Failed FL PE 3 times - what are my options?

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Turtle, not sure if you can do it since it was quite a while ago, but one of the guys I worked with at the time ran out of chances in Florida so he signed up to take it in Georgia and eventually passed it there. He still works for USACE so the state didn't really make a difference job-wise. Of course, I'm not sure where you are, but this was when I was in Jacksonville so going to Georgia wasn't too bad a trip.

BTW, Florida Tech grad? Another OE here, although I have been doing primarily civil work since I left Florida about 10 years ago.

 
The endorsement application for FL PE does ask the State where you passed the exam to specify the number of times you took the exam. I don't know what they do with that information though. I just sent them my application and I took the exam just one time, so I can't tell you if FBPE might reject you if you took the exam more than 3 times or if they might require you to take those 12 credits anyway before they give you a license.

 
Turtle, not sure if you can do it since it was quite a while ago, but one of the guys I worked with at the time ran out of chances in Florida so he signed up to take it in Georgia and eventually passed it there. He still works for USACE so the state didn't really make a difference job-wise. Of course, I'm not sure where you are, but this was when I was in Jacksonville so going to Georgia wasn't too bad a trip.
BTW, Florida Tech grad? Another OE here, although I have been doing primarily civil work since I left Florida about 10 years ago.
If you were to register for the exam after failing three times in Florida would you get a clean slate in Georgia? I only ask b/c if not you'd only get one more chance to take it in Georgia. They allow you to take the exam four times before requiring additional coursework. Your post seemed to imply that your co-worker may have taken it several times in Georgia after not passing in Florida.

 
Being an electrical engineer, I can't offer good advice on which PE exam to take (i.e., which discipline).
However, persistence is a virtue. I think it takes a lot of fortitude and courage to keep trying - especially when you are discouraged.

Somebody else on this board quoted Calving Coolidge. So, I am re-posting this quote because it is one of the best quotes I've ever read outside of the Bible.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

Calvin Coolidge

30th president of US (1872 - 1933)
Love that quote. Also one of my favorites.

 
I do know people that failed 4 times in Georgia (Their requirement is 12 college hours and TWO YEARS) I do know people that have failed 4 times in GA, taken the exam in Alabama and then applied for reciprocity in GA- but they waited out the 2 year requirement just to avoid the paperwork part.

What afternoon part are you taking and what do you do (transportation, site design, water, etc)

I failed the 1st time. and My strategy the 2nd go round was to shoot to get 30+ correct in the AM session and then get as many as possible in the PM.

The AM section questions IMO are more about bringing the right reference manuals and knowing where to find the info quickly. For example I build roads, so I dont know (or care) jack shit about environmental. I think I got 1/8 correct for the ENV part in the AM. The 2nd go round I secured several references to be able to look up those plug & chug problems. I dont know how many I got right but I passed and didnt stumble on many in the AM.

If you dont do transportation I wouldnt take that PM section, lots of peopel think its the easiest but the HCM and such can be very confusing if you havent used it at some point in your carrer..

Good Luck and hang around, there LOTS of people here who didnt pass it the 1st time...

 
My advice is to find an online civil engineering certificate satisfying the credit criteria.

As for bridge coursework to get you into the program, well I applied to a Master's program, and was told I had to take three bridge courses to register. I got accepted into the program with these "suggested required" courses as a prerequisite...then I called my advisor directly and just registered for classes. I never took the additional prereq courses...I completed my master's with no problems whatsoever...sometimes you just have to forge ahead and hope they don't notice ;)

A typical civil handbook/CERM will give you much of the background reading for the AM exam. The PM exam will require a formal course be taken, and many hours of self study because it will be outside your area of expertise.

Good luck...

 
Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone has had this same experience and can give me some advice. I have failed the Civil PE exam three times in FL and am now required to take 12 credit hours before sitting for the exam again. I have spoken with my local college and found out that my current bachelors degree does not cover many of the prerequisites required for the upper level civil courses that I need to take. I will have to backtrack and take statistics and chem 2 before I could take any civil engineering courses there. I was thinking about taking the exam in another state and applying for reciprocity. Does anyone know if in FL I can get reciprocity after failing three times or will I still need to take the 12 credit hours? Thanks for any advice!
If you failed three times, what makes you think you'll pass the next? Have you considered that maybe you shouldn't worry about getting licensed?

What sort of degree do you have?

What's your experience in?

