 Welcome to Caltrans LSIT LS exam preparation course. One aid in your preparation for California licensure examinations. A word of caution. Don't use this course as your only preparation. Devise and follow a regular schedule of study which begins months before the test. Work many problems in each area. Not just those in this course's workbook, but problems from other sources as well. This course is funded by Caltrans, but you and I owe a profound thanks to others, the courses instructors from the academic community, the private sector, other public agencies, and from Caltrans as well. We wish you well in your study toward becoming a member of California's professional land surveying community. How do you do? My name is Chuck Safford. I'm a licensed land surveyor in the state of California. I work for Rick Engineering in San Diego as a principal survey analyst. This first unit of the video workshop has two main objectives. One, to assist you in the preparation to take the LSIT and the LS exam. And two, to help you prepare for the balance of the specific subject matters that will follow in the balance of the video presentations. For the majority of you, this will be the most important test that you perhaps will ever take. In addition to personal satisfaction of passing an examination, state licensure usually leads to financial gain and possible job promotion and advancement. Many of you will be taking a test for the first time since high school. Others of you will have the advantage of college courses and perhaps college graduation. Some people test very well. And I've seen other people that completely fall apart as soon as the word test is mentioned. The plus factor in taking an examination is self-confidence. And the way to gain that self-confidence is through knowing your subject. And this is why we're here, to help you gain the proficiency, the knowledge and the self-confidence to take the examination. I've spent over 20 years in part-time teaching in community colleges and adult education. And that included 13 years teaching in the Southern California Surveyors Apprenticeship Program. I have also set up special courses such as this for students in taking the examination. And I have also graded portions of the LS exam for the state of California. And in this grading, I've noticed that many applicants really weren't prepared. They didn't know the subject matter. They didn't have the experience. And they shouldn't have been there in the first place. As an example, I've seen a 20 plus point problem, an illegal description that was left completely blank by applicants. There is really no excuse for this if you plan to become a licensed land surveyor. You must know the subject matter. Do not take the examination without being fully prepared. In this video session, we will emphasize preparation and organization on how to take this particular examination, how to study. We'll also review some problems. Remember that the test and problem format for the California State Examination has remained the same for about the past dozen years. But the format may change, we don't know. In fact, there's a rumor that the board may, and within a few years, switch over to the NCE type format where the majority of the test may be multiple choice and maybe just two or three hours pertaining to state law. Whether or not this happens, we don't know. I personally hope that it does not. We will not be answering any specific problem examples in this session. That will be done in the subsequent video presentations. Primarily, I'll be addressing the LS examination, but much of what is said about the LS also pertains to the LSIT test as well. Specifically, the areas that we will cover. The application to take the examination, learning how to study, taking the examination, an overview of the 1990 and 1991 test problems and the appeal process. For the LSIT test, the only formal requirements that they state is that they may require two years experience. For information and sample test of the LSIT, you write the National Council of Engineering Examiners, which is the NCEE. Their address is P.O. Box 1686, Clemson, South Carolina, 29633. Usually the LSIT examination in California is given twice a year, once in April and once in October. The filing deadline for the April examination is usually early January, and for the October examination is early August. The LS examination is only given once a year, generally in April. For 1993, the date is April 17th, with the filing deadline of December 11th, 1992. For the LS examination application, you write to the State Board of Registration for professional engineers and land surveyors. Post Office Box 659005, Sacramento, California, 95865. If you wish to call, area code 916-920-7466. The time and the location of all the tests are given upon notice of the acceptance of the application. For your license surveyors exam eligibility, you have to have full-time experience of six years at the time of application. This includes one year of responsible field training and one year of responsible office work. If you have a Bachelor of Science degree from an accredited four-year university such as Fresno State, Ohio State University of Maine, that gives you four years qualified experience. Also passing the LSIT gives you two years experience. If you've received an Associate of Arts degree and a two-year program at a community college, that will give you one year experience. You must have employment verification from the employer, verifying at least four years experience of work. You must have four or more references from licensed land surveyors. They do not necessarily have to be from the state of California. Or from registered civil engineers provided in California, they were licensed prior to January 1, 1982, or