Initial License

For future reference, I thought I would take this opportunity to document this phase in the process.  I submitted my application for initial license on May 3 via USPS.  On May 28, I logged into the Department of State's website to check and see if I had be listed as registered yet, as I had done every day since May 3.  I was delighted to see that on May 28 my license was issued and the information was updated on the DOS website.  At present, May 30, I have not received the hardcopy in the mail yet.  If they sent it out on May 28, it is conceivable that I will receive it tomorrow.

As a side note, in PA, licenses expire at the end of June every 2 years.  I was curious how it would work for me with my initial license being issued so close to this renewal deadline.  As it turns out, they basically gave me the rest of 2013 so my license was issued May 28, 2013 and doesn't expire until June  30, 2015.  Now, as to whether or not there is some sort of additional pro-rated fee, I am yet to be made aware of it.

Additionally, on May 20 I submitted for AIA National's Jason Pettigrew Memorial ARE Scholarship.  The eligibility requirements are that you are either an NCARB record holder in good standing, or an Associate AIA member in good standing.  Since, once again, the timing is close, I'm not sure if I am any longer one of those things, or if it matters since that is what I was when I submitted the paperwork. Anyway, what I wanted to share was that my NCARB record was set to expire tomorrow, May 31, 2013.  I was reluctant to renew it, because I don't NEED the NCARB record any more, now that I have my license and it is a $75 fee.  However, once I entered in my new license number, it waived the renewal fee and offered me congrats on becoming an RA.  Now they are going to send me information to get the NCARB certificate, which I am still on the fence about.  That fee is significantly more per year than $75.  I think it is in excess of $200.

Anyway, I just wanted to share some fun facts before they fade into "I don't remember...."