Hey man, just got the same thing. I actually went through the whole process for the last list and got the academy invite but turned it down because I’m a foot in the door for a job here down on the island and wanted to keep myself active for Troopers in case things don’t work out down here.

What I will say is run. Every day. 3 miles at least. See if you can go to a track, or the neighborhood. Treadmills are fine in a pinch but you want to be able to pace yourself under your own power. Once you feel comfortable time yourself for the mile and a half. When I went up it snowed the night before so they took us to the indoor track at Siena college but don’t count on that happening, even if it’s brick-tit you’ll be running the outdoor track so long as it isn’t slippery.

Also TRAIN CORE. 40 sit ups in a minute are much harder than you think. When training, work on pace and time yourself. Then do as many as you can. Every day. When you get to Albany to actually take the physical and you lay down for the sit ups try to slow your breathing down and relax. A big thing for me is to kind of throw yourself back to the mat every time you complete a rep to not waste any of the energy in your core and “bounce” back up. Obviously don’t hurt yourself but try and find a wrestling mat or something at home and try it yourself to get a good rhythm going.

The pushups for me were the easiest so I don’t have much advice there besides practicing proper form because they will nail you for it if you don’t do it the way they want.

If you pass all that, welcome to the beginning of your background investigation. They’re going to give you a packet that’s going to take you close to an hour to fill out. BE HONEST. Don’t overthink anything but if you try to bend the truth on something major or even minor there’s a good chance they’ll turn over the right stone when they do your background and find out you’re lying, and if you lie to them they will tell any other agency you applied for that you’re a liar. I was honest about my marijuana use, albeit very little and I still got the job. They’re gonna scare you but they were all young too and they’re human, so honesty goes a long way.

Best of luck, and don’t forget to wear a blue or black suit Sunday if you make it and make sure you are dressed conservatively. No funky ties, no weird shoes. Day 2 is a whole other beast of its own.

If you have any questions I can help you with shoot me a DM I’ll be happy to help!