How stressful is the academy?

Lots of good information in here but I can chime in with my experience as I just graduated the academy last month in terminal and am in my second week at my facility.

I can from a finance background with zero aviation experience. Couldn’t tell a king air from an a380 (well maybe). I studied hard in basics, it’s lot of information the pace is incredibly manageable in my opinion. Our class passed 18/18 no problem in basics. We did some study groups, reviewed on the weekends, acquired table tops but didn’t really use them. Most of us were at Kim’s in mustang which was nice if you’re into group studying.

Tower training was definitely an uptick in pace and you’re still doing academic work while your instructors try to prepare you for the simulators, so you’ll definitely need to stay on top of things, but again, manageable I thought. Tabletops/3d was a nice way to get our feet wet and say lots of dumb things before getting into the simulators, but it’s pretty slow as well. You’re well over it by day 6. The 14 days in the simulators were some of the most boring weeks I had in OKC. You should have your SOP and phraseology down at this point and there isn’t much to do on the weekends or at night. Tabletops feel like you’re crawling after doing problem 13.

All that being said, the PAs are what you’ve heard. It’s a buzzsaw but it’s not anything you haven’t seen before. It’s about taking all the knowledge you’ve acquired, and putting it to use in a stressful situation. You can fail by having one large go around and mess up your pattern. But 30 minutes goes by in a flash. Stay on top of your priorities, talk to the planes, and you’ll be just fine.

MJ already touched on it, but I felt like an idiot my first day at my facility. Definitely nowhere near being a real controller at this point, but definitely happy I’ve made it this far.

Good luck. Put in the work and talk to the GD planes.
 
Erick said:
Lots of good information in here but I can chime in with my experience as I just graduated the academy last month in terminal and am in my second week at my facility.

I can from a finance background with zero aviation experience. Couldn’t tell a king air from an a380 (well maybe). I studied hard in basics, it’s lot of information the pace is incredibly manageable in my opinion. Our class passed 18/18 no problem in basics. We did some study groups, reviewed on the weekends, acquired table tops but didn’t really use them. Most of us were at Kim’s in mustang which was nice if you’re into group studying.

Tower training was definitely an uptick in pace and you’re still doing academic work while your instructors try to prepare you for the simulators, so you’ll definitely need to stay on top of things, but again, manageable I thought. Tabletops/3d was a nice way to get our feet wet and say lots of dumb things before getting into the simulators, but it’s pretty slow as well. You’re well over it by day 6. The 14 days in the simulators were some of the most boring weeks I had in OKC. You should have your SOP and phraseology down at this point and there isn’t much to do on the weekends or at night. Tabletops feel like you’re crawling after doing problem 13.

All that being said, the PAs are what you’ve heard. It’s a buzzsaw but it’s not anything you haven’t seen before. It’s about taking all the knowledge you’ve acquired, and putting it to use in a stressful situation. You can fail by having one large go around and mess up your pattern. But 30 minutes goes by in a flash. Stay on top of your priorities, talk to the planes, and you’ll be just fine.

MJ already touched on it, but I felt like an idiot my first day at my facility. Definitely nowhere near being a real controller at this point, but definitely happy I’ve made it this far.

Good luck. Put in the work and talk to the GD planes.
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How was the transition from the academy to your new facility. Do you call ahead and set up arrangements do you just show up with a paper saying your starting that day? Did you have to move, was any time given to find housing in a new city? I also gotta ask if you don't mind the list of questions what was your first day of work like at the facility?
 
Hitchcock said:
How was the transition from the academy to your new facility. Do you call ahead and set up arrangements do you just show up with a paper saying your starting that day? Did you have to move, was any time given to find housing in a new city? I also gotta ask if you don't mind the list of questions what was your first day of work like at the facility?
Click to expand...
Housing after Academy before starting new facility.
 
Hitchcock said:
How was the transition from the academy to your new facility. Do you call ahead and set up arrangements do you just show up with a paper saying your starting that day? Did you have to move, was any time given to find housing in a new city? I also gotta ask if you don't mind the list of questions what was your first day of work like at the facility?
Click to expand...

On placement day, you show up at 7:30, go upstairs to the placement office and they sit you in a room and they write down which facility you’re taking. We did our “draft” and then we’re given a calendar with what our potential start dates could be based on how much change of station leave and annual leave you wanted to use. You’ll also get a packet about the facility (which can be found on this website) and a contact list with your new pay and some other info. I think at this point, the placement office updates the priority list and let’s your facility know you’re coming. We sat around for a while and then went to HR to sign our final offer letter, and then to the travel office to arrange for travel to our facility. I then called my ATM and arranged what my actual start date would be, I opted to take some change of station leave so I could be home for Christmas. I was also lucky enough to go back to my home state, only about 3 hours from where I was living. So I’m still in the process of moving.

