ASTB-E/APEX 4 Experience -DEC 2013

[Lore]

Would someone be willing to look at #20 and #24 on the Spatial Appreciation section and #22 on the Aviation supplement? I think the answers in the key are incorrect but I just want someone to back me up on that.

http://www.buffalomarines.com/barron-prac-astb-test.pdf

(20) is definitely 'D' - flying level out to sea
(24) is also definitely D' - banking left toward the sea

But Petrovics is correct... that is no longer part of the test as the UAV portion is in its place.

(22) Is 'E', the tail section.

My recruiter handed me the standard study packet a while back with the old spatial portion still in it. When we were just talking about the practice test in his office, he was mentioning the different sections and we got to the spatial one and I asked him if that was still in the test. (I had read a lot of the gouge here about the APEX version and I was quite certain the picture spatial portion was no longer in the test.) Interestingly, he said that yes it was still part of the test and that I needed to study it. Even so, I was still pretty sure he was wrong... come to find out I do know stuff sometimes.

He's a nice guy and all, but I don't think he has been keeping up on things as well as he should.

 

[speedroller]

Out of all of those study guide publishers, one of them should come out with a practice software for the ASTB-E in general, as well as, focus on the spatial portion and the joystick deal. This would reinforce the study material and justify me using the joystick I have stitting by my PC.

 

[Hopeful Hoya]

Thanks for the heads up gents, I won't focus as much on the spatial stuff in that case.

 

[Sundevil106150]

First off the gouge on this site is incredibly helpful and I take my the ASTB-E in 3 weeks. The sources I have are the Dummies, Barrons, Accepted Inc., and the Peterson guides along with two FAA handbooks but the question I have is about the Aviation/Nautical Information portion on the test. I have a ton of definitions in these books which I have studied and I also have a tutor who is a pilot major at ASU who went through each book with me and then some. But it seems like there is more on this section then just definitions. It seems to consist of more random facts and info than just parts of a ship or parts of a plane and what they do in certain situations. Can someone elaborate more on this section than what has been already said. I went through every page on this thread and a lot on the 1001 question thread but would like a little more in depth thought on this section from those who took the ASTB-E. Thanks a lot for your help and everyone's input thus far!

 

[MikeMillerUK]

First off the gouge on this site is incredibly helpful and I take my the ASTB-E in 3 weeks. The sources I have are the Dummies, Barrons, Accepted Inc., and the Peterson guides along with two FAA handbooks but the question I have is about the Aviation/Nautical Information portion on the test. I have a ton of definitions in these books which I have studied and I also have a tutor who is a pilot major at ASU who went through each book with me and then some. But it seems like there is more on this section then just definitions. It seems to consist of more random facts and info than just parts of a ship or parts of a plane and what they do in certain situations. Can someone elaborate more on this section than what has been already said. I went through every page on this thread and a lot on the 1001 question thread but would like a little more in depth thought on this section from those who took the ASTB-E. Thanks a lot for your help and everyone's input thus far!

Like you said, it's more in depth than "know parts of boats and planes." It is military specific information. For example, "What plane was modified to be used to detect hard-to-hear Russian submarines?" It is questions like these that are particularly hard to study for unless you plan on sitting down with a couple of nice Naval Aviation history books and memorizing planes and missions. Do what you can. I learned everything that was in the Accepted, Inc. study guide, and I ended doing just fine on the test. You sound like you've prepared very thoroughly, and missing one or two questions won't be the end of the world. The people who can answer those types of questions are those that grew up reading everything they could about aviation and its military history. Make sure you are as well-rounded and prepared for everything as you can be; one or two questions on one small part of the test won't kill your score. Best of luck!

 

[Xx_Lawdog_xX]

I've been a lurker here for a while and finally took the ASTB-E today (well, the OAR portion). I ended up with a 52 which I am fairly happy with. I was told by the test administrator that I needed above a 45 to be competitive and my recruiter told me about half of his applicants fail the first time. I'd like to first say that without this site I wouldn't have stood a chance. The books I studied were the Officer Candidate's Test for Dummies as well as the Barron's Military Flight Aptitude Tests. I also utilized several gouges on this website and took a few practice tests as well.

The test was indeed adaptive. I didn't really get anything difficult in the math portion it was mainly fractions, word problems, interests, simplifying, etc. Looking back I guessed on a few I could have easily done if I didn't feel rushed. I ended up ending with 15+ minutes out of 40. I thought I was taking my time on it so if you fear you're going too slow you're probably not. The reading portion which I figured would be the easiest was rather difficult. It's like reading out a an extremely dry manual and they do a fairly good job of making it seem like any answer could apply. Digging deep I could get it down to two within a minute and I usually had to reread it several times before I chose an answer. I finished with a little over 3 minutes. The mechanical section was pretty straightforward. I had one question where I needed to use Math but other than that it was mainly terms, pictures and what the object does, mass on Earth vs. mass on Moon, etc.

