So how hard did you study?

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Out of curiousity how hard did you study for the test? I have a very good grasp on the questions.... every once in a while I blank on Senate vs House vs Congress terminology or something silly...but I wouldn't want them to be the 4 or 5 questions I couldn't answer on interview day if you know what I mean.

I was using the tool pinned above and it was useful....I vaguely knew the president from WWI (Wilson) but had to guess.

I see some folks' posts and they get asked ridiculously easy questions .....does the quality of the questions have to do with how well the interviewee speaks english ( of course it shouldn't because that wouldn;t be fair).

Thanks

[v333k 59]

Out of curiousity how hard did you study for the test? I have a very good grasp on the questions.... every once in a while I blank on Senate vs House vs Congress terminology or something silly...but I wouldn't want them to be the 4 or 5 questions I couldn't answer on interview day if you know what I mean.

I was using the tool pinned above and it was useful....I vaguely knew the president from WWI (Wilson) but had to guess.

I see some folks' posts and they get asked ridiculously easy questions .....does the quality of the questions have to do with how well the interviewee speaks english ( of course it shouldn't because that wouldn;t be fair).

Thanks

I haven't done my interview yet, but I've been reading posts by other VJ members that had their interview.

To me, it is important to know questions related to your state - geographical questions as well. I've seen people in FL or CA or WA get asked which ocean boarders the East/West coast? Or states like TX or AZ - which countries boarder the US?

The other thing I noticed is they always ask about a war the US fought.

In general, the 100 questions that they have are the questions that they will ask. They will ask you 10 questions and you need to answer 6 correctly. If you answer the first 6 correctly then they will stop asking....

[Lansbury 19]

The questions are randomly generated by the the computer system they use. It prints a sheet of ten questions for the interviewer to ask.

If you use the site that is pinned here as you say, I did, and can consistently answer 80% you will be fine on the day. They are not out to trick you just take you time, but you will find you will have no problems most have got 6 right long before all the questions have been asked.

[Lansbury 19]

In general, the 100 questions that they have are the questions that they will ask.

The questions will only come from those 100 exactly as worded. There are no other questions in the test.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Lansbury

[antda 13]

Hi Udella&Wiz,

Nice to see you here on the US Citizenship boards! (lol...I'm used to seeing you on the Canada boards instead...)

In answer to your questions....

First of all, you can read the detailed review about my citizenship interview experience here:

N-400: Ant’s Citizenship INTERVIEW PASSED.…BUT….(Part 1 of 2)…. (11/18/09) My Helpful Very Detailed N-400 Buffalo, NY Experience Here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/229435-n-400-ants-citizenship-interview-passedbutpart-1-of-2/page__p__3505984__fromsearch__1entry3505984

Basically, they ask..

-1 simple sentence to be written down on paper

-1 simple sentence to be read out loud/orally

-up to 10 (though you only have to get 6 right) out of 100, civics/history questions to be answered orally

Since your first language is English, and you are from Canada, you shouldn't have any problems with this test..

Lol..Just make sure that you spell words in American English and not Canadian English though....

And in a way you have an advantage too, as Candian history/politics is very closely linked to American history/politics, and I'm sure that you might have learned a bit of this information in Canada too (well, at least I did...lol...).

Lol..Remember the war or 1812?....That's how the white house became white...lol....

Oh and here is another thing: American Senate=Canadian Senate, American House of Representatives=Canadian House of Commons...See what I mean about having a similar history?

The questions are randomly generated by the computer...

It doesn't matter what your level of English is..

But I personally think that you will find this test VERY EASY to pass, if you study enough.

As well, make sure you ask for the study guide book/cd during your biometrics/fingerprints appointment. They are free, and you have every right to ask for such, as a N-400 applicant. If you don't get the book/cd, don't worry. All the study materials are available online, from the USCIS website (from the link that I gave you earlier). These are the exact same questions in the book and cd, and you can study off of there too. Personally, I found the audio cd to be the most helpful, for the civics/history portion of the test, as this part of the test was conducted orally, and it made me better understand the questions as they were asked that way. As well, I made home-made (I didn't want to waste printer ink) study flash cards for the civics/history test, which I found helpful too (note: you can also download and print out the flash cards from the USCIS website directly, but be prepared to use a lot of printer ink here to print them out). But yes, overall, I found the USCIS wesbsite for the study materials to be helpful too, as it gave me a "sneak peak" and let me study ahead of time, before I got the book and cd, so I already knew the study materials ahead of time and was even more prepared then for the interview.

