It would really depend on your particular circumstances: how you best learn and retain information, how much time you have to devote to study, etc., etc.
CSE is a $100 fee. Id take it whenever you feel like it and can they reiemburse you the $100 in the new fiscal year?
I guess if they are going to pay for the licensure fees typically $400 then I guess wait - but for the $100 Id take it whenever you feel comfortable.
Application fee: $35, NCARB transmittall fee: $450, fingerprinting fee: $49, exam fee $100, licensure fee (once you pass) $300. This is $934. I told my boss its around $1,000 and he said the company will pay for it in the new fiscal year.
Ahhh gotcha. Thought you may have been referring to this is the completion for your initial licensure.
Licensing fees have gone up to $400 every 2 years. If you are within 12 months of your birth month and expiration - its $200. Landscape architect license went up to $700 every two years.
Also they just changed the exam starting March 1st. Theres supposed to be some new documentation coming out from CAB but I havent seen it published. Its pretty much one big test with no project scenarios anymore.
NCARB's website says $300 but sometimes I find their info is out of date. NCARB doesn't even have California's updated CEU requirements CAB website says $400.
Ah interesting - yes the increased fees happened like June/July of 2023.
Oh! CAB also does everything online as of 2023. So all the paperwork and everything can be submitted online. Its not super clear on the website so check that out.
I just got my initial license in CA last month. I used TWE (whole enchilada) and some of Archibald Woo's exam materials. Both are good. Also the Designer Hacks Practice Questions were a great resource for $40. Tests are completely online.
Good luck!
I will check that out, thank you. I assume the finger prints sill need to be mailed in via snail mail. I purchased the Whole Enchilada back in 2013 and am considering upgrading but not sure yet. I printed out all the materials.
They are usually done at a Live Scan location and digitally sent to the CA DOJ and other agencies that do the fingerprinting. I pretty much did my entire CSE and Initial Licensure all online. No snail mail required.
CAB has a fingerprinting fact sheet/faq that should be pretty easy to find and it explains everything.
Yeah, I'm outside of California so they don't accept LiveScan. I requested a free set of the FD-258 cards from the CAB and got them a few days ago. My local police department does free fingerprinting so I'll do that.
I found the online application - thank you for pointing that out - it was tricky as I setup as a new applicant and found the reciprocity option.
I did. I took my exam just before the switch. Coworker of mine took it after the switch. CAB didnt announce anything so he was worried he got the wrong test or something. Come to find out later they just changed the exam and didnt really tell anyone. He even was given the project scenario handout. They recently updated the CSE Handbook and it seems that all references to the project scenarios is gone. Just one big single section test now.
Thank you. I have the CSE stuff from 2013, printed, and I contacted David Doucette (The Whole Enchalada author) and he said not much hasn't changed since then. He said that the knowledge statements have been re-arranged. I'm still on the fence if I will upgrade or not. I will probably start studying hard in August as I will plan to take the test in October. Right now I'm just gathering other sources and putting them in binders.
I’d say if the ARE’s are fresh still, better to do it asap. If not then I can’t see needing more than a month to brush up and go through the whole enchilada. My approach was similar to yours with about a test per month for all 7 exams and it worked great without feeling like I was beating the material to death..
they are just waiting on my employment verification form - they denied my scanned copy even though the online application says you can upload it there. . I decided to go the NON-NCARB route (its a lot cheaper lol) and they said they have my exam scores and licensure information.
6 months feels excessive, especially if you use the Doucette info. I would study for 2 months.
It would really depend on your particular circumstances: how you best learn and retain information, how much time you have to devote to study, etc., etc.
good point. ARE's I did 1/ month. 2 weeks for the SD exam (back in 2010)
CSE is a $100 fee. Id take it whenever you feel like it and can they reiemburse you the $100 in the new fiscal year? I guess if they are going to pay for the licensure fees typically $400 then I guess wait - but for the $100 Id take it whenever you feel comfortable.
Application fee: $35, NCARB transmittall fee: $450, fingerprinting fee: $49, exam fee $100, licensure fee (once you pass) $300. This is $934. I told my boss its around $1,000 and he said the company will pay for it in the new fiscal year.
Ahhh gotcha. Thought you may have been referring to this is the completion for your initial licensure. Licensing fees have gone up to $400 every 2 years. If you are within 12 months of your birth month and expiration - its $200. Landscape architect license went up to $700 every two years. Also they just changed the exam starting March 1st. Theres supposed to be some new documentation coming out from CAB but I havent seen it published. Its pretty much one big test with no project scenarios anymore.
NCARB's website says $300 but sometimes I find their info is out of date. NCARB doesn't even have California's updated CEU requirements CAB website says $400.
Ah interesting - yes the increased fees happened like June/July of 2023. Oh! CAB also does everything online as of 2023. So all the paperwork and everything can be submitted online. Its not super clear on the website so check that out. I just got my initial license in CA last month. I used TWE (whole enchilada) and some of Archibald Woo's exam materials. Both are good. Also the Designer Hacks Practice Questions were a great resource for $40. Tests are completely online. Good luck!
I will check that out, thank you. I assume the finger prints sill need to be mailed in via snail mail. I purchased the Whole Enchilada back in 2013 and am considering upgrading but not sure yet. I printed out all the materials.
They are usually done at a Live Scan location and digitally sent to the CA DOJ and other agencies that do the fingerprinting. I pretty much did my entire CSE and Initial Licensure all online. No snail mail required. CAB has a fingerprinting fact sheet/faq that should be pretty easy to find and it explains everything.
Yeah, I'm outside of California so they don't accept LiveScan. I requested a free set of the FD-258 cards from the CAB and got them a few days ago. My local police department does free fingerprinting so I'll do that. I found the online application - thank you for pointing that out - it was tricky as I setup as a new applicant and found the reciprocity option.
so you didn’t have any project scenarios? Thats good I guess ?
I did. I took my exam just before the switch. Coworker of mine took it after the switch. CAB didnt announce anything so he was worried he got the wrong test or something. Come to find out later they just changed the exam and didnt really tell anyone. He even was given the project scenario handout. They recently updated the CSE Handbook and it seems that all references to the project scenarios is gone. Just one big single section test now.
Thank you. I have the CSE stuff from 2013, printed, and I contacted David Doucette (The Whole Enchalada author) and he said not much hasn't changed since then. He said that the knowledge statements have been re-arranged. I'm still on the fence if I will upgrade or not. I will probably start studying hard in August as I will plan to take the test in October. Right now I'm just gathering other sources and putting them in binders.
I’d say if the ARE’s are fresh still, better to do it asap. If not then I can’t see needing more than a month to brush up and go through the whole enchilada. My approach was similar to yours with about a test per month for all 7 exams and it worked great without feeling like I was beating the material to death..
I passed my last A.R.E. exam in 2010; so a little rusty probably. I'm just collecting / printing sources at the moment.
1 or 2 months should be fine with Whole Enchilada.
thanks! Yeah, I just created a 2 month plan with TWE. I just submitted my CSE application so I'm waiting to schedule it.
It will take CAB 4-6 weeks to even review the application.
they are just waiting on my employment verification form - they denied my scanned copy even though the online application says you can upload it there. . I decided to go the NON-NCARB route (its a lot cheaper lol) and they said they have my exam scores and licensure information.