I'm an electrical in NY and I applied for the very first PE test that I was eligible for. However, I was worried that the state board wouldn't count all my experience and would hold onto my $345 application fee until I had enough experience to take the test. Obviously I didn't want that to happen. So I called the state board and asked if my application fee would be returned if i didn't have enough experience to be accepted... the answer I got was, "Oh, I think that it probably does." That is from the state board! They couldn't give me a more definitive answer than that. Thank goodness that they were at least pleasant people.