NYTaking the FS exam in another state
NY was one of those. I think there was a court case that says that's not allowed anymore. I think all States had to eliminate that requirement.
Rookie.
Rick has said it best. Do your research, study hard and go take it.
Jered
NYTaking the FS exam in another state
Idaho 54-1212 still reads that way. The exceptions are military stationed here and full time Idaho students or employees.
PA Requires Experience After The FS (SIT)
> Losing that prior experience is a little extreme.
>
That is very EXTREME!... I knew I should have taken the test right out of college for both FS and FE. I worked for a construction company and we didn't have any licensed surveyors or engineers and the experience was solely construction. There was no incentive to grab it then as I wouldn't get a raise being SIT or EIT. Now with the new job I can get both licenses, BUT still no raise if I obtain both. I guess the only incentive should have been my own being to get it so I had it. I'm still young and dumb but man was I even dumber back then. I'm kicking myself now reading this post and thinking that all those years experience down the drain.
Thanks for posting, and I'm sure to grab the FE and FS exams this year now!
Thanks for all the feedback, I wasn't expecting that much of a response. It looks like I probably will be able to take FS in the near future after all, and apparently I might not even have to make the trip to another state.
I am aware of my state's requirements. New York does have an experience only path of 8 years(or 4 year surveying degree + 4 years experience, or 2 year surveying degree + 6 years experience). And I believe without a surveying degree, I'm not eligible to take the FS until the same time I'm eligible for licensing. Whether or not they consider my bachelors in civil engineering as anything towards education, I'm not sure. Either way, I'd guess I probably have at least another 6 years, maybe the full 8 years before I'm allowed to take the test in this state. I'm perfectly fine waiting that long to go through the licensing process, I probably wouldn't even want to attempt it too much sooner if I was allowed. But I would like to build up any other credentials I can get in the meantime, a big one being the FS exam. And if I can take and pass it now, and I end up having to take it again 8 years from now, I'm ok with that. I would still consider it worth it. I'm not looking to jump ship anytime soon, but if another surveying opportunity came up that I was interested in, I'd like to be as competitive as I possibly can. Honestly, even if there wasn't a single state that would officially recognize me as a "Surveyor-in-Training", I'd still want to take the test if I could go directly through NCEES. There's also just a certain sense of accomplishment to it. Thanks again for all the info.
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However, you can take the FS exam in any state, as it is the same exam nationwide. It's the PS exam which is state specific.
This is a dated thread, but I felt the need to update in case anyone is searching for information like I have been.?ÿ The PS is now a national exam like the FS and so it can be taken in any state.?ÿ However, there is a third state-specific exam for all states.?ÿ I mean state-specific in that the material is specific to your state, in addition to the mandated location that you sit for the exam.?ÿ As I understand it, the PS (before becoming computer-based and given all year) was state-mandated for location of the exam, but the material was always national.
Also, for license candidates for PA, where your experience slate gets wiped clean after taking the FS, I wonder how they handle someone who gained experience in another state, like NJ, then took the FS and PS within a few months of one another.?ÿ I ask because this is my situation.?ÿ NJ has no requirement about when you gained the experience.?ÿ I have seven years of experience dating back to 2011, all before passing the FS.?ÿ I passed the FS in December 2017 and and passed the PS in March 2018.?ÿ I expect to be licensed in NJ after taking the state-specific exam this year.?ÿ Would PA deny my application for comity??ÿ Under their logic, I wouldn't be eligible for comity until after I gained four more years experience after December 2017 - even if I am licensed in another state.?ÿ That couldn't be the spirit of their law... could it?
NY is so bogged down with their regulations and paperwork.?ÿ After 15 years of experience and licensed in two other states, they told me I didn't have enough experience on paper to qualify.?ÿ?ÿ I fixed that, and got it, but dealing with their board is a pain.
I've known people in Mass who took the test, passed, but then had to prove afterward that they were qualified to take the test.?ÿ Seems kind of crazy to tell someone they weren't qualified to take a test after they already passed it.
Years ago Montana was tough to get qualified to take they LS test, so everyone was getting licenced in Idaho. Reciprocity was a snap. So idI say do whatever it takes to met your goals. Good luck!
I don't know if it's still the case, but when I lived in MI, they started counting the qualifying experience only after one earned an LSIT certificate, and to qualify to take the LSIT, one had to have graduated with?ÿ BS in Surveying or civil engineering or be in the senior year and on track for graduation.
