October 2020 Exams

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School of PE said:
We received an email that NCEES has made changes to their plans for PE Civil October exam in certain cities. Here is their update  https://ncees.org/covid-19/ . We just wanted to let our students know you are covered under our Covid-19 Risk free enrollment, and that we'll be sending updated options to impacted students today via email. 

Thank You,

School of PE
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Bolded text above is not correct. While plans for the October administration could change based on individual site requirements, we are adding another administration in January for PE Civil only (largest remaining pencil and paper population) to provide an additional opportunity for examinees. Please note this  additional administration is primarily to assist people who are unable to sit in October. Those who sit in October and do not pass will not be able to sit again until April. The "certain cities" are where we were able to secure sites in January.

 
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Is NCEES seriously putting themselves in the position of not allowing anyone to become a PE for an entire calendar year? That is crazy folks. Imagine other professions allowing something like this...what if we had no new doctors, or no new teachers entering the profession for an entire year.

I trust that NCEES has smart people at the helm. The problem of safely proctoring exams is easier than some of the exam questions they expect us to answer in under 6 minutes. Why not have more rooms, more proctors and more testing dates. If local guidelines only allow 25 people in a room, be conservative and plan for only 10 test takers to be in a room. Get more rooms. Get more proctors. Stop cancelling exams on us and preventing us from moving forward in our careers.

 
Civil_dad said:
Is NCEES seriously putting themselves in the position of not allowing anyone to become a PE for an entire calendar year? That is crazy folks. Imagine other professions allowing something like this...what if we had no new doctors, or no new teachers entering the profession for an entire year.

I trust that NCEES has smart people at the helm. The problem of safely proctoring exams is easier than some of the exam questions they expect us to answer in under 6 minutes. Why not have more rooms, more proctors and more testing dates. If local guidelines only allow 25 people in a room, be conservative and plan for only 10 test takers to be in a room. Get more rooms. Get more proctors. Stop cancelling exams on us and preventing us from moving forward in our careers.
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Isn't that exactly what they are doing? They split the October test into two separate days. They added a January test administration specifically for civil examinees. They sped up the electrical transition from paper to computer-based to further reduce the number of test takers in the room, while still allowing electricals to take their exam "soon". I empathize with engineers trying to sit for the exam because some of this is a huge inconvenience. But we're in a pandemic, and all I see is NCEES jumping through hoops to get people tested.

 
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 I looked up what going on with the bar exam just for kicks. The bar is usually only offered in February and July so it's not exactly apples-to-apples schedule wise, nor is there a central testing authority but its close enough for discussion. The NCBE has a summary of what's going on in the various jurisdictions.

https://www.ncbex.org/ncbe-covid-19-updates/july-2020-bar-exam-jurisdiction-information/

There's a lot of differences in how States are responding to pandemic.  Most are trying to find ways to deal with the situation. Some states are changing schedules, some are allowing to practice with only a degree under a barred lawyer, there are new reciprocity agreements in place, some are adding more testing sessions, and some DGAF and are doing business as usual. 

tl;dr other professions are being similarly impacted.

 
Spoke to the school of PE. Seems like they will extend your course if you register for either the January or April exams. No need to wait for NCEES to cancel. That is very good from them. I cancelled for October. This COVID situation isn't improving, and don't want to study, waste the rest of the summer and then for the exam to cancel for me. Good luck for those sticking to it.

 
CAPLS said:
Keep your fingers crossed there will not be any others.  Now, you can understand why NCEES previously announced the regional sites for January 2021 for the PE Civil exams.
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Let it be....I think all should be canceled...and converting to CBT...

 
PlanCheckEng said:
Where is the information coming from that CA national exams are cancelled?
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People posted about receiving emails on the PE sub-reddit. May be some part of CA. I just know that they were told to test in Reno or Vegas if they still want to sit for it. Maybe it's Northern CA or something. I live on the east coast so my geography is a little off.