As far as my background goes I've always struggled with Math. I've constantly had people helping me when I was in a Math class. The only Physics class I took was in high school and it was Conceptual Physics (watered down version). However, I am a fairly good reader so I felt I did well on that. I'm also majoring in International Studies so personally I haven't looked at this stuff in quite some time. I'm also active duty Air Force and studied for about a month while deployed, got back for about two months with no studying and finally studied for about two weeks before taking the test. Well, that about sums up my experience. If anyone has any questions for me please feel free to ask... Again, I wouldn't have done half as well as I did without this site and all of your help.

 

[TRBates88]

Long time listener first time poster...

As Lawdog stated I too have been lurking around these forums for awhile and finally have something to post. Just finished my ASTB-E test today while I received decent scores it was not what I was hoping for. As all those who have come before and posted their experience it is all dead on, the test adapts to each test taker. I mainly used the gouge provided here and through other websites for the math and mechanical portion.

For the math portion I studied the Accepted,INC book and other online gouge, all of which was very helpful. I did find a few of the problems unexpectedly difficult, this was the only portion of the test in which I ran out of time. The reading portion was a bit difficult and caused me to take my time. Best bit of advice I can give is read the statement try to eliminate a few wrong answers then reread the statement to find the correct answer. The mechanical portion and aviation/nautical portion I felt was the easiest and finished well before the alloted time.

For the performance based measures were...as advertised. I missed a few on the UAV and couldn't quite get a proper orientation down. I spent around 10-15 practice tries but after a while it is what it is. The dichotic listening portion isn't all that bad as with the 1-D tracking and 2-D tracking, but when they are combined it can be a little overwhelming. Just keep your wits about you and pay attention. The emergency procedures part wasn't to bad as well, was a little late on the Fire! Fire! part only because I thought red was off..so I had to reverse my thinking and hit the clutch.

So after all this I received scores of 54 and 7/6/7. Not exactly what I was hoping for myself personally but I was told by the Recruiter who ran my test that these are good. Along with comparing myself here I feel they are competitive but as I mentioned not exactly what I was hoping I'd get.

As for packet strength we shall see, I have 5 LOR's. One from my Physics professor, my manager at work (7 years same job), 2 O-6's Commodore/Deputy Commodore Strike Fighter Wing Pacific Fleet, E-8 in the P-8 program.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

So after all this I received scores of 54 and 7/6/7.

Good scores

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I've been a lurker here for a while and finally took the ASTB-E today (well, the OAR portion). I ended up with a 52 which I am fairly happy with. I was told by the test administrator that I needed above a 45 to be competitive and my recruiter told me about half of his applicants fail the first time.

uh, where is your OR finding people? hell in over 3 years I only had 1 person that failed!

I believe what the test administrator is really saying but not saying is because you had greater than 45 your OR will get application credit for you.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

uh, where is your OR finding people? hell in over 3 years I only had 1 person that failed!

I believe what the test administrator is really saying but not saying is because you had greater than 45 your OR will get application credit for you.

About 1/4 or so on my end fail the exam. This is after telling them ways they can study, including here. Don't buy Astb books prior to 1 dec 13, that's for the old test if you want to buy a book. Somehow they still study the wrong test (ASVAB) or just don't care or put in the effort

 

[exNavyOffRec]

About 1/4 or so on my end fail the exam. This is after telling them ways they can study, including here. Don't buy Astb books prior to 1 dec 13, that's for the old test if you want to buy a book. Somehow they still study the wrong test (ASVAB) or just don't care or put in the effort

WOW, I can count on one hand how many I saw fail at the NRD and about 2/3 were at the HQ where I was at.

 

[Lore]

But it seems like there is more on this section then just definitions. It seems to consist of more random facts and info than just parts of a ship or parts of a plane and what they do in certain situations. Can someone elaborate more on this section than what has been already said.

As I see it there are essentially two types of questions in this section: (1) aviation and nautical information/terminology and (2) naval aviation history and military aircraft types and functions.

