Post T score

[Ryans67]

Well I passed my test for Oakland PD and got the oral board coming up. What im wondering is, what is the T-score out of? 75? 100? Whats the highest you've seen. Just kinda curious...Dont understand why they give us a number if they dont atleast tell us what was possible. Except to compare with past scores I suppose. Thanks for input, -Ryan

[Hanlonrn]

I was wondering the same thing. All I found through research was that typical cut off is around the mid 40's for larger departments. I cleared that by a wide margin.

[Ryans67]

Yeah, Ive got an "associate" thats gonna check. He works for POST. I had a friend that said he passed with 50, another that said he was told a 58 was very good. I dunno how it works. -Ryan

[ninerfan59]

the highest score i've heard of was a 64, and that smoked most of the other scores i've heard along the way.

[bkema]

The academy I attended said the highest "T-score" they had ever seen was a 72. I scored a 61 and was pretty happy. Most of the other cadets in my class scored in the low and mid 50's...my academy mandated that u score a 42 or better.

[Ryans67]

Well since I posted this, I actually got a nice handout from Oakland. It explains the T-score, and says the highest is a T77.8. The lowest is a negative T24.8. It goes on to say that most academies set the min. at 46-50. My score with Oakland was a 64.20. -Ryan

[exilio]

Can a 68.5 hurt my chances? Considering I read an article that some guy scored "too" high on a police departments Wonderlic test and they didn't hire him..he sued, he lost.

[Ryans67]

I doubt it. I dont think they would disqualify you based soley on scoring too high. Doesnt sound CA like. lol. -Ryan

[23queen5]

I just tested with Tustin PD down in Orange County....does anyone know how long a score is valid for???? Because i keep reading recruitment websites that say you must have a "valid" t-score, which i assume means that the score is only meaningful for a short period of time.

[bayareagirl]

Usually they are good for a year.

[LVJonJ]

Usually they are good for a year.

I took my first California test last week at SD Harbor - is my written test able to be used by other departments - is that what I am to understand? I am confused on what exactly the T-Score is. In most states, you must test iwth each department seperatly. Please explain.

Thanks

[bayareagirl]

If they gave you a certificate with your score and it says it was a POST administered exam, then you should be able to submit it to other agencies. A lot of the smaller agencies do not give the test themselves, I took the POST Reading/writing exam through my local regional academy and submitted the scores to different agencies. Some agencies will require that you take their written test or another test in addition to the entrance exam.
The T score is not based out of a certain number, it's not like you receive a score out of 100, it is some type of statistical analysis and no one I asked was able to explain it.

[LVJonJ]

If they gave you a certificate with your score and it says it was a POST administered exam, then you should be able to submit it to other agencies. A lot of the smaller agencies do not give the test themselves, I took the POST Reading/writing exam through my local regional academy and submitted the scores to different agencies. Some agencies will require that you take their written test or another test in addition to the entrance exam.
The T score is not based out of a certain number, it's not like you receive a score out of 100, it is some type of statistical analysis and no one I asked was able to explain it.

Thank you ... nothing ever makes sense, it is all good!:)

I did just receive an email from a smaller department that invited me to test, it says to go to a regional academy or provide them with my "T score above 52" ... it looks like from their email, they are expecting me to have completed a written and PAT. Is the T score from a combined test or only written?

When I test with the first department, the test was a POST test (or so the book said) - I am just waiting for the results and I guess to see if they give me a certificate for the test or they are using it as only their test.

[LVJonJ]

Here it is, in plain English ... it could not be explained better! :) LOL

http://www.post.ca.gov/faqs/entrylevel_testscor.asp

[bayareagirl]

The t-score is from the written test only. The agency where I took the written test also administered the PAT test following the written test.
If you took a POST test, then that *should* be the same one all the agencies use.
good luck

[LVJonJ]

The t-score is from the written test only. The agency where I took the written test also administered the PAT test following the written test.
If you took a POST test, then that *should* be the same one all the agencies use.
good luck


Thank you - and hopefully it is the same test. This department said I will receive the results "within" 2 weeks and Sunday is 2 weeks.

[Nunn0341]

I just checked with OC and they do not give a post test so there is no T score. You might want to check with them if you want to use there test for other departments.

[Nunn0341]

I just got a 45.8 for my T score. Does anyone know if i take the post agine and my score is lower if it will replace my last one.

[carnut92504]

Hopeless In California-


I come from a family of law enforcement. Most of my life, my family are and were involved in law enforcement employment. I thought it would be the right thing to do to become a law enforcement officer. It is my dream and always will be.

I have done everything I could do to keep my life straight. Not only cause I know it's the right thing to do, but because I always knew it would help with my career goals. I have worked for the same company for over 16 years. (To show job stability) I have never had a drug or alcohol problem. I have a clean driving record with the exception of a speeding ticket 11 years ago. I have never had a criminal record of any kind.

I took college courses to help pursue my career in law enforcement. I earned a partial degree in criminal justice and a minor in english and spanish.

