Ardo09203 68 Report post Posted March 5, 2014 Got a rather interesting message from my recruiting office today. They told me that i needed to wait 6 months because i bombed the flight entrance exam. I was about to go ballistic thinking there was a huge mistake. Turns out they werent up to speed on the effective date of the exam. They loaded my score as an AFAST score of 70 into the system instead of a SIFT score of 70. Good to know i taught a recruiter something new today and he is now well versed as to the effective date and scoring system of them SIFT.Whew, you had me freaking out for a second.....I recall you scoring a bit higher than me, and for a second I though I screwed something up! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skatejake 3 Report post Posted March 10, 2014 77? SHeesh. Good job. Pics or it didn't happen!!!! Hah, I swear it's true! I couldn't quite believe it myself when the score popped up. Felt like the test was kicking my ass the whole time up until the end. I remember finishing the math section with 16 seconds and thinking I missed at least 50% of the questions. As for my prep, I studied for about 2 weeks on and off. Did the Flight Tests for Dummies practice tests and bought the new SIFT study guide on amazon (highly recommend this). Read the first 3 chapters of the FAA handbook and watched a few basic helicopter physics videos. All of you guys' recommendations were spot on. Thanks for the huge help again! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flim 50 Report post Posted March 14, 2014 I'm pretty experienced at taking Faa exams.. Taken all of them! Now, the Sift was pretty tough on the Math, and hidden figures... Actually harder than I expected. The aviation questions are not a walk in the park for the average non aviation test taker, so study the Faa book. Some of questions are simple, but the wording makes it more complicated. I'm an experienced fixed wing pilot and had to pay attention. All said , I got a 57 and pretty relieved it's finished. Thanks for all the info! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brackac 254 Report post Posted March 24, 2014 Man, I really want to take the test just to see what it's like compared to the old one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lastshot 13 Report post Posted March 24, 2014 Overall I did ok on my SIFT, but I don't think I got a single hidden figure problem right. They were pretty easy in the study guide... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yamer 512 Report post Posted March 24, 2014 Harder on the actual test right??? Took me like 4 or 5 to get the vision right to find the objects quick Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShaneWey 24 Report post Posted March 24, 2014 I would have killed for a SIFT study guide. I was so thrown off by that section. Nothing like the AFOQT section that is supposed to be similar. The shapes and objects were WAY more obscure! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Talon64 36 Report post Posted March 25, 2014 I think I did pretty well on that section. Math section stressed me out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StockTrader 581 Report post Posted March 27, 2014 Who knows how to pin this up top? Can we replace the one about WOFT and AFAST with this one since the AFAST has been discontinued for about 2 years now? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yamer 512 Report post Posted March 27, 2014 I'll change the name of the thread to SIFT information Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Airman_gone_soldier 63 Report post Posted April 4, 2014 Packet is complete and getting submitted for the July board! Finally complete.. what a crazy ride. Thank you all for the great info, this is my first post, but I have been reading this thread for months. Using the ARCO books and reading the rotorcraft handbook I managed a 70 on the SIFT. Feeling good about it! what a relief.. Good luck to everyone on their packets, don't ever give up, despite all of the obstacles that seem to be in the way. July better hurry up and get here! On a side note, how many applicants do you think the new AR670-1 will filter out? Cheers! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sskyle03 6 Report post Posted April 14, 2014 I took the time to read through everyone's comments on this thread about the SIFT test and I must say between the info I found in this post along with reading the first few chapters of the FAA Rotor Handbook and taking the practice test found on your AKO account, I was able to pull out a score of 63. I am a Junior year ROTC student in TX and appreciate yall's input. To those reading through this that are preparing for the SIFT, be advised this test is passable on those three things I mentioned above and don't feel bad when you think you are bombing it. That's how I felt but I managed a decent score. Don't freak out about the test, step up to the plate and hit a home run. All this info has been mentioned in this thread, I just wanted to share my personal experience on how I studied and how I did. Because that's what I was looking for when I went researching for info on this test. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
USAR153D 47 Report post Posted April 22, 2014 Overall I did ok on my SIFT, but I don't think I got a single hidden figure problem right. They were pretty easy in the study guide...This was a concern of mine. In the SIFT study guide off Amazon, the hidden figures seem easier than the practice test I took through Peterson's Online Prep Center via AKO. So, I should expect them to be more difficult? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tnel00son 1 Report post Posted April 22, 2014 This was a concern of mine. In the SIFT study guide off Amazon, the hidden figures seem easier than the practice test I took through Peterson's Online Prep Center via AKO. So, I should expect them to be more difficult? I just took the SIFT this past thursday. For me, the hidden figures were slightly different than the ones given in the amazon book, but if you understand how to do them and keep in mind that the orientation of the hidden objects never change, you will do fine. You have a break for as long as you want before starting the section in order to read and understand the instructions and they give you a sample problem. All in all, my advice is don't stress out about it. I was stressing but I still managed a 65 on the test. Also, I only made it through only about 75 of the simple drawings and only 35 of the hidden figures and I am pretty sure I got at least one wrong in each of those sections. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ritter 39 Report post Posted April 22, 2014 This was a concern of mine. In the SIFT study guide off Amazon, the hidden figures seem easier than the practice test I took through Peterson's Online Prep Center via AKO. So, I should expect them to be more difficult? Yepp, I found them more difficult at the test than in the study guide. I thought I missed most of them and still managed a 66. If you have everything else down, you'll still get a good score. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
