Hello everyone out there.... I am going back to school to study surveying and hopefully achieve a PLS in the state of Massachusetts!! Hiiijaaaa..... Its kind of a pipe dream but, Im going to see if I cant "git er done", I've got 10 years with a surveying co. (in Mass.) 8 solid in the field and 2 years mostly office. At the moment I am registered with Wentworths Institute of Technology Land Surveying Certification program starting this summer, I will be taking one of the legal aspects of surveying courses, but I need to fulfill some math pre requisite courses before I am able to take the Surveying Measurement courses. Either way, up to this point my thinking has been to get the education I need in the state I hope to be licensed, I assumed the curriculum would be specific and tailored to Mass law so I had been solely focused on schools in Massachusetts. That said, I LOVE IT out west, I've traveled a lot, all over the world and plenty in our own country and southern Utah, Nevada, Arizona area, makes me excited! So in the past few days I have been fantasizing about going to a school out west rather than Boston, duhhhh, am I right? Obviously such a better idea! I guess my question is, how much of a difference would the curriculum at a school say in Nevada be from the curriculum at somewhere like Wentworth? Now granted each program will vary, Wentworth is a 1 year certification program so obviously it wouldn't be as extensive as a 4 year program or even a 2 year. That said, If I were to go to a 2 or four year program in another state how would it differ from going to a school in the state I hope to be licensed? I know the Wentworth program does have a course on "Mass regs", and obviously to be licensed in Mass I would need to know those regs, but otherwise there are 5 courses, 1&2 Survey Measurement and an "overview" course, then two legal aspects courses which to me all sound pretty "generic", as in I cant imagine why I wouldn't learn the same stuff in equivalent courses at another institution. Does this make sense to anyone? Needless to say there are all the other variables like jobs, economies, quality of schooling, but all things being equal, is this a bad idea? I mean would it be wasting any time or effort to be educated out of state then come back instate to learn the specifics and probably take an exam prep course and such. Please! Only encouraging supportive responses. Joking! If this is a bad idea someone tell me why. Thanks so much in advance!?ÿ
Are there surveying schools in Nevada-Arizona??ÿ The Western ones I know of would be University of Wyoming and maybe Metropolitan College in Denver.?ÿ Wyo surveying wouldn't be much different in Nev or Az, but it would be a big change from Mass (i.e., Boundary surveying).
@true-corner I'm not certain but I think Great Basin in Nevada and AZ state in Phoenix have programs. Besides that there are a number of schools in California, but Im just in preliminary searching, I haven confirmed that these programs are still operational.
Great Basin College in Elko, NV. Fully On-line.?ÿ
N10,000, E7,000, Z100.00
PLS - IL, MO, AR, KS, MN, KY
I also recommend my Alma Mater - University of Maine. All online.
N10,000, E7,000, Z100.00
PLS - IL, MO, AR, KS, MN, KY
Part of my reasoning for wanting to physically attend a school is to get away from where I live for a while, and get away from the company I work for. If I can spend a few years working under a different surveyor while I attend courses then eventually hopefully I can attain my own license and return to where I live and work now and practice on my own. In other words I can not keep working where I do now, its been extremely unhealthy for me. Either way thanks for the help guys!
I have a former co-worker whose enrolled in the Professional Science Masters (PSM) in Engineering and Business at UMaine. It looks like an interesting program....but I'd never find the time or ambition at this advanced point in my career (discovered that about a month into my first MBA class).
https://online.umaine.edu/grad/professional-science-masters-in-engineering-and-business/
Meansealevel,
Your profile states you are licensed in Mass.
I note that Wentworth's certificate curriculum (20 credits) basically prepares you as a knowledgeable crew chief and includes no GPS or Survey Adjustment courses.
Your local community college can teach you precalculus and English. I know NJIT included technical writing as a degree requirement in the past. I would also suggest business law and real estate law, and I also took a Legal Research course. A basic 3 credit Statistics course can be had a community college but I do know many Survey Degree programs want instead an advanced 4 credit statistics course to fully cover the knowledge of Statistics applicable to surveying. This can be found at any engineering college.?ÿ
How much of that 8 years in the field is boundary line work, not engineering surveys or construction stakeout?
Paul in PA
@james-fleming I was enrolled in the PSM program. But since no boards (that I needed recognize the PSM degree) I just took the certificate. It is a great school and love Ray - one of the smartest humans I have ever met.
N10,000, E7,000, Z100.00
PLS - IL, MO, AR, KS, MN, KY
One thing to think about, is that many states require four year degrees to be licensed. Unless you are sure that you will only want to work in MA you might want to look into something more rigorous.?ÿ ?ÿI don't know anything about Wentworths Institute of Technology, but certificate programs are generally meant to train technicians, not professionals.?ÿ It may not be the best starting point.?ÿ
Most of the four year programs are really training geomaticians, or surveying engineers, not land surveyors, no they are heavy on the math, and it doesn't really matter where you are. Western programs will have a little more emphasis on the PLSS, but the only program that I know of that really gets very far into boundaries is University of Wyoming. Of course any local emphasis in an area you want to work is a plus.?ÿ
Are there surveying schools in Nevada-Arizona??ÿ The Western ones I know of would be University of Wyoming and maybe Metropolitan College in Denver.?ÿ Wyo surveying wouldn't be much different in Nev or Az, but it would be a big change from Mass (i.e., Boundary surveying).
