Oral board/written exam prep. books

[savage4presiden]

What are your opinions of these books? Are they helpful? Are they relevant to the actual tests? The reason I ask is that I bought barron's police exam book and I would like to know how closely books like these resemble actual exams. Thanks.

[joru123]

I think they all depend on the department, but I studied a barron book and scored relatively high 91% I think there very helpful and give you an edge just because they help you understand the types of questions. If you understand the types of questions asked it makes the test A LOT easier.

[VAsteve20]

I think they all depend on the department, but I studied a barron book and scored relatively high 91% I think there very helpful and give you an edge just because they help you understand the types of questions. If you understand the types of questions asked it makes the test A LOT easier.
100% true...
one department i tested with had actual situational questions involving law enforcement, the other also had some situational questions...
then the last one i took had about 800+ questions across 4 different exams... one being a timed exam and not one question had to do with law enforcement, extremely difficult. took me about 7 hours to complete, and i was about the 14th person to finish out of 300...
the study books i had helped me with the first two exams, i passed both with an 89+%, but the 7 hour exam i scored better on but i had no guide at all.
so its hard to tell if these books help... they will sharpen your test taking skills thats for sure.

[pkagel]

Basically they help bone you up on your math and english skills which won't hurt you one but. I think they are worth the effort you put into them. Each and every test I have taken has been different in the extreme so, no, they don't prepare you for the test. They prepare you for all the tests.