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Virginia State Specific Exam

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bill93
(@bill93)
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jflamm
(@jflamm)
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@bill93

Excellent!!  I will definitely dive into this one! Thanks

 
Posted : July 31, 2019 6:17 am
(@jhiggins)
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Is there a study guide or resource for the State Specific test? I'm looking for a guide that includes Virginia specific information regarding title law and Virginia specific survey regulations. I was surprised to see only a fraction of the test addressed boundary survey law. None of the resources included on the State's website spoke to Oyster Bed lease plats and monumentation requirements. Where in State regulations can I find the maximum length of a sounding lead line used when surveying tidal creeks in VA? Any direction would be appreciated.

 
Posted : November 8, 2021 8:38 am
j.drury
(@j-drury)
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@jhiggins I am set to take VA State Specific Exam in October.?ÿ I'm running into the same thing.?ÿ A voluminous list of suggested source materials and very little specificity on what they will squeeze into a 2 hour exam.?ÿ Did you take this exam since your post??ÿ Any guidance?

Thanks JD

 
Posted : August 31, 2022 7:04 am
(@murphy)
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Updating this for others. I passed the non drainage LS exam. Good advice upstream in this thread regarding references. As absolutely ridiculous as it seems to print thousands of pages of reference material when the technology exists to allow the use of PDFs in an exam, I would recommend printing everything on DPOR's reference list and tab the heck out of it (but only with Virginia's approved tabs mind you).

Virginia was my fifth state specific exam and so far it takes the cake for being the least applicable to land surveying. I suspect an engineer with no surveying experience could pass this exam more easily than a seasoned PLS. It's possible that the same exam is used for both LS and LS-B options.

 
Posted : June 25, 2024 9:19 pm

(@james-fleming)
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so far it takes the cake for being the least applicable to land surveying

Spoken like someone what hasn't take the Delaware exam - that was basically a TR-55 & Sediment Control exam when I took it 🙄

 
Posted : June 25, 2024 9:48 pm
(@learner)
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The VA LS was one of the toughest tests I have had to pass in my career, and I have multiple licenses. I would absolutely recommend taking the entire wheelbarrow load of references recommended for the VA exam. I had to borrow some, print some others to have everything needed to pass. I didn't need the entire wheelbarrow load for the test I took, but at least I had what I did need.

 
Posted : June 26, 2024 3:11 am
(@chris-bouffard)
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For the last 10 years I have had nobody to report to as the Director of Surveying. I sat down to look at the FLA application and decided against taking the exam as I am almost 60 years old and when I went to list my references from the past 40 years, only one, but possibly two, are still alive.

 
Posted : June 26, 2024 3:33 am
(@chris-bouffard)
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PA is exactly the same, mostly TR 55 and pipe design, none of which I care to do.

 
Posted : June 26, 2024 3:36 am
(@survey_joe)
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I'll be taking this exam in the next month or so....shocked to see all this drainage knowledge needed. I've printed all VDOT info, but do I really need to learn all this drainage?

 
Posted : October 16, 2024 3:50 am

OleManRiver
(@olemanriver)
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@Survey_joe Hey I have two books from the John Foster School that has a lot of the information in it from various sources so other books but it is condensed I can loan out to you if you would like. I am in the central VA area. I also have the Virginia Erosion Control Manual if you have not located one of those yet. I work in Richmond live in Caroline but have no problem loaning out anything for sure.

 
Posted : October 16, 2024 5:49 am
(@survey_joe)
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@<b style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; color: var(--bb-body-text-color);">OleManRiver Thanks!!! I have John Foster Books from the FS and PS classes. The FS book has alot of drainage equations on it. I wondered at the time a few years ago studying for the FS why all these drainage equations were on there. Now I know!

I really just wanted to know how much time I should spend learning all the drainage/hydrology/E&S or if I could just find the answer within my books.

 
Posted : October 17, 2024 1:11 am
(@survey_joe)
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@OleManRiver Thanks! I've got books from the FS and PS John Foster classes. The FS book has a bunch of drainage equations for my HP 35 that at the time I wondered the purpose, now I know! I really just want to know how much of the drainage/hydrology/E&S I need to learn. Could I get by with just all the books and hope I can get by the math on Test day.

 
Posted : October 17, 2024 2:06 am
(@chadillac)
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I took the exam a few months ago and I got through it by looking through the manuals and trying to pick up on the main topics and main equations. But I never 'knew it' really but I did know how to find it which is what helped me get through the exam and those unfamiliar topics. You will need all of the reference material and it will take a suitcase to get it in there.

 
Posted : October 18, 2024 7:11 am
OleManRiver
(@olemanriver)
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I have heard that a dolly is a good idea. Also how you mark or tab your material is important. If it’s not perfect it’s not permitted. Bound material vs a ring binder and the method in which you mark or tabulate the material.

 
Posted : October 18, 2024 12:23 pm

GaryG
(@gary_g)
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I took a milk crate of reference material ! There were a few suggested references I did not bother with. I think one was on bridges. The farther from surveying and drainage the less I worried about having the reference. I did not feel they were peppering you with questions on some arcane statute. But it did cover stuff that was costal in nature.

Edit: Marking and tabbing your material does help. See the attached pictures of one of my references.

If I remember correctly they provided some data to go with the test so you were not wasting time just looking up data. It was more about how to apply and use it properly. I saw people carrying in twice as much material as me and some with just a copy of Brown's Boundary Control and Legal Principles.

I did not find the test any more or less difficult from MD or PA.

My biggest help was test taking strategy. I go through the test answering everything I know cold and hard. Then go through a 2nd time and work through problems that I'm not sure of. After a couple of minutes and you're not sure, move on, come back to it on the 3d pass. And yes, there were a few that I was like, wow , haven't had a C in awhile. LOL !!

Good Luck!

 
Posted : October 18, 2024 10:57 pm
(@survey_joe)
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Thanks for all the reply's! Ill definitely start familiarizing myself with all of the non surveying info they will have. Question @GaryG do you now if those tabs would still be allowed? I was printing mine because I thought there could be no handwriting on the reference material?

 
Posted : October 20, 2024 11:16 pm
GaryG
(@gary_g)
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I don't see why not. I would call and ask. But you have to index the document somehow, it's just too much info not to.

 
Posted : October 22, 2024 10:13 am
(@murphy)
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You have to use the specific tabs, which are basically a non-removable tab, but you can handwrite the little inserts that slide in them. You can't have any handwriting in the text body of your references, but you're allowed to highlight anything. Put some effort into your tab labels, as it might be the key to passing or failing. In addition to tabbing chapters, consider tabbing examples of drainage problems, charts, figures, specific rules, etc..

 
Posted : October 22, 2024 9:52 pm
(@curiouser)
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I have a whole bunch of pdf materials in my Google Drive that a co-worker shared with me after he passed the PS and the VA-specific exams. I'm happy to share everything I have with anyone who is interested.

 
Posted : October 28, 2024 4:12 am

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