Does anyone have any tips for taking API tests? I’m at a loss. I studied the material, made flashcards, did study groups, and was confident in my knowledge to pass Aero I, but still failed. I looked over my test afterward and a lot of questions I overthought. I used the technique of covering the answer choices and answering the question myself first, but that seemed to slow me down a bit and made me a little pressed for time.... any recommendations to ease test anxiety and overthinking things?
One, find a different study group.
Two, there are a lot of old versions of the exams out there; study those. The material doesn’t change and there are only so many ways to ask the questions. If you’ve seen a question asked three different ways, the fourth isn’t likely to flummox you. Plus, you get conditioned to how exam questions are asked (eg, “all of the following are true of (x),
except...”)
Three, if you read the question without looking at the answers, and none of them is obviously the answer you had in your head, skip it and move on and come back to it. Otherwise you wind up agonizing over the answers and overthinking yourself into picking one or another. Plus, another question further on might jog your memory.
Four, what did you do during the exam review? Did you note down everything the instructor mentioned? The exam review happens for a reason, and that reason is the instructor wants everyone to pass. If he mentions it in the review, write. It. Down.
And five, you mentioned everything about your test prep except whether you paid attention to the instructor during the class, took notes, etc. I bring that up because I remediated a lot of kids who got through college half-listening to the prof and then trying to absorb everything from the book before the exam. I and all the instructors I worked with made sure that we covered everything that was on the exam during the classes and not much that wasn’t.
If
@Hammer10k ’s technique works/ed for him, great, but I will tell you that maybe 80+% material in every API course book you don’t need to know generally and definitely don’t need to know for the exam. Use the books to back up your course notes and verify correctness of gouge. You don’t need to Cliffs Notes the whole thing, and you are unlikely to have the time. I would not recommend it as the most time-efficient technique. API is a very fast-paced course, and efficiency is far more important than universal knowledge.
Seem like this is encouraging mindless memorizing? Yeah, it kinda is. When you get flight-side you’re going to have very little time to prepare for each event. Finish debriefing one flight at 7 pm and you’re on the sked for a 9 am brief the next day and you’re expected to show up with the brief material memorized. It’s how it is, and API is the place to learn that skill.
