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I'm repeat, unfortunately. I've taken classes after classes and no luck. close, but not close enough. I'd like to say im going to do all the schools, but my time is limited and im looking to do some quality studying. My problem is, I read something and I get it. I get the gist, that is. But each time, even on easy exams, they get me. So my question is, for those that did well, which school has the best questions?
Please, only answer if you did ALL 3: Rising Star, Key, AND Elite
I actually L-O-V-E-D the Rising Star questions...but I had to abstain since I didn't take all three! lol. oh well.
OP, instead of reading 2 or 3 different material read 1 BUT read it carefully and slowly. Think about what you are reading.
Good luck
I am a key student, but I've done questions from all. Here is my opinion on the questions:
Key: variety of difficulty level, but some of their questions are worded funny and they get waaaaay too nitpicky on some of them. I feel that some of their questions could be protested if they were exam questions. If you ace their questions you are in great shape.
Elite: extremely fair questions. I could not find protestable problems with almost all of their questions. If you get a fair exam, then their questions will be a good judge of your PG knowledge. These questions were spot on compared to 2011 sergeant test.
Rising star: they have questions which are extremely technical and will really test your knowledge. If you are studying for a 70 then I wouldn't take these questions. If you are a very dedicated studier, then these questions will be beneficial. The difficulty level of these questions was akin to the 2015 LT test.
Online academy questions: also very fair and will help prepare you for a fair test. If your test is a monster then the difficulty level of these questions won't prepare you. Again, these were comparable to the 2011 sergeant test.
Guys/Gals, I will tell you this: I'm an old timer on this job (lets just say over 20+ OTJ) and didn't start taking promotional exams seriously until the last few exams. I went to classes to say I was studying, but back in the day, we signed up for exams just to get a day off from patrol lol. Anyhow, I was around in the days of the old promotion schools - PTS, PASS, and then KSA. Nothing has really changed about the way MOS talk of schools. We were told back then which schools are good, which are a waste, blah blah. Once you get serious and determined to be promoted, like I eventually did, weigh your options with schools. I think these newer schools each bring something to the table in their own right. You just have to decide what's best for you and you alone. For what it's worth, after experiencing almost every school around for the last 20+ years (whether it was sitting in a class or copies of material from others), I was a fan of PASS back in the day with Walter Duffy on PG and Phil Pulaski on Legal Bureau Bulletins. No BS, just straight hardcore study material that was on point. Problem was, I wasn't committed to the study process like I needed to be. Once I made up my mind, I read somewhere that Rising Star (who was relatively new at the time) initially patterned their material after the PASS model so I tried it - 3 times. I was at the top of each of my 3 lists. I can clearly point to my commitment and desire for the most of it, but their stuff was completely on point in every way. Other schools had mistakes in their material, talked about nonsense, and didn't have real test questions. Back in the day when you sat for an exam, you thought you reading PASS questions from the classes. Now, it's Rising Star questions. I'm not trying to push their stuff, just being honest and giving you my experience for those looking. I'm done taking exams so it doesn't matter to me anymore, but you newer guys/gals who are serious should put thought into what you want out of a school you use to get promoted. Best wishes all!
My advice would be do all the questions. They will teach you the type of tricks and misdirection that you will see on test day. If you get a question wrong while studying you shouldn't fall for the same trick come test day.
DetSgt: Good point.....lots of folks go wrong when studying practice questions because they'll get a question wrong and blow it off without knowing why it's wrong. Go back and understand it so it can't happen on test day!!!
DetSgt: Good point.....lots of folks go wrong when studying practice questions because they'll get a question wrong and blow it off without knowing why it's wrong. Go back and understand it so it can't happen on test day!!!
Take this advice. I used to write out the answer if I got it wrong. Helped me a lot. Get all the questions you can and get the key mock exams at the end. I passed all of the mock exams and passed the 13 exam. if you can do the Elite in basket.
I hated doing them the most because they were so weird and difficult, but I vote Rising Star as the best because they really make you think.
All three were good in different ways though, try to do them all and don't forget about the Academy questions as well. Do as many practice questions as possible.
I am a key student, but I've done questions from all. Here is my opinion on the questions:
Key: variety of difficulty level, but some of their questions are worded funny and they get waaaaay too nitpicky on some of them. I feel that some of their questions could be protested if they were exam questions. If you ace their questions you are in great shape.
Elite: extremely fair questions. I could not find protestable problems with almost all of their questions. If you get a fair exam, then their questions will be a good judge of your PG knowledge. These questions were spot on compared to 2011 sergeant test.
Rising star: they have questions which are extremely technical and will really test your knowledge. If you are studying for a 70 then I wouldn't take these questions. If you are a very dedicated studier, then these questions will be beneficial. The difficulty level of these questions was akin to the 2015 LT test.
Online academy questions: also very fair and will help prepare you for a fair test. If your test is a monster then the difficulty level of these questions won't prepare you. Again, these were comparable to the 2011 sergeant test.
This is a very good review of these four sources of practice questions. Like I said, try to do all of them, go hard or go home. Not worth studying if you're not going to go all in and pass.
To be objective based on the differences of difficulty between a lt test and a sgt test I would say elite is the way to go for sgt.... When I studied for sgt i did fast track and rising star ? And found rising star incredibly difficult ... Day of sgt test I felt damn I know way too much
So for lt test i would bet on rising star because those tests are becoming historically a nightmare ... Sgt test are more straight forward ... Other wise they would have to have a sgt test every 6 months because the failure rate would be insane Imho