You probably won't be able to take the exam out-of-state. I believe the applications on every state I've looked at ask for previous exam information.
wow. a woman who gets right to the point and is not afraid of hurting someones feelings...

i think im in love

 
Turtle, not sure if you can do it since it was quite a while ago, but one of the guys I worked with at the time ran out of chances in Florida so he signed up to take it in Georgia and eventually passed it there. He still works for USACE so the state didn't really make a difference job-wise. Of course, I'm not sure where you are, but this was when I was in Jacksonville so going to Georgia wasn't too bad a trip.
BTW, Florida Tech grad? Another OE here, although I have been doing primarily civil work since I left Florida about 10 years ago.
If you were to register for the exam after failing three times in Florida would you get a clean slate in Georgia? I only ask b/c if not you'd only get one more chance to take it in Georgia. They allow you to take the exam four times before requiring additional coursework. Your post seemed to imply that your co-worker may have taken it several times in Georgia after not passing in Florida.
That's why I'm not sure if this would still work or not. This was actually about 15 years ago...it was right when Florida started limiting the number of tries...so it may have just been that Georgia didn't have any restrictions at the time. I'm not sure how many times it took him to pass because I left right as he was coming up with the idea to take the exam in Georgia. I only know he passed at some point because he's listed on their webpage.

 
Turtle-- Several members have shared several different ideas. I am unwilling to comment on the merits of any of them, however, let's see if we can develop a gameplan for you to become a licensed PE.

I think that you will find that many states will require additional coursework if you fail the PE examination 3 or more times. I think that 3 failures requires you to demonstrate to the board that you took additional coursework in the specific discipline that you tested in to give you additional academic preparation for sitting for the examination. You are going to waste more time screwing around trying to find a "way out" of this then just taking the 12 hours plus whatever additional stem work you need for the 12 hours. I do not expect that the board will "forget" or "not see" that you did not have the additional 12 hours, especially since your original degree is NOT in civil engineering. So, point one is to take the stem work and then the 12 hours of additional work-- this may mean 18-24 additional hours of course work. However, by your own admission, you do not have a civil engineering degree, so you probably need the additional course work to have a greater understanding of the principles of the civil discipline, if that is where you elect to sit for the examination.

Point 2 is to review the examination specifications for the appropriate civil examinations to see where your background best fits. It may be that the examination section that you sat for was the best fit for your experience and academic preparation, but you were unable to "self teach" yourself the material needed to demonstrate minimal competency in the examination.

In my mind, there is no reason to continue to spend money and time trying to "force fit" something that probably requires additional preparation. When I moved to my current state of residence, I had to sit for the examination, even though I was currently registered in Texas, had been for many years, but because of graduate school degrees, did not have to sit for the PE exam in Texas. This was several years ago-- the rules have all changed and now, irregardless of degree, to include the PhD, you have to sit for the examination. In the end, it was far easier to take the test and pass it then continue to try and find away around the rules established. I do recall a colleague who appeared before the Texas Board of PE's to petition for an academic waiver (he was an adjunct professor) who owned a business. He was denied the academic waiver and one of the board members, a CPA pointed out that CPA's try the same thing, i.e., try and get a waiver instead of taking the test and demonstrating proficiency. My colleague has NOT, TO THIS DAY taken the PE examination in his discipline. I suspect that he will never do it-- even though he could probably pass if he put his mind toward it.

I do agree with previous commenters-- persistance is a wonderful trait and you should not give up on any of that. However, let's get the necessary preparation you require, take a good prep course, work 20000000 problems, take the exam one time and be done with it. I know, at this point, this looks very daunting. However, it is not as daunting as it appears. Get the course work you need, study the material they recommend you to take, take a review course, take the PE exam and be done with it. In the end, this is the best solution for you.

Good Luck.

 
As interesting as the subsequent posts are, I still can't get past the first post. Is it really true that, in FL, if you fail 3 times you have to take 12 units of college engineering courses?? Crazy.

This is true in many states-- if you fail the PE exam 3 or more times, you are required to take 12-15 hours of additional course work to demonstrate to the board that you have achieved minimal academic competency so as to sit for the examination. This rule is not unique to Florida.

Actually think that this is a good rule-- if you fail 3 times, you probably need to have more course work to manifest minimal competency. Remember, the PE examination is designed to demonstrate that a license holder is "minimally competent" in his/her specific discipline. OK, I'll concede that there is some "testmanship" involved, however, this is an examination that most folks need to study for and not go in and hope that the right answer appears.

