We need it...What did you do to study? How were you studying with 2 months left?

Please help us out!!!!!!!!!!

Library every RDO...do 8 hrs at least

Read on meal. Try to ask for fixers. Studying for 6 hours a day, and getting paid for it, cant be beat. Your rdos should consist of at least 6-8 hours of studying. Wake up, eat, study for 3-4 hours then relax for lunch/tv/football game/whatever. At night do another 3-4 hours before bed. Dont study too late into the night as you wont retain anything when youre tired. Get cds, or make them yourself, and listen to them in the car on your way to/from work. btw, phantom, if you just started studying now in the last two months, i say give it up. You need more time then that.

I was able to get two fixers a week and I studied all day on my rdo's but not much on the other days.  I spoke to a cop yesterday who is studying using material from five different sources.  I think this is a mistake.  First of all, alot of material is not up to date and since 7 to 10 questions you will be getting are on recent changes to the patrol guide I wouldn't risk confusing myself on anything but the most up to date publications.  I barely read the patrol guide but I read every copy of THE KEY at least five times, I stared at a confusing page for over a half an hour until every bit of it made sense and I did the same questions at the end of the key section three times and recorded my answers so I could see if I was making the same mistakes.  I believe people who read the patrol guide over and over may know the guide better than I did but I was studying to pass the test reading material printed by people who had taken it many times.  I wasn't trying to know the whole guide I was trying to pass.  There is a difference.

Also, I didn't study for the in-basket until the last three weeks but in those three weeks I went to 5 classes just for the in-basket.  I found a method that worked for me and I got 15 out of 15.  You either know how to do an in-basket or you don't figure out a method that works for you and spend the rest of your time on the other stuff.  Good luck!

The in basket, is gone over very well by the key and fast track. I would recommend going to all classes from both schools that deal with the in basket. If you can not do the in basket you will probably fail the exam. There are only so many ways to trick you on that part of the exam. Once you know how to do that part, if you read carefully and dont rush, you should ace that part. I wouldnt say find whatever method works, because certain methods are better than others. Either way, it's mostly learning how to properly deal with alot of information at one time and how to organize it.  I would not wait for 3 weeks until the exam to figure out how to do the in basket. At this point of studying you should already know how to do it. If not i suggest you start now. The in basket for some reason, is very confusing to quite a few people. unless you were a house mouse and did much roll call stuff, it can take 3 or 4 in baskets until you really grasp what you are doing. Good luck studying, to all.

Good luck to all studying, remember study smarter not harder.

-- Edited by nycop80 at 17:19, 2008-12-05

It's never too late to start.  What I do recommend is to take off 3-4 weeks before the exam if you have enough time to do so.  If you cram 12-16 hours a day.  You can do it.  I did.  If you can make it to all of the cram courses, that's a plus.  I attended the Key and it helped me alot.  Take atleast 3 practice in baskets and answer a lot of questions.  Just remember not to read more than 2 hours at a time.  Take a half hour to one hour break then resume studying.  Good luck.

-- Edited by cubanbatmanking at 18:23, 2008-12-05

Bounce questions off your fellow cops that are taking the test. If you can get a good hospitalized prisoner thats in a coma. Take any fixers where you can get study time. Studying on job time is over half the battle. It sucks to burn vacation in january but i took two weeks before the test and just hit it hard. 6-8 hours a day for two weeks hitting the major parts. By the last month you should be done with the entire guide just study major sections and interm orders. Try to study at a place where there are no distractions. Take a few practice tests and see your score. See what questions you keep missing. Don't burn out this is the time you have to turn the corner don't flop and give. GOOD LUCK!!!

-- Edited by 18and1 at 19:53, 2008-12-05

Thank You all for the info, I ahave been studying since the test was announced at least 2 hrs a day, I go to the key, do questions, go to the Police Academy, do questions and I am going to the Fast Track Cram courses. I am also going to step it up to 4 hrs a day starting on Sunday....I just need a little encouragement because EVERYONE I know dropped out....Thanks again Guys!

I still want to hear more....:)

-- Edited by Phantom3628 at 01:02, 2008-12-06

Other people giving up is encouragement enough, a few less names you have to compete with to have a higher list number.  Remember, you're doing this for your self, whatever the reason is, not for anyone else, so dont worry about your friends giving up as long as you keep doing what you're doing

you are in the final stretch, many people will give up, just stay with it.

