1,001 questions about the ASTB (post your scores & ask your questions here!)

[JessieFlys]

Hey folks,

New to the thread and although I am currently studying for my ASTB-E I am taking in all my resources just like I did when I was Air Force. I personally scored well on my ASVAB with a 90.
I am continuing my studies much like I did in the past... two weeks to take it all in. Everyday a new section to focus on. I test on Aug 22nd and will post my scores. (attempting SNA/SNO). Wish me luck!

For anyone struggling to brush up on their math skills that need something to help concentrate on rebuilding those arithmetic ,radicals, fractions, exponents, and just overall basic to advanced math topics..... check out Khan Academy. Its a free tool that will walk you through short burst lessons and get you back up to speed. Each exercise can build on the next and really emphasize digesting the material for test day.
To gauge your math level and keep track of your progress, you must sign in.

Best to all,
Jessie )

 

[peppergunner]

What were the major differences you saw with the math and mechanical from the first time around? Did the types of questions you got change much?

Math section tests things like transforming logarithmic equations and concepts like rate scaling. Mechanical doesn't test your math as much as it does topics like mechanical advantage, lever classes, and pulleys.

 

[mitebcool77]

Hey folks,

New to the thread and although I am currently studying for my ASTB-E I am taking in all my resources just like I did when I was Air Force. I personally scored well on my ASVAB with a 90.
I am continuing my studies much like I did in the past... two weeks to take it all in. Everyday a new section to focus on. I test on Aug 22nd and will post my scores. (attempting SNA/SNO). Wish me luck!

For anyone struggling to brush up on their math skills that need something to help concentrate on rebuilding those arithmetic ,radicals, fractions, exponents, and just overall basic to advanced math topics..... check out Khan Academy. Its a free tool that will walk you through short burst lessons and get you back up to speed. Each exercise can build on the next and really emphasize digesting the material for test day.
To gauge your math level and keep track of your progress, you must sign in.

Best to all,
Jessie )

Welcome fellow Airforce to Navy hopeful.

 

[edward951218]

I'm a little late to the party, but I tutor high school algebra and pre-calc.
I would set it up a different way. Instead of having two variables, try putting everything in terms of X. Set one angle (the supplement) as X-20, and set the other angle gets set as 4X

You know, because they are supplementary, they have to add up to 180. By that logic, you can say:

(X-20) + 4X = 180

5X = 200

X=40

So your angle is 20 degrees, and the supplement is 160.

What is this abomination... I can't even begin to understand what you were attempting to do.
Why did you arbitrarily set up the supplement as X-20 and why is the angle 4X, what even is X to begin with? What?
You are looking for an angle that is 20 degrees less than 4 times its supplement. This angle, let's call it X, is 20 LESS than 4 TIMES the supplement
So, X = 4Y-20, where Y is the supplement. We know X and Y have to add up to 180 because they are supplements so Y=180-X.
And so we substitute this in for Y in our first equation so we can have everything in terms. of X. X = 4(180-X) - 20.
If we simplify this we get that X = 140 and Y, the supplementary angle, is 40. Cool, they add up to 180.
We know this is correct because X, the angle that we are looking for, is 20 less than 4 times its supplement, 40. (40 times 4 equals 160 minus 20 equals 140, X!!!)

 

[jbs2010]

Hi everyone, first post here. I took the OAR yesterday for the first time and scored a 59. I studied for about two weeks and used a lot of the extremely helpful resources that I found on this site. I was most worried about the mechanical section, because I haven't taken a physics class in many years, but the info I found on this page was invaluable and put me on the right path to studying exactly what I needed to, because I didn't struggle in that section at all. The Math was straightforward not easy but not too hard and I am not that strong in math, and the test cut me off with 20 minutes to spare. I didn't go into the reading comprehension section overly concerned, but it was surprisingly difficult. My only tip is really read the answer choices and make sure what it is saying is really what was said or implied in the paragraph. Look out for words like 'must' and 'required'. An answer choice may say something is required, but the paragraph only said something was a suggestion, things like that. Use process of elimination whenever you can. The test is alot like the GRE, less testing your actual knowledge than your ability to problem solve. Oh, and the math section had some formulas available to view, so don't stress too much about memorizing formulas.

