Below I have broken down my high-level journey month by month to becoming a Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania. Please reach out with any questions as this is to help you with your own journey to becoming a PE! 

Prior to October 2021:

• Took and passed the FE Exam during my senior year of college. I earned my EIT certification once I graduated from that ABET-accredited college and filled out the proper paperwork with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. If you would like a breakdown to becoming an EIT, please let me know!

October 2021:

• Started my PE application with my state board. As part of this, I figured out who I wanted my references to be. For the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at least 3 of your references need to be licensed Professional Engineers. 

November 2021:

• Followed up with my 5 PE application references
• Started gathering my required resources. I  downloaded the NCEES PE reference handbook from NCEES.org. I also compiled 9 references for my Transportation depth. Make sure you have the relevant versions! You can view what are the versions you will have access to during the exam here: https://ncees.org/engineering/pe/civil-cbt/
• Fill out the amplified record of engineering experience and submitted that through email to my state board submit the initial application fee which for me was $50 processing fee and $22 for the associated background checks needed
• Send my college transcript which cost $16 as this was also required by my state board to for my application

December 2021:

• Started casually looking through the NCEES PE reference handbook and my 9 references for my depth

January 2022:

• Received approval to sit for the PE exam from my licensing board! Once the approval is received, you can log in at ncees.org and schedule your exam. I scheduled mine for June and it cost me $375 to schedule.
• Started the ASCE PE Course. As an ASCE member, this course costs $1995, but work paid for this for me. More information on the course here: https://www.asce.org/education-and-events/explore-education/pe-exam-reviews

February 2022:

• Continued ASCE PE Course
• Bought PPI practice problem book – PPI Michael R. Lindeburg, PE’s PE Civil Practice Problems, 16th Edition ($93.50 with my 15% discount link): https://ppi2pass.com/engineering?affiliate=5354454d505049 

March 2022:

• Continued ASCE PE Course
• Took and Reviewed the NCEES Transportation Depth Practice Exam 

April 2022:

• Bought NJ PE Exam Practice for $5 – Their website is https://www.ascenjb.org/ymg-overview if you want to purchase this when they offer this again.
• Took a break for Structures Congress 2022 (Note:I don’t personally recommend a break as I did lose some of my momenta.)

May 2022:

• Started and finished Civil Engineering Academy’s PE Review Course ($397). More information on the course here: https://civilengineeringacademy.com/. I watched through all the lectures at least once and did all the breadth practice exams and transportation depth exams. It did take up a lot of the month, so if you want to space this out more, I would recommend the 6-month access for $697.

June 2022:

• Bought 1 week of PPI’s learning hub – $59 
• Bought a backup TI-36X Pro in case mine stopped working mid-exam.
• Took the exam for the first time 
• Found out that I didn’t pass. When I got my failing results, I took some time off and then scheduled with NCEES to take the test again ($375 each time you need to schedule the PE Exam).

July 2022:

• Started with a review of the NCEES Transportation Depth Practice Exam. Then went over any practice problem I got wrong in detail.  
• Reviewed my practice exams from the Civil Engineering Academy

August 2022:

• Took PE Exam for the 2nd time

September 2022:

• Found out that I passed! I received my license in the mail about a week after my passing result.
• joined RCEP to keep track of my PDHs 

September of each odd year (starting in 2023 for me): 

• Maintain my license. To do this in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, you will need 24 hours of continuing education (24 PDHs) every two years. If you have any questions on where to find PDHs to complete your renewal, please leave a comment below and I can make a separate post on this.  In PA, there is a $100 renewal fee.

What questions do you have for me about the process of becoming a Professional Engineer?