Podcast
Military Exam Prep
Hosted by Ran Chen, EA, CFP® · ENGLISH
Military Exam Prep is a free, daily podcast by OpenExamPrep covering the most in-demand military aptitude, classification, and advancement exams — including the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery), AFCT, PiCAT, AFOQT (Air Force Officer Qualifying Test), OAR (Officer Aptitude Rating), ASTB-E (Aviation Selection Test Battery), SIFT (Selection Instrument for Flight Training), DLAB and DLPT (Defense Language tests), EDPT, NAPT, DoD Cyber Test, Air Force PFE, Navy NWAE, Coast Guard SWE, and Army Promotion Board. Each 5-minute episode breaks down one exam topic with concrete examples, scoring strategies (especially the AFQT line scores that determine job eligibility), common exam traps, and memory tricks to help you pass on your first attempt. Whether you're preparing for enlistment, OCS, flight school, language school, or your next stripe, the material is built around the way the test actually scores you. This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation for everyone — from recruits at MEPS to NCOs studying for promotion to officer candidates earning their commission. For free practice questions, AI-powered explanations, flashcards, and full study guides, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ Subscribe and listen daily — your enlistment, commission, or next rank is closer than you think.
22episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
AFOQT Exam Prep 22, Word Knowledge Tier-1 Vocabulary — 200 High-Frequency Words
Yesterday00:03:08Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The AFOQT Word Knowledge section provides no context, requiring pure synonym matching. - You have only 5 minutes for 25 questions, demanding instant word recognition. - High-frequency words often relate to leadership (mettle, fortitude), discipline (austere, stringent), and military bearing. - Common exam traps include antonyms or words that sound similar but have different meanings. - The most effective preparation strategy is drilling the top 200 most-tested words using flashcards. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →AFOQT Exam Prep 21, Counting and Probability Basics
2d ago00:04:02Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Permutations (n!/(n−r)!) are for arrangements where order is critical, like assigning specific job titles. - Combinations (n!/(r!(n−r)!)) are for selecting groups where order is irrelevant, like forming a committee. - A helpful mnemonic: **P**ermutation means **P**osition matters; **C**ombination means the **C**ommittee is unordered. - For multiple event probabilities, the keyword 'AND' signals multiplication, while 'OR' signals addition (subtracting any overlap). - The AFOQT uses small numbers, so practice calculating factorials manually to save time and avoid errors. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →AFOQT Exam Prep 20, Simple and Compound Interest
3d ago00:03:41Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - To master the simple interest formula (I=Prt) and the basic compound interest formula (A=P(1+r)^t). - Why you must always convert interest rates to decimals and time periods to years before calculating. - The critical difference: simple interest is based only on the initial principal, while compound interest is based on the principal plus accumulated interest. - To identify whether an AFOQT question is asking for the total interest earned or the final account balance, a common exam trap. - How to handle questions that require comparing the outcomes of simple versus compound interest over a specific period. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →AFOQT Exam Prep 19, Ratio and Proportion — Direct and Inverse
4d ago00:01:31Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Direct proportion means as one value increases, the other increases; solve using cross-multiplication (a/b = c/d). - Inverse proportion means as one value increases, the other decreases; solve by finding the constant product (e.g., worker-hours). - A common exam trap is incorrectly applying direct proportion cross-multiplication to an inverse relationship problem. - For problems with a total quantity and a ratio (e.g., 3:5 with a total of 800), sum the ratio parts first (3+5=8) to find the value of one 'part'. - Mnemonic: "More means more, so make a cross" for direct proportions, and "More means less, so multiply across" for inverse proportions. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →AFOQT Exam Prep 18, Percent and Percent-Change Traps
5d ago00:03:22Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to correctly calculate percent change using the (New - Old) / Old formula. - Why successive percentage changes, like a 20% increase followed by a 20% decrease, do not cancel each other out and result in a net loss. - The correct order of operations for AFOQT problems that involve applying both a discount and a sales tax to an original price. - How to identify and solve the common exam trap involving a percentage increase followed by an identical percentage decrease. - A simple mnemonic, "New minus Old, over Old we're told," to remember the percent change formula under exam pressure. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →AFOQT Exam Prep 17, Mixture Problems — Solutions, Coins, Alloys
6d ago00:02:26Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to apply the core principle: the sum of the parts equals the whole for all mixture problems. - A mnemonic to solve any mixture problem: A-C-T (Amount x Concentration = Total). - How to set up and solve exam-style solution, coin, and alloy mixture problems. - To identify common exam traps like inconsistent units and misinterpreting the final mixture amount. - The importance of converting percentages to decimals and dollar values to cents for accurate calculations. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →AFOQT Exam Prep 16, Work-Rate Problems — 1/A + 1/B = 1/T
1w ago00:02:56Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The fundamental combined work-rate formula: 1/A + 1/B = 1/T, and what each variable represents. - A time-saving shortcut for the AFOQT: the 'product over sum' method, T = (A*B)/(A+B). - How to recognize and solve pipe-filling or draining problems using the same work-rate logic. - To identify common exam traps, such as when a problem provides a rate (e.g., '1/4 of the job per hour') instead of a total time. - The strategy for setting up the equation correctly when you need to solve for an individual's time instead of the combined time. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →AFOQT Exam Prep 15, Rate, Distance, Time — d=rt and Average Speed Traps
1w ago00:02:33Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The core formula for all motion problems is Distance = Rate × Time (d=rt). - How to solve 'two objects meeting' problems by combining their rates when they move towards each other. - Why simply averaging two speeds to find the average speed of a round trip is a common exam trap and always incorrect. - The correct method for calculating average speed, which is always Total Distance divided by Total Time. - A specific shortcut formula for calculating average speed on a round-trip journey with two different speeds: 2(r1·r2)/(r1+r2). For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →AFOQT Exam Prep 14, Word Problem Translation Under 70 Seconds
1w ago00:03:10Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to instantly translate common English phrases into algebraic expressions to save critical time on the AFOQT Arithmetic Reasoning subtest. - To identify and avoid common exam traps, especially the word order in subtraction phrases like 'less than' and 'exceeds by'. - A mental shortcut using the word 'is' to quickly find the equals sign and structure your equation correctly. - A step-by-step process for breaking down multi-sentence word problems by defining variables and using substitution. - Why creating a personal phrase-to-algebra 'cheat sheet' during your prep is essential for building the necessary speed for test day. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →AFOQT Exam Prep 13, Cause-Effect, Category, and Characteristic Analogies
1w ago00:03:42Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - To master three core AFOQT analogy types: Cause-Effect (germ:illness), Category (oak:tree), and Characteristic (sugar:sweet). - How to identify and avoid common exam traps like reversed relationships (effect-cause) and confusing Category with Part-to-Whole. - Why overlapping relationships (e.g., a spark both causing and characterizing a fire) make some analogies especially difficult. - To use the 'Define the Bridge' technique by creating a precise sentence that connects the initial pair to test against all answer choices. - The importance of evaluating every single answer choice to distinguish between a 'good' fit and the 'best' and most precise relationship match. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
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