got my 7 coming up here in a few weeks and thought id ask in hopes of hearing some previous guys useful tips for studying. Really getting hung up on the CFR’s.
So. What is it you are testing for?
sorry, third mate unlimited.
[QUOTE=Third Coast;48938]got my 7 coming up here in a few weeks and thought id ask in hopes of hearing some previous guys useful tips for studying. Really getting hung up on the CFR’s.[/QUOTE]
The problem with the CFRs is that they are not laid out in logical order like the rules of the road are. You may get a quesiton about say, waterthight doors. You might find a section that talks about wathertigh doors but search in vain for the answer. The answer will be in another section, you need to figure it out. Otherwise it’s like trying to find things in the Bible without knowing about the old and new testments or that the four gosples are all telling the same story, my point being that the Bible is not laid out like a text book and neither are the CFRs. You just need a certain level of familarity. Keep answering the practice questions till you get the lay of the land.
K.C.
Edit: I think the CFRs are availale as searchable CDs, that might expedite things
i spent a fair amount of time on lapware with them yesterday and using the murphy books and that helped some but its still insane to me. the cool thing about the murphy books is that they tell you what CFR the answer can be found in which helps some.
one thing i noticed though is that alot of the questions it asks it is followed by - (uninspected vessels) which makes it really easy to find in the CFR. is it like that on the actual CG exam?
I just finished last week for 1600 Ton Master, I studied for 54 days and dedicated all of my time to this test. Had to take t Nav twice but got it the second time. Use Lapware and review every question on you modules. When I took Deck Safety I had every CFR out and I got a 78. Deck general was tough also. Don’t give up and keep at it read Bowditch alot of your answers are right there
And although I tutor CNAV the CG questions look frightening as hell.
[QUOTE=Third Coast;48965]i spent a fair amount of time on lapware with them yesterday and using the murphy books and that helped some but its still insane to me. the cool thing about the murphy books is that they tell you what CFR the answer can be found in which helps some.
one thing i noticed though is that alot of the questions it asks it is followed by - (uninspected vessels) which makes it really easy to find in the CFR. is it like that on the actual CG exam?[/QUOTE]Of course they are insane, they are written by government functuaries! Fortunately they are available in the exam room and you do have three hours to do that test.
Answer the questions you can, then go back and do the ones you need to research. You’ll do fine.
[QUOTE=seadog6608;48972]Of course they are insane, they are written by government functuaries! Fortunately they are available in the exam room and you do have three hours to do that test.
Answer the questions you can, then go back and do the ones you need to research. You’ll do fine.[/QUOTE]
This is good answer. The point is with the CFR questions you are not being tested on your knowledge so much as your abilty to find the answer in the book which requires a certain level of familarity.
Perhaps this won’t confuse you, but the following is what I used to get me through the CFR’s…Those things were awful. I’d rather take T-nav or Celestial again! I recently took my exams, and usually they would start out with, “aboard a tanker…”
Subchapter---------- Question type
D…T…Tanker, tankship etc.
I… C…Cargo vessel
N… D… Dangerous, hazardous cargo
O… .P… Pollution
C… U…Uninspected vessel
E… L… Load lines, certs.
T… P… Small Passenger regs.
All of the CFR’s are 46 except for O/P which is 33. When you do find the correct answer, it is spelled out word for word. Nothing to interprate.
All together the aid is: DINOCET / TCDPULP. Hope this works for you.
Kennebec Captain said it well. You are really being tested on your ability to find the answer rather than knowing the answer. A Captain told me that years ago. The good navigator doesn’t neccessarily know the answer, but he knows where to find it.
[QUOTE=Third Coast;48965]i spent a fair amount of time on lapware with them yesterday and using the murphy books and that helped some but its still insane to me. the cool thing about the murphy books is that they tell you what CFR the answer can be found in which helps some.
one thing i noticed though is that alot of the questions it asks it is followed by - (uninspected vessels) which makes it really easy to find in the CFR. is it like that on the actual CG exam?[/QUOTE]
Lapware and the Murphy books use the USCG questions which until recently were on the NMC web page, so what you’re seeing is probably typical. If you’re concerned about CFR questions, just learn the organization of the various “subchapters” to narrow down which book in that stack on your desk you should look in, i.e. Manning is in 46 Part 15, lifesaving in 46 CFR Part 180, etc.
[QUOTE=jdcavo;49008]Lapware and the Murphy books use the USCG questions which until recently were on the NMC web page, so what you’re seeing is probably typical. If you’re concerned about CFR questions, just learn the organization of the various “subchapters” to narrow down which book in that stack on your desk you should look in, i.e. Manning is in 46 Part 15, lifesaving in 46 CFR Part 180, etc.[/QUOTE]
I see that you are in the USCG and I have been hearing alot of stuff about the questions on the actual exams not being the same as what we have on lapware and the murphy books. is there any validity to that?
I cant speak for the deck side, but when I upgraded my last unlimited engineers license, I damn near aced the safety section. If you can navigate through the CFR’s you will be able to answer half the questions on the test that pertains to them. Most of them will quote the CFR number and others just mention the term CFR and you can look in the book while taking the test and pluck the answer right out.
I’m not there yet but i heard that on some of the upper license’s on the test they will post a question and all of the answer’s are right, but only one of them is worded the way the CG want’s it …true or false ?
[QUOTE=captblighe;49028]I’m not there yet but i heard that on some of the upper license’s on the test they will post a question and all of the answer’s are right, but only one of them is worded the way the CG want’s it …true or false ?[/QUOTE]
you must select the MOST CORRECT answer. i realized that early on in the academy.
[QUOTE=Third Coast;49014]I see that you are in the USCG and I have been hearing alot of stuff about the questions on the actual exams not being the same as what we have on lapware and the murphy books. is there any validity to that?[/QUOTE]
It’s possible. The exam questions are frequently updated, sometimes as a result of a successful protest of an exam question. If the protest identifies a problem with a question, it’s changed, but this might not be refelcted in a commercial study guide until they next update. With the exam questions no longer being publsihed, this may become more frequent, and also there will be instances of seeing new questions not in the books.
It’s all about repetition of the questions at this stage in the game. When I was on lapware I was all about the practice tests. They provide a good overview, and after a test or two you’ll be able to figure out specifically what area’s your weak in and be able to concentrate on those ones. I also kept a log of what scores I was getting on my practice exams so that I could track my progress and figure out which tests weren’t improving at the rate I needed them to.
Do all your studying now and get to where you need to be, because once you’re in exam week, you should try to take it easy. When I took the exams, I’d do a practice exam or two the night before for each of the two tests I was taking the next day, then relax and watch tv. I was still mentally exhausted by the end of the week. Also, the week before the tests, be sure to adjust your sleep schedule to what it will be during the tests.
my first time through, it took me halfway through the safety mod to figure out how the CFR’s were organized, soon to be forgotten before my upgrade exam. I would study at your local library as they have them there and you can’t bring a laptop into the exam room to use the cd or online form of the CFR’s. Good Luck!