they have passed the LS exam themselves. These references must be sent along with your application. Any college transcripts must be certified by the school and sent by the school to the board. The fees for the application, unfortunately, have risen over the years. The 1991 application fee for California was $175. It is non-refundable if you do not pass the exam. They will refund half your money if you do not pass the application process. Contact the board for applications, schedules, and requirements. Ask for, quote, information for licensing as a land surveyor, unquote. And the, quote, plain language pamphlet of the Land Surveyor's Act and the board rules, unquote. While you're asking for these, you better also get a copy of the State of California Subdivision Map Act for the year that you're going to take the exam. Both the Subdivision Map Act and the Land Surveyor's Act are absolutely necessary to have with you while you are taking the examination for references of statutes and codes. Study habits. It's of paramount importance that you set yourself a study schedule. And you have to get the cooperation of your family in order to do this. Explain to them how important it is. I would suggest that you start with a two hour per night, three night per week, at least four months before you start the examination. This will give you roughly 100 hours of study. And this is a minimum, absolute minimum. If you're really serious about doing this, I would double that schedule. Study by subject matter. Read through the text and references to find out your strength and your weaknesses. Take notes for further reference. Use a highlighter in your textbooks for the important phrases, formulas and so forth. Make notes of formulas. And also take notes of unclear subject matter that you want to go back to. You'll now have a rough idea for the feel of your strength and weaknesses in these subjects. I'll go back and repeat the process. But this time start working some problems along with it. We cannot overemphasize, and you'll probably hear me say this again, solve problems, solve problems, solve problems. When you're confident with your progress, it's a good idea to get together with another person who is preparing for the exam or one who has recently passed it and is willing to tutor you a little bit and spend a few nights swapping questions back and forth, solving problems together, and finding out really how much you do know by having the other person ask you questions. It's an excellent idea and help if you can get past copies of the LSIT and the LS exams and work the problems directly out of those examinations. When you first start this, make sure that you're working towards a solution and not spending too much attention to the time element of solving the problems. If possible, try to take a short seminar or a specialized course in the subjects that you feel give you the most trouble. Let's say geodetic control or photogrammetry. Such courses and seminars are given by the community colleges all over the state, institutions, and organizations such as the California Land Surveyors Association. You can contact the local chapter of your CLSA or your local community college for the time and place of these seminars. Always study in a quiet atmosphere. Absolutely no TV and no radio on. People say, oh, I love to study with the radio on, but you really don't absorb as much as you should with any distraction at all. Do constant review and problem solving with attention to quick solutions and problem solving as you approach the examination date. Don't study the night before the exam. Relax. Don't party. Just relax. Get a good night's sleep. Taking the examination. Know the exact location of the building where the examination is taking place. Know how long it takes you to get from your home to the exam site. Allow for minor emergencies. It's my feeling that I prefer to drive alone to the exam. I don't like to wait for another person to pick me up. I want to be responsible for myself. Have all of your textbooks and your references materials with you. Carry these in a large crate or box, and it will be a box full. You'll be surprised. So you can carry them all at once and you'll have them on the desk at the exam for easy handling and reference. It's a board rule that all reference materials must be in textbook form, pamphlet form, or a loose leaf notebook. No loose papers are allowed in the examination room at all. Have all of your textbooks and binders indexed tab for quick reference. Know generally where every subject matter is in the text. You cannot afford to spend any time leafing through a book during the examination trying to find a subject matter. Items to have with you when you enter the examination room. Have personal identification and the ID identification number as supplied to you by the board with your application. Your books, your references, your pamphlets, your notebooks. Don't overload on everything. I think it's rather ridiculous to take three standard books on surveying. One will suffice. Have a clock or a timepiece with you so you can keep track of your time. A calculator with fresh batteries, fresh batteries, and an extra battery pack that's also fresh. You don't want to run out. There are no electric plug-in calculators allowed in the room. No tape, disc, or program cards are allowed in your calculators also. They can be pre-programmed, but you cannot insert program cards during the examination. Take several pencils and a ballpoint pen. Take at least three different colored pencils. They're handy for retracing different deed alignments and calls, lines of sights, control nets, and so forth. An engineer's scale, six inches will be suffice. A protractor, a small straight edge or triangle, and a pencil