jermscentral
Well-Known Member
Well, I am certain that studying will not HURT you. The question is, can it help you? Really the only way to know that for sure is for someone to take the test without studying, get a 70, then study and go back and get a 90. And then have that happen consistently.
Just because someone studied and did well doesn't mean that studying works. That implies causation. Perhaps they would have done equally well without studying.
I feel like the only thing that "studying" (let's just call it what it is, practicing) will do for you is give you a heads up on the actual format of the test. At best, that might calm you down a bit and make you perform better. But doing a letter factory simulator for 3 hours will not turn you into the kind of person that can do that kind of multitasking. Some people can just do that better than others, and that's what the AT-SAT is for. To find those people.
If you could inflate your score by just studying, then why bother with the test at all? Why not just go off of GPA, since that shows your ability to study over 4 years?
I'm just saying you can't study your way into being able to stay calm through stress. You can either do that, or you can't.
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The AT-SAT score is an aptitude test. When you go to take it, the guys from Robinson Aviation usually mention something about that. It is not designed as a test for which you can study, because it is not about rote memorization. The test is designed to see if your mind can think in the 3-dimensional world of air traffic controlling, not know if you can memorize a letter factory pattern. Why do you think the FAA only requires a high school diploma and not necessarily a college degree (though I think it does help)?
High school is mostly about rote memorization for tests; being able to regurgitate facts and figures. College is about expanding that concept into creative/free thinking, which is why most college tests have you explain a situation rather than define a term. ATC work involves being able to regurgitate facts and figures (vectors, runways, weather information, etc.) while being spatially aware of what is going on in the entire airspace. Being able to philosophically argue why a plane should descend and maintain to 25,000 feet is completely unrelated to being able to tell a plane in a proper amount of time to descend and maintain 25,000 feet because of traffic 10 miles ahead.
If it was meant as a test for which you can study, don't you think the FAA would release a study guide for it, much like they do for pilot's licenses? Sure, you can buy the green book and see what the test format is like, but you can't study for a test on which you don't know the actual questions being asked.