When I took the test I had no flight experience whatsoever and knew very little in the way of terminology and only basics in the way of general aviation or nautical information. I studied with various resources (practice tests, manuals, study guides, etc...) which helped a little. But for someone essentially going in with no flight experience, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to memorize all the aviation information and terminology (nautical is not so bad). First off, there is a heck of a lot of it and, secondly, it does not always make immediate sense for someone who has never used it in practice before. I would say to focus on this area, but don't overcompensate because it is a fairly small portion of the larger test. Without flight experience, I just don't know how you can prepare yourself for every possible question. Some of the ones they threw at me were difficult and I had never seen them in a study guide before. Hopefully that meant I was doing well.

Regarding the second type of questions (military aircraft types, history, use and terminology), I was a great deal more confident. Being someone who has read military aircraft reference books and history books since I was a small child, I felt very well prepared for this (limited) aspect of the test; which in my case probably included only about 5 or 6 questions. But I can almost guarantee that I aced them all! If this type of information is something that you need to study for, I guess you will just have to do some extra reading with military aviation reference books and maybe a history of the US Navy. Personally, I am not sure how someone could have a desire to go into military aviation without having immersed themselves in reading about military aircraft their entire life. But I do not know your interests.

I can't really give you any advice other than that and I don't know of any concrete example questions to give that you can't already find in a study guide. But if you are anything like me, I would recommend studying the aviation/nautical terminology as mush as possible (seems like you have a good start on that) and focus less on the military aircraft terminology. But, I guess it depends what you feel more comfortable with.

 

[Lancerr1]

+1 for people practicing the arial UAV section, Google Maps is a priceless tool in Earth mode. It allows you to see an angled arial view similar to the view you'd see in a plane or (for instance) on a camera screen while piloting a UAV. You can accustom yourself to the orientation of NESW by using Google Maps Compass to turn the image.

 

[RMP]

Just took the ASTB today, and wanted to share my experience, as well as offer thoughts on study materials. I won't go into too much detail, as there is already a lot of good info in this thread. 62/8/8/8

Math: This section was true to the math section overview on the NMOTC website. It included a lot of probability questions, as well as simplification problems. What I mean by that is something like: "simplify the following equation: -3 [-4+5(5-4)] + -3." I also encountered a few questions asking to find the missing number in a pattern e.g. "1,3,5,8,10 _." This section ended very quickly for me. There could have been more than 15 problems.

Reading: no advice here, other than using the process of elimination to rule out statements that are not the best fit.

Mechanical Comprehension: Lots of pulley questions, as well as questions about levers and the force required to move them. Know your electrical, as there were a few of these questions as well.

Aviation/Nautical Information: This section will kill you if you don't know basic aviation information, like how an airfoil creates lift. There were several questions related to that alone. Know your airplane terminology and what it means (e.g. critical angle of attack, chord line, stall). Having flight experience is invaluable here; I actually had to use the knowledge I learned to get my PPL! Know the parts of a ship (freeboard, draft, gunwale, windlass). There were also some questions about naval/aviation history and specific airplanes. Actual question: "Which airplane was the main torpedo bomber used in WWII that flew for 15 years in the Navy?" I encountered no weather questions in this section.

Performance Based Measures: If you practice, the UAV map orientation part will be easy. I practiced until it became second nature, and only missed two. However, the joystick/throttle section was not! This was a real mindfuck. I felt like my head was going to explode the entire time; I was mentally exhausted afterwards! This is covered well elsewhere on the site. I must stress that it will feel like you are doing terribly with the joystick/throttle movements. Don't let this discourage you! Focus on the accuracy of your listening, button pushing, and emergency procedures, and you'll be fine. I don't see how anyone could prepare for this, other than by playing flight simulators. Even then, it wouldn't be very applicable practice. I felt like some of my flying experience helped with this in the way of being able to manipulate controls while listening to, and interpreting, information.

As far as studying went, I used Peterson's Officer Candidate tests - 9th Edition, Barron's Military Flight Aptitude Tests - 2nd Edition, Peterson's Military Flight Aptitude Tests - 8th Edition, and Barron's Mechanical Aptitude and Spacial Relations Test - 2nd Edition. ALL of these left me unprepared for the math section. You'll need to give special attention to all the items listed on the NMOTC website's overview. However, Barron's mechanical aptitude book WAS helpful with the mechanical comprehension portion of the test. I also felt like all of the books did a good job in helping me prepare for the aviation/nautical information section. In addition, there are some very helpful practice tests earlier in this thread for the UAV part of the performance based measures section that I highly recommend using.

Do not hesitate to ask questions, I'll be happy to answer if I can. Good luck!

 

[Sundevil106150]

-2^2 [(- 4- 6^0 )(5-3^0 )] / | -6 |- [ -( -2)] Can anyone solve this. I keep getting -20 but the answer book on the online ASTB sample questions says the the answer is 20.