 

[bunny_0329]

What is this abomination... I can't even begin to understand what you were attempting to do.
Why did you arbitrarily set up the supplement as X-20 and why is the angle 4X, what even is X to begin with? What?
You are looking for an angle that is 20 degrees less than 4 times its supplement. This angle, let's call it X, is 20 LESS than 4 TIMES the supplement
So, X = 4Y-20, where Y is the supplement. We know X and Y have to add up to 180 because they are supplements so Y=180-X.
And so we substitute this in for Y in our first equation so we can have everything in terms. of X. X = 4(180-X) - 20.
If we simplify this we get that X = 140 and Y, the supplementary angle, is 40. Cool, they add up to 180.
We know this is correct because X, the angle that we are looking for, is 20 less than 4 times its supplement, 40. (40 times 4 equals 160 minus 20 equals 140, X!!!)

Alright brother... take it easy. He was trying to help. You don't have to be rude to correct his process.

 

[peppergunner]

What is this abomination... I can't even begin to understand what you were attempting to do.
Why did you arbitrarily set up the supplement as X-20 and why is the angle 4X, what even is X to begin with? What?
You are looking for an angle that is 20 degrees less than 4 times its supplement. This angle, let's call it X, is 20 LESS than 4 TIMES the supplement
So, X = 4Y-20, where Y is the supplement. We know X and Y have to add up to 180 because they are supplements so Y=180-X.
And so we substitute this in for Y in our first equation so we can have everything in terms. of X. X = 4(180-X) - 20.
If we simplify this we get that X = 140 and Y, the supplementary angle, is 40. Cool, they add up to 180.
We know this is correct because X, the angle that we are looking for, is 20 less than 4 times its supplement, 40. (40 times 4 equals 160 minus 20 equals 140, X!!!)

Alright brother... take it easy. He was trying to help. You don't have to be rude to correct his process.

If it takes someone ten lines to even do the problem, I'm 90% sure they won't finish the test on time.

 

[bunny_0329]

If it takes someone ten lines to even do the problem, I'm 90% sure they won't finish the test on time.

It takes much less time to do a problem (if you understand the concept) than it does to explain how to do it. That being said, there was no reason for him to explain it in such a condescending way.

 

[yummyyummy9]

Hey all,

Long time lurker, first time poster... Took the ASTB August 6th and scored 7, 8, 7. I'm pleased with these scores since my first time taking it I scored 7, 7, 6.

For everyone new here like I was before I started studying (I studied about an hour everyday for about a month), I would recommend the Barron's Military Flight Aptitude Tests book. It has two practice tests in it for each of the branches' respective tests. I studied for about two weeks, then took the first practice test. After that, I went to the AFOQT and did their Arithmetic Reasoning (ratios, basic math -- really good for just practicing fast, easy math so you don't get too bogged down during the actual test) and Math Knowledge (more closely related to the kinds of Math questions you'll see on the ASTB) to practice as well.
During this time, I was also using this thread (THANKS EVERYONE WHO TOOK TIME TO POST STUFF) to go back and look at all the gouge and documents people had compiled. Frankly, this thread is probably the best way to study. People's different insight and tricks on the test were tremendously helpful.
I think it's also worth mentioning that I tried to use the compass trick during the UAV portion, and it worked well for the most part as I was averaging what I would guess is right around 2 seconds each time, but had this one massive brain fart during the test that took me 10.5 seconds to answer and I got it wrong... which sucks. If you're going to use the compass trick, be sure you can do it in your sleep, otherwise you'll find it just kind of slows you down.

To all the pros in this thread, any chance anyone can point me in the right direction for how the boards work? For clarification, I am NROTC at my university, set to commission Spring 2019. My LT told me that I needed my final ASTB scores in before Sept 1st, but I'm still kind of in the dark on how all that works. Any help is appreciated.

 

[bunny_0329]

Hey all,

Long time lurker, first time poster... Took the ASTB August 6th and scored 7, 8, 7. I'm pleased with these scores since my first time taking it I scored 7, 7, 6.