 
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A warning was issued by California Board of PE. On August 4th, they may reach capacity for the PE Exam.  See below and link is here 

https://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/

Another link on the cancellation, here.  In the column for Exam Date, it reads "canceled*". Then at the bottom of the page is the *.  Click on this too.

https://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/applicants/exam_schedule_final_filing_dates.pdf

https://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/applicants/prometric_covid_notice.pdf

ANNOUNCED AUGUST 4, 2020 - Fall 2020 NCEES Paper and Pencil Examinations Update - Despite NCEES’s efforts to accommodate all approved examination candidates in California by adding an additional day of testing, the overall volume of candidates together with adherence to currently mandated local and regional safety and physical distancing protocols has resulted in examination locations that have nearly reached allowable capacity.  NCEES is actively evaluating all viable alternatives to accommodate additional approved California candidates.  BPELSG is continuing to monitor this situation with NCEES and expects to provide more information within the next two weeks.  We encourage all interested parties to monitor any new examination information at https://ncees.org/october-2020-exam-administration-updates/

 
Hi All!:

I need a quick advice. I don't know I have to post here or any where else. I am new with the EB system.

What do you recommend ? I got an offer with the government to work as a Civil Engineer, but currently I am working with a private company. My salary and benefits would be better in Government but I have to work like 8 hours every day. Right now in the private company that I work, I have flexibility to take times off for my PE studies.

I am worried to join the government or stay with my current company. 

I am taking PE Civil (Construction Depth) Exam this October.

Please advise on this.

Thanks

 
Smart Sam said:
Hi All!:

I need a quick advice. I don't know I have to post here or any where else. I am new with the EB system.

What do you recommend ? I got an offer with the government to work as a Civil Engineer, but currently I am working with a private company. My salary and benefits would be better in Government but I have to work like 8 hours every day. Right now in the private company that I work, I have flexibility to take times off for my PE studies.

I am worried to join the government or stay with my current company. 

I am taking PE Civil (Construction Depth) Exam this October.

Please advise on this.

Thanks
Click to expand...
As someone who just switched jobs and is planning to take the AE exam in October, it's definitely manageable. It requires a lot of time management, but if you think it's a good move for you to take, then take it. Granted, I was supposed to take the exam in April, so a lot of my studying now is review and practice questions. It's still possible to get the necessary amount of studying done while working 40 hours a week, you just need to accept that your weekends and/or evenings will need to be dedicated to studying. Additionally, the nice thing about starting a new job is that the work load in the beginning is usually pretty light, plus if you're able to manage it financially, you could possibly take a week off between jobs and spend time studying then. But in the end, it comes down to how comfortable you feel about adjusting to a new job while basically having a part time job for the next 53 days. 

 
Smart Sam said:
Hi All!:

I need a quick advice. I don't know I have to post here or any where else. I am new with the EB system.

What do you recommend ? I got an offer with the government to work as a Civil Engineer, but currently I am working with a private company. My salary and benefits would be better in Government but I have to work like 8 hours every day. Right now in the private company that I work, I have flexibility to take times off for my PE studies.

I am worried to join the government or stay with my current company. 

I am taking PE Civil (Construction Depth) Exam this October.

Please advise on this.

Thanks
Click to expand...
TAKE your PE first regardless....First ASAP....the more you wait ..the more energy you need...best luck...

 
rebecca1 said:
As someone who just switched jobs and is planning to take the AE exam in October, it's definitely manageable. It requires a lot of time management, but if you think it's a good move for you to take, then take it. Granted, I was supposed to take the exam in April, so a lot of my studying now is review and practice questions. It's still possible to get the necessary amount of studying done while working 40 hours a week, you just need to accept that your weekends and/or evenings will need to be dedicated to studying. Additionally, the nice thing about starting a new job is that the work load in the beginning is usually pretty light, plus if you're able to manage it financially, you could possibly take a week off between jobs and spend time studying then. But in the end, it comes down to how comfortable you feel about adjusting to a new job while basically having a part time job for the next 53 days. 
Click to expand...
Thanks for the beautiful and valuable advices.

 

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