Is ground school required prior to taking CFI, II, or MEI writtens? I'm curious how that works if you wanted to do ATP's instructor program. How do you get the writtens taken care of before attending?

Unless you enroll in the $50,000 90-day program at ATP, and agree to instruct there at their facilites upon completion, they will NOT teach/sell/offer you the CFI/II/MEI classes anymore! FYI

You are not required to have a signoff for any CFI written.

The three you'll need are the FOI, CFI and CFII. There is no MEI written.

Thanks. I'll start studying

FOI, FIA, and the II is the same exam as your instrument.

Don't forget about the AGI and IGI writtens. They are optional but may help out later. The IGI is the exact same as the IR written, and the AGI is the exact same as the FIA.

A plus of the AGI is that if you do your CFI first and wait a bit on the II, you can teach Instrument ground with the AGI. I'd take it the same time you do your FIA, and I also recommend to my students that they take the FII the same time they take the Inst. written.

Jonathan

I'm studying for the writtens as well, but I'm still not understanding fully on what's required.

A few questions...

1) which tests require endorsements from CFI?
2) how many tests are there?
3) Which tests can be taken/grouped together?
4) Which tests are absolutely required and which are optional?

From different threads, this is what I've managed to get:

Instrument (IRA)
Flight Instructor Instrument (FII)
Instrument Ground Instructor (IGI)

Commercial Pilot (CAX)

Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI)
Flight Instructor (FIA)
Advanced Ground Instructor (AGI)
Basic Ground Instructor (BGI)

No endorsements are required for any of these tests. Unless you fail of course. But that wouldn't happen right?

There is the FOI, AGI, BGI, IGI, FIA, and FII.

Not sure what you mean here. If you get your AGI before anything else, you must take the FOI and AGI. If you get your CFI later, your AGI certificate is proof that you passed the FOI. I've recommended in the past that my students take the Instrument written and then take the FII immediately after. They are practically the same test. This only works though if you will get your CFII within 24 months.

To get the CFI initial, you must take the FOI and the FIA. To get your CFII, you must also take the FII. There is no written test for MEI.

I was under the impression that I needed to get an endorsement for at least the Instrument (IRA). Maybe I'm wrong? I'm an older PPL holder, trained 15 yrs ago.

Ok,
So I can take IRA, FII, and IGI together, then take in order, the CAX, FOI, FIA, and finally AGI?

Is BGI necessary?

I do plan to get all my ratings before next summer, but want to get all the writtens out of the way.