compass for drawing curves is also handy. There will be proctors in the room to answer any questions that are allowable to hand out the test booklets and to explain the examination period. The first session of the LS exam lasts four hours in the morning. Then there is a lunch break of an hour. Eat a light lunch. High energy. Don't pig out on anything. It's sleepy and sluggish from there. In the afternoon, there is another four-hour session. There is no noticeable difference generally between the two sessions. You get the same types of problems usually in each exam. The LS exam is an open book all the way through. Each problem is given so many points. The ones with the greatest point count are generally the more difficult and take the most amount of time. Work as much of each problem as you can, even though you may not know the final answer. You will be given points for what portions that you do answer correctly. Before you start the exam, quickly count up the total points for that session. Let's say the morning session is 180 points. You have four hours, 240 minutes. That gives you about one and a half minutes per point. Thus, a 24-point problem should take you roughly 36 minutes to work. Now, work within this time frame. You wouldn't want to attack a 24-point problem and spend 55 minutes on it. You have to keep track of your time all the way through. On the back of each test booklet, there is usually a compilation of the subject matter of each problem and the number of points assigned to that problem. If there is a subject matter that you know, that you can cool it real quick, attack that problem first. This will get you warmed up for the exam, give you a little bit of self-confidence, and it'll also give you more time to work the more difficult problems. Read the problems thoroughly. This is most important. Pick out key phrases and instructions such as solve to the nearest second, give a reference, make no assumptions, calculations not needed. I've seen many people lose points on any type of test when they don't read the problem thoroughly. Also pay strict attention to units of measurement. Are they dealing with chains, feet, or meters? Remember the principles of land surveying. If you're dealing with a sectionalized land problem, know where you are within that township. Are you on a range line or are you on a corner common to four interior sections? It makes a lot of difference in how you're going to prurate. Be neat. There is nothing more frustrating to a greater than trying to root through a solution to a problem and have scratches and chicken marks and erasures and sometimes they just give up and say, no credit. Show all the formulas that you use. Write down those formulas and then fill them in with the numerical values as you make each solution step. Remember the greater cannot see the answers in your calculator. And if you happen to multiply two by two and come up with six and you have everything else right and the formula is correct, you'll be given probably some point count for it if he can see your direct error. If the problem is an essay type, be concise. Give references but make no direct quotes from a textbook. The graders know you can read but they want your own words and an answer. Don't get bogged down by a problem. If you fill yourself up against a stone wall, leave that problem, go on to the next one and if you finish, come back and try to redo the problem that was giving you trouble. The overview of the LS examinations. In practically all cases in the state of California, in order to qualify for the LS exam, you first must pass the LS IT. Please note that the LS IT no longer has an open book section but is now an eight hour closed book exam. There are a lot of multiple choice problems and some solutions, fundamentals of land surveying but no specific questions on California state law statutes or principles will be asked on the LS IT. Pardon me. The LS exam is broadly based upon legal principles and professional practice within the state of California. Knowledge of the statutes and codes are required. However, there is a lot of problem solving in each exam. Since 1984, the California LS exam has covered the following subjects. These subjects are not necessarily in every exam but this is the general scope. Public land surveys and boundary determination. Astronomy. Writing legal descriptions. Repairing rights. Geodetic surveys and control. The LS Act and the Subdivision Map Act. Grading plans. Construction surveys. Vertical curves. Vertical and horizontal alignment. The California coordinate system. Latitude and longitude. Photogrammetry. And topographic surveys. They even had a problem a few years back and where you had to draw up a simple record of survey and show all the certificates that had to appear on that record. Over 50% of the problems have been in public lands and boundary determination. The rest in order have been California law, state plane system, and photogrammetry. Through 1991, to my knowledge, there have been no questions on GPS, the global positioning system, nor any technical problems on NAD83. But I do expect these to come up in the exam in the very near future. The 1991 exam had a very difficult problem on error analysis. It was the first one that I know of that's appeared at any test. Very few people even attempted to try it. A general review of the 1990 exam, there were 295 total points. You had to have a passing grade of 57%, and about 31% of those that took the exam passed it. Very briefly, the problem samples were sectionalized land and a rancho boundary. They gave 12 points for the method and 16 points for the solution. A restoration of a lost quarter corner you had to state the principle used to restore the corner. A deed conveyance problem, a boundary determination and write a legal description for 40 points, a boundary determination from a deed, a boundary determination of a lot in an old subdivision. You had to write a legal description for a boundary and state whether a record of survey was necessary. 