I have now taken the POSS test twice and have passed it twice. A lot of thanks to the poster of this board. They definitely contributed to my success.
Assembly:
This may be the most challenging part of the test. It seems to me that the questions get harder as your progress. My strategy for taking this section was to first identify the part that has the most labeled sides (the piece with the most letters on it). From there I pick one part, see where it should go on the "main" part and then eliminate the answer choices that are incorrect. I continue to do that until I have eliminated all but one answer. Most of the time it only takes to rounds of this method until I have the correct answer. The first time I took the test I answer all but two questions, the second time I finished it. On the second half of the test, if you get stuck, skip the question and come back to it latter.
Mechanical:
Very easy section. Both times I finished this section with plenty of time to spare. I would say this section only tests you over a few concepts. Gear, pulleys, leviers, very basic electric circuits, very basic heat transfer and moments of force (torque). Also know basic concepts for fluid flow in a pipe. In particular pv(in) = pv(out).
Graphs:
YOU WILL NOT FINISH THIS SECTION. Very easy, but you need to work fast. I recommend using your spare pencil as a straight edge for reading the graphs.
Reading:
If you can read the newspaper, you can pass this. I finished this section with tons of time left each time I tested. Although you have plenty of time to read through the passages, the passages are about basic engineering concepts. Therefore, you can answer most of the questions without reading the actual passages. For example, one passage is over the three methods of heat transfer.
Math:
This section is is easy, buy you need to work fast. Make sure you are up to date with your arithmetic as there are no calculators aloud. Both times I took the test I finished the conversions and algebra sections, but only answer 2 or three of the last section. IMO, the algebra section is the easiest. I would recommend skipping the conversions section and going straight to the algebra. Once you have finished the algebra go onto the conversions. ***They use different unit conversion than on the practice test*** The first time I took the exam I memorized the conversions on the practice exam. Turned out to be a waste of time. Skip the problems that require a two step conversion. After you have finished all the one step conversions, go onto the last section and work as many as you can.
Hope this helps!