In terms of studying time, I only studied a few weeks beforehand...

I used the audio cd the most, and was constantly playing it in the car (lol..it helped my son get to sleep, oddly enough.)

I also used my homemade flash cards the most too, and made it into a game, with my husband and I asking questions to each other...(funny, how we were both equal...despite him having the advantage of being a USC already...)

And yes, while I studied, I was very sleep-deprived with a newborn baby...Nevertheless, I passed the test...lol...

The key to studying for this test and for other tests is probably to:

-Study as much as you can beforehand and feel confident that you know all the answers already

-Relax and get enough sleep the night before

-Breathe

-Just have fun with the test (think: It's not a test..)

-Remember....It's not the end of the world if I don't do well. I'll just do the best as I can do.

(Gee, I wish I can take my own advice here).

Hope this helps too. Good luck with applying for your US citizenship and good luck with the rest of your journey too...

Ant

Out of curiousity how hard did you study for the test? I have a very good grasp on the questions.... every once in a while I blank on Senate vs House vs Congress terminology or something silly...but I wouldn't want them to be the 4 or 5 questions I couldn't answer on interview day if you know what I mean.

I was using the tool pinned above and it was useful....I vaguely knew the president from WWI (Wilson) but had to guess.

I see some folks' posts and they get asked ridiculously easy questions .....does the quality of the questions have to do with how well the interviewee speaks english ( of course it shouldn't because that wouldn;t be fair).

Thanks

Edited March 29, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA

[Kathryn41 3,205]

One of our VJ members noted this past January that many of the applicants interviewing around the same time had the same series of questions. I know that someone who had their test the same day I did but at a different office had the same questions I had as well, so no, they don't appear to vary the questions based upon the ease of the applicant's English usage. They will have a sheet with ten questions on it - they may vary between the ten questions but the six we both got were the same and in the same order - and probably use the same sheet over and over. The sheet that I had to read from had 3 of the test questions on it, and the sentence that was dictated to write was the answer to the question selected. (I was told to read the first question).

I bought the flashcards and instead of doing a dedicated study session, I divided the cards into three piles - the answers I knew; the answers I didn't know and the answers I thought I knew but wasn't sure about. I then would pick up one of the piles of cards and read over a few of the questions, trying to answer them, whenever I had a few minutes to spare. They were always at hand and it was quite easy to become very familiar with the questions and answers using that format.

As well, when you go for your biometrics you will receive a booklet and a CD about the test questions. While I found the flash cards more useful for study, the booklet was a good overall review of the test questions in context.

Good luck - I am sure you will do fine!

Edited March 30, 2010 by Kathryn41

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Thanks all - I have 6 months so I'll just wile away the time until then.

[NickD 202]

Thanks all - I have 6 months so I'll just wile away the time until then.

Wife could snap back the answers to any of the 100 questions as quick as I could ask them with the major study done in our long drive over. A week later with family, we were talking about this, she had forgotten most of the answers by then. Just like college, what a waste, cram of an exam to pass it and forget all about it the next day to get set for more cramming.

Practically all government tests are multiple guess, except this one, but then you only have to answer the first six correctly to pass, question is, which six. Have no idea why the USCIS does it this way, could also give a hundred question multiple guess test, 70% is normally a passing score and doesn't make any difference if you get 70 or a 100% correct.

[internetkafe 0]

Out of curiousity how hard did you study for the test? I have a very good grasp on the questions.... every once in a while I blank on Senate vs House vs Congress terminology or something silly...but I wouldn't want them to be the 4 or 5 questions I couldn't answer on interview day if you know what I mean.

I was using the tool pinned above and it was useful....I vaguely knew the president from WWI (Wilson) but had to guess.

I see some folks' posts and they get asked ridiculously easy questions .....does the quality of the questions have to do with how well the interviewee speaks english ( of course it shouldn't because that wouldn;t be fair).

Thanks

A day or two, reading the material a few times.

Good luck.