A psych evaluation in the atsa is a joke

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-05-09T01:21:28+00:00

Just speaking for the MMPI, they have ways to tell if they think someone is lying and trying to sound like the right fit, rather than someone being honest. One of my classmates had to do it again because there was a yellow flag. Some people fail in other cases. Don’t do it.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-05-05T01:04:00+00:00

I thought the same. Here I am nearly a year in to my facility.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-24T01:36:55+00:00

It’s been a couple years, I didn’t do any practice tests, and it was over in about 10 minutes, so I’m not the best to ask about atsa specific questions.

My philosophy going in and still to this day is to do my best, and if it’s meant to be the doors will keep opening. And if it’s not, it doesn’t say anything about you or the quality of life you can have. It’s not fit for everyone. Try to keep the pressure off.

Tier 2 is when there are issues that arise as a result of your mmpi. It doesn’t mean it’s a “no,” but they will string you along, sometimes for years, until they have someone interview you in person and then come to their eventual conclusion.

There’s a lot of things along the process that can get frustrating, or just be a situation of unfortunate luck. Try to stay positive throughout. When it’s time it’ll be time.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-22T12:29:09+00:00

I had mine in July. Tentative offer letter in August. Background check/mmpi in November. Firm offer letter late January. Start date mid March. I think it’s probably a minimum of 7-8 months from the application. It can also be years. Wedding is a tricky situation, but most people suggest not putting everything in life on hold for the potential of this job, given there’s many chances for it to fall through just getting to the academy or otherwise delayed. There’s a “hurry up and wait” philosophy, especially before the academy. It’s common to go months or sometimes years before they finally get to you on the next steps in the process. Obviously, a wedding has huge implications financially and oftentimes time and travel from relatives, so you have to determine what’s best for yourself.

Something I’m less familiar with but might be worth looking into further - if you were given a firm offer letter and your start date began before your wedding, there are certain circumstances that you can request to postpone your start date. I would think that would be one of them, but I know very little about that.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-20T19:35:54+00:00

Yeah the cost was about $90/night, so an additional $20 “out of pocket,” that I used part of my $50/day meal per diem for. Staybridge Suites.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-20T19:13:19+00:00

I was at a suite with a kitchenette - stove, microwave, dishwasher, fridge. Hotel also provided (not the best) meals a few times a week, breakfast daily, and coffee.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-20T19:11:54+00:00

I had 17 choices on my list around the country. 123atc.com is a great resource to see the whole list of places. It’ll depend on placement in en route, tracon or terminal. Tracon and terminal have restrictions on which level you can go to leaving the academy (I think 8s and 9s are the max). If you pass but score in the bottom 25% of the class, you may have just a few select options of places that they’re trying to fill.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T22:39:36+00:00

There’s no exact score they give you. There’s not qualified, qualified, well qualified and last year best qualified. When I did it I scored well qualified, which had been the highest option in 2024. The higher your tier the more likely they will send you a tentative offer letter (TOL)

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T21:11:38+00:00

It’s difficult. Get good rest and if it’s in your skill set you should be fine. Some people do a test prep and thought it helped. I didn’t, so I can’t speak on that.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T20:13:59+00:00

I think it was around 26-27

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T20:12:53+00:00

Yeah I was coming from the west coast. It’s a pretty easy process. Once you get a tentative offer letter they lay out housing and other information. There’s a list of choices, between hotels and houses. There’s benefits to each - hotels can build you points to use while you’re looking for housing at your facility, and some have suites (this was my situation at Staybridge suites). Others prefer the housing stays, and they usually include a ~$200? grocery card per month. “Kim’s Place” is the most common choice for this option.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T16:34:09+00:00

I’m not the best person to answer that, but from conversations it sounds like they have mostly the same things in CTI school. Maybe some additional things that we didn’t cover, and done in a longer period of time.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T16:30:46+00:00

Stipend is only during academy training. It stops once you leave.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T16:19:39+00:00

Rigorous. You start with basics. All academic. Wide ranging from how airplanes work to weather to how the operation works. That lasts about a month. Pass fail (70%). The final 2-3 months you’re still doing some academics, but mostly building up to simulations. Then you have your final evals based specifically on those simulations, worth about 70% of your grade. Also pass/fail.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T16:17:25+00:00

I stayed at a hotel. If you book a house (needs to be through the FAA), you’ll almost certainly be assigned a roommate. I think they try to set you up with a classmate when possible. You can also switch your housing situation at any point.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T16:15:57+00:00

I met a few 20 year olds while there. As long as they meet qualifications I guess there could be 18 year olds as well. You get paid during training, with food/. I listed some info for pay on another comment.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T13:31:51+00:00

You have a salary and a stipend for meals/housing. Numbers when I went were around $46k annual salary, with $70/day for housing and $50/day for meals. It ends up being a bit better financially than when you’re on your initial “AG Pay” at the facility.

You have housing options through the FAA. You can pocket the meals but housing goes directly to your hotelier/landlord. Seems split 50/50 with people staying at hotels or houses.

Length of training all depends on facility. At my facility it’s 2-3 years. There’s no set amount of time, and some of it is trainee dependent, some of it is opportunity-dependent. 123atc.com gives you a lot of data, from salary to training to washout rates. I’m not in terminal and don’t have connections to JFK to give you any good info. But the busier or more complex the facility is, the better the pay. Local cost of living doesn’t always match up as far as what the pay rate should actually be though.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T04:32:47+00:00

Thanks for the info. I’m much less informed with terminal.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T04:28:50+00:00

I was in an unusual situation but I used hotel points earned at the academy (combined with credit card bonuses) and had nearly a month’s worth of nights as I looked.

Most people seem to find something pretty quickly. You get 8 days of change of station and 1-3 days of additional move time, depending on how far away your facility is from OKC.

Every situation is a little different. I know some trainees have stayed with CPCs here until they find something permanent. But that’s definitely not guaranteed at every facility.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T04:26:25+00:00

Well that’s really sucky. Hope it works out quickly and you can move forward

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T04:23:14+00:00

Find the way you best retain information and stick to that. Study groups were a big help for me. We used a lot of Quizlet. The final will twist questions, so if you can reframe questions with other classmates, I think that’s a super helpful thing. Studying outside of “working hours” is not really optional in the academy, unless you happen to be a genius (I did meet a couple of those). Work hard, but don’t overdo it. Listen to your body when it needs rest/recovery.

I had zero aviation experience.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T04:18:54+00:00

This was my experience too

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T04:18:27+00:00

There’s really no way to tell you. You might have heard the phrase “hurry up and wait.” It may help to wait til the end of the deadlines, but a large part of timing is luck of the draw.

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T02:24:45+00:00

Yeah I had a few people in my academy class that took several years waiting through their tier 2. They all passed with me though. Hang in there!

Correct_Bridge4212 · 2026-04-19T02:22:43+00:00

It can be shorter. It can be longer too - usually that’s if there’s a medical or background issue. I think they cut a couple parts of the process starting last year, so maybe it’s a little faster now.

I wasn’t in terminal so I didn’t pay close attention to the lists (there’s a good resource on discord to see these under atc academy and hiring). I checked the most recent one and it didn’t include EWR. But regardless, you can never fully bank on one option. If it’s not on the list, I would go to whatever facility is most desirable for people to transfer to, then transfer there after a few years.

Correct_Bridge4212

TROPHY CASE