36, pardon me, 16 points for the method and 20 points for the calculation. A boundary adjustment problem and a legal description with it enlists the statutes and the codes involved in a boundary adjustment. There was a word completion regarding NAD 83, which is worth only 10 points. A photogrammetry problem, which I'll cover in the 91 exam, very similar, and a grading problem involved in lot pads, street and curb grades. There was a 16-point problem in which you had to give eight possible sources of research data for a boundary analysis problem. There was a very heavy emphasis on legal descriptions and boundary determination. Now we'll go into a more detailed analysis of the 1991 exam. There were 300 total points last April. A passing mark was 175 points, which is about 58%. A little over 450 people in the state took the examination and 74 people passed it. That's about 14%. It was a very, very difficult test. This is a sample of the booklet that you receive. This is section A, the morning section, and you can see very briefly the sketch for one of the problems that they give you, the statements and the requirements that they show. You do not work any of your problems in this booklet. They will give you answer sheets to do all of your solutions and to show your answer and to show your identification number. You do not write your name on either this test book or your answer sheet. Everything is done by an identification number to show you upon approval of your application. The morning session of the 1991 exam was 153 points. Now, each problem will give you the point count and also a subdivision of partial answers within each problem. However, most of the problems are graded on elements. There may be a 40-point problem broken down into three parts of 15, 15, and 10, but a 15-point problem, you may pick up one, two, three, four points for partial answers within that. Problem A1 was a 30-point problem graded elements from one to four points each. You had to write a legal description of a pipeline easement covered two parcels of land. You were given a sketch of the reference maps, some bearings, and all the distances. The basic necessities, true point of beginning, the point of beginning, basis of bearings, tides to deed lines, shortening or lengthening the sidelines of the easements at the project boundary, calls to record maps, and you had to calc some of the bearings. Problem A2 was 36 points. You were given a sketch of a block and a new subdivision in the northerly portion of that block. You were also given all of the measured and record distances around the block and the measured angles. You had to state the principle of subdividing a lot out of the new subdivision within the old block. This was the real stickler on that problem was the principle of it. You had to show all your calculations, compare your measured distances with record distances, and state the principle and also state the statute on whether or not a record survey had to be filed along with your survey. Problem A3 was 30 points. The elements were 1 to 5 points each. It was a photogrammetry problem and this is fairly typical of the type of photogrammetry problem that they give. It was horizontal and vertical control over two sections of public land. You were given the focal length, the photo size, the C factor, the model size, the map ratio, and the height of average terrain above sea level. You were required to state the flying height above sea level, the minimum number of flight lines, the minimum number of models, minimum number of photos, minimum number of horizontal and vertical control points, the negative scale, nominal map size, target or premark size, and the accuracy requirements of contour and spot elevations. The average student of land surveying really is not familiar with the problem of this type. So this is one of the subject matter that you have to pay attention to in your videos and also do extra study on. Problem A4 was 21 points. This was the tough one. It was a standard error ellipse You were given a measurement of an angle and a distance to a point. You were required to compute and sketch the standard error ellipse and dimension the major and the minor axis and the theta angle determine the probability of your point falling within the ellipse, determine a 95% probability ellipse, the shape of the ellipse or six different combinations of angle and measurement instruments. It was a real deli. I'll tell you that. Problem A5 was 36 points. The elements were 2 to 10 points. Legal principles and calcs of a fractional section adjoining a rancho. You were given various coordinates on certain section corners and adjoining section corners. Record distances along the section and rancho lines and found original corners. You were required by proportional method to reestablish certain lost corners on the rancho boundary and the section and calculate these coordinates. You were to show all your work and cite the government references for single or double proportion. The afternoon portion of the 91 exam was 147 points. I'll go over just a couple of problems within that. Another legal description of a 40-foot-wide easement. There were certain distances, bearings and curve elements. You were to write the legal, make no assumption, calculate the curves and various bearings. A problem on water boundaries, 27 points. Determine the boundary of a partial land along the Pacific Ocean. You were given tide station data, two stations with various vertical datums and a sketch with elevations and