EIT/PE test

Hello, all,

I have B.Eng. of Chemical engineering and M.Sc. of environmental engineering. currently I am working for an environmental engineering company in southern California. I have 8 years engineering working experience outside of US and only one year experience in US. My questions are:

1. Do I have to take EIT test and wait for couple of years and take FE test for PE certificate?

2. Which EIT/FE exam should I go? Chemical or environmental?

Thank you.

water said:

Hello, all,
I have B.Eng. of Chemical engineering and M.Sc. of environmental engineering. currently I am working for an environmental engineering company in southern California. I have 8 years engineering working experience outside of US and only one year experience in US. My questions are:

1. Do I have to take EIT test and wait for couple of years and take FE test for PE certificate?

2. Which EIT/FE exam should I go? Chemical or environmental?

Thank you.

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Experience questions will have to be answered by someone in CA...definitely contact the CA licensing board. The EIT and FE are the same thing...the EIT is now called the FE. The second test is the PE.

Each state has different rules on tests to take, ie if you want to be licensed as civil you have to take the civil test.

water said:

2. Which EIT/FE exam should I go? Chemical or environmental?

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The 1st exam, FE or EIT, is general engineering, so you don't select a discipline for that one. When you take the 2nd exam, PE, you select a discipline for the exam.

Good luck.

^^ I remember the FE as being general in the morning, and discipline specific in the afternoon. But that was some years ago...

chaosiscash said:

^^ I remember the FE as being general in the morning, and discipline specific in the afternoon. But that was some years ago...

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You can do a general morning and general afternoon. People who have been out of school for a while tend to go this route b/c it means you have fewer topics to review before the exam. Although the general afternoon depth is much more in depth (and therefore much more difficult) then the morning general exam. I have heard of people (years ago so I don't know if they allow it anymore) taking both the FE & the PE exam in the same weekend. That is not something that I would ever want to attempt, but I believe that if you have the necessary experience you can take both the exams in quick succession still.

roadwreck said:

I have heard of people (years ago so I don't know if they allow it anymore) taking both the FE & the PE exam in the same weekend. That is not something that I would ever want to attempt, but I believe that if you have the necessary experience you can take both the exams in quick succession still.

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One of the people in my PE review class was taking both exams in April of '07. I have no idea if he passed or not. I don't think I could handle both exams in the same weekend.

Flyer_PE said:

One of the people in my PE review class was taking both exams in April of '07. I have no idea if he passed or not. I don't think I could handle both exams in the same weekend.

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The only person I know that tried to take both in the same weekend passed the FE but failed the PE. He did pass the PE 6 months later on his second attempt. I can't even imagine trying take the exams on consecutive days, I think my brain would melt. It does raise the question of what happens if you pass the PE but fail the FE? Would your PE results be good and you just have to pass the FE on a later date?

I knew a guy that did that in the early '90s. He passed the mechanical PE and failed the FE. He had to re-take the FE to get his license but the PE exam result remained valid.

1. Do I have to take EIT test and wait for couple of years and take FE test for PE certificate?

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First of all, the "EIT test" and the "FE test" are just two different names for the same thing. If you take the "Fundamentals of Engineering" (FE) test, California will issue you an "Engineer in Training" (EIT) certificate (assuming you pass). Then you can take the "Principles of Engineering" (PE) test, and get a PE certificate (assuming you pass).
You have sufficient education and work experience now to qualify for both the FE and PE exams (assuming that your degrees are ABET-accredited or foreign equivalent, and assuming that your non-US experience is acceptable to the California Board). However, California won't let you take both exams in the same session. If you pass the FE exam in one session, you could then take the PE exam six months later, in the next session.

2. Which EIT/FE exam should I go? Chemical or environmental?

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Or you could take General or Civil. General is good if you want to minimize the amount of material to study for the FE exam. You have to study General topics for the morning half of the FE exam anyway, so it's obviously simplest to continue with General topics in the afternoon half as well. However, a discipline-specific exam is good if you want to get a head start on the PE exam.
The Environmental FE exam won't help you with the PE exam, though. California is one of a few states that does not offer the Environmental PE exam.

If you plan to take the Chemical PE exam, then you might want to start with the Chemical FE exam. However, California has an unusual two-tier licensing system for PEs. In practice, Chemical PEs have much more limited authority than Civil PEs in California. So a Civil PE may help you more professionally than a Chemical PE.

If you decide to take the Civil PE exam, then you might want to start with the Civil FE exam. But note that Civil PE candidates in California also have to pass two supplemental exams, on seismic and surveying issues, in addition to the national Civil PE exam.