I have spent the last 13 years flooding the job market in regard to law enforcement. I applied to the same Sheriff's Department almost every calendar year from 1992 through 2005. In addition, I applied to some of the local city departments as well.

I attended job fairs, served as a volunteer at a local police sub-station, took alot of my personal time to assist others, and miscellaneous activities to show I'm a quality person that deserves to be in law enforcement.

The Sheriff's Department as well as city departments paint a pretty picture and make it sound so easy to become a member of their team. It is not easy! They make things so difficult for you. They play mind games, they lie to you, they badger you, treat you like a criminal and make promises that they don't keep. With all that said, I still gave it my all for years and years hoping to land the career of my dreams.

One year, I met a really nice deputy in a downtown building. I will never forget something he told me. He said that if this is the career that I want, NEVER GIVE UP. That's the main thing that kept me coming back as a candidate for employment. Otherwise, I would not have wasted my time after all these years. That's what it was.... A WASTE. Knowing what I know now, I would not have spent all those years striving for something that I would never get.

I do understand that it's all a test. You do need to be in great physical and mental shape to have a successful career in law enforcement. However, as I look around and see what is actually out there, I have seen enough cops who are not mentally and physically sound.

During most application processes, they tell brain wash you into thinking that this is the beginning of your new career. They tell you to jog, and exercise and ALWAYS be ready to enter the academy in great shape.

I honestly took what hey have been telling me all these years to heart. I did everything I could to stay in shape. I went to the gym, I went jogging faithfully and I'm in great shape. There are so many times I spent my own time and money to hire personal trainers to help me exceed my exercise goals to become one of the best.

Then one year, I did it! It was finally happening! I finally got a job offer for the career I have always wanted. During the time I received my job offer, I discovered that I had to have surgery to repair a cartilage tear in my knee. All the exercise, all the time I spent, all the money I spent, all the applications I filled out, all the interviews I did, all the days off I asked for to go to these interviews and process functions fell apart in one doctor visit.

After all this, I successfully rehabilitated my knee. I was back to jogging and exercise within a relatively short period of time. During the time it took me to get back into shape, my background expired after a year. Due to this fact, I would have to re-apply and start the process from the beginning all over again if I was still interested in this career. Some departments I applied with would unofficially tell me that I was the wrong guy (they were looking to hire minorities only). In other words, I would score a 90% or above on an oral exam and subsequently receive a disqualification notice because of who I am (single white male). During these times, I found that minorities would receive a 70% on an oral exam and they are the ones who made the eligiblity list. This is the tip of the iceberg of problems that exist in law enforcement today.

My drive for the career of my dreams continued. I decided to re-apply and start the process all over again. This time, I was disqualified due to a polygraph exam. I decided to apply again one year later. I was once again disqualified due to a polygraph exam. My experience with the polygraph is that every time I took the poly, the results were different with different individuals giving the exam. Yet they swear by this subjective machine that they say can read your mind so to speak. Needless to say, I was disqualified due to a machine that is not allowed in court due to reliablility issues (unless in the rare case that the prosecution, defense and judge ALL agree to allow it in court). Even though I was previously determined to be fit by this department to be a sworn deputy in recent history, I was disqualified by the SAME department due to a polygraph exam. I have applied to other departments that do not use the polygraph. These particular departments use a voice stress analysis machine. All voice stress exams I took I passed with no problem. The weird thing is, every voice stress examiner would ask if I ever took a polygraph exam. Of course I would have to say yes. They would proceed to tell me how horrible the polygraph is, and how they used to use it but had too many problems with it. But as I sit on a polygraph exam, the polygraphist would ask me if I have ever taken a truth verification exam at any other time. Once again I would have to say yes. After the polygraphist learned that it was a voice stress machine, they laughed and tried to persuade to think me how horrible the voice stress machine was.

Who do I believe? I mean all these people are protecting their jobs my expense. I mean if a department were to hire someone after a negative poly exam, they could possibly render the polygraph machine useless and the examiner would be out of a job. What do I do at this point? I spent the prime years of my life in pursuit of a career that apparently was not going to happen for me ever again. Now I have a partial degree towards a profession that I cannot use.

I believe in hard work and striving to reach a goal of success. But where does an individual draw the line? How long can one try over and over and continue to get the door slammed in his/her face?

Moral of the story-Don't apply in California unless you're black, a non-citizen mexican or a woman.

[Conallron]

Yes, you can take the POST Written exam again. I don't think that you will be able to submit the new score to the agency you applied to until after usually 60 days, is what most agency have as a retest timeframe. With the T-scores if your score in either the reading or writting is below 40 its considered defcient in that area. Reading and writting are averaged together to give you your T-score. Let's say your a get a 60 on your T-score, which is good, that means you did better then 60 percent of the people taking the test but 40 percent did better then you. A lot of agency's put your final ranking based on your Oral, and some are just a combined of all your scores. Check their website to see how the ranking is used. To give you an example, I did poorly on my first T-score and got a 49.7 but because the agency I applied to used the Oral as 100% of your ranking, I got a 96.7 which gave me a ranking of 18th to be hired out of about 150 that made it to the Oral Board. Hope that helps a little.

-Mike