For everyone new here like I was before I started studying (I studied about an hour everyday for about a month), I would recommend the Barron's Military Flight Aptitude Tests book. It has two practice tests in it for each of the branches' respective tests. I studied for about two weeks, then took the first practice test. After that, I went to the AFOQT and did their Arithmetic Reasoning (ratios, basic math -- really good for just practicing fast, easy math so you don't get too bogged down during the actual test) and Math Knowledge (more closely related to the kinds of Math questions you'll see on the ASTB) to practice as well.
During this time, I was also using this thread (THANKS EVERYONE WHO TOOK TIME TO POST STUFF) to go back and look at all the gouge and documents people had compiled. Frankly, this thread is probably the best way to study. People's different insight and tricks on the test were tremendously helpful.
I think it's also worth mentioning that I tried to use the compass trick during the UAV portion, and it worked well for the most part as I was averaging what I would guess is right around 2 seconds each time, but had this one massive brain fart during the test that took me 10.5 seconds to answer and I got it wrong... which sucks. If you're going to use the compass trick, be sure you can do it in your sleep, otherwise you'll find it just kind of slows you down.

To all the pros in this thread, any chance anyone can point me in the right direction for how the boards work? For clarification, I am NROTC at my university, set to commission Spring 2019. My LT told me that I needed my final ASTB scores in before Sept 1st, but I'm still kind of in the dark on how all that works. Any help is appreciated.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're in NROTC, your class adviser should just be submitting your entire package around the time your service selection preferences are due to NSTC. That's normally right around the beginning of September with word back around mid-October. So you just submit your service preferences with SNA as #1 and stay in touch with your adviser about dates/information, but once we take the ASTB its just playing the waiting game.

 

[daltonstewart1213]

What were the major differences you saw with the math and mechanical from the first time around? Did the types of questions you got change much?

They were pretty similar for the math, lots of Logs, factoring and money problems. And then for mechanical it was a little different. Got some electrical questions and then a few on buoyancy and even one on Bernoulli's principle. For mechanical I would recommend studying everything you can find on this website as well as whatever study book you bought (if you did indeed buy one). If you do that you will be A okay

 

[yummyyummy9]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're in NROTC, your class adviser should just be submitting your entire package around the time your service selection preferences are due to NSTC. That's normally right around the beginning of September with word back around mid-October. So you just submit your service preferences with SNA as #1 and stay in touch with your adviser about dates/information, but once we take the ASTB its just playing the waiting game.

Thanks for this. I guess my impression of submitting my designator request and crossing my fingers was pretty spot on.

 

[Tjsimpson10]

Took the ASTB about two weeks ago and got a 56 5/5/5.. I studied for 5 hours the day before and that is it. I had no idea what I was walking into.
Didnt know about this website until after I took it unfortunately.
Have been going through a lot of the gouge on here and it is really helping me narrow down what to study for.
Scheduled to take it again September 18th.

On my test:

Math: would've been much easier had a just done a ton of word problems and fraction practice.
Lots of DRT, had the problem where guy donates 1/8th of his 2 1/2 ton crop, how much did he donate question?
had the question where Joe smith drives at 3 different speeds for 3 different amount of time and then asks how far did he go?
Had a few simplifying questions, nothing too crazy. Know your rules like PEMDAS and FOIL, cuz if you do not then you will have no chance to get those questions right.
No matrices or logs.. going to expect them for the second time though.

Reading: Easy, just be careful, some answers could be correct but only 1 is taken directly from the text.

Mechanical:
struggled b/c I didnt really have enough time to brush up on anything and did not really know what to expect.
had questions on levers, pulleys and gears just like everyone else.
had the one Q: if a pulley had a radius of ___ how much rope will it use if it spins ___ times.
They pulled from a lot of different physics concepts, so just study a physics 101 textbook or high school physics, everything I feel would be covered.
I saw Newtons and OHMs law.

Aviation:
I was really bad, did not know much going in.
Now, I am studying the FAA book and also picked up William Kershners Student Pilots Flight Manual and it is really good! especially since I have virtually zero flight experience.
saw question that asked something like what are the 4 forces on a plane when flying or something like that, also a question on what force is not acting on a plane.
Questions on what controls pitch and what controls yawing.
Question on airspeed and groundspeed and how to calculate it.
Question on some instruments plane and what they measure. (sorry cant remember exactly)
Question on what would happen if a small plane landed behind a bigger plane with a bigger engine...something along that line.
It was a lot of basic stuff that I know now. Just studying the FAA handbook wouldve really helped me.

Nautical and Naval History
questions on shirts of Airmen, where do you eat on the ship (what is it called), who broke the sound barrier, forecastle, port and starboard. I got kicked from this pretty early I think. Question on what plane was designed/used to counter the germans silent submarine in WWII...something like that. Who broke the sound barrier, and different classifications for aircraft and what squadrons fly what planes.


