Hello everyone im creating this new Threat to keep everyone updated on my progress through ATP as it will be honest and may help others just as all the threads on here have helped me. I’ve finally secured a start date for the Morristown, NJ (MMU) location for May 20. I have my First Class Medical and already took the intro flight. I’ve also begun going through Kings ground school and will try to finish everything while retaining all the knowledge i can. I am 21 years old with 58 college credits, I was actually told 2 more classes are required for me to complete the Criminal Justice Associates Degree and i can come back when ever to finish. Don’t ask why i didn’t just finish; to put it simple i took a break and found a job and never went back to finish. Anyways, the best plan i came up with from the help of input from other pilot friends, deep research, and this forum, would be to attend an accelerated program (what led me to ATP) to get me all the requirements of a Regional Airline, while im there finish up my Associates online or if i can in person since i do prefer face to face but if it must be online it is what it is. Get my Bachelors during the time im at the Regionals then hopefully transfer out to the Majors, all requirements complete. Honestly feel a bit nervous but excited at the same time is this normal? Should i be worried and/ or a bit nervous? Also since my start date is May 20 would you mentors and current ATP students say i have enough or not enough time to eliminate the written exams by then? believe there are 3 they recommend you get done
Ankel,
I look forward to seeing the progress as I start the same time in Wilmington and will possibly meet up with you in future phases.
As far as the testing I think its going to be tight to get the 3 main out of the way (PAR,IRA,CAX) but depending on how much time you put aside for studying and practice tests it can be done. Ive heard if you can put 4-5 hours aside before the program for studying 3-4 weeks for PAR, 1-3 for IRA and 1-3 for CAX. I believe “Peter” or Sergey said they got all but CAX and FOI out of the way before starting and even with those left the others were a relief to be done.
I’m just about through my IRA Sheppard questions after about a month but I’ve only been putting aside 1-2 hours a day (between work, kids, and getting life set up for my being MIA for about 6 months). I have read to take the FII immediately after the IRA (with a decent score) and i will respond back with if that is a decent idea as Sheppard doesn’t suggest it.
Ok, im not too sure about the other required ones i just knew about PAR, IRA, and CAX, which other ones do i need to take and when? Also, im not working or anything at the moment i literally have all day to study and answer questions so i will surely get at least 6 hours of studying with breaks in between 7 days a week. I have nothing more to look forward to.
You will also need the following writtens:
FIA- Flight instructor airplane
FII - Flight Instructor Instrument
FOI - Fundamentals of instruction
I also picked up AGI (advanced ground instructor) for that Gold seal rating later.
Ok Good to know thanks
Ankel,
If you’re not working at all you can definitely bang out all 6 knowledge exams and I suggest you do. Further the IRA and the FII share the same test bank of questions so you should plan on taking them both at the same time. Also the FIA is very similar to the CAX and they share many questions as well. So if you look at it that way you’re really studying for 4.5 exams but taking 6. That should make it more manageable.
Adam
Adam I will follow your suggestions thank you. I will study as much as i can I appreciate all words of wisdom to get me through this journey.
It can actually be done much quicker. Taking a full week to study for a written should be the max if it is your sole focus. I would say 1 day for every 100 questions in the bank. You should be able to get over 90% on several practice exams before taking it, of course. But 3 or 4 weeks seems very excessive.
Ok great thank you Jordan appreciate the words of wisdom. I’ve been going through the king school material and tick on categories on the practice exam as i complete the courses just to refresh and test myself.
Jordan,
I was going off of the typical person who is working up to the start of the course and only having 2-4 hrs to study (prior to knowing he was completely available) also going through whole King Schools program for PAR as I don’t think the program will generate an endorsement without going through the whole thing. Plus ATP requires all modules to be completed 2 weeks prior to start so it’s gonna have to get done anyway.
I agree with Jordan, I just took the commercial written on Monday and I started studying for it Friday afternoon so just 1 weekend.
Wow thats great to hear, im going through all the material making sure im learning what Kings is teaching. Hopefully take my first written within the next week and couple days.
Impressive - the CAX is one of the biggest test banks. But its similar to the PPL
Thanks for participating in my thread Jordan, i read about you and i am glad everything is going absolutely fantastic for you. Appreciate all your words of recommendations 
Ankel,
Don’t stress if you don’t understand everything as it can be like a foreign language at times. You will learn to understand it as it comes up in training. As with all things in flying take notes when studying so you can remember questions to ask your CFI so they can drive it home when it comes up in lessons.
Wow that sets the bar high for me lol Out of curiousity about how many hours did you study a day?
Day 1: Aerodynamics & Aircraft - 159 questions, Engines - 45 questions, FAR’s - 145 questions
Day 2: General - 213 questions, IFR & Navigation - 73 questions
Day 3: Weather - 202 questions, and the last section is Weight & Balance / Performance - 123 questions which I skipped because I couldn’t remember the numbers I just did the calculations for that on the test. Then I took 2 practice tests and got 77% and 81% (most people wait till 90%) I was comfortable with that so I took the test the next morning and got a 79%, not the best score but it worked.
What personally works best for me with Sheppard air is to read each question out loud and then the answer and do this 3 times before moving on to the next question (During step 1 where it shows correct answers only) for step 2 I only read the questions one time each.
It took me 5-6 hours per day with a break only in-between each section (but for me once I start a section I have to finish it without any breaks or I’ll forget a lot and have to re do the entire section
Good luck!
With kings it took me a couple weeks, but after the PAR when you move onto Shepard air you should be able to knock the rest out pretty fast. Good luck!
Aaron i really appreciate the advise and your insight as to how long it took you so that I have an Idea. Feel free to chime in as i will try my best to post my progress for the same of other and to hopefully look back on the journey 
Just updating my thread for everyone interested in information as I move along with my decision to begin ATP, not gonna lie i love learning about aviation and all but wow is studying still painful LOL clearly there are no exceptions there (i thought everything was interesting but some lessons are indeed boring, maybe its just the Kings teaching style). I’m studying for the IRA at the moment, gladly got the PAR out the way today i guess i over studied it a bit but i did slack of a bit here and there if i’m being honest. Had some communication issues with scheduling the test( i called ATP and told them im 100% available any second of the day, they didn’t get back to me so i called again couple days later, then they tell me the computer is down at the training center). Feel like phone service could improve a bit, they always sound confused on the phone which makes it look sketchy but all good i believe in ATP and its graduates. Im just straight cruel realistic not here to lie, here to help and share my experience. I did get a 100% on the PAR which did put the biggest smile on my face. Currently 2 weeks out from my start date (May 20, 2019). Still hitting the lessons. By the way if anyone would like to reach me feel free to direct message me at IG at ankel_loves