I see some have posted 4 years ago about NLC test prep for the PS exam not being worth the cost. I have a mechanical engineering degree, but switched to surveying. I went for my surveying degree to only have one college then another drop their program/ ABET accreditation. I received my LSIT after passing the FS (I was able to sit based on experience). ?ÿBut I??m worried I haven??t been exposed to enough aspects in the surveying field to pass the test based on my work experience, so I definitely think I need to study. If NLC can direct me to exactly what to study, I think that would be a big help, but I know through different threads here on SurveyConnect many have listed probably enough materials to study. I just want to pass and I??m unsure if I should spend money for a ??possible? guarantee. Just trying to bounce it off of someone here. I??ve been involved at work with solving a fair amount of boundaries, some subdivisions and writing a few legal descriptions. The courses I??ve taken are Elementary Surveying 1 & 2 and Boundary Law 1 & 2, but that was 8 years ago. Is 8 months long enough to study for the PS exam and state specific exam for someone like me that may not be very well rounded yet in surveying? Thanks in advance.
I agree that NLC wouldn't have given me any advantage for the FS, AND I was ready to take the PS but where I live at currently the potential for upsetting the board by taking it without their permission (whatever yhgtbfkm ) kept me from doing that.
In the past 3 years I purchased 6 of the?ÿ books shown and previous classes in surveying and GIS are from 15 years ago photo attached.
I feel that 8 months of prep might be toouch depends on the te you're spending.?ÿ for the FS I spent about 6 weeks of 2 to 3 hours every other day and 8 hours total on the weekends.
I walked out about 1.5 hours early from the test not think I had a chance to pass.
Don't overlook or discount your real experience and focus only on books. You'll do far better than you think esp with the math with your back ground.
I have a biology degree and chem minor and never took Calculus, but I dabble in math for fun and legal things for the same and for work.
Youve got this, and this website is also a tremendous source for knowledge too and I credit it and it's participants for helping me get across the line for sure.
HMU if you have any more questions or ideas on study stuff.
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Carry on.
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Thanks Jitterboogie. I may grab other books but I??m still leaning toward using NLC. I feel that if I know NLC??s materials and direction is precisely what others have used to pass the exam then it makes me feel more confident. I just wish there were only certain materials we were to study from and that??s what the test would be on, rather than have a mountain of materials to choose from. I do appreciate your input. I will see if I can find some of your books as it all will help.
It took me like 4 attempts to pass my FS then I took NLC and passed very next try. Just finished up the NLC PS course, hoping for the same results. Let me know if you need a login.?ÿ
@mikeflynn87 What do you mean by ??need a login?? I will say, I??ve gone through a good portion of the NLC PS free preview and I am impressed with what I see so far. Nettleman explains things well in a way that is memorable. Some may say that I don??t need it, and maybe it??s a waste, but I just want to do all I can to give myself the best chances of passing. And I think I??ll just have the potential to have more knowledge under my belt. Could I ask you about how long did it take you to get through their program? Thanks for the response!
I spoke with NLC Prep before I took the FS exam. Was seriously considering signing up. I have been away from academia for many many years and had been away from surveying on private sector side for many. I grabbed all my old books i had from the 90??s and just started refreshing my brain. I have nothing negative to say about the NLC Prep. When I received my free. Session to discuss and a lengthy email to them and Nettle responded quickly he was professional courteous and allowed me to tell him exactly where I was. I told him what I did know and how long it had been. He was honest and said he could get me back and ready or I could just keep doing what I was doing and would probably do just fine. I did. Now I thought about doing it as i am preparing now for PS exam myself. But I feel pretty confident not to spend the extra money at this point. I need a new hay rake so saving up for that. ?ÿif I don??t pass I might re consider and take his course. Do what you are now researching and such. Way the pros and cons. ?ÿWeigh the cost. ?ÿYou say mechanical engineer background and I have worked directly with your kind (no negative ?ÿintended). You are disciplined and taught early on how to learn and study. Very smart people. I think you could take the ncees example and course outline and recommended books and such from this site and quickly lay out your prep material and then study and be just fine. You already have everything you need skills wise to prep. I think stop worrying if you FAIL the first time is the biggest hurdle. Having the desire to pass is very powerful having the desire not to fail is very powerful and it can work for you or against you. Make it work for you. I worry as well i just keep channeling that energy into the fuel i need to study and such. I am working through the old 90??s years practice exams now and have downloaded and purchased the latest one from ncees. I figured another month and i will test myself with it in real time and then focus on those areas i do not know as well. I am dyslexic so reading kicks my rump. ?ÿBut i do a lot of it. I have read through twice now clarks on boundary principle??s older edition. Either way you choose to go you will be fine. I know a lot of surveyors that failed at-least once ?ÿone one of the three exams. It didn??t change the ending score they won. Passed eventually. ?ÿGood luck and like jitterboogie said if you need anything hit us up. Glad to help. I wish we all lived closer and could meet up once a week at the local watering hole to study or re fuel lol. I will say one thing i did do and saw a benefit was our state puts on a prep course for fs and ps its 4 days during the convention. It??s more about how to expect the test and topics and things to watch for more than learning the material. So basically helping you understand how to prepare and what to expect. I went through that a couple weeks before the FS exam. ?ÿIf i would have known about it before I would have cut my study time in half. ?ÿI was way over prepared. I was in the weeds studying for the FS. That course helped me to back off a lot which I give a lot of credit to why i passed. I have a big geodetic background so i was over thinking the simple questions. I had to dumb it down or my head would explode. I have no idea how i will do on the PS. ?ÿAs I study i see my biggest issue will be with the reading of the longer written questions and my dyslexic old rump has to read slow and re read. ?ÿThat??s what i see for myself. More legal scenario questions vs math. The boundary and legal terms don??t scare me its the fluff in the middle of the questions being longer to read. You got this. ?ÿ
@gathered_1111 did you happen to purchase the NLC Texas specific course? If s, how do you like it?
