Seeking CFAT Preparation Materials - Request for Assistance

[Amam]

Dear Army.ca Forum Members,
I hope this message finds you all well. I am currently in the process of preparing for the Canadian Forces Aptitude Test (CFAT) and would greatly appreciate your guidance and assistance.
As I embark on this journey to join the Canadian Armed Forces, I understand the significance of performing well on the CFAT. I am reaching out to the knowledgeable and experienced members of this community to kindly ask for any resources, study materials, or advice that could aid me in my preparation for the CFAT.
I am particularly interested in:

1. Recommended study guides or books specific to the CFAT.
2. Online resources, practice tests, or sample questions that closely reflect the CFAT format.
3. Personal insights and tips from individuals who have successfully completed the CFAT.

I value your expertise and firsthand experiences, and I am eager to learn from your insights. Any guidance, suggestions, or materials you can provide would be immensely helpful to me as I work towards achieving my goal of joining the Canadian Armed Forces.
Thank you in advance for your support. Your contributions will not only assist me but also potentially benefit others who are preparing for the CFAT. I look forward to your valuable input and engaging in meaningful discussions within this community.
Best regards,
Amam.

 

[Jimbo6]

Good evening!

I cannot speak to question 1. As I didn't use any outside resources

In regards to question 2. I found the official CFAT practice test to very accurately mirror the format of the real test albeit it seemed slightly easier than the actual test.

For question 3. I applied the method of answering the best/most confident answer in the event I was taking more than 15 seconds on a given question, then returning later on to take a second more thorough analysis

My personal tips for the 3 sections

Verbal section
If you have time start reading books, or the dictionairy, or anything in general. There's no easy way to prepare for this outside of having a strong grasp of the English language and its nuances, if your test is coming up soon then my best advice is take whatever the question is and attempt to break it down into words or phrases you recognize and work with those

Spatial reasoning
These can be tricky as you need to put a fair bit of attention on them and trust yourself that you're not wrong. My strategy was to try and find identical "sections" on the question and answer spatial puzzles that would let me knock out the other options and then narrow down from there

Math
The math will be mostly grade 10 level, with a variety of problems ranging from word to algebra, once again I reccomend a robust problem solving method of doing the work one step at a time whether that be on paper or in your mind, and trying to zoom into the right answer as you do the problem solving rather than going for the right answer from the start

Best of luck!

 

[macktruck]

Hi,

Have written my CFAT recently, and completed successfully.

YOU NEED TO STUDY

• Don't pick up a calculator even to "validate your answers"; you're going to get frustrated when you get your study questions wrong instead of trying to work backwards and figure out where you failed
• You need to READ books, and newspapers, and not on your phone or tablet, humans retain more information when reading from paper or books
• You need to spatially reason in your head, close your eyes and use your hands if you have to (yes this helps)
• You need to time yourself
• Start with a timed sample test without studying so you can see where your weak points are
• Practice how to break down problems on paper (given information, assumed information, missing information, irrelevant information)

Verbal
Depending on whether you are a native English speaker/reader or not, the verbal section might prove difficult for you. Strongly suggest you pick up a Globe and Mail (they tend to be the most verbose) every day and read it. You aren't going to improve your your vocabulary playing video games and watching the Fast and Furious franchise.

Spatial
For spatial ability, there are a ton of videos online and lots of free to download apps for iOS.

Math / General

Two months ago I started watching CFAT videos on YouTube, so many of them out there. I also spent $40 or so from army-test.com and I feel that it was reasonable given the amount of questions and tests that they provide as well as the explanations they give. Very much worth the money even simply as an exercise for brain training. Army-test.com gets you like six full length tests and 300+ other questions. Those questions will work very well. In addition to this do the sample test that is provided. If you can ace the math on the sample test you'll be fine.

Test taking strategies for any multiple choice test

You need to know how to take multiple choice tests. Remember the following: In any multiple choice test the answer is given to you. My strategy with multiple choice tests is as follows:

• Remove the least probable answer right away
• Don't have an attitude of "this is a trick question"
• Assume which is the most probable answer
• Work backwards from the most probable answer
• Re-read the question and see if the most probable answer works
• Validate with the other two remaining answers
• If you have time, validate your answer by recalculating

Some videos: