EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
(OP)
Hi I have a B.S. in geology. I want to go back to school for civil engineering and have surprisingly been accepted to several masters programs under the condition that I take civil engineering background courses first. However, I think after completion of any of these masters tracks I will still be ineligible to take the FE exam. So I have two questions...
(1) Do you think it is more beneficial (more advantageous for career opportunities) to have a MS in civil engineering with a non-civil engineering BS OR BS in civil Engineering with no MS in civil engineering?
(2) Is at least having an EIT certification pretty much a necessity when it come to employment, marketability, and advancement in the civil engineering career field? ** If so, then what's the point in getting an MS in civil engineering that doesn't make me eligible to take the FE exam?
Any relevant or thoughtful insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
(1) Do you think it is more beneficial (more advantageous for career opportunities) to have a MS in civil engineering with a non-civil engineering BS OR BS in civil Engineering with no MS in civil engineering?
(2) Is at least having an EIT certification pretty much a necessity when it come to employment, marketability, and advancement in the civil engineering career field? ** If so, then what's the point in getting an MS in civil engineering that doesn't make me eligible to take the FE exam?
Any relevant or thoughtful insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!





RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
To answer your question, it depends on what you want to do with your engineering degree. If you want to do design work, and later get your PE; that will require that you first pass the FE. If for some reason the MS doesn't grant you eligibility for the FE, maybe going back to getting a BS is your best option.
If you want to work in construction or project management, you do not need an EIT or an engineering degree for that matter, you could probably wiggle into a company with your geology degree already.
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
Make sure that the program you select is ABET-accredited.
I worked with one person with a non-engineering BA and an engineering MS who was able to get licensed because her MS was ABET-accredited.
Most schools only are accredited for the BS.
If you are going to work in civil engineering, a PE is required to advance, but as andriver says, you don't need a PE for construction management.
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
Thank you so much for your input. I feel very few of my academic advisors have been completely up front with me about what my options are. No one of them seems to mention much about how I become an eligible candidate for the FE exam even though ABET certainly has set up policy that specifically determines how one must become eligible to earn the EIT certification.
It seems the Engineering Accreditation Commission, who generate the valid ABET programs, list very few MS programs being ABET accredited. It's tough because I think anyone of these MS programs I've been accepted to (Colorado State, U of Wyoming, NAU, and UC Denevr) could offer a lot, but I'll be walking into a career field with no prior engineering work experience. So in order to get those entry-level civil engineering jobs it seems like they "prefer" EIT certification.
Hmmmm decisions, decisions........
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
If you want to be an engineer, get the right degree, take the right exams and work toward professional licensing.
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
Listen actually, you would be allowed to take the FE exam!! NCEES does allow people who have degrees that arenot from an ABET-accredited programs to sit for their respective exam. However, you would have to pay to have your entire educational history evaluated, which includes all coursework done at undergraduate and graduate level, set in comparison to the NCEES standard. With your B.S. in Geology and the M.S. in Civil Engineering, which includes additional background engineering courses, you would be able to demonstrate that your total educational background meets the NCEES standard!
Also, if you want early experience to help you get your foot in the door for job interviews, I suggest you join your local student chapter of ASCE and volunteer to compete in the student design competitions. The events are challenging and helps you to understand how to take a concept from theory, thru the design process to the finished product.
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
Good luck.
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
There's a chance though you may wash out to, because those are the challenging "weed out" type of classes.
I passed the the EIT and then FE 4 years later both on first try. I felt very comfortable during the tests due to the education background. I own my own company, and also do civil expert deposition and trial work for construction defect cases and the PE is required for that and stamping drawings which your clients need to have done for their development project approvals..
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
You can take the EIT towards the end of the BS program..Then you are required to practice for four years under the supervision of a PE before you are able to sit for the FE.
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
FE is for EIT certification. Then four years of practice under the direct supervision of a PE to be eligible to sit for a PE exam.
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
http://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/laws/boardrules.pdf
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
So you will face a difference in perception (even if you happen to be just as capable with design tasks as a BSCE grad) when interviewing with companies that want a design engineer (what most people expect when they talk about civil engineering as a career).
Some states (I know Colorado is one) will also require additional work experience for a BSCET grad than a BSCE grad would need before being eligible for the PE exam.
Depending on what area of civil engineering interests you, you may be better served by completing an MS with a focus in your specific interest area than a BSCE. I'd say this is probably most true for people interested in structural, transportation, and geotechnical engineering. People interested in construction management, land development or water resources may benefit from the broad background that the BSCE provides.
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?
The trick with software is that universities teach the packages that A) the faculty member knows or B) they can obtain cheaply. Sometimes that lines up with what you'll use in industry. A lot of the time it doesn't. Unless you're working with an employer with job offer in hand (and know that they use EngSoftXYZ), don't be too allured by a University promising to teach you EngSoftXYZ. Of course, learning the basic concepts of drafting or finite element analysis will carry over no matter what specific software you end up using in your career.
Practical work experience is worth its weight in gold for a newly minted engineer. Get all of that you can.
RE: EIT certification nearly required for civil engineering work?