certain distances. You were then required to show a broken back boundary along the Pacific Ocean. They also required which state agency has the authority in boundary determination along the Pacific Ocean and which state agency has the authority on the development of this property. And they also asked you where would the property line be with regards to datum if the same parcel abouted a natural inland lake instead of the Pacific Ocean. They had a problem on astronomy, which was a solar shooting. Nothing was given. They asked you for two methods of determining azimuth, which is more accurate. What is your vertical angle usage? How will parallax and refraction fit into it? What are your likely errors? What are your sources of accurate time? And what are your best times of observation? Problem B6, skipping a couple, was a 10 points. You got one point each for the answers. Write the government code and the section numbers. When may a licensed surveyor practice civil engineering? How do you rectify errors on a record of survey? What are the rules for right of entry onto private property? How do you treat monuments on a road construction project? Who has to sign, seal, maps, plots, and legal descriptions? Who's authorized to practice photogrammetry? What are the rules for the recordation of a record of survey and the certificates along with it? When is a city engineer authorized to practice land surveying? What are the rules and statutes of a boundary line adjustment? And what are the sections of the California state plane system? And that finishes the examination. I'll now give you what I feel are some basic references and texts that you should take in. These will be also stated in your study guides that will be handed out. And also, each of your subsequent instructors will have their favorite references to use. There is a very good book called the Land Surveyor License Examination Review Manual by C.V. Shalapati. He's with the Long Beach State University. It's published under the Professional Engineering Development Publications of Long Beach, California. He also, along with others in Southern California, offer a very good seminar every year for the LS preparation. 4,567 review questions for land surveyors by Russ Brinker is a good book for preparation. Andrew Harbin wrote another book on Land Surveyor Reference Manual. Roy Minick of Landmark Enterprises has a Land Surveying Test Training Manual. And I, myself, put a small syllabus on taking this examination. It's published through Landmark Enterprises also. Remember, these are to be used in conjunction with these video. The video presentations will be very, very helpful for you in problem solutions and in references. And remember to take the study guide that accompanies the videos along with you as a reference when you go in to take the examination. Now, I've been talking about all of the study habits. This is in addition to reviewing these videos. Remember in conjunction with your study format to also set aside time to make use of and study with the video presentations. The final thing that we'll go into is the appeal process. If, and we hope it's a big if, you do not pass the examination. You will be given 60 days in which to file an appeal with the board. When you receive notice of failure and you're within, say, 10 points of the passing grade and they'll let you know. If you pass the exam, they don't tell you what your score was. If you fail the exam, they'll tell you. So let's say you had 167 points out of the possible 175 this year, 91. Then it would behoove you to apply for an appeal to try to pick up those extra 5 or 6 points. You have to write the board and request the appeal. They'll let you know within 15 days whether your appeal has been granted or not. If it's granted, then you send them a fee of $10 and they will send you the official appeal form and a copy of your test booklets along with a copy of your solution sheets. Now, you have to be very diligent and methodical and thorough in going through your answer sheets to find out if you can possibly pick up some more points. You may feel that, yes, I answered this and by the process of elimination they didn't give me any credit for it. You also have to show evidence of why you think you should be given more points and you have to give references along with your appeal form. So it's a very, very methodical process that you have to go through. These will be regraded by a grader and only those problems that you request to be reviewed will be regraded. So you have to point out the problems. If you want to go through all of them, you can do it, but generally that's not worth it. You just want to pick up some certain points and maybe it was one particular problem that gave you some nasty spells on but you feel that you did have the necessary points. At the same time, you return the completed appeal form, make sure that you request to be scheduled for the next exam because you probably will not hear whether they passed your appeal or not until after the application deadline for the next exam. The exam in 1991 was given in April. They graded it in mid-May. The people found out the results in early September. You have a 60-day time and it usually takes about a 60-day time to make an appeal. So that takes you up into November and it still isn't graded. So by the time they get around to regrading it, it is towards the end of December or early January and you've passed the application time for the next exam and you're going to have to wait a full more year to take it. Now this completes this particular video session. We hope that it will assist you in taking the exam and preparing you for the subsequent video sessions. The only thing I can say to you now is that old Boy Scout motto, be prepared. Thank you.