Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[statolith]

I am planning to apply to sit for the exam, but I'm not sure if I will qualify. I'd like to know my chances of being accepted, so that I can plan my preparations.

I have 16 credits of college biology, but one of the courses was taken pass/fail. I have 8 credits of college chemistry. That makes 20 eligible credits under category B. I also have 4 credits of environmental science, which I didn't see as being explicitly excluded or included in the eligible subjects, so I'm assuming it's excluded. To qualify under option 2 of category B, I'll need 12 more credits in biology.

However, I also have over 8 years of professional lab experience in both an academic and corporate setting. Over those 8 years I've done mostly molecular biology, genetics, and plant biology, with some microbiology and biotech. I've attended seminars and journal clubs. I've pretty much done research on a grad student level for the past 4 years.

Does anyone have an inclination as to whether I'm likely to qualify to sit for the exam? If my chances are good, I'd like to order a prep course now. If not, I need to spend about 1.5-2 years taking courses (I work full time, and would only take 1 course/semester).

Here's what the general bulletin says. Do I just need to do a good job of trying to convince them?

The OED will consider expertise in scientific and technical training which is equivalent to that of a Bachelor's degree in a subject listed in Category A.  An applicant without a degree listed in Category A has the burden of establishing possession of sufficient training and expertise in science or engineering to be equivalent to that of a Bachelor's degree in a subject listed in Category A.  Objective evidence demonstrating that training is equivalent to training received in courses accepted under Category A may establish such equivalency.

Thanks for reading and for any advice.

[Isaac]

I think there are some OED final decisions includes some examples of attempts to convince the PTO that their experience qualified them to take the registration exam.   I'd recommend taking a peek.

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/foia/oed/oed.htm

Try looking at  "Technical" decisions.

[statolith]

Thanks, I hadn't noticed that on the OED page. Reading through them, I'm sure I have more qualifications than any of those denied applicants, which buoys my hopes a bit. However, I'd really feel better if I could see decisions wherein petitioners in similar situations to mine were approved.