I am in the early stages of applying for my license in Pennsylvania. Since I have passed all portions of the NCEES Exams in New Jersey I will only have to sit for the state portion of the exam.
Does anybody know where I can find resources to study from?
I looked briefly online, but my searches yielded nothing of value.
You're a machine.
Hah! I just love taking NCEES Exams! I figure I should get them all out of the way while I'm used to the whole testing process. I can imagine it being much more difficult if I let a few years go by...
Thanks James! I was actually having trouble with the PSLS.org site earlier today, but those links seem to be working.
Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT ?
"Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT
Profile:
B.S. Civil Engineering - Rutgers University (2005)
B.S. Land Surveying - NJIT (2011)
Practicing surveying and Engineering since 2004"
Time to stop practicing and get serious?
Please explain your education/experience timeline.
It seems difficult to see that you have time for sufficient 4 years boundary line experience for the PA PLS exam. Under the regs applicable to you, experience starts after the FS/graduation date (SIT issuance date), whichever is later.
Paul in PA, PE, PLS
Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT ?
I've already got my license in NJ, so this is an application for reciprocity contingient upon my passing the state portion of the exam. I guess the board will have to decide if I'm qualified to sit. I have been working full time as a land surveyor since 2005 with engineering experience mixed in.
The New Jersey requirements are fairly strict as well, although they do not explicitly state that the experience must be AFTER the LSIT certificate is issued. In fact, a lot of NJ surveyors take the PS Exam on Friday and the FS Exam on Saturday.
I can apply and see what they say. If I have to wait two years then I guess I will have to do just that, although it seems kind of silly to me.
Daniel J Patterson,
Good Luck to you...
It looks like you have the 'right stuff' .
Daniel J Patterson,
> Good Luck to you...
> It looks like you have the 'right stuff' .
He's just bucking for a raise. 😉
Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT ?
The PA Board is very strict on the experience requirement, requiring 4 years of experience after the issuance of the SIT, even if you have 20 years of experience. I just went through this in 2012. It took about 14 months for me to get approval; they lost license verifications multiple times. Good luck.
Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT ?
>
> I can apply and see what they say. If I have to wait two years then I guess I will have to do just that, although it seems kind of silly to me.
If your experience started prior to 1992, you will be OK assuming you have 10+ years. Otherwise, you will have to wait 4 years after the SIT. A degree in surveying basically replaces 6 years of the required experience.
Trust me, being an engineer helps you in no way whatsoever other than to pass the test (if you get to take it). But it will help you pass. And if you own a boundary surveying company, make sure that you specifically say elsewhere on your application that you have boundary line surveying experience (it cost me 6 months).
Good luck to you from a very recent PA PLS.
Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT ?
> >
> > I can apply and see what they say. If I have to wait two years then I guess I will have to do just that, although it seems kind of silly to me.
>
> If your experience started prior to 1992, you will be OK assuming you have 10+ years. Otherwise, you will have to wait 4 years after the SIT. A degree in surveying basically replaces 6 years of the required experience.
>
> Trust me, being an engineer helps you in no way whatsoever other than to pass the test (if you get to take it). But it will help you pass. And if you own a boundary surveying company, make sure that you specifically say elsewhere on your application that you have boundary line surveying experience (it cost me 6 months).
>
> Good luck to you from a very recent PA PLS.
Neil,
What about those of us old pharts who had 4 states by 1992? :-O
Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT ?
Then, according to their law, if you have 10 years experience (obviously), then you are able to apply and sit for the PA portion of the exam. I think that date may be 1991 not 92 as I am thinking it was the first year I was able to drive, which got me the summer promotion to feel like instrument man. As in if my uncle didn't "feel like" getting out of the truck, I got to run the instrument.
Some PA Details For Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT
At 35 now, it is doubtful they would consider your starting at age 15.
Under the Old Law, experience had to begin before 1992 and/or education completed before 6/30/1994 you can sit for FS/PS at same time. I don't think you can squeeze in there.
Under the New Law there are 3 education formats.
A BS/CE with 10 surveying credits, take the FS and become an SIT then get 4 years experience.
An AS Surveying, take the FS and become an SIT then get 4 years experience.
A BS Surveying, take the FS and become an SIT then get 4 years experience. No adavantage to BS Surveying.
If you are in a BS Surveying program you can take the FS after 2 years, but the date of becoming an SIT is the date you receive the degree.
What can be done is to get your AS Surveying degree, take the exam and then continue in the BS program. If you are attending PSU-Wilkes-Barre there is a surveying course you must take for the AS that does not count for the required credits for the BS. But if you have the opportunity to work and pick up experience it is worth the extra course, shortening the time after the BS.
With your BS/CE from Rutgers in hand you could have taken the FS in PA once you had 10 Surveying credits.
If you want to share additional education/experience details we may be able to give you some get ahead hints.
Do not submit your application without first reviewing all the PA laws and discuss it with a recent applicant.
I applied under the old law, 10 years experience, in PA for April 2000. I hit the negative attitude because I was a PE. I requested and got a hearing but after April. Under the Old Law the 10 years could be 5 years Engineering Land Surveys and 5 years of Boundary Line work. The Board wrongly claimed it had to be 10 years boundary line work, but offered to let me take the FS. I politely declined because it would have rest my experience clock to zero.
I reapplied for October 2000 under my BS/CE ('73) and 10 surveying credits, but they conveniently ignored it and never answered my calls. I finally contacted the Board via a 3-way call through the State Attorney General's Office, I could hear the jaws hit the floor over the phone. I requested and got a second hearing. They did not respond well to my explanation of the details of the law, but I believe the Board Attorney re-explained it to them after I left. I got the go ahead for April 2001 less than 30 days before the exam, and passed both parts. By then I had 42 credits, 6 from Lehigh, 6 from County College of Morris and 30 from NJIT. I never got back to finish my last 3 credits.
Paul in PA
Some PA Details For Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT
You don't think they would believe that he started at 15?
I started about a month before I turned 14. I do believe I could make them believe that. Of course I also have my father's original Registration Certificate for Oklahoma hanging on my wall right next to my Oklahoma Certificate. By now that is really irrelevant for me as I have been surveying longer than many PLS's with ten years licensed under their belts have been alive. And I still have about 20 good years left. Maybe more.B-)
Some PA Details For Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT
> You don't think they would believe that he started at 15?
>
> I started about a month before I turned 14.
It doesn't matter, they don't accept it. I started holding the pole when I was 13. I worked just about every summer, all summer. I think my uncle may have started younger. I am hoping that my grandfather cannot get turned in retroactively for violating child labor laws. I am sure my situation is not unique. I am also pretty certain that when my boy is old enough, he will be spending his summers in the woods as well. I cannot figure out why that experience does not count. I knew an awful lot about surveying by the time I was 18. Or at least I thought I did until I started in the office. 😛
Some PA Details For Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT
I started when I was 15.
Some PA Details For Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT
I'm only 30 now. I was 9 years old in 1991 and had no idea what surveying even was. I come from a family where everyone was either a chemist or an attorney....I like to think I pursued the most honorable profession. Plus with a C in chemistry it didn't seem like a good choice.
So it sounds like I am going to have to wait until 2015...
Some PA Details For Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT
Hey slick, I was running a gun at 15 and a rod since I was 12
Some PA Details For Daniel J Patterson, PLS, EIT
I started running gun at 13. My experience started (and I got in under the wire) before 1992. It took me a very long time to pass, but as of this year, I am now licensed. Don't look too hard for study materials all lined up for you with a practice test. You won't find it. Go take the test a few times and you'll know what's on it. That's what I didn.
