If the personnel office has determined that you meet the minimum requirements after you have completed the Border Patrol Online Application, you will be scheduled for the written exam. This test is no walk in the park. It is difficult, but understanding what the test consists of and preparing for it properly will greatly increase your chances of passing.

Once you are scheduled for the written exam, you will be given a test admission notice, user ID, and password. The test admission notice will give you important testing information, such as the date, time, and location of the test. It is important to print this notice. If you lose this information, you can use your used ID and password to log onto the USA Test Manager website. From there you will be able to print another copy of your test admission notice, and you will also be able to reschedule your test and print the study guides.

Three Sections of the Written Exam

Before you take the written exam, it is important to know a little bit about it. The test will take approximately four and a half hours, and it has three sections. These sections will test your logical reasoning skills, language skills, and job-related experience.

  • The Logical Reasoning Test
    Reasoning is considered to be the most important competency when it comes to Border Patrol jobs. Excellent reasoning skills will help an individual with problem solving and making difficult decisions.

    The Logical Reasoning Test will determine your ability to understand complex information and draw a conclusion from this information. These questions consist of a paragraph with a scenario. No outside information is needed to answer these questions, and you should accept every fact in these paragraphs as true in order to answer the question. Following each paragraph is a multiple choice question.

  • The Spanish Language Proficiency or Artificial Language Test
    Every US Border Patrol Agent must either know or learn Spanish. Knowing Spanish as a second language can help reduce miscommunication, and it also demonstrates goodwill and a certain level of respect. You will be given a choice to take either a Spanish Language Proficiency Test or an Artificial Language Test.

    If you already know the Spanish language, you should take the Spanish Language Proficiency Test. This section of the test is divided into two parts. The first part is mainly vocabulary questions, while the second part is divided into three more sections. Each of the three sections of the second part of the Spanish Language Proficiency deals with a different type of Spanish grammar.

    If you do not know Spanish or you aren’t fluent in this language, you should opt for the Artificial Language Test. This test is considered to be very effective at predicting an applicant’s ability to learn a foreign language. It give a vocabulary list, grammatical rules, and grammatical terms of an artificial, or made up, language. From this, you will be tested on how well you are able to translate the artificial language into English and vice versa.

  • Assessment of Job-Related Experience and Achievements
    In the last section of the written exam, you must be able to show that you have at least a year of related job experience. This does not necessarily have to be law enforcement experience.If you have no job-related experience, you can substitute college experience. The completion of a Bachelor’s degree at a university is equivalent to one year of job-related experience. The completion of one year of graduate education in a law enforcement field is also an acceptable substitute.

Studying and Preparing for the Written Exam

Now that you know what the test consists of, now is the time to start studying. While you may think that just about anyone with a little common sense and reasoning should be able to pass this test, it’s not really that simple. The US Customs and Border Patrol website offers a free study guide that you can download and print.

This guide will help you prepare for the US Border Patrol Test. It offers an explanation of each section, along with sample questions and explanations. It also offers general test taking tips.

Interested applicants can download the study guide here.

Test Taking Tips

For some, taking a test is a simple matter. For others though, taking a test can be a very intimidating and stressful time. Below are a few tips to keep in mind while taking the US Border Patrol Test.

  • Above all, stay calm. Relax. This may be easier said than done, but it is important. Take a few slow, deep breaths to calm yourself if necessary.
  • Read all of the directions from beginning to end. If something is unclear, read them again. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
  • Before answering a question, read the entire question and all of the answers first.
  • If you are stuck on a question, skip it and come back to it later. Finish the easy questions first, and then go back and work on the more difficult ones.
  • To help figure out the answer to a particularly difficult question, eliminate the answers that you know are incorrect. From there, you can look over the question and answers again.
  • If you still aren’t sure of an answer, guess. Since you are not penalized for incorrect answers on this test, it is better to guess than to leave an answer blank.
  • If you finish before the time is up, don’t be in too much of a rush to turn in your test. Go back over your test and check your answers.
  • If you must change an answer, make sure that you erase the incorrect answer completely before answering it again. Pay attention to where you mark your answers, especially if you skip a question. Make sure that the answer number is the same as the question number.