Don't forget about NMSU, Idaho State, OIT, Great Basin College (all online)...
@meansealevel congrats on deciding to pursue your license! For any state, you'll want to follow that state's statutes, admin rules, guides, and other requirements. This is what I found in Massachusetts, https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2017/10/26/250cmr3.pdf
There is a table in there that you may want to use to map out your path from where you are today to how you will get your license. There are education requirements but also experience and responsible charge requirements.
You might also need letters from licensees to document your years of experience and responsible charge. I suggest downloading an application form and filling it out, not to turn it in but to make a list of all the things that you need to meet the requirements and to complete the application.
You probably want to get advice from people licensed in MA, I have almost no knowledge of MA licensing and recommend against putting much weight on my comments. Like, is ABET accrediting important in MA?
Wherever you decide to go, be sure to contact individual instructors.?ÿ I would want an instructor with experience in a Colonial State if I planned on surveying in Mass.?ÿ There will usually be one or two experienced surveyors that teach a majority of the survey specific classes.?ÿ Talk to them and make your decision based on the instructors not the syllabus.
As was already mentioned, a thorough understanding Mass??s PLS application process is essential.
I entered college in my late twenties and by the time I was ready to apply to sit for the PS in NC I had course work from four different colleges in three different states.?ÿ I was looking to combine my A.S. in Land Surveying with my B.S. in Geography/GIS (minor in Planning) and get credit as having a four year degree in a survey related field.?ÿ Years before I qualified to apply, I contacted NC??s board of licensure and spoke with someone who reviewed applications.?ÿ They indicated that they needed enough details on specific courses so that they could justify including it as survey related course work.?ÿ They wanted to say yes but needed me to provide enough details so they could cover their butts.?ÿ Not all states are this generous. ?ÿ?ÿIt pains me to say this about my home state, but the administrators I dealt with when applying for my Maine PLS were infuriatingly incompetent and lazy.?ÿ There is no doubt that they would have looked for every opportunity to say no to my convoluted transcript. ?ÿBest to find out whom you??re dealing with now so that you won??t be disappointed later.?ÿ Consider getting your license in another state and applying to Mass by comity.?ÿ?ÿ
@protracted Oh man thats great thanks so much, I have done some searching but I wasn't able to find anything that said specifically what i would need, I emailed some people at the state licensure board and no one got back to me. That is super helpful thank you!
I note that there are no surveyors only on the Mass. Board. Those that are PLS are also PE, which may show up as an inherent bias to the staff. The same staff may be dealing with more than just one board's professions. I had course work from 2 different universities and 4 different community colleges in 2 different states. I wonder if anyone ever looked at all six transcripts?
Paul in PA, PE, PLS
@paul-in-pa
Hi Paul, thank you for bringing that to my attention, I have no idea how that happened, I have since changed it. As for your suggestions, law and business courses were already in my mind as well, things are very fluid for me right now but up until this past week I had been planning to attend Wentworth and figured there were plenty of other schools in Boston where I could take other coursework. I even thought that some kind of trial law/litigation course might be appropriate. I live on the island of marthas vineyard and development regulation is very strict!! I dont know much about zoning in other areas but as I understand it we have some of the strictest zoning regulation around and working with local zoning boards is, very challenging so, i thought some training in litigation might help. Anyway. As for experience, again i have only worked for one company here on island but, we do a little bit of everything. I would say in the 8 years I was in the field, at least i dont know a quarter of it might qualify as "boundary" work. I mean every job i am on we have a "plan" and we almost always have to tie into the plan and seek additional monumentation. I have done a ton of traverse work and a number of land court perimeter surveys, we set bounds/mounuments quite often. I guess I am not totally clear on what "boundary" works is defined as but, I think I have a fair amount of experience with boundary stuff. I have also done plenty of coastal restoration stuff, natural resource protection, and yes, I have done a fair amount of typical stakeout/construction stuff too. I already have a BS from Plymouth State College in New Hampshire so, I think I have the English already, and I am taking a math course at my local community college right now. Either way, thanks again for your advice, thats exactly what I need to hear. I knew the Wentworth program was minimal but, I think you might be right thats its not sufficient for what I am looking to do. I think the legal aspects of surveying will be useful which is the only course Im signed up for so far but moving forward I think i will continue my search with other programs. One of my issues is I would like to attend a program where I would need to phyically attend classes, at least some of them, I find I learn much better when I have a classroom environment and teachers and faculty to ask for help. That said I am open to online stuff too. Sorry for the novel, thanks for your help.
I am still wondering how unique a curriculum out west would be to an east coast curriculum. Any professors around here? I dont even know where I could find this info other than researching course descriptions for every school but even then I dont expect they would say. Ideally I would attend a college physically and work near by, thats my dream situation. I suppose I could take certain courses online with an east coast school and attend classes physically wherever out west.?ÿ
You may find employment easier out west (even part time), and you sure can't beat the weather here!
You will learn more about boundary surveying on this website than most classes could cover.?ÿ There are people here from every type of surveying and some from other countries.
Stay tuned.
IMHO, get educated where you plan to work.?ÿ