USAR153D 47 Report post Posted April 22, 2014 I just took the SIFT this past thursday. For me, the hidden figures were slightly different than the ones given in the amazon book, but if you understand how to do them and keep in mind that the orientation of the hidden objects never change, you will do fine. You have a break for as long as you want before starting the section in order to read and understand the instructions and they give you a sample problem. All in all, my advice is don't stress out about it. I was stressing but I still managed a 65 on the test. Also, I only made it through only about 75 of the simple drawings and only 35 of the hidden figures and I am pretty sure I got at least one wrong in each of those sections. The book says to maintain awareness of the time limit and to literally guess if you see time running out because every unanswered question will be marked incorrect when it comes to every section but math and mechanical comprehension. I hear a lot of people describing experiences similar to yours where they don't complete all of the hidden figures or simple drawings. Do you think if you just clicked through starting at about 30 seconds remaining or so, you would've boosted your score? Was there a lag time between clicking "next" and when the question came up? My buddy said that he read the same thing but then when he went to take the test he just couldn't mentally bring himself to 'guess' just to complete them all. He ended up passing with a 69. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tnel00son 1 Report post Posted April 22, 2014 The book says to maintain awareness of the time limit and to literally guess if you see time running out because every unanswered question will be marked incorrect when it comes to every section but math and mechanical comprehension. I hear a lot of people describing experiences similar to yours where they don't complete all of the hidden figures or simple drawings. Do you think if you just clicked through starting at about 30 seconds remaining or so, you would've boosted your score? Was there a lag time between clicking "next" and when the question came up? My buddy said that he read the same thing but then when he went to take the test he just couldn't mentally bring himself to 'guess' just to complete them all. He ended up passing with a 69. I chose to ignore the timer and do as many questions as quickly and accurately as I could. This seems to be the most common method among people who score well from what I have seen. Haven't heard of too many people gambling away their last 30 seconds. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StockTrader 581 Report post Posted April 22, 2014 I tried to be quick but accurate. Didnt end up guessing in the last 30 seconds. It seemed to go smoother as time went on and i essentially remembered what each shape was so I wasnt really glancing down at the shapes a lot. That was after the first 5-10 though. I ended up with a 70. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
USAR153D 47 Report post Posted April 29, 2014 SIFT scheduled for May 7. Apparently, the local MEPS only offers it once a month. Main concern is the math. Only have a 113 GT score and despite holding a Bachelor's Degree, the last time I did any was in HS (2004). Been practicing and going over the concepts covered based on the SIFT study guide (one off amazon.com) slowly but surely with the fiance (former math major). Hopefully, I can do well enough in the other sections to counter my lack of math skills. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cwil7280 152 Report post Posted April 29, 2014 Does the SIFT study guide have practice tests? I used ASVAB for dummies to study math. It came with a CD so I could take 4 or 5 different practice test versions of the ASVAB, including the math section. It was nice, because you can take a timed or untimed test to help simulate the timed stress you will be under. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
USAR153D 47 Report post Posted April 29, 2014 Does the SIFT study guide have practice tests? I used ASVAB for dummies to study math. It came with a CD so I could take 4 or 5 different practice test versions of the ASVAB, including the math section. It was nice, because you can take a timed or untimed test to help simulate the timed stress you will be under.Yes, it has 100 questions broken down by concepts covered as well as worked out answers for reference. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cwil7280 152 Report post Posted April 29, 2014 Awesome. Those books help a lot. I was in algebra 1050 when I took the SIFT but I still had to Google how to do long division, multiplication, and conversions of percentages by hand in order to do well. All the real-world applicable applications of math I had forgotten, but thank God I had memorized X = (-b +/- √(b^2-4ac)) / (2a). It's come in super handy in real life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cwil7280 152 Report post Posted April 29, 2014 Good luck by the way. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ritter 39 Report post Posted April 30, 2014 SIFT scheduled for May 7. Apparently, the local MEPS only offers it once a month. Main concern is the math. Only have a 113 GT score and despite holding a Bachelor's Degree, the last time I did any was in HS (2004). Been practicing and going over the concepts covered based on the SIFT study guide (one off amazon.com) slowly but surely with the fiance (former math major). Hopefully, I can do well enough in the other sections to counter my lack of math skills. I bought the sift study guide from amazon for like 20 dollars. It helped with some of the math. I would check that out. Just brush up on your math and you'll be fine. They actually give you the formulas on the test too. Order of operations, is most important. It's also good to brush up on your mechanical knowledge. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
USAR153D 47 Report post Posted April 30, 2014 Hidden figures I finished 30 out of 50, again really slow between questions. It was the same 5 figures, one of which needed to be located within the hidden picture.For all 50 questions they ask you to find the same 5 figures???? In the SIFT study guide they switch them up... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
