South Carolina P.E

I'm from out of state and would like to get some tips on the dos and donts in S.C. I'm planning on staying at a hotel and renting a car to go to the test location. All tips are welcomed.

In Ga, the test location Is at a convention center and I was able to stay on site at a nice hotel, but it cost like $180.00 a night, was also able to get late checkout for free at 1, so I was able to go to room at lunch.

The SC test is always offered at the Jamil Shrine center. Definitely get a hotel close to the test site. I stayed at the Wyndham which was nice. I was trying to book it again for this coming exam (taking power this time), but they were booked. You just reminded me to look again.

Parking was no problem. Just be early. Also there is no charge for parking.

Be sure your books are protected from the weather. So if you had a plastic crate for example, be sure it has some cover. I recall lining up to enter under a covered walkway, but that only goes so far.

ASCE offered a pizza lunch when I took the civil exam, but I bailed with my buddies and went off site for lunch. Everyone was sitting around whining about how hard the exam was, but we didn't want the negativity. We were doing just fine.

Bring a bottle of water. Dress in layers so you can thin your clothing if it gets warm.

See you there.

Jd,

If I rent a hotel room near the place I shouldn't need to rent a car right?. I'm coming from NY and I'm planning to take a plane there. I just don't want to drive for 10 hrs . Thank you for the tips and keep them coming.

Jd, also is it the Jamil Shrine Temple.?

afraid said:

Jd, also is it the Jamil Shrine Temple.?

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Yes. It's at the Jamil Shrine Temple. 206 Jamil Rd, Columbia, SC 29210.

I think you'll need the rental car. None of the SC cities (including Columbia) have consistent public transportation and you'll be too far to walk. Which airport are you flying into? You'll probably need to get the car at the airport and drop it back there when you leave. You can do taxi service, but you'll spend more on that than the rental car and I wouldn't consider it reliable.

I live in Greenville County which is a couple of hours away, but I'll do the hotel because I don't want to have to get up ridiculously early and risk traffic, etc.

I'm still making the arrangements, but wanted to get a good feel on what to expect and try to be prepared. I'm likely to rent a package for the hotel + car +flight through the Hotwire website. I'm definitely finishing all the arrangements by the end of the week.

Booked this hotel today:

Baymont Inn and Suites Columbia Northwest

[SIZE=10pt]347 Zimalcrest Drive, Columbia, SC, 29210-6833[/SIZE]

~$75/night with taxes, etc.

My preferred hotel was already booked.

Prices are off the roof. I'm starting to consider driving to SC. The flights are driving the prices, because the hotels themselves are okay.

afraid said:

Prices are off the roof. I'm starting to consider driving to SC. The flights are driving the prices, because the hotels themselves are okay.

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What state are you from?

Just curious-why are you taking the exam in South Carolina?

The residence inn at Harbison is awesome. You'll need a rental.

The SC PE society brings pizza, so you don't need lunch.

Show up early, get in and get to your seat and settled. Traffic won't be bad, but it's better to be waiting at the door than to be running in last minute.

Night,

I'm from NY. A friend of mine told me it was a lot easier to take the exam in different state and then transfer my license than it will be to get my application approved by the NY board . He went through it last year and I believed him. Plus I have family in South Carolina that I plan to visit after the test. But they live a bit too far for me to drive to the test location on the day of the test.

Flight, hotel, car rental are secured!. Now I'm making sure all of my references are printed and in hand.

afraid said:

Night,

I'm from NY. A friend of mine told me it was a lot easier to take the exam in different state and then transfer my license than it will be to get my application approved by the NY board . He went through it last year and I believed him. Plus I have family in South Carolina that I plan to visit after the test. But they live a bit too far for me to drive to the test location on the day of the test.

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Really? It's easier to ship all your references, pay airfare, hotel, and rental car, and pay an extra license fee than get your initial license in NY? Wow......

Have you got some oddball eligibility issue or something that you're trying to work around?

It's hard to understand. But basically we own an independent engineering company mostly project management work, and for some reason NCEES in NY is no accepting our experience there. So according to them the last three years we've been there don't count. Which is stupid, because my friend resubmitted his experience with passing score and they allowed his transferring of the license from Maryland.

Weird.

One of my contractors just passed the exam in Civil/Construction in October, but the SC board is questioning his experience record because he works for a contractor. They have PEs on staff and he has worked under them, but I am not sure what they are looking to see. I suppose they don't have much to seal as contractors.

My license was easier to obtain because I do professional services and I worked under PE who was actually sealing drawings and specs.

Jd, It's weird they way they pick and choose. Specially with small companies for what I've heard. I also know of a guy that worked as the lead Engineer in a company for 20+ years, but when he got his own company NCEES gave the guys working under him a hard time to get them accepted for the exam.

afraid said:

It's hard to understand. But basically we own an independent engineering company mostly project management work, and for some reason NCEES in NY is no accepting our experience there. So according to them the last three years we've been there don't count. Which is stupid, because my friend resubmitted his experience with passing score and they allowed his transferring of the license from Maryland.

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My first thought was they don't consider "project management" as engineering experience but you're saying someone submitted the same experience - first to take the exam and it was denied, then as an already licensed engineer and it was approved?

Could be two reviewers interpreting the same standard differently or it could be two different standards.

I'm tight with a dollar so I probably would have argued the faulty interpretation rather than spend extra money to go somewhere else. Or taken it somewhere closer like an adjoining state but that's just me.

Good luck!

I also suspect (just based on circumstantial observation) that the reciprocity applications are treated with a bit more leniency, with the assumption that the initial state did their due diligence.