Nicolas Garcia for Your Story Matters

Speaker: Nicolas Garcia

Nicolas Garcia: I took the NJATC aptitude test for electrician's apprentice and I passed it. Um, I got an above average on reading and a below average in math, but math was not my strong suit and the iPREP program definitely helped me to feel. Way more confident going into the exam, whereas before I would not have passed 100%.

Nicolas Garcia: The math portion is by far the hardest part. Um, it's a very fine line you need to walk of time required to take it. And for me, it was like 33 minutes. Uh, or I mean 43 minutes. Um, and you know, before you know it, you're at 20 minutes left and you're like halfway through. Uh, so for me, I prioritized the stuff that I knew really well, uh, and the stuff that required the most amount of solving. You know, and simplification, did those first and then I went back to uh towards the end and tried to do the stuff that I had a little harder time with and was able to take some some extra time to try to solve them. Uh, overall, I got a below average, but the ones that I got right, I felt like I did pretty good on um and then the reading section. Uh, I got above average, but, um, That one has its own challenge because it gives you an extra 10 minutes, but uh you really have to go over those passages and know the the questions because, you know, if you just try to skim through it and you hope to find the answers, you know, you're wrong. You really got to go into the passages. Uh, so that was definitely the hardest part of it.

Nicolas Garcia: My overall testing experience went pretty good. I got there about 15 minutes early. I was able to sit and chat with the proctor for a couple of minutes beforehand, uh, which kind of helped to ease my stress a little bit. Um, I had a nice breakfast beforehand, eggs, banana, and coffee. Um, didn't really study the morning beforehand because I wanted to go in with a clear mind, but I studied like crazy the days leading up. Um, so when I went in there, I felt confident and ready to go. Uh, I've taken a few other Uh, tests similar to this in the past. I was a firefighter and an EMT, um, back in the day. So I I've taken my fair share of big tests like this. Uh, so I just took those skills and applied it to this studying habits, uh, and I did good. I passed. I got a 5 out of 10, which, uh, you know, you can afford to qualify. So, uh, could have done better, but could have done worse, uh, and uh. Yeah, so I'm ready for the interview, which should be coming in a couple of weeks, so.

Nicolas Garcia: So for future test takers, uh, definitely give yourself more time than you think you need to study. Um, I started studying for the exam. In December, but you know, life gets in the way. My wife ended up in the hospital having some medical issues. Um, so I had to take up more time working my job. Um, which that got in the way, um, as well as just other things in life, you know. So definitely give yourself more time. I'd say the sweet spot is probably 3 months. Um, I purchased the iPREP program in the beginning of March and I took my test, uh, in the 2nd week of April. Uh, so, I would have liked to have had another 2 or 3 weeks to really hammer in some more of the stuff, but I feel like it's uh It worked for me to be able to pass the test, uh, but if I was to do it again, I would definitely take 3 full months to go through the coursework so that you can really hammer it in, know your stuff. So when you sit in that test, you know, not only will you know the stuff, but you can be able to rock it and solve it quick. Uh, and the program is really good too because not only does it Show you how to solve everything. It'll show you 3 different ways to solve it, uh, from the basic way of, you know, solving it the long way, also quick ways like it would hammer out a lot of quick mental math practices, which helped out a lot, especially in regards to, you know, having to just save some time rather than having to do an equation out. You could just do it in your brain. Um, so definitely take more time, morning of prepare a good breakfast, uh, coffee, whatever, you know, whatever you need to feel ready to go and then show up early. And try to talk with your Proctor a little bit, uh, break the ice because it'll definitely make you feel a little better rather than just like sitting there and clamming up because then you'll just be even more nervous. So, um, I definitely would say get there early. Get a good breakfast. And morning of, I wouldn't really study the morning of if you're not ready that night before to take it, um, I don't think you'll be ready the morning of. So definitely days leading up to, I would do focus mainly on the simulation of the actual test, right? That's what I did, uh, rather than just trying to uh continue to Hit stuff that I was having problems with, I would just do the simulations, which would show me the exact places where I get stuff wrong and then I would go back and do little touch-ups on stuff like that. So that's what I would suggest.