Anyone regret moving to Naperville or later leave? How crowded is it?

[CGab]

Originally Posted by Faye1361

I am from Iran, near Caspian sea. We have 4 seasons, with rain in almost every season. I would not survive in Florida. We were thinking about moving to Austin,TX but after finding out it is even hotter than here, ...No way!
Looks like my husband and I are facing a new challenge. We both have our PE license in California and we both got our Master's in engineering here. Illinois does not accept our PE. We have to apply for endorsement. Illinois only cares for our bachelor degree which is from Iran. I have heard they can even deny our application if they feel like our bachelor degree doesn't satisfy their requirements. That is just absurd! If that happens, we can never work there. We went to top Universities in Iran where things were so much tougher than here.
In my head I am telling the engineering board " you gotta be kidding me!"

Every country has different requirements when it comes it engineering. My husband works as a Mechanical Engineer for a global company whose headquarters are currently in Illinois. He can travel to Germany and work on machinery and such there while he is based out of the U.S., but if we were to move to and live in Germany (as we once considered) he would need to go back to school as his engineering degree would not be sufficient by their standards!

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by Faye1361

Regarding the professional license, California accepts our Master's as education and it was easy to get approved by the board to take the exam. Illinois on the other hand only accepts bachelor degree as "education". Now we have to apply for NCEES credential evaluation so it can approve our degrees. They want our universities in Iran to directly mail them English diploma, transcript, and course description. The challenge is getting the comprehensive course description in Farsi, translating the courses we took to English and getting it stamped by University. I am okay but this is very uncommon in my husband's university and nobody knows how it can be done. After all the trouble, and even if NCESS approves our bachelor, Illinois board wants to again review our courses. ...

Every state is different, as you're finding out. I'm a licensed mental health professional looking at moving from Illinois to South Carolina, and even for a native like me the process of endorsement is tiresome - I'll be using a company that specializes in such things for mental health professionals. Have you reached out on engineering or Iran-specific forums and sites to see if other Iranians have successfully gotten endorsement in Illinois? You can't be the first one to do this.

[Faye1361]

Originally Posted by Vasily

Every state is different, as you're finding out. I'm a licensed mental health professional looking at moving from Illinois to South Carolina, and even for a native like me the process of endorsement is tiresome - I'll be using a company that specializes in such things for mental health professionals. Have you reached out on engineering or Iran-specific forums and sites to see if other Iranians have successfully gotten endorsement in Illinois? You can't be the first one to do this.

It is true, every state is indeed different. I have been searching, but haven't found any Iranian forum yet.
I think we should be more than fine in terms of our technical courses as our public university system is very tough and on par with US. But we don't have any humanities courses in our universities and probably they will pick on that area. The process will take around 4-5 month and my husband has to communicate with the office there to see if it is acceptable since he does not have an official offer yet.

[damba]

Originally Posted by Faye1361

It is true, every state is indeed different. I have been searching, but haven't found any Iranian forum yet.
I think we should be more than fine in terms of our technical courses as our public university system is very tough and on par with US. But we don't have any humanities courses in our universities and probably they will pick on that area. The process will take around 4-5 month and my husband has to communicate with the office there to see if it is acceptable since he does not have an official offer yet.

I really doubt that working engineers would be scrutinized for lack of gender studies credits
At this point you should also be connecting with staffing firms, headhunters and representatives of the IL licensing body. Reaching out to the national pe standards body could also be useful if IL isn't providing enough info. YMMV.

[chet everett]

Though there are fees and the process is bureaucratic, there are literally thousands of endorsements granted every year to folks who already hold licenses from other states. There is no reason to fear being excluded, the only concern is delays which your employer very likely can "speed along" if they have any experience working with Illinois politics...

Section 1380

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by Faye1361

It is true, every state is indeed different. I have been searching, but haven't found any Iranian forum yet.
I think we should be more than fine in terms of our technical courses as our public university system is very tough and on par with US. But we don't have any humanities courses in our universities and probably they will pick on that area. The process will take around 4-5 month and my husband has to communicate with the office there to see if it is acceptable since he does not have an official offer yet.

If you need to make up some humanities courses, you could do so relatively inexpensively at College of DuPage - they have multiple locations, and a lot of classes scheduled for people who are working full time. There's also Waubonsee in Sugar Grove and Aurora; I think they're less expensive but may have fewer options. I changed careers and went back for a Master's in Clinical Psychology, and needed to take about six classes in psychology at the undergraduate level to apply - most of these I took at College of DuPage in the evening or as self-paced courses at a satellite location. The quality of classes was as good as classes I've taken at major state universities.

But if you're not sure about the requirements, talk to the endorsing agency - they may be able to clear up any doubts you have.

[Faye1361]

Thank you all for your wonderful comments. They are very helpful. We have started the process from our Universities.
I think the stress of the change is magnifying the situation.
We will keep calm and apply for endorsement

[Faye1361]

Originally Posted by damba

Where are you from originally? Interesting weather for certain. I am your opposite. My fave climate is hot and muggy south florida- I'm not sure you could ever leave the house down there(!)

Yeah, my friends in HB would have moved back to IL sooner but their jobs both ramped up while they were there. Being priced out of the housing market unfortunately is all too common there, even with very decent paying white collar jobs.

A lot of the suburban Chicago schools are highly regarded and do offer a healthy mix of subjects/amenities.
Class sizes are quite reasonable usually. Special ed is also a particular strength in 203, I believe ( Wheaton too).

Damba, My husband and I are having a discussion about moving to a suburb/farther city or moving out of state.
If we move 30-40 miles away from downtown LA , let's say Rancho Cucumango, we can afford a small house/townhouse, but we have to commute 1-1.5 hour everyday. Or we can go to Naperville, get a bigger house and commute for 20-30 minutes.
Now, I am sure many people might have discussed the same thing including your friends from HB. I am very curious to know how they made up their mind and decided to move there.
FYI, I had 5 jobs in 3 years, with a commute ranging from 20 miles to 50 miles. I also had to travel a lot in this crazy LA for my jobs.Commuting made me depressed, hurt my body (my hip got misaligned from sitting 1.5-2 hours in the car for a long time), and I know it is not sustainable. My husband never had to commute more than 8 miles.

Thanks alot for your help.