 
Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone has had this same experience and can give me some advice. I have failed the Civil PE exam three times in FL and am now required to take 12 credit hours before sitting for the exam again. I have spoken with my local college and found out that my current bachelors degree does not cover many of the prerequisites required for the upper level civil courses that I need to take. I will have to backtrack and take statistics and chem 2 before I could take any civil engineering courses there. I was thinking about taking the exam in another state and applying for reciprocity. Does anyone know if in FL I can get reciprocity after failing three times or will I still need to take the 12 credit hours? Thanks for any advice!
Have you heard of testmasters? I took their EE class a year ago in Texas and took the test in CA. I had already taken the test once and the first time I took PPI (which was useless in my opinion). They offer Civil courses as well. I seriously can't say enough about this course. They tell you exactly what you need to know. Dont listen to other skeptics that enjoy going around on forums and boast about how well they test. Furthermore DON'T GIVE UP! Hope this helps!

 
I would also recommend you to go to Testmasters as they prepare you good for the morning session. If you do good in morning and moderate in afternoon, you will pass for sure.

 
Not that my background should matter, but I have an ocean engineering degree and I work as a waterfront engineer. There is no PE for my specialty, but civil engineering is the closest. My degree did not cover any environmental, transportation, surveying, or water resource courses. I have been attempting to learn those subjects on my own through review courses and continuing education courses. I do need a PE to continue to be successful in my career path and that is why I continue to work towards passing the exam.
I have a recommendation when you get re-approved.

The test is a test of the the test. Maybe Civil: Water Resources and Environmental, Environmental, Industrial, Naval Architecture and Marine or maybe for some reason, you happen to know Computer Engineering. My BS degree was nearly 20 years ago, prior to the concentrations of PE, so I knew a little about a lot. I changed my mind 3 times about which test to take. Eventually, I settled, and studied and prepared several hundred hours for the exam. I passed the PE first try.

Pick an exam, and study your ass off, then study some more.

 
None of the civil specialties fit what I do at work. So there was a lot of material I did not know but I passed on my first try.

I started through the review books and at first, all I would do would be read the question and then the solution.

When the solution cited a value from a reference page, I would review the page and tab it for future reference.

Eventually I got to the point where I knew when I could go to each table for a value. Then it was usually "plug and chug" from there.

 
None of the civil specialties fit what I do at work. So there was a lot of material I did not know but I passed on my first try.
I started through the review books and at first, all I would do would be read the question and then the solution.

When the solution cited a value from a reference page, I would review the page and tab it for future reference.

Eventually I got to the point where I knew when I could go to each table for a value. Then it was usually "plug and chug" from there.
And that, in my opinion, is what the PE does best - it doesn't make sure you know everything, it makes sure you understand the codes and engineering in general well enough to apply the necessary concepts and requirements correctly.

 
Not that my background should matter, but I have an ocean engineering degree and I work as a waterfront engineer. There is no PE for my specialty, but civil engineering is the closest. My degree did not cover any environmental, transportation, surveying, or water resource courses. I have been attempting to learn those subjects on my own through review courses and continuing education courses. I do need a PE to continue to be successful in my career path and that is why I continue to work towards passing the exam.
I have a recommendation when you get re-approved.

The test is a test of the the test. Maybe Civil: Water Resources and Environmental, Environmental, Industrial, Naval Architecture and Marine or maybe for some reason, you happen to know Computer Engineering. My BS degree was nearly 20 years ago, prior to the concentrations of PE, so I knew a little about a lot. I changed my mind 3 times about which test to take. Eventually, I settled, and studied and prepared several hundred hours for the exam. I passed the PE first try.

Pick an exam, and study your ass off, then study some more.

Testmasters X3 - I didnt notice before that you didnt have transpo, surveying, or WR in college, thats 80% of AM exam..

 
Could you take some civil courses? It seems to me that without soils/water resources/transpo you would probably be sunk on the civil exam as these things are rather unique to civil engineering and probably not easily picked up by studying alone.

 
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Could you take some civil courses? It seems to me that without soils/water resources/transpo you would probably be sunk on the civil exam as these things are rather unique to civil engineering and probably not easily picked up by studying alone.
I disagree. My undergraduate degree is in Computer and Systems Engineering and my graduate degree is in Information Technology Management - and I had no trouble learning enough geotech, WR, enviro, and transportation.

 
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