Happy to be done with writtens and very pleased with the results.
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Wow gratz! I was reading through the ATP syllabus tonight and wondering how I was going to learn all this… Guess it’s like eating an elephant…one bite at a time.
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Thanks! And yeah exactly. One at a time. Sheppard has a strategy and if you follow it you will do very well on all the exams. The size of the question banks can be overwhelming, but you just do a little bit each session and you’ll be surprised at how fast you chip it all away.
Kudos Cody!
Pretty sure we told you so 
Adam
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Congrats Cody!! I have a couple of question if you don’t mind. Did you take all the written exams (6 or 8), and if so what order did you take them in? Also how much time did you have from the date you applied to your actual start date at ATP? Thanks and congrats again,
Cody
Wow, I have not seen one of those papers in a long time.
Great test scores! Keep up the good work.
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Thanks man. Sorry for the late reply. I took private (PAR), instrument (IRA), and flight instructor instrument (FII) before starting the program. I highly highly recommend getting those done before you start. I couldn’t imagine having to study for the instrument written while doing all the instrument training. People do it all the time, but I felt a huge relief to not have to worry about the instrument written during the training. I studied for the commercial test (CAX) while I was on crew and during the winter break. As soon as I finished that I knocked out FOI two days later, and then took FIA about a week after that.
I didn’t have to study separately for IRA and FII. The question bank for IRA was enough to immediately take the FII test. As long as nothing has changed you should be able to do that too. As for all the other tests you should do the Sheppard Air individually.
I had about three months from the time I applied until my start date. I didn’t really get my butt into gear until about a month before. I would get as many done as possible if I were you, but at the very least get through the instrument and flight instructor instrument. You will thank yourself later. I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.
I’m currently about a week away from taking my commercial checkride just for reference.
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No worries man! Thanks so much for taking the time to give such a detailed reply, I really appreciate the information and advise. I hope to have about 6 months before I start and want to knock out as many writtens as I can. If I have any more questions i’ll be sure to reach out. Thanks again for the help and good luck on your check ride!
You’re welcome. Six months is a long time so you should be golden. I think you could knock out all of them. Just get some momentum going. Make a daily goal of how many problems you wanna get through per day and stick to it. I would say between 100-300 depending on the difficulty. The memorization stuff can really fly by. The calculations and concepts can take longer.
You’re going to use kings school for private but the rest are Sheppard Air. If you find yourself struggling with the instrument test, I have heard of some people buying the Kings school course for it to supplement Sheppard. Just feel it out with Sheppard first and go from there. The instrument written is definitely the hardest, so once you get through that it’s smooth sailing the rest of the way.
I don’t recommend taking long breaks once you start using Sheppard Air. It’s pretty much all memorization so if you’re seeing it everyday you’re much less likely to forget stuff. Like when you start studying for instrument on Sheppard just keep doing problems everyday and try to take the test as soon as you can get through everything and you’re scoring well on the practice test.
Cody,
Students now have access to the King Instrument course as well as the private.
Chris
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That’s good to hear. I think it will help them a lot.
Chris,
I think the King’s Instrument course may only be available for students that have started the full course, and not people with deposit paid, starting date booked but not yet started. I asked for access today and was told it is a future addition…and that Sheppard is the material I have access to to prepare for the IRA/IAA for now.
Shame as I would like to supplement the memorization with full understanding of the concepts. My workaround so far has been studying from the ASA Pilots Manual for Instrument Flying which I find to be a little clearer than the FAA publications.
Hopefully Training Support will be able to clarify this issue and provide King’s access to students trying to complete all written prior to Day 1.
Simon,
While it would certainly be beneficial to get the King’s Instrument prior, there’s no issue to clarify. As it says in the title of this thread, “Sheppard Air is the best and you should trust the method”. The King’s course is to supplement ground training WHILE you’re doing the Instrument flight training portion.
Adam
Like Adam said, King schools is definitely studying the concept and not for acing the test.
Before when I was at a Part 141 school I had to use King’s material for my PAR and later my IRA. Sadly to say I scored in the 80s. Yes it’s passing, but when I’m getting A’s in college, getting B’s on my writtens is sub-par.
I locked down a start date 9 months out with ATP and started studying for my writtens 7 months out. I’ve used nothing but Sheppard Air for this. I took my CAX first and got a 95. Adam told me I should have gotten a 100 and he’s right. I have a tendency to read through questions too quickly and that resulted in me getting a 95. A little rusty in the test taking department, but that’s no excuse.
After that I took my FIA, IGI, and FII. All 100s. I took my time to read the questions and memorization kicked in. Even the calculation promblems took a few second because of memorizing the right answer.
With only 5 1/2 months left I have only the FOI to do which will be easy since the bank is just over 200 questions. Once that’s done I can have plenty of time to review ground school modules, the Archer and Seminole Supplements, and any other information I can learn before my start date.
I hope this testimony helps as Sheppard Air is the way to go when knocking out your written test.
Thanks guys - understood. I am cracking through Sheppard Air as well at the moment and agree it is great for preparing for the knowledge tests.
Thanks for the rapid and valuable responses as ever!