First day at the facility was pretty quiet considering it was the day after Christmas. But I did some IT stuff, filled out some HR stuff, got some tours, went over how the schedules work, and just a lot of orientation like stuff you’d find in any job. Since then I’ve been studying the airspace, SOPs, and LOAs and should start training on my first position within the next week. I’m super happy with where I’ve ended up, and all my classmates seem to be having equally gratifying experiences. Like I said before, I know I’ve got a long way to go yet, but this feels so much better than the academy already.
 
Like @Erick said, it's a constant uptick, but it's manageable. Don't stress out trying to cram before the academy, everything is spoonfed to you (spoon size varies) and it's all a test of whether a person has the ability to learn to be a controller. Some great people with potential unfortunately get chopped, bad decisions, second guessing, too slow, too fast.

Take in all the information, apply the rules, see problems before they're problems, and when you're drowning and utterly hopeless just stay calm.
 
HenryTheAce said:
Honestly I’d recommend taking it easy on the studyin before academy. I was EnRoute. Show up ready to rock and roll. Basics is easy, rote repeat stuff. I do recommend learning the map in basics though. Learn one thing a night. If you’re able to draw that thing from memory before you go across the street you’ll be miles ahead. The academy is fast paced learning, like drinking from a fire hose. That way when you’re given the 2 weeks to learn the map you can start memorizing phraeseology on the wall. Make it a goal to not be dinged on phraeseology, there’s no excuse to not be perfect on it. Write it on flash cards and say it outlouf 1,000 times then say it another 1,000 times out loud so you don’t have to think about it. It just naturally comes out. That way while you’re thinking about your crossing restrictions or strip marking, you don’t fumble over clearances. Academy is a game, just play their game/their rules and study hard
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Do we know already what map we are going to be tasked with learning? If not, would it beneficial if I started learning random maps just for the practice? I want to stay one step ahead...
 
tylerowens said:
Do we know already what map we are going to be tasked with learning? If not, would it beneficial if I started learning random maps just for the practice? I want to stay one step ahead...
Click to expand...

What map do you have? I can tell you if it’s the right one, for EnRoute that is, not terminal. I don’t know what those tower flowers do. I wouldn’t worry about deciferring what the map means if you don’t know. Just literally be able to draw everything you see, word for word, line for line, number for number, from memory.
 
boots said:
If you just got a TOL don't waste your time learning the map now. Come on people.
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This. You all who just got TOLs are most likely looking at a year or more wait to get to the academy(there are still those from the 2016 bid without classes). Do what you need to do to get hired and when you get a class date then start worrying about studying maps/airport layouts.
 
HenryTheAce said:
What map do you have? I can tell you if it’s the right one, for EnRoute that is, not terminal. I don’t know what those tower flowers do. I wouldn’t worry about deciferring what the map means if you don’t know. Just literally be able to draw everything you see, word for word, line for line, number for number, from memory.
Click to expand...

Dropbox - NONRADAR

This is the map I found a link to; allegedly for the enroute course.
 
tylerowens said:
Dropbox - NONRADAR

This is the map I found a link to; allegedly for the enroute course.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, that’s it. Like everyone’s saying no need to study and stuff now. Honestly I didn’t do a damn thing before I got there. I just memorized the map in basics which I recommend. Other than that, they give you plenty of time for everything. Yes though, under airspace map, that is the exact map. You have to be able to draw that from memory... keep in mind the academy map is an absolute joke compared to when you get to your facility lol. Welcome to the long road!
 
DankVectorz said:
Just remember if you study stuff before it's taught you run the risk of studying it wrong/misunderstanding and then having to unlearn that to learn the right way.
Click to expand...

I agree. I understand wanting to get ahead, but I’d rather wait and be taught by the instructor.
 
Riverrunner said:
I know this is a while other game. But how much of a benefit is it for terminal academy having my instrument pilot rating?
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You have a leg up in the sense that you have an aviation background. Assuming you did the majority of your flight training at a controlled airport, the parts that carry over the most are a general understanding of phraseology, aircraft recognition/performance, how to work a pattern, and overall just a decent understanding of multi-tasking while keeping track of the bigger picture around you.
 

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