ADX Test prep materials before taking a course?

coloradopowpow

Well-Known Member
Hi all, I have quite a bit of time before I start ADX school and would like to try to get the DX exam out of the way before I begin the course (Oct '22), if possible, as I've heard it's a good idea if you have the time.

I've been looking into some of the online (paid) study materials and apps and whatnot to study off of, and have found 3:

Sheppard Air ADX Test Prep Course: Sheppard Air Flight Test 5.0 Prep Software ATP, Flight Engineer, Mil Comp - FAA Airline Transport Pilot
Sheffield ADX Test Prep App: https://www.sheffield.com/adx-test-prep-app
Gleim ADX Test Prep: FAA Test Prep Online: Airline Transport Pilot - Gleim Aviation

Which do you guys think is the best or have used/would recommend? I've got about 6 months!
 
Sheppard, make sure to follow the instructions to a T. Do not take any practice tests until it tells you to.
 
Okay, thanks everyone for the feedback!
I know Sheppard limits your software to one device so you can't load it on a tablet+PC, but that's just a QOL thing.
Does anyone have any thoughts about a ~6 month study window for the test? Too long/short?
 
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I think it’s your personal preference/the way you learn. Personally, I like to be within 3-4 months, so everything stays fresh for when the time comes for the practical.
 
Okay, thanks everyone for the feedback!
I know Sheppard limits your software to one device so you can't load it on a tablet+PC, but that's just a QOL thing.
Does anyone have any thoughts about a ~6 month study window for the test? Too long/short?

I would personally go a little less than that, you may forget some after that long. Set a time-frame and divide the # of questions by however many days in that time-frame and do that many questions daily.
 
Okay, thanks everyone for the feedback!
I know Sheppard limits your software to one device so you can't load it on a tablet+PC, but that's just a QOL thing.
Does anyone have any thoughts about a ~6 month study window for the test? Too long/short?
6 months seems kind of long for the written. You have the potential to forget things over time, especially with the amount of material Sheppard will give you. If you can dedicate time each day to the test prep, honestly you can get it done within a month. Then it’s out of the way.
 
Not familiar with ADX, but I’ve used SheppardAir for several courses, including repeats (expired).

I studied first, then took the Sheppard course. Two days later took the exam. Using Sheppard, I would suggest maximum 1-2 weeks.

Obviously, everyone is different. I have extensive (foreign) experience, but an old brain. I expect that a younger enthusiast would be more successful despite lacking any background experience.

You obviously have the motivation, or wouldn’t be asking.

Good luck.
 
Have you enrolled in a school yet? Some schools, like Sheffield and Jeppesen, offer ADX prep materials. While I used Sheppard for part of my ADX prep, I mostly relied on Sheffield's pdfs to get ready. Jepps gives incoming students a DVD and some other materials.
 
Thank you all for the responses so far!

Have you enrolled in a school yet? Some schools, like Sheffield and Jeppesen, offer ADX prep materials. While I used Sheppard for part of my ADX prep, I mostly relied on Sheffield's pdfs to get ready. Jepps gives incoming students a DVD and some other materials.

I have not, but will enroll this October. I'm choosing Jepp though I live abroad currently so shipping the materials is going to be costly, so I'm just weighing the various materials outside of courses.

It's helpful to hear people saying 6 months out is too much time, I hadn't even considered forgetting knowledge as the test mostly seems to be useless info you soon forget anyways. Guess I'll give it a crack about 3 months out and see how I do!
 
Thank you all for the responses so far!



I have not, but will enroll this October. I'm choosing Jepp though I live abroad currently so shipping the materials is going to be costly, so I'm just weighing the various materials outside of courses.

It's helpful to hear people saying 6 months out is too much time, I hadn't even considered forgetting knowledge as the test mostly seems to be useless info you soon forget anyways. Guess I'll give it a crack about 3 months out and see how I do!
If you can get a head start, do so. If you're presently working, you'll need the time. Face it: at the end of the day, you're not going to have a lot of time or energy, so I don't think that six months out is too soon to get started. If at all possible, try to get the exam out of the way before school starts; this way, you won't have that monkey on your back. If that isn't possible, then you want to be ready to take it once you get to school. Yes, if you start even three months out, you'll forget stuff. HOWEVER! However, it's much easier to review something and have it come back to you vs. learning it for the first time.

