Officer Candidate 6e (Arco Military Test Tutor) (Paperback)

by Arco (Author) "Commissioned officers in the Armed Forces of the United States-Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy-enjoy a diversified professional career interwoven with adventure and..." (more)
Key Phrases: computer systems development officers, officer candidate tests, specimen answer sheet, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Preparation for each branch of service. Army, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. Gives candidates the sample tests and preparation they need to achieve high scores on the qualifying exam. Softcover.

From the Publisher
FEATURES AND BENEFITS

-Full-length sample tests for each branch of service
-Expert test-taking strategies
-Job descriptions and pay grades for commissioned officers
-A study plan to help readers prepare quickly and effectively --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 426 pages
• Publisher: Arco; 6th edition (May 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0768908477
• ISBN-13: 978-0768908473
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #164,511 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars AFOQT Takers Beware, July 21, 2000

By	Phylis D Black (Hephzibah, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Officer Candidate 5e (Officer Candidate Tests) (Paperback)

Out of 16 subtests of the AFOQT, this book provides practice only on the 6 academic ones, with very few practice problems with even skimpier explanations. The only reason ARCO is still managing to publish this rip-off is because they have no competition. The most you'll get for your money is a good idea of what sort of questions they'll ask and how well you can expect to do in the allotted time for each subtest (but you can get that for free on the 'net). For serious study purposes, I strongly recommend you spend some quality time with Barron's SAT Study Guide. I scored phenomenally well on the AFOQT, and I owe it all to Barron.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but not the "End All" for the AFOQT, January 5, 2001

By	"rustinaf" (AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Officer Candidate 5e (Officer Candidate Tests) (Paperback)

This book is great for those who do better on batteries that they can actually see or practice with prior to test day. I was able to take a number of sample quizes and it really let me know on what to work or focus. After using this book and the "Military Flight Aptitude Test" book from the same publisher, I scored over 90 in each section of the AFOQT so the practice works! However, other books would come in handy since this book only provides reviews of the tests and samples, with no instruction on concepts.

As other reviewers have said, a book which explains certain math problems or english theory would help those who find they are lacking after taking a couple of this book's sample tests. I would agree that an SAT book might be helpful as a companion. Also, the Verbal portion of the real AFOQT is much more complicated than the examples given here, so make sure you are a good reader and adept at pulling meaning out of passages.

So again, brush up on basic skills with another book but practice with this one. Good luck!

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Handy guide, September 23, 2004

By	Thomas Hochmann (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews

Having recently joined the Air Force ROTC, it was inevitable that I would have to take the AFOQT (Air Force Officer Qualifying Test). Knowing this, I grabbed a copy of /Officer Candidate Tests/, as recommended by AFROTC and my own detachment. The book offers a good overview of the requirements for becoming an officer of any branch of the military, the hundreds of career paths available, what sort of degree and traits you need for a given field, a rough estimate of pay grades, etc.

The real meat of the book, though, and the reason most people will buy it, is the coverage of the various officer tests. I can't comment on how well this book prepares you for other branches of the military, but I can say that /Officer Candidate Tests/ is a good starting point for the AFOQT. There are hundreds of sample problems that give a good idea of what areas the real test covers. In fact, I found many of the samples to be a good deal more difficult than anything I had on the actual test -- a good thing, since if you can handle the subjects the book presents with reasonable competence, you know you will do fine on the real deal.

There are some significant drawbacks, however. Firstly, the book only covers the "academic aptitude" (verbal and math/logic skills) and electrical/mechanical comprehension portions of tests. There's good material on the former and fairly skimpy preparation on the latter, but on the AFOQT, academic aptitude makes up only half of the exam. That's fine if you're not planning on being a pilot or navigator, but the remaining half of the test is rather critical for pilots. There's not even rudimentary descriptions of what the electrical maze, scale reading, instrument comprehension, block counting, and hidden figures questions are like. Again, if you are interested in being a pilot or navigator, that's a pretty large gap in knowledge to have when going into such an important test.

This isn't the world's best prep book, but I feel it was a big help in preparing me for the AFOQT, insofar as the half of the test it actually covered. I probably would have done better on the other sections if I had had any way of preparing. Even sections like the electrical maze, which are not something you can really "study" for, would have had a bit less shock value if I had at least seen an example or two. Then again, this is the military; you need to be able to handle some shock and pressure...

Bottom line - if you are wanting to become an officer, grab this book. It's decently priced, there's good info on career possibilities, and you'll get a feel for where you stand on the academic portions of a given officer test. Definitely a good starting point.