How soon to start Sheppard?
 

How soon should I start studying Sheppard air for before CTP? And how many hours does it take to go through the recommended study process?

Don't overdo it. Start a week before and go through all the material once. Then study an hour or so a night at CTP. CTP is basically death by PowerPoint and the hardest thing will be staying awake so you really won't have many obligations outside class.

Good question. I just did the Sheppard are prep for the MCI (Military Comp Instructor) test a few weeks ago. Initially I worked on it while I had a few minutes here and there in the middle of other things. That's not the way to get it done so I buckled down and worked on it for real for an hour or two a night for a couple of nights in a row. I followed the provided guidance and felt I was ready before I expected, so left it alone for most of a week. Didn't want to peak early you know... The day before the test I did a second practice test, scored less than the first one. I got a 98 on the real test which I completed in about 20 minutes.

The MCI is a much smaller question base than the ATP, I'm interested to hear how many hours guys are putting in on it. Sounds like UnBeatenPath had an experience with it about like what I would expect.

My understanding is that in late June the FAA changed half of the question bank for the ATP written... so Sheppard Air won’t be accurate until they get users to give them the questions.

I didn’t study ahead at all. My class started on a Friday. Started studying that night at CTP and by Wednesday I couldn’t take it anymore. Took off Wednesday night then studied again Thursday night. Took the test on Friday and only missed 4 questions. If you start too early you will definitely burn out and peak early.

If you start early take it easy just going through it once, then buckled down while in CTP. I started 3 weeks early, went into CTP with only one section to learn and then just sharpened up while in CTP. Worked well for me, missed only 2 questions. Experience will vary.


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Really sorry to say but about 90% of the question bank has been changed. Only 110ish of the question on the Sheppard software are new. I would NOT take the test until people get back with the missed questions so shep can update. Hoping it gets resolved in the next month, but we will see.

I just took the written yesterday, it was about 70% new questions for me. It SUCKED. It took me about 2.6 hours because I had to figure everything out as I went along. The best advice I can give is understand how to do everything on Sheppard air, but absolutely do not rely on rote memorization. Especially know how to do anything with a chart. I studied like a week before class and while I was here. There was a bunch of stuff I have never even heard of, but had to use my best judgement on guessing the regs. I missed like 8 questions.

Well this sucks

I concur. I will be taking the test soon. I have a friend that took it recently. He said that new updated questions from Sheppard Air were definitely on the test. Can anyone else confirm this or have any additional input?

Same here, I start CTP next week and I was about to start with Sheppard. I guess we gotta trust them. They updated today and said they're adding the questions. We'll see

Where are you headed for CTP?

SLC :)

I start tomorrow with Sheppard. We'll see how bad things are lol

So Shepperd Air's business model means relying on people who just took the ATP written test to report back to them all of the questions and answers so that they can be republished? :confused:

Yes that’s why they are “the best.” The only software you can get that offers actual test questions

I'd be surprised if they didn't send people in there to take the tests themselves. They're usually head and shoulders above any other FAA-related prep program when it comes to test material.

That seems highly unreliable since the test takers will have to memorize the questions.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they have their own testing facility somewhere. A place where the rules are more like guidelines.

It wouldn't have to be all the questions, just ones you didn't see studying. If you have dozens of people taking the test everyday you'll have the question bank in a few days.

Quite literally in the last century the Acme School of Aviation in Ft. Worth did the same thing and published their "blue books" of test questions.

I used to teach people how to take SATs. Places like Princeton Review have entire research departments dedicated to stuff like that.

Has anybody taken the test recently? If so what are your thoughts and how many of the new questions did you not recognize? As of today Sheppard is saying 15% of the test may be new. Have a hard time believing that considering they have only updated 140 questions in a 1200 question bank...

When I took the test way back in 2013, I’d say that was about accurate. I recognized a lot of questions but there will always be some surprises. This goes for really any written test. The FAA isn’t just throwing out entire 1200 question banks but they do update.

the only thing I did was ASA ATP prep course, just do test over n over again, don't worry about anything with math questions. once you get into the 90s, go take it.

Definitely read through the math stuff. Dont even bother calculating the WB questions, they take too long. But any question about air miles etc you can calculate in your head in 5 seconds. Lots of free points from those.

I took the ATP written recently and id say 3 weeks prior to the test is just about perfect. You will want to have seen all the questions once so you can do a final review during ATP-CTP. If you start it too soon you'll be sick and tired of going through all the questions. Most of my group scored in the 90% on the test, probably the worst scores were mid 80%. As Sheppard says most of the test is those performance chart questions where you follow the reference lines. It started getting annoying when every other question refers you to a figure and it takes a few minutes to answer each one. All the other questions looked similar to what Sheppard has but there's new questions here and there and the wording will be recognizable but different. The Sheppard thing at least gets you the essence of most of the questions so you know how to answer them on the real test.

Depends on your timing. If you can study 6-8 hours a day for a week than you should be good to go.

Test is 125 questions right? Meaning you can miss about 32 or so questions and still pass. Of course get the best score you can, just have a huge ‘buffer’ if you’re having on off day.

ATP Written
 

Has anybody take the ATP written recently? (as in a week or 2 ago). Is the Sheppard program pretty updated now? and were majority of the questions chart/performance questions? PLEASE HELP! THANKS!

Hey there, have you taken your ATP written? and how accurate was shep since the changes

I took it a couple of weeks ago and got a 96 after one week of using the app. Some of the questions were worded slightly differently, but if you follow their strategy you’ll do well. Questions were mixed. There were some chart questions but they weren’t the majority. If you practice a few you’ll easily figure them out on the test.

I took it on 8/8, made a 94 on it, and only had 4 questions I didn’t recognize from SA

Took it yesterday (9/4). Seemed like there were a few that I did not recognize specifically, but they were very similar to others that I had seen. No real surprises. As you go through Sheppard, they will point out a few questions where the FAA is scoring a wrong answer as the correct answer. Don't try to outsmart them - if Sheppard says the FAA is scoring it a certain way, then answer that way in spite of your (mine - I thought) superior ability to determine the correct answer.

Trust Sheppard. Do what they say and invest the time and you won't have any troubles. I think they say to allocate 25 hours and that seems about right (I did not track my hours). I spent a total of about 6 hours on Sheppard before the start of ATP/CTP, but our sim schedule left a whole day to study and I needed it. I would not recommend waiting until the start of ATP/CTP to start Sheppard. But I don't think starting it more that about a week ahead would be that helpful, either. That said, if you follow their process, you will score in the 90's.

I tel everyone who asks to spend no more than two weeks max studying for a Sheppard Air test. Get the program, knock it out. If you go more than two weeks, you’re just forgetting stuff and spinning your wheels.