Canadian Forces Aptitude Test (CFAT) [MERGED]

[George Wallace]

I think this guy use to be my Troop Leader...  :facepalm:

Had one of those.  Wouldn't listen to over fifty years of experience from his Patrol Comds as why it is a bad idea to congregate the Troop on an intersection while clearing Laterals.  He is a major the last I heard.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Had one of those.  Wouldn't listen to over fifty years of experience from his Patrol Comds as why it is a bad idea to congregate the Troop on an intersection while clearing Laterals.  He is a major the last I heard.

What's wrong with that??  Makes it easier to use hand signals!!  ;D 

my ego/pride.

Nice summary.  Good use of brevity, accurate.  Well done.

I'll throw something straight at you.  Maybe you are making a simple CFAT way too complicated with all your "Cain begat Able" talk.  Maybe follow-on readers will go "holy crap!  that guy is a genius and he failed, I'm doomed!"  Ever think of the 'real life' fall-out of your posts, vice your attempt to turn it into self-gratifying epiphany?  You know what I did to prep for my last CFAT?  I reviewed fractions on math.com; that is it.  I've already stated my Gr 12 is a GED.  And trust me, I am no genius.

There is an old saying about 'making mountains out of mole hills'.  I think this thread is nothing more than you trying to appease your own ego and pride over  your first blow-out of the CFAT because, as you said, well the CFRC staff were tripping over themselves trying to get you in the CF.

 

[63 Delta]

Mine decided it was better to take his Patrol to Subway 20km's away from the front line, then support his two other Patrols that were in contact... Ya it took about 5 hours to finally link up

Was pretty funny watching him trying to explain all that to 9er though...

 

[dimsum]

I long for the days when there were no sites like this to prep for the CFAT.  Hell; I was 18, went on a bit of a calculated "rebellious streak" to the CFRC and had no idea what it was until I actually wrote it. 

Still turned out fine  :nod:

 

[xtreme]

Actually - forget it.

I just deleted my post, that explained in detail the variations between Officer CFAT scores and their side-effects to a person's application.

What's the point?  Here I am, trying to explain to strangers and quite possibly my competition on how they may perform exceptionally on their CFAT (and any other standardized test).  How they may improve the odds of entering their desired trade and how they may be able to get themselves into Officer and the Pilot trades - scientifically.  I wanted to provide practical suggestions and ideas on how this may be achieved.

Instead, on this forum - we get berated for introducing an intellectual - albeit controversial - discussion that may indeed enlighten members on how to take their tests optimally.  Advice coming from a somebody who has performed exceptionally well on the CFAT and exceptionally well on far more difficult tests than that.

I was going to show exactly how to prepare for this test (or any test) and how to utilize advanced test-taking strategies that I've used with success for myself.

Even if you have already written the CFAT.  Some of what I would have discussed, may have proven useful in other endeavors in life or CF career.

 

[63 Delta]

Actually - forget it.

I just deleted my post, that explained in detail the variations between Officer CFAT scores and their side-effects to a person's application.

What's the point?  Here I am, trying to explain to strangers and quite possibly my competition on how they may perform exceptionally on their CFAT (and any other standardized test).  How they may improve the odds of entering their desired trade and how they may be able to get themselves into Officer and the Pilot trades - scientifically.  I wanted to provide practical suggestions and ideas on how this may be achieved.

Instead, on this forum - we get berated for introducing an intellectual - albeit controversial - discussion that may indeed enlighten members on how to take their tests optimally.  Advice coming from a somebody who has performed exceptionally well on the CFAT and exceptionally well on far more difficult tests than that.

I was going to show exactly how to prepare for this test (or any test) and how to utilize advanced test-taking strategies that I've used with success for myself.

Even if you have already written the CFAT.  Some of what I would have discussed, may have proven useful in other endeavors in life or CF career.

I guess were gonna be short officers this FY now...

 

[George Wallace]

You know, xtreme, I have run across officers who were NCMs.  They had "Photographic memories".  They could quote you chapter and verse anything that they had read.  They, no doubt, did very well on these tests.  Did it make them good officers in the end?  Not really.  Even though they knew the words from the texts, they were not good at interpreting them and recognizing that the texts were only guides and that in reality there were various shades of grey between the book's 'black and whites'.  Actually, that also had not made them all that great as NCOs, but they went onward and upward. 

Can you answer the next question: Are we looking for "Leaders" or "Managers"?

 

[xtreme]

George:

A balance of both, depending on rank and duties.

 

[Journeyman]

.....after making a few changes in my life & attitude.

I wouldn't stop making adjustments just yet.



And while it may come across as bragging, I too completed the CFAT.  :nod:

 

[Towards_the_gap]

Hey xtreme, are you even in the forces yet?

