I was disappointed to learn today that I'm 6 months shy of experience for my license in South Carolina due to the fact that my MS is not being counted since it was earned while I was working. Seems a tad silly that if I had just gone to graduate school full time for a year right out of undergrad and then worked three years it would be fine, but because I did both at once it doesn't count at all.
SC Rejected PE application due to "double dipping"
- Thread starter Coop13
- Start date
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youngmotivatedengineer
Well-known member
Coop, your explanation is right in your subject. Doing 2 things at once and trying to count both is double dipping and you don't have a full 4 calender years of experience. If you went to school for 1 and then worked 3, you would have a true 4 years. If allowed to overlap, someone could work full-time during the day, and then another part-time job at night for only 2 years and have 4 years of experience.
I guess it makes since that this way they are confirming at least 4 years have passed since graduating from undergrad, I just feel from a knowledge standpoint 1 full year of grad school + 3 full years of work experience doesn't seem very different from 3 or 3.5 years of experience while also attending school.
While you may be right, I think it's very common for states that have that in their licensing laws. I think quite a few applicants who work during grad school end up excluding their masters program as usually only counts as half experience. So they just add up their 4yrs of work, and ignore the fact that they had 2yrs of school too.
Dexman PE PMP
Internationally PMP'n his PE-ness
It also prevents you from counting your internships during your undergrad.
The Colorado rules are very straight forward: you need 8 years of "progressive engineering experience." You can apply 4 years to your undergrad (regardless of how long it takes), one year to a masters degree, and the balance to be work experience. They break it down to the month, and each month can only be claimed for one of those categories. Even then, you still may not get credit for every month of work if it's not "progressive". If you spend 3 years just doing quantity take-offs, they won't give you credit for the full 3 years. I had to re-apply because they didn't count the first 3-4 months of my work experience because I wasn't working under an engineer (just doing field work for a contractor).
The Colorado rules are very straight forward: you need 8 years of "progressive engineering experience." You can apply 4 years to your undergrad (regardless of how long it takes), one year to a masters degree, and the balance to be work experience. They break it down to the month, and each month can only be claimed for one of those categories. Even then, you still may not get credit for every month of work if it's not "progressive". If you spend 3 years just doing quantity take-offs, they won't give you credit for the full 3 years. I had to re-apply because they didn't count the first 3-4 months of my work experience because I wasn't working under an engineer (just doing field work for a contractor).
civilrobot PE etc etc
The Beyonce of Construction
I'm glad I read this before getting a signature on one of my former experience forms. I interned for the last 17 months of my senior year of a 4.5 year college program. I will save myself the headache and adjust the time that I'm claiming right now.
