Get Your A&P License from Military Experience (Part 4 of 5)

You're here! Which means you're done with your written exams and are on the last leg. The next step is studying for and completing the oral and practical exams. There are a couple of options to consider at this point.

DIY it Again

Deciding to strike out on your own for this part of the test prep is certainly an option. I would highly recommend that you use the Jeppesen Oral & Practical Guide. Currently, it's the most accurate and useful prep tool on the market.

The best method of preparation is recreating the testing environment to practice in, and that's out loud. Auditory repetition is going to be your Karen Smith and Gretchen Wieners on this one.

For myself, I created the 90% rule. I had to pass with no less than 90% correct answers before I allowed myself to move on to the next section.

By breaking up the material by section, it becomes significantly more digestible. Eat those one-pound hamburgers one small bite at a time. Personally, I chose to start with my problem child first and applying my 90% rule, moved through each section with that parameter. After that, I started mixing up 100 questions at a time from different sections and again, applied my 90% rule.

Enlisting others like friends, partners, mentors, and loved ones to test you after you've gone through the material on your own is another tremendous help. The most successful students tend to have good support systems that help cheer them on.

Test Prep Service

If you don't want to DIY it, that's okay too. There are great test prep services out there that are geared to help you. There is a caution I'd like to add, just because someone has a website and a facility does not mean they are in the business of teaching, helping, or customer service.

Do some sleuthing and ask people that have attended these courses before you decide on one, especially if they have "veteran-friendly" or "helps veterans and active-duty military" plastered all over the website. I've seen too many good folks fall victim to bad services because when they see us, they see dollar signs, not people.

For myself, I did choose to use a test prep service for the oral and practical exam portions. I chose a local small business out of New Smyrna Beach, but there are options all over the country. Baker's School of Aeronautics is a popular one as well as Code One Maintenance. Both of these come with rave reviews, but I still highly recommend you do your own investigating.

One last note on this, I liked the test prep service option for orals and practicals because of all the different things you can be tested on. Waiting until you are in a testing environment to "do the thing" for the first time is a horrible idea, especially if you're anything like me and get nervous in dynamic testing environments that are a semi-interview.

Think about it, to try and accomplish these tasks would require you to purchase equipment, tools, materials, and consumables that would cost more money than paying someone who already has all of it and can guide you.

Find a DME

Many of the test prep services out there do have DMEs that they normally work with. It's not required that you work with those DMEs, but it usually comes highly recommended. If for whatever reason you don't like some of the feedback you've got from former examinees, find another DME.

To maximize your chance of success on test day, I can't amplify the fact that you need to be calm and focused on your test, enough. If you're too busy worried about being treated unfairly, being bullied, or being second-guessed or tricked by the DME (which is illegal by the way), then your head isn't in the test. Be an advocate for yourself and get some reviews on your DME before you choose them.

Lastly, price is going to vary. Every DME is going to charge something different than the next. I know it's easy to say "price shouldn't matter", but price shouldn't matter, mostly.

If you're comparing using one DME against another based solely on price and not professionalism and reviews from former examinees, then you're going to end up paying more in retest fees down the road. Immediate money aside, you're also going to spend more time studying and retesting rather than interviewing for your next opportunity.

DANCE LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING

Life at this moment is a gift! You've passed! Take the time to revel in you and all you've done for yourself. Go out to dinner, do some celebrating, and exhale.

Charles E. Taylor would be proud.