Sergey,
You are correct in that it is ten checkrides. Adam and I both easily met that criteria while instructing for ATP.
Chris
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Serg,
Yes I literally earned my Gold Seal in the first 3 mos I was there. Stupid easy box to check.
Adam
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Sounds like I just set myself another goal. 
I am thinking of suggesting to ATP that they offer a free ground instructor written as an incentive for students that take all their writtens ahead of time. Would probably cost them less than a Foreflight subscription that they offer now.
Finished my PAR written, attended a SkyWest presentation and did my “intro” flight today at DAB. Now I’m off to study for my CAX, AGI and FIA.
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Making good progress! What was covered at the SkyWest presentation? And how did you hear about it?
Tory
I was put on the student notification/email list when I signed up. Additionally, the TC manager for DAB gave me heads up when I did the tour that it was coming up. The presentation was centered on the airline as a whole, benefits of working for SkyWest, fleet and domicile choices and what makes the airline unique. The audience had quite a few CFIs in it and so there was some focus made in the cadet (soon to be called something other than “cadet”) program and what made it different from competition. I got to meet the SkyWest lead for safety just a week or two ago and since he and I had a great chat about his time at SkyWest I felt that I’d be remiss if I didn’t attend this presentation. Overall, at this time it’s too early for me to decide on who would be a good choice but nonetheless it was a good experience to attend. In the meantime, I got my Shepard Air CAX software downloaded and started the prep for that now…
It was also fun to be back up in the air again. It was an “intro” flight but since I did have some long forgotten remedial skills, I did get to do a takeoff and a couple of landings. The stabilized approach concept taught by ATP is COOL! Amazing how the airplane flies itself if a student gets out of its way.
Daytona is overwhelming at first so I felt slammed with sensory overload, but the CFI assured me that it’s not unusual and that it would prepare me well for other busy flight environments. I am more excited than I was before!
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Thanks for sharing that, Sergey. This student notification/email list is something that was offered when you signed up with ATP? I’m just asking because that’s not something they had when I went through, but I think that’s a great idea and worth sharing to anyone else that’s interested.
I could not agree with you more about stabilized approaches. When I finally learned the proper concept of pitch and power, it was a game changer.
Keep up the good work and thank you for your participation on the forum. Your posts are very insightful.
Tory
Glad I can contribute, Tory!
The notification system was something that I think my phone as automatically entered into. The reason I think that is because my CFI for today was asked to send everyone a mass SMS reminder about the presentation. He did it while sitting next to me from his IPad and I got a text message from a 404 area code with the message. There seem to be quite a few neat tech features that make studying with the iPad very handy too. All videos, supplements, checklists, etc—everything is accessible from anywhere.
So if someone else wanted to get those kind of notifications, how would they do that? I see SkyWest has a list of upcoming recruiting events on their website, but the SMS notifications would be more convenient. I’m not a recruiter, even though I sound like one. Just trying to share the wealth.
Tory
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Sergey,
I am glad it is going well thus far, thank you for keeping us in the loop.
Chris
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I will check with the TC manager and see how potential students can get notified at other locations. I forgot to mention that there was a systemwide announcement about the SkyWest visit on the ATP FTMS portal every time I logged into my account as well.
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Hey Sergey! Welcome to Daytona! Sorry we didnt get to chat more yesterday but it was great meeting you in person. So from my understanding you already have a class date, so now you are in the aystem. When you are or become a student wven with future start date, you start getting access to the student intranet which provides you with huge amounts of info. This is only for students that have paid the registration fee and / or have all the finance 100% and registered with a start date. Please correct me if im wrong 
Anyway, excited to have you start at DAB, you’ll find how quickly you adapt to the airspace and demands and there is always new ways to make operations more efficient, both as ATP and DAB ATC.
Looking forward seeing you start!
Enrico
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Hey guys,
Wondering how you go about getting a Gold Seal? Specifically on the process (I know about the requirements). Is it a form you fill out and you get it? Is it a physical thing you get in the mail or is it a note added to your airman certification file?
Yuran
Yuran,
Very simple. Once you meet the requirements you simply have to fill out an 8710 and check the box for Gold Seal. Then either take it to the FSDO or grab the DE at your location. If they’re cordial (most are because they’re getting rich from ATP and your students) just ask them and they’ll verify the docs and file it for you. A few weeks later you’ll get your new cert with the Gold Seal. Easy.
*WARNING (I learned this the hard way): when you get the Gold Seal it resets your date of renewal for your CFI. I had originally gotten my CFI in Feb but when I got my Gold Seal it was Dec. I believed mistakenly that my renewal was in Feb. BIG cluster!
Adam
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Actually, adding the gold seal does not necessarily reset your renewal date, but it can if the examiner chooses to do so. Many will do so as they are helping you out by adding extra time onto your validity period, but it is not always done. Just make sure to check when you get the new, Gold Seal CFI certificate.
Well he did and it did. No bueno.
Adam
Thanks for the info, guys! Super interesting and I am definitely gonna work hard to be the best CFI possible!
Yuran
CAX is out of the way. FIA and AGI are next. Picking up pace 
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Very good. Keep up the awesome work.
You planning to take AGI and FIA on the same day?