What you wished you'd known before taking the AT-SAT

oresama420

New Member
Hello,

I am just another one of many scheduled to take the AT-SAT exam (July 18th.) As such I was just wondering if any who have already taken the test would be willing to share any pearls of wisdom with those of us who are relative beginners in this process. Was there anything you found particularly difficult, easy, unexpected, wish you'd prepared more for, over prepared for, odd etc? Any and all you have to share on your experience would be greatly appreciated by all (myself included) so please feel free to share! -
 
Don't stress out about it. It's not that tough and stressing out will only make a test taker tense and second guess themselves. There is some really good information on this website to look at, so check it out. Dress comfortably, they (Robinson) do not care what you wear so be comfortable. Take the breaks, heck take a break after every section if you need to, they do help. Get there on time, early would be better, so you can get used to your surroundings and chat it up with the other test takers. Chances are you will see at least one person roll in there 15-20 late, don't be one of these people. But, most of all don't stress it too much. I understand the test is important, just don't psych yourelf out by making the test more than it is. Go in there with a good nights sleep (if possible), some breakfast, and dominate. Good Luck!
 
Don't sweat it to many people are hung up on the at-sat but good for you for trying to prep. The test is just a basic apptitude test. Basic math know time and distants problems and the rest you really can't study for its just like playing a video game to see how much you can keep track of. My email from the FAA said no need to study it's an apptitude test so I didn't. The only thing I did was use the Jeremy Justice thing to practice the atc senerios and the only reason I did that so much was because I was bored at work and it gave me something to play with. I scored a 97 so don't worry about it just go in and do your best and read the directions and pay attention and you will do fine the vast majority of people score over the 85 mark and remember the at-sat is kinda pointless it won't tell you if you are going to make a good controller or not its just making sure you can tell me how far an airplane going at 200kt will travel in 3.5 hours. Don't let it drive ya crazy :crazy: I've been trying for the last 1.5 years to do this and I'm just now getting to go to a pepc so just be glad that these latest announcments are moving quickly.
 
Don't sweat it to many people are hung up on the at-sat but good for you for trying to prep. The test is just a basic apptitude test. Basic math know time and distants problems and the rest you really can't study for its just like playing a video game to see how much you can keep track of. My email from the FAA said no need to study it's an apptitude test so I didn't. The only thing I did was use the Jeremy Justice thing to practice the atc senerios and the only reason I did that so much was because I was bored at work and it gave me something to play with. I scored a 97 so don't worry about it just go in and do your best and read the directions and pay attention and you will do fine the vast majority of people score over the 85 mark and remember the at-sat is kinda pointless it won't tell you if you are going to make a good controller or not its just making sure you can tell me how far an airplane going at 200kt will travel in 3.5 hours. Don't let it drive ya crazy :crazy: I've been trying for the last 1.5 years to do this and I'm just now getting to go to a pepc so just be glad that these latest announcments are moving quickly.

They're not. 6 weeks, and our group doesn't even know if we're eligible for the AT-SAT.
 
Hello,

I am just another one of many scheduled to take the AT-SAT exam (July 18th.) As such I was just wondering if any who have already taken the test would be willing to share any pearls of wisdom with those of us who are relative beginners in this process. Was there anything you found particularly difficult, easy, unexpected, wish you'd prepared more for, over prepared for, odd etc? Any and all you have to share on your experience would be greatly appreciated by all (myself included) so please feel free to share! -

I struggled with the analogies part. What's worse is that it's the last section, so by the time you get to it, you're like "i just wanna be done with this thing."

You will probably end up with a better grade than you feel like you earned when you finished the test. This was very good information for me to know in advance, because I went through the test thinking "man, i just blew that" and it would have been tempting to just throw in the towel. Knowing that I may not have actually "blown it" helped me keep going. Sure enough, I got a 95.

They say you cant study for the test, but I disagree. I studied and I know it helped me. The guy next to me didn't study, and I watched him completely bomb the AT scenarios and scan test. By the end he was completely flustered.

Also, take your time. I drove 5 hours to ATL so I was in no hurry to turn around and drive back. I took my breaks, and for lunch i went to McD's (couldn't find anything else) and just ate and watched planes at ATL for an hour 1/2. I ended up being 2nd to last to finish.

Just enjoy yourself, and hopefully you realize that it's not the end of the world if you do poorly.

good luck
 
Hello,

I am just another one of many scheduled to take the AT-SAT exam (July 18th.) As such I was just wondering if any who have already taken the test would be willing to share any pearls of wisdom with those of us who are relative beginners in this process. Was there anything you found particularly difficult, easy, unexpected, wish you'd prepared more for, over prepared for, odd etc? Any and all you have to share on your experience would be greatly appreciated by all (myself included) so please feel free to share! -

Really no need to stress. Just try to get an idea of what the sections will be like (this is a great site for that!). Try to do some practice problems if you can find them. Unless you buy the green book, Letter Factory and Scan are hard to practice on, but when you're taking it, just stay focused and try to remember everything you need to know.

