Hi all! My name is Cameron Mitchell I’m almost 21 years old and I’ll be starting ATP in 2 weeks. Just had a quick question about taking the written exams. I’ve heard 2 different answers on wether on not you should take the written portion before you go into the program, some say I should, others who have been in the program say it’s not a top priority too. Any feedback would be awesome, thanks!
Cameron,
I would absolutely recommend taking any writtens that you can prior to starting. In fact, I cant understand why anybody would recommend not doing it. Taking a written early will allow you time to focus on other things in the program, only good can come from it. That being said, with only two weeks prior to your start date, it will be hard for you to get any of the writtens in, but you could certainly start studying for them.
Chris
Well… I don’t know why other students don’t consider it a “top priority” when you HAVE to get all of the exams taken, otherwise you cannot progress through various parts of the program until you do. I have seen plenty of my classmates get put on flight hold because they waited until the last moment to take the test. Nobody’s got time for that. Also, taking your tests frees your very limited time to work on material that you need to learn for each of your training phases. And there’s a lot of it.
You’re so close to the start already that I’d focus on King Schools videos and doing your modules. Take the PAR as soon as you begin and focus on IRA/FII immediately after.
I felt bad for those of my ATP classmates when the government shutdown happened and written tests were suspended for 2 weeks. While some were waiting, those that planned ahead kept flying.
Awesome thank you for the responses! I’ve been doing the Kings school videos and I was told to do the test prep on there for the private written.
Cameron,
I GUARANTEE you that anyone who says you shouldn’t or it’s not a priority didn’t, are sorry they didn’t and don’t want you to get a leg up (people are funny like that). Why would eliminating a part of the workload prior to starting a VERY busy accelerated and challenging program EVER be considered bad, wrong or unnecessary? Simply doesn’t make sense.
That said as Chris said you’re only 2 weeks away so there’s only so much you can do and I wouldn’t sweat the fact you haven’t. You’ll just have to work a little harder than the people who did 
Adam
Another very good test prep that the instructors prefer to see is sportys.
https://courses2.sportys.com/training/course/PRIVATE/testprep#/select
Definitely get all of the writtens out of the way! They’ll be the monkey on your back during training and no pilot enjoys that.