to study. I studied for a little over a year and had to relearn everything + some new things. From basic trigonometry to structural design.

Long story short: PrepFe, Islam 800, Islam Practice Exam x2, NCEES Practice exam, NCEES Interactive Exam. I also supplemented as needed with Mark Mattson, Gregory Michaelson, and Jeff Hanson on YouTube.

I passed but I think I BARELY passed. The exam was harder than I anticipated and I was 50/50 when I left.

PrepFE was great for basic knowledge and referencing the handbook. The practice problems on PrepFE are certainly easier than the real test. You have to know the handbook, that's a MUST. The search function on the test is not as intuitive as it is on your PDF viewer on your personal computer, so when you search for a keyword, you do not need to waste time not knowing the general order of the handbook.

I finished each section and gave myself about 10-15 minutes per section to review my flagged problems.

For the conceptual problems, my only advice to use process of elimination and give it your best guess.

I studied on average for an hour a day, Monday through Friday. Within 2 months of the exam, I was pushing 1.5 hours per day + Saturday practice exams.

A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I'm extremely proud of myself and my preparations. I'm not a smart guy - if you put in the effort consistently, you can definitely do this.