The reasoning behind only counting experience after earning the LSIT certificate is that the applicant is more likely to have engaged in actual useful and appropriate experience during that entire time.
In CA, experience pre- and post-LSIT may be used to meet the minimum criteria.?ÿ A big part of the problem with that is some applicants for the LS may have worked in surveying for 6 years and gotten to the position of chief, but too often that 6 years consisted of a year of learning to become a decent chainman, repeating the same experience 5 1/2 times, and then getting a promotion to chief because the company had to field another crew in short order, so they promoted the chainman who had been around longest and learned many of the basic buttons to push to make the appropriate lights on the equipment flash at the right times.
Of course they do need to have passed the LSIT (FS) prior to taking the LS.?ÿ Ric can better describe the requirements and process now, but when I took it in CA, there was a requirement for 2 years of experience.?ÿ In reality, they did not employ any means of verifying the experience the applicant claimed, so the only real qualification (1993 IIRC) was that the applicant's check cleared.
Taking the FS in another state does not in any way jeopardize your ability to get licensed in your home state.?ÿ The test alone, unless the State defines it so, is not the only criteria to be met to be considered as holding a valid LSIT certification.?ÿ If your state has additional qualifications, they simply will not recognize the certification given by another state until one has met all of the qualifications of the home state and applied for that recognition.?ÿ In most cases, that application for recognition is presumed when one applies to take the LS exam.
The LSIT certification does not confer any authority to practice surveying independently in any measure in any state (of which I am aware), and does not permit one to perform any survey functions beyond what any other unlicensed person may perform.?ÿ Therefore, there isn't anything of legal substance that one would be circumventing by taking the exam in another state.
In my case, I was a resident of WA at the time and had about 12 years of overall survey experience.?ÿ At least at that time, and perhaps still, WA was very particular about the experience they would count as qualifying, and one had to qualify by experience to take the LS before being permitted to take the LSIT (at least that was my understanding at the time).?ÿ With my 12 years, I knew that once the BOR sifted through it, my amount of qualifying experience would be close, but perhaps not quite enough.
I was attending OIT at the time to complete the BS degree I had gotten about half way through in MI several years before.?ÿ Several classmates, some from CA, some from OR were applying to take the FS/LSIT (whatever it was called at the time) and were going to drive to Sacramento to take it.?ÿ I looked into it, decided that I'd rather get it out of the way than take the LSIT, the National LS, and the State LS on consecutive days, and only after graduating 2 years later.
Expecting a hellish exam, those of us who had applied formed a study group and met a couple times per week for the next 3 months.?ÿ With a bit more than half my degree, experience, and regular studying, I was surprised, almost shocked, at how easy the exam seemed to be.?ÿ I used less than half the time needed in the morning and about half of the afternoon and spent the rest of my time at the gun show occurring elsewhere on the State Fairgrounds.?ÿ Turned out to be a pleasant road trip.
2 years later, I took my first LS exam in OR and had no trouble having the results of the LSIT taken in CA accepted.
Some States require residency for issuance of a first license.
I did not know that - which ones are you aware of?
I'm away from my library (on the beach) at the moment. Will check when I get home..
When I got my first license you had to pass all the tests and then apply. I actually took the PS, then the State test, then the FS in the same cycle. I doubt you can do that anywhere now...
I took the FS exam through California without any desire or expectation to practice there. No need to keep up a pretense, they simply don't ask and didn't seem to care. California has the lowest requirements and easiest application process of any I could find for an LSIT. Two years of any combination of survey education or experience. No reference letters, no college transcripts, just a two page application, a fingerprint card, and then 90 days of waiting. Transferring it to my home state was trivial. It was accepted right away. With this method, I cut down my path to licensure by over a year.
When I was a senior in Penn State's surveying program, Pennsylvania law still required that you be a college graduate to?ÿtake the FS exam?ÿif you were using a four-year degree as your qualification to sit for the exam.?ÿAt any rate, a bunch of us drove down to Virginia to take the test. No need to lose the 6 months until the next testing cycle.
I think Pennsylvania has fixed that now so you can sit for the exam in the spring of your senior year. But yeah, get that test out of the way as soon as you have a chance.
Some States require residency for issuance of a first license.
I did not know that - which ones are you aware of?
New Hampshire?ÿ