If not, how about you use that megamind like brain of yours and analyze the fact that you have probably close to +100 years of combined military experience on this thread telling you that the CFAT is, in the big scheme of things, of absolute no importance over the span of a typical career, and that there are far greater and more important tests of natural intelligence, humanity and intellect that you will face as a soldier/sailor/airman on operations, some of which the penalty for failure is your life or the lives of others.

Edit to add:

To any applicants/potential applicants reading this gong-show, DO NOT SWEAT the CFAT test. Follow the tips on here, don't shell out money on silly websites which guarantee you to pass, and study for the test. It is a tool, albeit a very simple one, to test that you can follow written direction, perform basic arithmetic, and have some spatial cognition. 30 years into a long and successful career and I doubt you will even remember what you score was anyways. I know I don't.

 

[PanaEng]

Not sure what some of you are all "upset"/panties-in-a-knot about the OP.
It's just some geeky information, some may find it interesting, some amusing and some not.
It may even help some with a similar way of thinking and be totally irrelevant to others - probably most of us.

He may have come across a bit arrogant - like to see his IQ score displayed on a forum...
But WTF do we care what someone wants to put here (about 4k of memory so far); if you are interested, read it and comment intelligently and if you are not, GTF somewhere else and comment on something that interest you.

Let Sheldon be!!!
If he posts something totally wrong and against the site rules, then there are ways for the admins to get rid of it.

CHIMO!

 

[Journeyman]

Well, personally, I just find it intriguing that someone so obviously brillianttm has been posting on CFATs here since 2007.  For those who don't have the CFAT-blessed knowledge of higher mathematics, that's six years -- giving "advice" on CFATs* -- still with no indication that Sheldon's made it into the CF.



* Except for some minor tangent on having a thousand years of royal blood in his veins.  :not-again:

 

[Jacky Tar]

xtreme, the secret of doing well on a test isn't exacty a secret, and you are not the first to have (a) done well on the CFAT and/or (b) think you discovered something momentous WRT (a).

As for the question of do we want leaders or managers? Management is a part of leadership, but leading is not necessarily part of managership. So let us have leaders.

I have met officers who could take the square root of a pickle jar but couldn't lead a one-man rush on a two-man heads.

 

[NavComm87]

Our new friend "Shelden" is simply posting a possible correlation.

A first year course in any social science (not to mention a basic Statistics course) will teach you that CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION.

For example, I wrote the LSAT a year prior to writing the CFAT. But that doesn't mean that everyone who received my score on the LSAT will receive the same score as me on the CFAT (or vice versa).

The CFAT is a stand-alone aptitude test that has many dimensions, and can't really be compared to any other Aptitude Test (Be it IQ, LSAT, GMAT or so on).

 

[medicineman]

My  :2c: - when I wrote my CFAT a gazillion years ago (and qualified for Officer incidentally...and haven't had formal IQ testing), I was told at the outset that "...people with double Master's fail this and kids in junior high ace it..."

Only 2 of us out of the initial 12 that wrote got to the medical.

And that really means diddly squat in the grand scheme of things.

MM

 

[Tralax]

I just wrote the CFAT today and I did better than expected.  Being out of high school for 10 years kind of worried me but I did fine.  ;D

 

[Towards_the_gap]

How's the view from up there at the narrow reaches of the bell curve?

 

[Loachman]

I do not understand the animosity displayed to the OP at all. I did not take his post as bragging about his IQ, just expressing some natural curiosity.

Yes, none of us care about the inner workings (Electrical? Hydraulic? Clockwork?) of the CFAT, but if somebody else does, well, whatever floats their boat/turns their crank/greases their chicken etcetera. It's a big planet, with plenty of room for all and their fetishes.

Definitely more fun with a Sheldon voice, though.

And chicks dig polysyllabic words too.

Very entertaining.

And I am ecstatic that Journeyman passed his CFAT. I can sleep well tonight.

 

[Shamrock]

And chicks dig polysyllabic words too.

What does a lie detector have to do with this?

 

[Towards_the_gap]

I do not understand the animosity displayed to the OP at all. I did not take his post as bragging about his IQ, just expressing some natural curiosity.

Yes, none of us care about the inner workings (Electrical? Hydraulic? Clockwork?) of the CFAT, but if somebody else does, well, whatever floats their boat/turns their crank/greases their chicken etcetera. It's a big planet, with plenty of room for all and their fetishes.

Definitely more fun with a Sheldon voice, though.

And chicks dig polysyllabic words too.

Very entertaining.

And I am ecstatic that Journeyman passed his CFAT. I can sleep well tonight.

I read it as a pocket-(protector??) napoleon in a way... Maybe it just hit a nerve with me, being a high-school drop-out and all.

But did the 'bell curve means I'm outnumbered in this conversation' not strike you as a little arrogant? ;D