Hello everyone, took the OAR today and scored a 62. A score that I'm very happy with. I have yet to take the PBM portion, because I decided with my recruiter to take the OAR first and then merge that with the PBM later to get a full ASTB score so I can focus my entire attention on the OAR subjects, then pivot towards the simulator and ANIT to guarantee the best possible scores. This is something that you can do as well, and unless you're time critical I recommend you do to maximize your score.
Now, onto the test.
The OAR begins with a few instructional "powerpoint slides" that guide you through all the test functions and what you can expect. I suggest you take this time to write down any memorized formulas or a multiplication table, hell, even start calculating a table of perfect square and cube roots for use during the exam. If you think it'll save you time, do it during this section.
MATH
For this section, I personally received a wide variety of questions, everything from simple system of equations questions (what is x in x+4-3x=2x+6) to very complicated root and logarithm problems (log8[log10(log16(x))]=1) (root_5((64x^8)(y^16)(z^36)). I also had combinatoric probability, (How many ways can x y and z be ordered) and basic probability (What is the chance that Sam will roll a 9 if he rolls two dice once?) type questions. One exponent question (very basic fractional exponent like 32^2/5). One very long polynomial multiplication question ((2(x+4)^2)^2-4x+2(x+4) all divided by 4), as well as some percentages (Suzie spent 30% of her savings on a new car and then 10% on a speaker, how much of her savings did she spend?). My section ended off with a complicated geometry problem which I guessed on (attachment below).
View attachment 44107
Overall, this section seemed harder than some of the practice material on here, maybe that is because I was performing well on it, but I will leave that up to the interpretation of the reader. I had no matrix multiplication, no DRT, no work, and almost no basic word problems akin to what you would see in the 114 Question OAR math guide. My personal suggestion to all of you is STUDY YOUR LOG RULES. My test had me simplify about 4 logarithmic equations, and ALL but one were harder than the log worksheet on either drive. The worksheets and OAR math guide are very good at setting you up for the basics of some of the problems you may encounter, but the test is adaptive, and if you perform well it WILL throw problems much harder than those on the worksheets at you.
But remember, this is just my experience with the test. Yours may be harder, or it may be easier.
READING
Boring, boring, boring, and complicated. I was prepared for the material on this section by reading hundreds of posts just like this one prior to taking the test over my month of studying. This section will give you a paragraph and 4 answer choices. 2 will be blatantly incorrect, one will be almost correct, and one will be correct. Almost all passages will be written in Navy/military jargon, and the best way I can describe it is like reading an informational brochure about some benefit or new program in an institution and being able to derive some implied meaning from it. I really don't think there's any real way to study for this, but the official NAMI ASTB practice pdf actually has some very good practice questions on it. I believe the one regarding the ORM Risk Management was actually on my test haha. It is linked below alongside my other study documents.
MECHANICAL
This section I flew by because all the material was fresh in my mind as I had dedicated the final week of my studying to it. My honest suggestion is 100% invest in the OAR tutoring app (linked below). Almost 10 of my questions came straight from that app or were some derivative of one of the questions asked. Do the MC Lesson homeworks and remember all of the answers and why that answer is true, as some of the questions asked are very similar but not 1:1 and require some thought on your end. On this section I received mostly conceptual questions, but did receive about 4 questions where I had to do some sort of math. Definitely know your formulas for Force (F=ma), Work (W=Fd) Kinetic (KE=1/2mv^2) and Potential (PE=mgh) energy, as well as how to balance and calculate the mechanical advantage for levers, inclined planes, gears, and pulleys. I personally had no questions on gears or pulleys but your test will not be the same as mine so I recommend it nonetheless.
I would once again like to thank the people of this forum for compiling their experiences and creating study material, for my score would not have been possible without your continued participation in this forum. I will be applying for BDCP SNA as soon as I have taken the PBM so I'm not in the clear yet, but the hard part is done. I hope that my post is able to help at least one person in their preparation for this exam, and if I managed a 62 with how stressed I was about this exam, you can too. If you put your mind to it, you can and will overcome.
RESOURCES USED
Hello everyone, took the OAR today and scored a 62. A score that I'm very happy with. I have yet to take the PBM portion, because I decided with my recruiter to take the OAR first and then merge that with the PBM later to get a full ASTB score so I can focus my entire attention on the OAR subjects, then pivot towards the simulator and ANIT to guarantee the best possible scores. This is something that you can do as well, and unless you're time critical I recommend you do to maximize your score.
Now, onto the test.
The OAR begins with a few instructional "powerpoint slides" that guide you through all the test functions and what you can expect. I suggest you take this time to write down any memorized formulas or a multiplication table, hell, even start calculating a table of perfect square and cube roots for use during the exam. If you think it'll save you time, do it during this section.
MATH
For this section, I personally received a wide variety of questions, everything from simple system of equations questions (what is x in x+4-3x=2x+6) to very complicated root and logarithm problems (log8[log10(log16(x))]=1) (root_5((64x^8)(y^16)(z^36)). I also had combinatoric probability, (How many ways can x y and z be ordered) and basic probability (What is the chance that Sam will roll a 9 if he rolls two dice once?) type questions. One exponent question (very basic fractional exponent like 32^2/5). One very long polynomial multiplication question ((2(x+4)^2)^2-4x+2(x+4) all divided by 4), as well as some percentages (Suzie spent 30% of her savings on a new car and then 10% on a speaker, how much of her savings did she spend?). My section ended off with a complicated geometry problem which I guessed on (attachment below).
