72 on knowledge test.

I wouldn't stress at all. It will be a while before you take your checkride and I like the initiative of getting it done early. I have to harp on all of my students to get there written done even after they have soloed!

Each examiner is different. My examiner took the copy of my knowledge test and stuffed it in the folder. I am not even sure he looked at the grade. Also now that most use IACRA (an online application for your PPL) the system verifies that you passed and thats it.

My test scores went up as I got further along in my training.

Most importantly be honest. Integrity matters more than any failed written or checkride. You owned up to it, way to go.

PPL-Low 80s
Inst-Mid 80s
Commercial-Mid 90s
CFI- Mid 90s
CFII- Perfect!
ATP- 96

-Jason
www.flyboulder.com
 
What you're up against is human nature. When you sit down with the examiner, after a little howdy-duty, he'll ask for (usually in this order) his check and proof you are qualified to get a PPL: your logbook, endorsements, certificate, and test results.

Now follow me through 2 examples:

Pilot A: test grade 95%
It's human nature for the DPE's first impression of this pilot to be positive. "This guy knows what he's doing and this should be an easy check ride." Later in the oral or practical he has trouble in a few areas (everybody does) where the examiner can use some discretion and the examiner gives him the benefit of the doubt, since "This guy knows what he's doing and this should be an easy check ride."

Pilot B: test grade 72%
It's human nature for the DPE's first impression of this pilot to be negative. "This guy barely made it through the test and he will probably do the same thing here." Later in the oral or practical he has trouble in a few areas (everybody does) where the examiner can use some discretion and the examiner doesn't give him the benefit of the doubt. "I knew it! This guy barely made it through the test and he will probably do the same thing here. All I had to do was dig a little to find his shortcomings."

It's simply human nature to let your first impression taint future information. It takes less information for us to agree with our first impression than it does for us to realize our first impression was wrong.

Now that you know this, you can be prepared. You have an uphill (but not insurmountable) battle to show him your test score in not an accurate measure of your current knowledge level. This is one of the reasons I don't let my students take the written until they can show me 3 practice tests of 90% or better. (The larger reason is that you really do need to know all of that info.)
 
Who cares about a 72? Don't sweat it you've got a long time between the test and your practical to fully know the answer to any possible questions your going to get thrown at you in the oral.
In my dealings with DE's, they want the money UP FRONT, in CASH, then you do the paperwork. They look for a PASS on the written and then go from there. Most of these guys (or gals) have been doing what they do for a long time and have a set method of examination thats hits everything. So the guy that scored a 100 is going to get the same ride as the guy who got a 70-as long as you know what the answers are. You mess up and they start digging as deep as the guy who made a 100.

And out of curiosity how would the DE ask question about what the guy missed without getting a book out and looking up the codes for the questions?
 
I'm going to give you the philosophy that got me through 4 (ok 5) years of college

"C's Get Degrees."

Don't worry about it, most examiners don't even look at the grade. Just make sure your knowledge is good when you go for your oral exam, I'm guessing that will be a couple months away at least.
 
How did you get a 72 ? There are 60 questions. 43 out of 60 = .716, 44 out of 60 = .733 ?


Do the test round a .716 to a .72 ?
 
greaper007 said:
I'm going to give you the philosophy that got me through 4 (ok 5) years of college

"C's Get Degrees."

Don't worry about it, most examiners don't even look at the grade. Just make sure your knowledge is good when you go for your oral exam, I'm guessing that will be a couple months away at least.
Click to expand...

My experiences as a CFI have been completely counter to this. I've been told by Examiners that an applicant should expect to be asked about the items missed. With that kind of score, you've opened the door for them to quiz you on more items, extending the length of the oral, and give you more opportunity to show what you don't know. The higher the score on the written, the easier the oral has gone for my students.

Retake the written? You have to weigh the pros and cons. Your score will go no farther than the Examiner. These numbers are not collected at "headquarters" and put in your "file". Don't worry about it hurting you down the line, but DO expect to show strength of knowledge in the areas you missed. In other words, expect a tougher/longer oral with that kind of score..... from my experiences.

The positive - you know what areas you need to work on. You will have an opportunity to get it right and show your stuff in the oral. Best of luck.
 
dj4wrd said:
My experiences as a CFI have been completely counter to this. I've been told by Examiners that an applicant should expect to be asked about the items missed. With that kind of score, you've opened the door for them to quiz you on more items, extending the length of the oral, and give you more opportunity to show what you don't know. The higher the score on the written, the easier the oral has gone for my students.

