<p>Hope everything turns out well.</p>
<p>OK, I’m back. Mom pulled through, landed herself in the hospital again, pulled through a second time, and is back home, following a couple of strokes and a stint in in-patient physical therapy. By the time I mentally checked back into real life (we now join our regularly scheduled program, already in progress…), I had a ridiculous stack of work to take care of. But now I have a construction permit, I’m about to pull the trigger to issue over three hundred sheets at 100%CD, and the knots in my shoulders are finally starting to let go.</p>
<p>So, I can think about CC and the PE exam again.</p>
<p>From what I can tell in comparing my scores to the other folks who posted on PE message boards, I missed the mark by probably five or six questions. Looking back, I was certainly not in the best mental place when I took the exam, so I think that had something to do with the outcome. We’d just bought a house and moved in, we had no furniture, work was hella-stressful, and I would pretty much just drag my sorry carcass home from work and fall asleep face-first in one of my PE study books. There was not much valuable studying going on. I tabbed the wazoo out of my books, but beyond that, I was primarily relying on the fact that I’ve worked in every major subfield of civil engineering because work just sucked up too much of my time for me to get much quality studying in.</p>
<p>The one exam that I really studied for and really freaked out about was the surveying exam. I’ve never done surveying in my life, and my husband vehemently insists that all the real studying I did was for the surveying exam. So the one bright point in this is that I PASSED the surveying exam! I don’t have to take it again, thank heavens.</p>
<p>So it’s a start. One down, two to go.</p>
<p>And now, it’s time to really dive back into the studying. I’ve got the PPI CERM and I bought the PPI flashcards for my iPhone (google them if you’re curious as to what I’m talking about). I work through the flashcards whenever I escape for lunch or a latte. I finally got my home office set up with a nice table and rug and painted walls, so it’s a great study place. I’ve got all my materials in there, I’ve started to crack the books, and I’m on my way to the retest in April.</p>
<p>Here we go again…</p>
<p>Well, that IS good news that you got surveying out of the way! That sounds like my experience - when I took the PE exam in Maine, it was general civil, not structural-specific. I had NEVER done highway curves, pumps, etc., so I studied hard in those areas. I ended up answering more of those questions than the structural ones!</p>
<p>I’ll have to look up PPI now. It sounds like you’re in a good place, mentally and physically, to hit the books. I’ll be thinking of you! Good luck in April.</p>
<p>Congrats on passing that part, aibarr. I’m sure the knowledge of having passed that, and now having one less section to study for will make sure you pass the rest of it in April. :)</p>
<p>good luck on the next part aibarr! are you going to be taking the PE exam in cal poly pomona as well? im taking the EIT there this april, anyone have any tips and advices about the EIT?</p>
<p>Congrats.</p>
<p>I took Civil PE from Chemical background.</p>
<p>Passed 8 hour, failed seismic and surveying (this is strange…), going back for round 2 in April.</p>
<p>Can’t get comity in Hawaii, need 4 years experience (only have 2), PE limbo I call it.</p>
<p>EIT
Don’t suck, stay the whole time, review some formulas.</p>
<p>Only 1 person in my office passed all 3 in 1 try (She’s from Stanford, given her aptitude, no surprise). Others failed national (Hawaii and California), some passed only surveying, some passed seismic. Only 4 out of 10 passed national.</p>
<p>My certificate arrived in the mail today. 
Licensed Professional Engineer, State of California, Civil Engineering!</p>
<p>Congratulations! Does that mean you plan to relocate to California? Or is a California PE license good in Texas?</p>
<p>Nope, it’s not good in Texas, and I don’t plan on moving any time soon… But a California license transfers out very easily, and it’s pretty much impossible to transfer a non-California license to California without having to go back and take some additional exams. So if there’s any chance you’re going to relocate to a seismically-active area at some point, then it’s not a bad idea to gut it up and take the California exams while life isn’t gonna get in the way of your studying. (And my husband just got his PhD in music composition, so it’s really uncertain where we’ll end up…! Not too many jobs in his field, so you’ve kind of got to take what you can get.)</p>
<p>All the paperwork’s in to get my Texas license through comity, so I should be able to get everything squared away pretty quickly!</p>
<p>Congrats aibarr!</p>
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<p>Congrats. Now get ready to write another check.</p>
<p>The PE license that California sends you after you pass the exam is effectively a temporary license. It’s perfectly valid, but it is set to expire in a few months. </p>
<p>California will send you another bill shortly, which you will need to pay in order to extend your license for another 2 years. You will be on a 2-year renewal cycle after that. </p>
<p>Photocopy or scan your wall certificate <em>before</em> you frame it. In the future, you may need to provide copies of the certificate to employers or other state licensing boards. It can be difficult to remove or copy a certificate after it has been framed.</p>
<p>Congratulations, aibarr! That’s a great one to get. Ugh, I didn’t know about the two-year cycle, or I had forgotten it. My husband is registered in 12 states. I have purposely NOT added up how much we pay for all those licenses! Part of working for yourself, though.</p>
<p>@Corbett: Earliest I can pay for my renewal is Aug 1st, and then it’s $125… Compare that to the cost for taking the newly-introduced NCEES 16-hour Structures exam here in Texas… $1,020. Not looking forward to that.</p>
<p>And yep, already scanned in a high-res color copy and it’s saved in several places. I’m waiting to frame until I get my Texas certificate, too.</p>
<p>12 states… ugh. That’s a lot o’ money. (That’s also a lot o’ paperwork and CE hours…)</p>
<p>Hello aibarr! I just read through this entire thread, and you have inspired me! From the first post in this thread where you’re nervous, to you getting your professional letter, it was all truly something. I hope to be like you!</p>
<p>Congrats aibarr!!</p>
<p>So happy for you! Way to go, aibarr. :)</p>