Read the patrol guide from star to finish section by section. Take the tests they give you at the police academy as if you were actually at the test site. Do not study laying down, on a couch or anywhere comfortable. Do not write in the question booklet. Sit and TAKE EACH TEST as if you were taking the actual test. At a desk, with highlighters and multiple pencils. Grade yourself each time...Re-read the entire procedure of those you get wrong on your tests. Take the test again and see your progress When you are reading the guide ask yourself every couple of pages..."what did i get out of those pages"? If you didnt retain any facts...read it again. Use post cards and consolidate the info on the cards even further making acronyms or silly one line stories out of all of the words. It is easier to remember one sentence than 20 individual words in order. When you take the test, take a lot of breaks. Walk around. Go to the bathroom. Clear your head...then come back and continue...do that at least every 30 minutes. Good luck!

Oh yeah and most of all...Pretend it is your JOB to study...and that if you pass you get rank, a huge raise at top pay and free of the puppet you worked for once. :)

Hey...I didnt go to any classes, not to say they are not good, but I think just reading the guide is the best way..COntinuous event always a question..Also they keep making mention of a penal law change for Assault 2, about how its a felony now if you assault someone over 65 years old and your more then 10 years their junior. Its an ammendment in the penal law and I keep hearing about it. Also, I think after everything with Sean Bell the interim order about plain clothes cops being able to drink and now not could be a question. Just a guess. I took 2 weeks before the test and I swear thats why I passed. Good luck everyone Merry Christmas

didnt like the idea of bouncing questions off of other cops cause some times some one will give u a wrong answer that u will remember

id have to agree with funny money

Don't bounce questions off of other cops..they are still cops for a reason...maybe they got the questions WRONG? No cop likes to keep saying..."Uh, I don't know" so you will get very confident incorrect answers more often then not. I too took two weeks off prior to exam and passed. You have to go to a library or something like that for 8 hrs a day mon-fri during that two weeks and study questions and guide. This is really not brain surgery...it is STUDY SMART = PASS EXAM .... PASS EXAM = MAKE MORE MONEY (EVENTUALLY) GET RANK Good luck and instead of being on here... STUDY!!! :)

it is definitely worth it, OT , even the slightest bit adds a nice amount to your paycheck now.

Phantom you are asking the wrong group. You should have written this a month or more ago when all the guys who got 80 plus were on here.
Anybody still on here got in the 70's (20 plus wrong). They are not the best guys to get advise from. No offense.

Rumormill are you tooting your own horn? The objective of all current sgt exam is to pass with a 70...anything more than that is just gravy.

irishprincess14 wrote:

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Hey...I didnt go to any classes, not to say they are not good, but I think just reading the guide is the best way..COntinuous event always a question..Also they keep making mention of a penal law change for Assault 2, about how its a felony now if you assault someone over 65 years old and your more then 10 years their junior. Its an ammendment in the penal law and I keep hearing about it. Also, I think after everything with Sean Bell the interim order about plain clothes cops being able to drink and now not could be a question. Just a guess. I took 2 weeks before the test and I swear thats why I passed. Good luck everyone Merry Christmas

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You studied for only 2 weeks before the test and you Passed?  YEAH RIGHT! 

At what point did I say I only studied for 2 weeks? I studied for 7 months, took off 2 weeks before the test to hit it hard and refresh which is what HELPED me pass.

irishprincess14 wrote:

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Hey...I didnt go to any classes, not to say they are not good, but I think just reading the guide is the best way..COntinuous event always a question..Also they keep making mention of a penal law change for Assault 2, about how its a felony now if you assault someone over 65 years old and your more then 10 years their junior. Its an ammendment in the penal law and I keep hearing about it. Also, I think after everything with Sean Bell the interim order about plain clothes cops being able to drink and now not could be a question. Just a guess. I took 2 weeks before the test and I swear thats why I passed. Good luck everyone Merry Christmas

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You studied for only 2 weeks before the test and you Passed?  YEAH RIGHT! 

Sorry, I thought from your post you only studied for 2 weeks.  I also studied for about 6 months with no classes. 

Or just pretend to be a Sabbath Observer and you don't have to study at all.

Read the guide. if you feel tired stop. If you feel you are not retaining anything take a break. read at your own pace.

do alot of question from all the classes and read the patrol guide. take two week off and study alot. good luck to all.