The morning of the test, try to just relax. Hopefully you have done enough prep before the morning of and can try to keep your mind clear. I just blasted my iPod (Depeche Mode worked well for me!) and just focused on singing at the top of my lungs!

Get there plenty early. There were a bunch of us there by 0715 just chatting about (hopefully) our futures after the test. It was a good thing to just get relaxed. Then, during the test, take your time and pay attention to EVERY detail. Take your breaks and take the max time to keep your mind fresh.

Besides that, just do your homework and just get an idea of what's to come. GOOD LUCK!
 
Hello,

I am just another one of many scheduled to take the AT-SAT exam (July 18th.) As such I was just wondering if any who have already taken the test would be willing to share any pearls of wisdom with those of us who are relative beginners in this process. Was there anything you found particularly difficult, easy, unexpected, wish you'd prepared more for, over prepared for, odd etc? Any and all you have to share on your experience would be greatly appreciated by all (myself included) so please feel free to share! -

I didnt create this Sticky for my health....(Well, actually I did)

http://forums.jetcareers.com/air-tr...hing-you-wanted-to-know-about-the-at-sat.html
 
Everyone makes the math problems out to be really easy but they're not. They're certainly not brain teasers but they're also not 1+2=3.

Had I done a few drills with the math portion, I definitely would have achieved a better grade than 72. I'm certain that I did everything else right. It was the math that brought the score way down.
 
They're not. 6 weeks, and our group doesn't even know if we're eligible for the AT-SAT.
The 2007 applicants waited up to six months for the notice to take the AT-SAT, and another three/four months to get to the PEPC. Consider yourself lucky if it's only six to eight weeks for you.
 
The 2007 applicants waited up to six months for the notice to take the AT-SAT, and another three/four months to get to the PEPC. Consider yourself lucky if it's only six to eight weeks for you.
and before us, there were people waiting for around 4 years
 
The letter factory was also much different. Easier to operate, but the rules were much more complex.

For instance you cant just take a bunch of boxes to the bottom of the belts, you can ONLY take what you NEED. If you take one more than you need, you get docked for it.

There were a few other differences but the rules/instructions for the letter factory were longer than the test itself (it felt that way anyway).
 
I wish I would have known the questions that were going to pop up in the middle of the letter factory drill so I knew what I should have been watching for! :rolleyes:
 
I wish I would have known the questions that were going to pop up in the middle of the letter factory drill so I knew what I should have been watching for! :rolleyes:

the pop-up questions were darn near impossible, but I did notice a little pattern as I went along. I dont remember the specific questions now, but I began to guess what questions would pop up based on how quickly they would pop up from the beginning of each section.

For example, when the belts ran for only like 5 seconds and then a question quickly popped up, it was usually the same question each time. But when the belts ran longer, it was harder to guess. So as I started each new "session" i would focus completely on remembering the "early" questions just in case it popped up right away, and if the session continued for a while, well I would just go back to concentrating on everything.

Sorry I dont remember which question came when, but i would basically just repeat in my head the entire situation.. ex: "two-A, one-B, one-D" "two-A, one-B, one-D" etc...etc... of course even when the question i was preparing for popped up, half the time i was like "aw crap, i forgot".

enjoy!

EDIT>>
One more thing-- I really just wanted to have fun with the test, and I suggest you do as well. I figured if I failed miserably, well it's probably best that I find out NOW that I stink at this job, instead of later on. Just another way to look at it.
 
Don't put a ton of pressure on yourself. As long as you score a 70, you have a chance at being hired. Oh, I also wish I knew that I'd be checking the ASAP website about every other, no, every minute of the months to follow.
 
and before us, there were people waiting for around 4 years

Yeah, I should be really grateful that last year's applicants got dicked.

If huge corporations with more employees than the FAA can keep track of their applications, then why make excuses for these folks' ineptitude? The 2/15 and 5/2 applicants were notified in a reasonable amount of time. I wasn't expecting an overnight turn-over rate.

It is one matter to be truly inundated with work, and have no choice but to prolong the already-lengthy process, but when they openly lie to us about it, then it's a valid issue to acknowledge.
 
............I wish I woulda known how long that @#$!ing letter factory thing was gonna last. Be ready for the long haul. It's so boring.
 
Honestly, if you can, review the green air traffic control book to get a really good sense of what to expect from the ATSAT. The Jeremy Justice games help alot too. Basically, you can't study for the exam, but you can familiarize yourself with the nuances of it, giving you more of an edge than someone who is cold off the street. I know it helped me, particularly through the ATC scenarios. I received a 95, but never got a PEPC.
 
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