There's a fine line between barely passing and flunking a test. API pink sheets look especially bad if you're ever before a board later. It shows that you must either be 1)stupid or 2)not trying.
I'd guess more the latter than the former, since 99.9% of API is rote memorization (even the practical application is the exact same process every time, just with different numbers). But what do you know? It's not like you were an IP or anything, and dealt with this stuff on a daily basis.
Is everything in API directly applicable to your everyday flying job? No. However, it provides everyone with a basic aeronautical foundation, and (more importantly) develops the study habit patterns that the average Joe will require to succeed in follow-on training. If you can't memorize simple Aero definitions, you will probably struggle when you are forced to memorize EPs, limits, course rules, etc.
My suggestion: Do not gaff off API. (Or Primary. Or Advanced. Or the FRS. Etc., etc., etc.) You have an opportunity that a large majority of our population would do anything for - and you are getting paid a decent penny to do so. Don't blow it all for a few nights of fun in Pensacola. After you complete a "milestone," by all means, celebrate...but in the meantime, attack your training as if your aviation career and your professional reputation are on the line.