Retake the written? You have to weigh the pros and cons. Your score will go no farther than the Examiner. These numbers are not collected at "headquarters" and put in your "file". Don't worry about it hurting you down the line, but DO expect to show strength of knowledge in the areas you missed. In other words, expect a tougher/longer oral with that kind of score..... from my experiences.

The positive - you know what areas you need to work on. You will have an opportunity to get it right and show your stuff in the oral. Best of luck.
Click to expand...

DJ, how will the examiner know what questions the student missed? When I was an instructor the student simply gave him/her a certificate with the score on it. Like others have said on here most examiners have a well worn oral exam, they don't really mess with it much. They also don't change it based on the score of the exam. Rather they change it based on how you answer their questions.

In fact, I once asked a notoriously difficult examiner if the score of the written mattered to him. He said no, unless the student got a 100%. Then he would want to see if the student just memorized the questions. Otherwise his oral would determine if they understood regs better than a multiple choice written exam.

I'm going to reiterate what I said before. Aviation is expensive, you passed a test that is essentially pass/fail. Don't waste your time and money taking the exam again. Now take the rest of the time between now and your checkride to; Fly well and study for the oral. That's it.

Congratulations on getting over one hurdle on the way to your license. I'd suggest doing all your writtens at the beginning of your training and just getting them out of the way. A lot of my students would put them off, and then want a week off of flying to get them done. Which would result in them losing flying skills.
 
Youngflyer, I noticed that you're in Syracuse. I'm a pilot for Colgan and I'm flying out of SYR Tuesday-Friday, shoot me a pm if you have any questions. I just do one round trip to LGA a day so I have lots of time to answer anything.

Scott
 
greaper007 said:
DJ, how will the examiner know what questions the student missed? When I was an instructor the student simply gave him/her a certificate with the score on it. Like others have said on here most examiners have a well worn oral exam, they don't really mess with it much. They also don't change it based on the score of the exam. Rather they change it based on how you answer their questions.

In fact, I once asked a notoriously difficult examiner if the score of the written mattered to him. He said no, unless the student got a 100%. Then he would want to see if the student just memorized the questions. Otherwise his oral would determine if they understood regs better than a multiple choice written exam.

I'm going to reiterate what I said before. Aviation is expensive, you passed a test that is essentially pass/fail. Don't waste your time and money taking the exam again. Now take the rest of the time between now and your checkride to; Fly well and study for the oral. That's it.

Congratulations on getting over one hurdle on the way to your license. I'd suggest doing all your writtens at the beginning of your training and just getting them out of the way. A lot of my students would put them off, and then want a week off of flying to get them done. Which would result in them losing flying skills.
Click to expand...

greaper007 said:
Youngflyer, I noticed that you're in Syracuse. I'm a pilot for Colgan and I'm flying out of SYR Tuesday-Friday, shoot me a pm if you have any questions. I just do one round trip to LGA a day so I have lots of time to answer anything.

Scott
Click to expand...
Yeah. I wanted to knock out the written before my flight training. I emailed my instructor at executive air (right across from the KSYR gate), you know the place, and he said that he will just do a harder oral and he said that no one in that school has ever bombed an oral, so I am in good hands. Thank you everyone for the great responses!
 
greaper007 said:
DJ, how will the examiner know what questions the student missed? When I was an instructor the student simply gave him/her a certificate with the score on it.
Click to expand...
There are codes printed on the test results that indicate what subject areas had incorrect answers.
 
greaper007 said:
DJ, how will the examiner know what questions the student missed? When I was an instructor the student simply gave him/her a certificate with the score on it.

You're right, the Examiner will not know the exact question, but the subject matter knowledge codes ARE on the document with the test score that a student will give to an Examiner. Remember having to look up those codes to see where your student had problems back in your CFI days? Those codes tell the Examiner, CFI, student the problem areas.

At any rate, I would say to any student, do the best you can on your Writtens. It builds your confindence as a student and gives the Examiner less ammo to fire away with in the Oral..... in my experiences..... in the Chicagoland and Los Angeles area. :)
Click to expand...
 
After 8 checkrides with varying written scores I never saw any correlation between the written scores and the length or difficulty of the oral.

As a CFI I had 12 people take checkrides and found the same to be true.

Moral of the story, Congratulations on passing your written and spend your time on something more useful then worrying about a test that you passed.
 
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