Passed Yet?

As far as my tests go: in short, I passed, but I'm still not licensed. The long story goes like this...

Prior to taking the licensure exams, the exams for certification as a Land Surveyor in Training (LSIT) need to be completed. I passed the LSIT in 1999. LSIT certification means you can work as a surveyor (calculations, boundary resolution, legal research, etc.), but it must be done under the supervision of a licensed surveyor. (The only way around this step is Registration as a Civil Engineer. I had no intention of going THAT route.)

There are three portions to licensure - 1) A National exam (8 hour), 2) a State Exam (6 hour), and 3) a written/take-home exam on the State Business and Professions Code, Land Surveyors Act, and the State Map Act (this is basically an exercise in looking up State Law). (There is also a State requirement of a minimum of 6 years of survey experience prior to exam application that could be considered a fourth portion to the licensure.) I took the National & State exams in 2003. I passed the National, failed the State, as did most people. I should have turned in my take home portion then, but didn't. I re-took the State portion in 2004 and failed again. I took it again in April of this year and felt pretty good about it. I literally took the exam twice this year. I finished (most of) it within the six-hour time limit, and I re-calc'd a lot of it because it 'couldn't have been that easy'.

Now I had to wait.

The result letter were to be mailed out near the end of the 2nd week of September, with a 2nd mailing at the beginning of the 4th week. During the 1st week, I realized that I hadn't sent in the take-home portion of the exam. I called the Board of Registration for Professional Engineers & Land Surveyors in Sacramento to ask if they would still accept it or if I had to wait until next year. I was told to send it in.

The first set of mailing went out and I had friends who had both passed & failed, so I knew that letters with both notifications went out. I got nothing. I waited for the 2nd mailing, and still nothing. I called the board near the middle of the 4th week (the Board prohibits calls prior to the 2nd mailing) to see what was going on. I was told that they had prepared a letter, but that after they received my take-home exam, the content of the letter was 'effectively invalid', so they didn't send it. The lady I spoke to said she would send a copy so I would know that the Board hadn't forgotten about me. I told her that I knew she couldn't give out the results over the phone (also prohibited) but asked if she could read (or at least paraphrase) the letter to me. The letter said, in effect, 'Congrats, you passed, but we didn't get your take-home exam...' Because the board had received my exam, the letter was now invalid, which is why it wasn't mailed.

But the 'Congrats' was what I was interested in.

It meant my exams were done.

The Board members have to meet to approve the Licensure candidates and my take-home was received after the deadline to make it on the September agenda. The next meeting is November 16th & 17th. I called the Board a few weeks ago to verify that I had passed the take-home exam portion and was told that it was fine.

Now I wait again.

Unless something unforeseen happens, I'll be issued a license no later that the 17th of September. With it comes a four-digit number that will follow me forever. It can be checked on the Board's License Look-up page. Just search by last name. I'll be the only Nehring (and the only license in Kerman).