Guide Note: The following information was provided by an acquaintance of mine (Chris from Tampa) who had the opportunity recently to take the Air Force/Marine Corps Electronic Data Processing Test (EDPT).
The EDPT was administered to me at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) during my day at processing. There were approximately 120 questions to be answered in a period of 90 minutes. All questions are multiple choice with five available answers for each. It is a paper and pencil test, not computerized, and the testing personnel provided me with two sheets of scratch paper and a pencil (calculators are not allowed).
The test was divided into four parts: analogies, arithmetic word problems, sequencing and patterns, and pictorial analogies.
Analogies
The analogy questions are just like those given on the SAT - _____ is to ______ as ______ is to _____. One needs to determine the relationship between the first two words, and find the answer that has the same relationship to the third word given.
For example: "Cattle is to herd as fish is to _____." The correct answer would be "school," as that is what a group of fish are called. Any SAT test prep book/course would help in preparing for this portion of the test.
Arithmetic Word Problems
The arithmetic word problem questions are just that -- word problems. The questions incorporate a lot of extraneous information into the wording and one has to be able to pull out the information needed and discard the garbage. I found that the questions themselves did not require an extremely high level of mathematical ability (algebra, some geometry and maybe a tiny knowledge of physics), though each test form could differ in the types of questions given.
There were a few questions in the form of, "If train 'A' leaves Chicago traveling 100 mph and train 'B' leaves New York traveling 150 mph and the distance between Chicago and New York is 600 miles, how far from New York will the trains be when they meet?" In essence, read each question carefully, utilize the necessary information provided and go from there.
As in any other Multiple Choice test, one could probably eliminate one or two answers quite quickly and then plug the remaining answers into the equation to determine the correct answer. This method takes a while longer, so wait until all easier questions have been answered and go back at the end if time remains.
Sequencing and Patterns
The sequencing and patterns portion of the test was my favorite. Either four or five numbers are given and then a blank space in which you must provide the next number in the sequence. For example: "2 8 32 128 _____." The correct answer would be "512," as each number has been multiplied by 4. (2 x 4 = 8 x 4 = 32 x 4 = 128 x 4 = 512).
In all honesty, the sequences are not a whole lot harder then that. I found that the pattern was not always be the same throughout the sequence, but there was always an easily derived. One of the harder ones might be as follows:
"3 9 4 16 11 _____"
I found the easiest way to answer these types was to write out the sequence on my scratch paper with a space between each number. In the spaces, write out the relationship between each number. In our example "9," the second number in our sequence, is either 3 + 6, or 3 x 3- so I would write "+6" and also "X3" between "3" and "9." Then i would look at the next number in the sequence, "4." Four is five less than nine, so I would write "-5" between the "9" and "4." Looking at the next number, I would know that "16" is "4 x 4" or "4 + 12." Again, I would write both in the space. 11 is 5 less than 16 so again I would write "-5."
So, my scratch paper would look like: "3 (+6)(X3) 9 (-5) 4 (X4) (+12) 16 (-5) 11."
