so ive been putting this off for like 8 months now and finally scheduled the exam for the 14th. ive been using the sheppard air app mostly and gone through maybe 400 questions at this point. feeling okay on airspace and weather but the sectional chart stuff still trips me up sometimes, like i know the basics but then they throw some weird symbol at me and i blank.

anyone have stuff they wish they had focused on more before sitting down? also is the testing center weird about anything, like do they take your phone at the door or what

the sectional stuff honestly just takes repetition, print out a couple practice charts and just stare at them while watching tv or whatever. the ones that got me were the Class E surface areas vs the faded magenta, i kept mixing those up until i just drilled it over and over.

as for the testing center yeah they take your phone and give you a locker, at least the one i went to did. they give you scratch paper and a calculator. the actual test interface is pretty straightforward, nothing fancy. i passed with an 87 and honestly felt like i could have used another week of studying the TAF and METAR stuff because a few of those questions were more specific than i expected.

dont stress too much about the testing center thing its basically just like a prometric setup, super standard. they made me empty my pockets and do a metal detector thing but it wasnt a big deal.

one thing i'd say is dont skip the airport operations section even if it seems boring, i had like 3 questions about runway markings and lighting that i almost didnt study