What I did was quit my job, and I studied four hours a day going over Sheffield's materials; I spent the nine weeks prior to school doing this. When I got there, I had to review it again, as I'd forgotten some of the things I'd studied early on. I got through all the Sheffield pdfs before I got there. Once there, I spent an hour a day on review of ADX material, and I spent the other three to four hours studying class material. They started offering the ADX late in week 2 or early in week three. I signed up for one of the week 3 exams, and I got it out of the way. FWIW, I got 91%. While it only takes a 70 to pass, I'd rather nail it with a comfortable margin.

While many advocate Sheppard Air; while that has its place; it's mainly good for the rote material; it wasn't so good for subjects that are better learned when they're understood. For example, FAR questions, which are rote, are fine with Sheppard Air; I don't know if I'd say the same for understanding weather, approach plates, and so on. I found that, if I really understood something, then I could reason or find my way to the correct answer; this is helpful when freezing up or having a mental block. By being able to REASON your way to the correct answer, you'll be able to blow through any mental blocks you encounter-a great feeling when you're racing against the clock!

Another reason why you want to try to understand as much as you can vs. learning by rote is that you don't know what questions you'll get; it's like Forrest Gump said. The FAA has a pool of what, 1,500 questions? Out of that pool, you'll get 70 of them. On my exam, I got a lot of pallet questions, so you can bet your bippy I was glad that I UNDERSTOOD the process of finding those answers! A good 10% of my ADX was comprised of pallet questions, so the preparation paid off. Your exam could be different, so it pays to prepare for everything.

Another reason I'm glad I took my time and really learned the material is this: it helped me in class! For example, the ADX has a lot of aircraft performance graphs and charts. What you'll notice is that each aircraft manufacturer has their own way of doing these. IOW, Boeing does their graphs one way; McDonnell-Douglas has their way; Cessna has a different way of presenting performance data; and so on. IOW, once you understand one Boeing graph, the rest will be easy. IIRC, the ADX had 737 graphs. At Sheffield, they were using the 727 for the class. Guess what? When we got to the 727 performance graphs, learning them was easy, since they were done like those of the 737! The lines and numbers were different, but they were laid out the same way. When we got to that part of class, I wasn't seeing this material for the first time, so I was glad that I'd prepared well.

So yeah, I understand what people say about starting your studies too early; I experienced it. However, if you're still working and will continue to do so until right before you leave for school, you don't want to start studying too late, either; if you do, you'll be behind the 8 ball once you get to school. Ideally, you want to take the ADX BEFORE school starts! If you can't, then at least get through all of your ADX study material before you go; this way, you'll only have to spend an hour a day reviewing before you take the test at Jepps. Finally, if your situation permits, I'd encourage you to learn and understand as much of the material as you can. Not only will this help you find the correct answer during the test; it'll help you in class too. Those are my thoughts. I hope this helps. I wish you the BEST of luck!
 
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Why is nobody recommending Sheffield´s app? To every choice of the multiple choice options there is an explanation, which is helpful. Wonder how Sheppard Air can be better than Sheffield, in the end the longest lasting Dispatch Academy of the US that is still among the top of academy´s too.
 
I used Sheffield’s app. I gave myself 8 weeks to study, and I assigned myself about 2-4 sub-sections per day (some subsections are bigger than others, and I wanted to limit it to about 50 questions per day so that I wasn’t overwhelmed and could go through them multiple times).

Once I finished an entire section, I would schedule a refresher quiz for one week from that day. This allowed me to test myself and see if the information was stored in my long term memory. If I missed any questions on the refresher quizzes, I would make flashcards of them and go over them each day when I had free time. Flashcards in general work really well for me, especially with stuff like memorizing airspace limits and VFR/IFR minimums.

I finished all of the sections with about a week left, which left plenty of time to take simulated exams, run through a final round of refresher quizzes, and go over the flashcards of missed questions from the refresher quizzes.

This method allowed me to keep myself on track, and I got a 90 with using only the app. There were about 10 questions on the exam that weren’t in the app, but I still felt good about it. I hope this helps and good luck!
 
I tried the Sheffield app but it wasn't working at the time. I ended up getting Sheppard. It turned out to be a good thing as there was an opening in an earlier class and I ended up having less than 2 weeks to study for the test. I used Sheppard and handwrote all the questions and answers then read them aloud to myself so all my senses would be involved. I wouldn't recommend doing it that quickly but it worked for me.
 
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