# California SE Exam Eligibility



## Orca2552_PE (Aug 15, 2021)

Hi Folks, 

I was wondering if I could get a little help here regarding the SE Exam eligibility criteria in California. I was slightly unclear about the "three years of qualifying full-time work experience" requirement. 

As I understand it, the board requires one to have the at least three years of relevant work experience after having being licensed as a PE. In my particular case, the "Date of Issuance" of the PE License is June 7th, 2019. Three years from that date puts me roughly at June 7th 2022. My goal was to take the exam October 2022 cycle. 

That said, I saw that the final filing date for the application (new applicants) to the board for the October 2022 exam falls on May 2nd, 2022 (more than a month before my June 7th day when I meet the above requirement). My question is - Does that disqualify me from taking the SE in October 2022, and the earliest I can now take it is in April 2023? Or will the board except my application beforehand and approve it given October 2022 satisfies that 3 year requirement?

In other words, does the 3 year criteria decide when you become eligible to submit your application to the board, or simply decides when you become eligible to take the exam?

Thanks in advance.


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## BridgeEngineerLBC (Aug 15, 2021)

It's my understanding that your engagement record / project experience has to add up to a minimum of three years of "in responsible charge" of structural engineering work at the time you submit your application to the CA board. I was in a similar situtation last year because I obtained my CA PE in December 2017 and I was also hoping to apply for the Spring 2021 SE exam, but because of the application deadlines I had to wait one more cycle. I ended up applying for this fall and I was recently approved for examination.


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