The rest was very hard for me, especially UAV and PBM because I had no idea about either of those before going in, sad I heard about this site after.


Looking for some flashcards or materials on aircraft classifications and aircraft history of the Navy, I feel like this is my biggest weakspot that I dont know how to study for.

ALSO, for those of you who took the ASTB TWICE!!! What were the differences you saw in the test from the first time to the second time??
Was the material in math and mechanical much different? For example I did not see any questions about Logs or Matrices on my first attempt and I saw lots of DRT, should I now just expect the opposite?

Thanks for everything/anything!

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

ALSO, for those of you who took the ASTB TWICE!!! What were the differences you saw in the test from the first time to the second time??
Was the material in math and mechanical much different? For example I did not see any questions about Logs or Matrices on my first attempt and I saw lots of DRT, should I now just expect the opposite?

I think studying more than 5 hours the day before will probably help your chances of getting a good score...

 

[bunny_0329]

Took the ASTB about two weeks ago and got a 56 5/5/5.. I studied for 5 hours the day before and that is it. I had no idea what I was walking into.
Didnt know about this website until after I took it unfortunately.
Have been going through a lot of the gouge on here and it is really helping me narrow down what to study for.
Scheduled to take it again September 18th.

On my test:

Math: would've been much easier had a just done a ton of word problems and fraction practice.
Lots of DRT, had the problem where guy donates 1/8th of his 2 1/2 ton crop, how much did he donate question?
had the question where Joe smith drives at 3 different speeds for 3 different amount of time and then asks how far did he go?
Had a few simplifying questions, nothing too crazy. Know your rules like PEMDAS and FOIL, cuz if you do not then you will have no chance to get those questions right.
No matrices or logs.. going to expect them for the second time though.

Reading: Easy, just be careful, some answers could be correct but only 1 is taken directly from the text.

Mechanical:
struggled b/c I didnt really have enough time to brush up on anything and did not really know what to expect.
had questions on levers, pulleys and gears just like everyone else.
had the one Q: if a pulley had a radius of ___ how much rope will it use if it spins ___ times.
They pulled from a lot of different physics concepts, so just study a physics 101 textbook or high school physics, everything I feel would be covered.
I saw Newtons and OHMs law.

Aviation:
I was really bad, did not know much going in.
Now, I am studying the FAA book and also picked up William Kershners Student Pilots Flight Manual and it is really good! especially since I have virtually zero flight experience.
saw question that asked something like what are the 4 forces on a plane when flying or something like that, also a question on what force is not acting on a plane.
Questions on what controls pitch and what controls yawing.
Question on airspeed and groundspeed and how to calculate it.
Question on some instruments plane and what they measure. (sorry cant remember exactly)
Question on what would happen if a small plane landed behind a bigger plane with a bigger engine...something along that line.
It was a lot of basic stuff that I know now. Just studying the FAA handbook wouldve really helped me.

Nautical and Naval History
questions on shirts of Airmen, where do you eat on the ship (what is it called), who broke the sound barrier, forecastle, port and starboard. I got kicked from this pretty early I think. Question on what plane was designed/used to counter the germans silent submarine in WWII...something like that. Who broke the sound barrier, and different classifications for aircraft and what squadrons fly what planes.


The rest was very hard for me, especially UAV and PBM because I had no idea about either of those before going in, sad I heard about this site after.


Looking for some flashcards or materials on aircraft classifications and aircraft history of the Navy, I feel like this is my biggest weakspot that I dont know how to study for.

ALSO, for those of you who took the ASTB TWICE!!! What were the differences you saw in the test from the first time to the second time??
Was the material in math and mechanical much different? For example I did not see any questions about Logs or Matrices on my first attempt and I saw lots of DRT, should I now just expect the opposite?

Thanks for everything/anything!

Hey, give my post on this forum a look (just get to it from my profile) and you'll find a link to a Google drive with great flashcard links and other study material for both the UAV and Nautical/Navy history and information. I took the test twice and I found the math to be quite similar, I had less DRT both times than it seems you did though. Mechanical was pretty similar as well, you can see what I wrote up in my post. DEFINITELY practice the UAV flashcards that are in there, they helped me a ton. Good luck!