Posted: 8/15/2017 12:25:48 PM EDT
| Just started going through the steps, finished my logical reasoning test last week and got a score of 90. Any words of wisdom or tips I should be made aware of? Already in decent shape so not too worried about the PT test of it. |
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Does the PT1 exam still have a 5 minute step exercise to 120bpm? If it does start practicing.  It doesn't matter how good of shape you think you're in, two minutes into it and you'll start to rethink you're whole life. |
My son is a B.P. Agent. He went thru the academy 7 yrs ago in September. wash out rate in the academy was about 40%. One kid in has class failed the academy on academic's. The kid was a 100% guy, passed everything else. The academy retreaded him into the next class to go thru again. The instructors saw he was a 100% guy trying very hard to pass. Good luck hope this encourages you a little. You know about honorfirst.com "unofficial" Border Patrol website. My son made it thru all the testing in about 10 months, and got hired in 14 months, but he did all his testing in Chicago.  
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If you dont speak spanish, start learning now.
Go buy rosetta stone and get into it. Been a fed for almost 20 years, work with a ton of former border patrol guys. One common theme all have said. The most difficult time for many guys in the academy is having to learn Spanish if its new to you. Some already know it enough to get by or speak it at home, some people have a gift for languages. If you are one of the above, then good for you. If not, start now so you will have an easier time in the academy and can test out of a lot of the language portion. |
Don't stress out over Spanish. You learn survival Spanish in the academy, per my son 7 years ago no one failed Spanish. Wash outs came from the first half of the academy. PT, law, firearms, and driving. My son stated one person in his class washed out of the academy over driving. Go figure.  The weekend is coming, you should get more replies over the weekend.
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Just started going through the steps, finished my logical reasoning test last week and got a score of 90. Any words of wisdom or tips I should be made aware of? Already in decent shape so not too worried about the PT test of it. Just be patient. We're already under strength before we were told to hire 6,000 additional agents. We could barely keep up with attrition thanks to the painstakingly slow process CBP has in place. Where in NJ do you live? My brother is going through the process and we grew up around Rowan |
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One thing, tell the truth on the poly. I think the way they are doing the poly is complete BS. We hear stories of guys hooked up to it for 8 hours and then have to come back the next day.
Tell the truth and you'll be fine. Don't worry about Spanish. Most can't speak it going in and they can't when they are done with the academy either. They can get by enough to process people. If you are in good shape, you'll be fine. Just be able to run a mile and a half in under 12 mins before you get there, then you really won't have to worry about it bc 13 mins is the cutoff. |
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I work with a lot of former BP agents because the pay isn't as good as it is with OFO. None were able to transfer to places they wanted to be, even after serving 6-8 years+ in their current duty station.
Figure on a mandatory minimum of 10 years southern border and not somewhere on the northern border. Check into OFO and becoming a CBPO. |
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I work with a lot of former BP agents because the pay isn't as good as it is with OFO. None were able to transfer to places they wanted to be, even after serving 6-8 years+ in their current duty station. Figure on a mandatory minimum of 10 years southern border and not somewhere on the northern border. Check into OFO and becoming a CBPO. Also, be aware that most of the ports they're hiring for are just as bad as the sectors you start off with at BP. |
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Don't stress out over Spanish. You learn survival Spanish in the academy, per my son 7 years ago no one failed Spanish.  Wash outs came from the first half of the academy. PT, law, firearms, and driving. My son stated one person in his class washed out of the academy over driving. Go figure. The weekend is coming, you should get more replies over the weekend. |
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The elevation is higher in Artesia, NM where FLETC is compared to where I'm from and I could feel it on the runs. If you're barely passing the run time at the PT2 be prepared for this.
You'll also get to smell the nice oil refinery in Artesia every morning as the air is pumped into your room by the a/c and it's especially fun running around in that stink 
I would also recommend trying to get a personal vehicle over to FLETC for the academy. During the basic I didn't mind not having a car too much because I didn't really need the extra distractions but I had it during the Spanish portion and it was nice. Everything gets old kinda quick on the base so it's nice to leave for food, Walmart trips etc. |
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Survival Spanish sucks for BP unless all you want to do is get enough biographical info to write someone up. You really need a good fluency if you want to do good in debriefing aliens, questioning above and beyond "where you from". As a Spanish instructor in the early 90s I can tell you that you learned to read, write and speak Spanish in the old immersion method. Even native speakers came out speaking better because they learned the proper grammar and rules.
Don't get me started on firearms, PT, and everything else! I can tell you that I went from 2-3 agents working 25 miles of river and points north to a watch commander listening to junior guys crying about not getting weekends off. As for OFO, I worked with a lot of good guys in the old INS/Customs era but not my cup of tea. I made a very good living and liked to go home at the end of my shift and not stay on for 16 hours days at a time, it's hard on a marriage. Sorry if it feels like I'm ranting but the Patrol has changed too much, glad I'm done. |