@ch94 I did purchase the NLC Prep program back in mid January. I am a tightwad, but with the hope that it will provide me with higher pay once I'm licensed, I bit the bullet on this one. I still am not at my 4 year mark to apply for the PS Exam (will be this June), so I have not taken the national test yet, but all this to say I am glad I got the program. It is just a big confidence booster. I am not worried about the national portion now. But I have now just started looking at the state portion and being that they (Pearson View) only give you a vague outline, I am very worried about it. As I have said before, I feel I am not well-rounded enough yet. For example, in the exam outline they list "Hydrology". I have no experience whatsoever with this. They list the E & S Manual. Again, no experience. The E & S Manual is 583 pages. Sure it is open book but how do I choose what to "highlight" and how do I condense that down (sort of a rhetorical question but maybe not if anyone is willing)? But there are other items like Act 247, it is 112 pages. Add all these outline items up and you have over 2000 pages of material (just throwing a number out there). So for the state portion, I have become discouraged, but although I just had to give myself a break for a week or two, regrettably, I am not giving up. I would love to be just studying, but unfortunately, I am still needing to figure out what to study. I just hope I have enough time. I really wanted to take the test this August or September. Also want to get my PA License ASAP because I hear MD will require a degree in 2025, so need to get that in since I live near the line. I know this isn't all that you were asking, but maybe some others are trying to prepare for the test and hearing my struggles might help, who knows. And it has been a long time since you asked the question but I have been studying and working and resting when I can in between, with some living here and there. If I do pass, or fail, I will post my results.
@olemanriver Thanks for the reply. Have you taken your test yet? Your reply has been very encouraging to me. You see where I'm at now with my reply to ch94 there. I might be running short on my desired timeline but I will keep plugging away.
@gathered_1111 i have taken the FS last year. I am preparing for PS and state specific now. Well up until last Sunday. I have been laid up all week. A humbling experience. I did something to my back and now trying to get that straight. I apologize up front for any confusion in my writing as i have never truly used pain meds before. Knee surgery ripped calf muscle broken arm ribs wisdom teeth you name it surgeries I never could handle the pain meds but I hurt so bad i have to now. I usually just use motrin . But for first time in my life i have taken pain pills as prescribed. Got me all messed up in my head. I hat test are u preparing for.
@olemanriver Hope the pain meds don't give you any trouble and hope your back gets straightened out. Take care.
@ch94 I just realized you were asking if I got NLC's TEXAS state specific prep. And the answer is no, which you probably gathered from my last reply. I live in PA, but I would be having no worries if NLC had a PA state specific prep. If you need Texas, I would get their Texas prep. It is only money, and why risk having to take the test again? For a once in a lifetime expense that should lead to higher pay anyway, I feel it is worth spending the money. That's my thoughts. But if you are not like me and have been involved with every aspect of surveying and engineering that surveyors may get involved with, and have completed 4 years of college in surveying and have all necessary reference materials on hand, then maybe reviewing what you already know to review would be enough. I just feel I don't know enough of what I don't know and would like some guidance.
@gathered_1111 yeah i am hoping this thing gets cleared up soon. I am not a fan of drugs. But for first time in my life i am thankful for them. Because I have never had pain like this that I couldn’t work through. My kids are getting a kick out of seeing me say dumb stuff. I guess at the er i had seen spider on ceiling turning cart wheels or something. They tell me i saw that. Lol. I do not like the way I feel on them in my mind but atleast i can function without tears in my eyes lol
Keep in mind that there is no single course that is going through the national portions of the exam. The exams are not standardized, each exam booklet is different and generated from a random pool of questions so the questions may be heavy in some areas and light in others.
You can study common and case law all day long but never answer a legal question if one of the choices is to have your client consult an Attorney. Hit the books as hard as you can now and take a break. There are often questions where they try to trip you up with word games, keep an eye out for that.
I qualified for the exam with no degree but 10 years of progressive experience and never paid to take a course but spent at least a few days studying every day for three years leading up to the exam. The State Specific portion should be the easiest but trying to study specific areas for the national portions is a guessing game because your exam book will be completely random.
@chris-bouffard Just trying to be sure what you're saying where you say "...spent at least a few days studying every day for three years...". Guessing you meant "...spent at least a few hours every week..." maybe? That is a lot of studying, and maybe with the courses I've already taken and the other studying I've done over the past few years I will be ok. I do like that you say the state portion is easiest. That is what I'm worried about the most, just because I feel what I have yet to study for the areas I have no experience in yet could take years, not months, to study. I guess I will try to see if I can find more on what others have studied for the PA specific test. I know the exams are not standardized and are random. I still feel better off with the broad range of topics NLC covered, I don't know if I would've come up with studying all of it on my own. Just hope I say the same after taking the test. Thanks for the response.