View attachment 44107
Overall, this section seemed harder than some of the practice material on here, maybe that is because I was performing well on it, but I will leave that up to the interpretation of the reader. I had no matrix multiplication, no DRT, no work, and almost no basic word problems akin to what you would see in the 114 Question OAR math guide. My personal suggestion to all of you is STUDY YOUR LOG RULES. My test had me simplify about 4 logarithmic equations, and ALL but one were harder than the log worksheet on either drive. The worksheets and OAR math guide are very good at setting you up for the basics of some of the problems you may encounter, but the test is adaptive, and if you perform well it WILL throw problems much harder than those on the worksheets at you.
But remember, this is just my experience with the test. Yours may be harder, or it may be easier.
READING
Boring, boring, boring, and complicated. I was prepared for the material on this section by reading hundreds of posts just like this one prior to taking the test over my month of studying. This section will give you a paragraph and 4 answer choices. 2 will be blatantly incorrect, one will be almost correct, and one will be correct. Almost all passages will be written in Navy/military jargon, and the best way I can describe it is like reading an informational brochure about some benefit or new program in an institution and being able to derive some implied meaning from it. I really don't think there's any real way to study for this, but the official NAMI ASTB practice pdf actually has some very good practice questions on it. I believe the one regarding the ORM Risk Management was actually on my test haha. It is linked below alongside my other study documents.
MECHANICAL
This section I flew by because all the material was fresh in my mind as I had dedicated the final week of my studying to it. My honest suggestion is 100% invest in the OAR tutoring app (linked below). Almost 10 of my questions came straight from that app or were some derivative of one of the questions asked. Do the MC Lesson homeworks and remember all of the answers and why that answer is true, as some of the questions asked are very similar but not 1:1 and require some thought on your end. On this section I received mostly conceptual questions, but did receive about 4 questions where I had to do some sort of math. Definitely know your formulas for Force (F=ma), Work (W=Fd) Kinetic (KE=1/2mv^2) and Potential (PE=mgh) energy, as well as how to balance and calculate the mechanical advantage for levers, inclined planes, gears, and pulleys. I personally had no questions on gears or pulleys but your test will not be the same as mine so I recommend it nonetheless.
I would once again like to thank the people of this forum for compiling their experiences and creating study material, for my score would not have been possible without your continued participation in this forum. I will be applying for BDCP SNA as soon as I have taken the PBM so I'm not in the clear yet, but the hard part is done. I hope that my post is able to help at least one person in their preparation for this exam, and if I managed a 62 with how stressed I was about this exam, you can too. If you put your mind to it, you can and will overcome.
RESOURCES USED
I would be remiss if I did not contribute to this thread that helped me so much with my OAR prep. I initially took the OAR and scored a 46. I retook the OAR and scored a 54.
For my first test (score: 46), I primarily used the ASTB Prep App practice tests as a gauge of my progress and did not read through any of the google Drives in their entirety. I also did not watch many YouTube videos on concepts (math or mechanical). Additionally, I went in overconfident on reading because I was scoring so high on the reading comprehension practice tests (90-100%). I was in for a surprise when the reading comprehension test contained no questions—mainly because I was not thorough in my research on this thread.
For my second test (score: 54), I used this post by
DOMINVS (the post I’m replying to) as a north star. I consistently referenced the hyperlinks under “Resources Used,” and the tips provided were extremely helpful. This post is great because it consolidates many helpful resources into one convenient place.
Math:
I found this YouTube channel (
https://www.youtube.com/@GrammarHero) to be particularly helpful for reviewing concepts. I would put on videos covering concepts I struggled with (such as probability and combined rate of work), and that helped improve my math performance overall.
Mechanical:
The OAR Tutoring App was amazing for the mechanical section. I had at least three questions on my test that were also covered in the Mechanical Homework portion of the app. My mechanical test was very similar to what was described in the above post.
Reading:
Just like the above post, I highly recommend the Official NAMI ASTB Sample Questions. I also had the ORM question on my test. These reading comprehension questions were the most accurate compared to what you actually see on the test. Do not bother practicing reading comprehension tests that ask specific questions like,
“When was Chinas first aircraft carrier built?” That is not how reading comprehension is structured on the OAR.
The biggest issue I had with reading comprehension was that there were no questions once the section began. It was just a large block of text followed by four sentences. On my first test, I did not do well in reading. The biggest difference between test one and test two was that, for test two, I wrote down the introductory directions that appear before the reading comprehension section begins. The directions state something along the lines of:
“Pick the answer choice that can only be inferred from the passage” or
“Pick only what is true from the text.” For test two (score 54) I wrote these instructions on my scratch paper. When I got stuck on a reading problem, I would look back at my notes (the directions written down), and it helped me refocus. It gave me a question to then prime my brain to answer.
For the reading section, most people say it’s basically “good luck.” I honestly believe that writing down the directions helped me the most with the reading portion especially if you are like me and have a hard time answering questions when there is no question written for me to see.
Thank you to all for the input and resources provided on this journey.
Good luck to all that are still on their journey!
