ATC IssuesA place where pilots may enter the 'lions den' that is Air Traffic Control in complete safety and find out the answers to all those obscure topics which you always wanted to know the answer to but were afraid to ask.
I think the amount of study required is very much down to the individual.
Some worked every night and most of the weekend, most followed a pattern something like Gonzo/AJ and others did practically nothing until a week before exams.
All of the styles worked (and failed!!) for different groups of people during my time there.
My view was always that I would have been very unhappy to fail something due to lack of work so worked very hard from Sun to Thurs. Friday night was blowing of steam(beer) night and Sat was a day of whatever I fancied.
I'll be reapplying for a second time in a couple of weeks, but then I didn't get past stage one last year
Been glued to this site during that time, thanks to everyone for your helpful posts.
personally i just studied the night before any exams or verbal exams and still do to the day. This allowed me to go out at least two or three nights a week in Bournemouth and at the weekends too. Unless the exams have got significantly harder in the last few years i see no reason why folk wouldn't be able to do the same now. Everyone's different though plus i doubt the 10k a year will go very far. It was easier in my time £18k + £400 a month allowed for lots of beer.
I wish all applicants all the very best and just rememebr to be yourself in the interviews. Also don't say things like "i'm a great team player" without being prepared to answer "give a specific example of when you have been a good team player". They'll ask for specific examples for all the favourite attributes people tend to boast in interviews (decision making, leadership etc), so remember to be prepared.
First of all I would just like to thanks everyone who has posted on this thread, as its been really helpful.
I have been invited to stage 2 interview and was wondering if anyone had arranged a tower visit before their 2nd stage interview or did you arrange a visit after passing the 2nd stage and before the 3rd?
Anyone know how to arrange one? PM/post please
Last edited by mike1711 : 17th June 2008 at 22:25.
Reason: I cnat spall vury wel :-)
All, I would not take yahoo's info re college life too seriously. The only students I've seen who do a last night study session and went out 3 nights a week INCLUDING WEEKENDS either failed the basic course, or took a few attempts at more than one course..... None of it is easy, and it never gets easier. You just have to get your head down, do the work, and do a few hours study most nights, and a lot more in the days coming up to an exam. It is all do-able of course so don't let me make out that it is impossible, it's just intense! I'm sure there's many reading this more than happy to agree.............
I would agree with two things.. everyone's different, and it is intense.
Some people just absorb information and can readily remember it, others study in different ways. It's all about how you work..
Personally I put the work in every weeknight and had most of the weekends off (except for the weekend before my oral board..and before a few exams). My theory was that if I put in as much work as I could and failed then so be it, I'd tried my best.. but I wasn't going to let the opportunity slip if I could help it by doing a bit more work.
Don't forget too that the pass mark on the theory is 70%, which is what most universities use as their top-grade mark, not their pass mark.. so depending on what you're used to getting in exams you might have to adjust your style!
I'd wager there are very few people in the world who can absorb 80 pages of MATS 1/2 info word for word and reproduce (a selection of) it by only studying the night before.
This is what you have to do to pass the written on advanced these days.
Also, if you haven't failed anything, then you would have spent about 9 months at the college in total - things are more condensed these days.
From 211 I can think of 1 person who passed that did CONSIDERABLY less study than everyone else (still much more than yahoo suggests) but he had one of those crazy memories.
The rest of the mere mortals were left to slog it out
Excellent advice for the interview though
although i have just put my ankle in a cast so maybe i am
i think the point that is being made overall is that it is a different kind of learning to what most will have experienced before. having done chemistry at uni, i had a (wrong) conception that i knew how to study. the college is a fast-moving place where an awful lot is crammed into whichever 3 month course it is. the last thing you want to do is get behind as it is awfully difficult to catch up from there. everyone has a different approach and indeed circumstances (weekends at home etc) but the core aspect of weekday study i would consider essential.
its probably a hell of a lot more than you learn in a lot of degrees in probably a quarter of the time. hopefully all you applicants will get to have this lovely experience
AJ,
So, "having done chemistry at uni", you declded to hop along to the College of knoweldge, -good idea!
You are correct when you say it is a fast-moving place. It's going at about 18.5 miles per second, - but then again, so is everywhere else
Whilst I know that a degree is by no means a requirement for NATS - nor should it be - personally I doubt I would have passed the selection process without it, simply because of how much I changed during my time at uni..
So I don't think it's fair to suggest that getting a degree then moving into ATC is a poor career choice which you are doing in your sarcasm zooker..
Apart from anything else, it's a very useful backup.
Curiousity got the better of me and I removed you (from my ignore list) to read the inevitable drivel you were spouting.
I proved myself right and was once again disappointed with the level you once again dragged me to.
Enjoy listening in.
All apllicants i would strongly suggest that you get at least one ATC visit in before your interviews. One of the first questions they'll ask is "what preparation have you done for today?", if you can say that you've been for a TC visit and a visit to say Biggin Hill or Cardiff (it doesn't have to be a NAts unit) they will be impressed and at least you will have a vague idea of what ATC is about.
Again, good luck!
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oh in response to comments about the work required at the college, all i would say is, you will know yourself how much work you'll need to do outwith the college - everyone's different. Just try and pay lots of attention during the lectures and ask the lecturers questions if you don't understand what there telling you. I sure did! Remember they're being paid huge salaries so make them work for it!
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don't remove the mystique snelly...
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