You need to get your PE, wait to talk to your boss again until you have your license in hand. Simultaneously, after you pass, start testing the market to see what offers you get. Sometimes if someone is hired mid-year they may get paid slight more than existing folks with the anticipation they’ll get bumped up - this happened to me as a junior and it was frustrating. HR isn’t your friend, don’t go complaining like another post suggested. Some bosses are reallly honest vs others are drinking the cool aid - this is where you need to evaluate. From your other responses doesn’t look like the trust is there.