Not sure what value of wisdom this has, but I found a quote on the nyusn blog from a recruiter/winged aviator in regards to the ASTB.
"A lot of people write in asking if they are competitive for selection on the boards. I made up a profile of someone off the top of my head of who I can see being selected for a position. I'll tell you straight off that your ASTB scores (in my mind at least) are what get you in, the Navy may deny it and say that it is the "whole person" but ASTB is the money maker. Second I feel are your college grades, I particularly don't agree with this for various reasons. Firstly it is because I don't think much for formal education in general. I hated college and thought it was a complete waste of time, I learned very little and if I could do it all over again I probably wouldn't have gone myself. But my opinions are constantly reinforced. How? I have given over 100 ASTB exams since I started working as a recruiter and have seen no more than 14 over 60 on the OAR. Meanwhile most all applicants have a GPA above a 3.0. In turn you are above average for four years and then cannot score above average on a test that is basic SAT knowledge. That tells me grades are inflated beyond reliability and also that there are too many colleges and too many people who attend them.
And the Navy is not an environment in which book knowledge translates into success in the field. The best Officers I have met have been ones who were either bored with school or didn't score very high. BUT they were great in pressure situations and ones which demanded a proper decision with little information. But I am getting off track...
All that lip service about whole person comes in when there are two applicants who have the same test scores and the same college grades. At that time if you have something extra in your background then it will be the deal breaker but that is the only time I can see it having any effect. And in regards to LORs, unless it is from a Senator, Congressman, Jamie Dimon, Obama....real heavy hitters in the world, people who could make a phone call and get something done; well they aren't going to mean much at all.
Jack Huntington has a 3.4 GPA from Michigan. On his ASTB he scored a 63 with an AQR of 8, and sevens on the other two sections. He played two varsity sports in high school and was the captain of one, of which he also made All State in his senior year. He had a summer job as a base ball coach up until his senior year when he interned and eventually worked at said job for two years. As witnessed by his scores he has been curious about aviation, ships and mechanics his whole life but possesses no formal training in any of those fields. He is physically fit and stays so working out five days a week.
Now the big question is if you are not this guy how do you make up for it? The only answer is through the ASTB. The ASTB is who you are now, not who you were. Also it has been designed to gauge how well you will do in OCS. Basically the OAR portion is a judge of how a candidate will fare with the academic portion at OCS. The aviation portions determine how well you will do in API which determines how well you will do in flight school. After having gone through them all I can say that it is pretty spot on."
