Just took the ASTB and scored 55 6/7/6. I graduated with a 2.71 GPA finance degree. Any idea regarding my competitiveness? Debating on whether or not I should take it again but my OSO recommends I submit my package with this score.
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1,001 questions about the ASTB (post your scores & ask your questions here!)
- Thread starter edato
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cchristoff89
New Member
Hello all, thought I would share my stats, and experience for anyone willing to listen.
Took the OAR back in Sept. and got a 45. Felt like the Math really threw me a curve ball there, was not my strongest test. The math had a lot of word problems with concepts I haven't used in years, did the best I could considering. Reading was pretty straight forward, I felt I did well in it. The Mechanical portion I felt was the easiest, got a lot of diagram questions, gears, etc. I gave little study time, maybe 4 - 6 hrs a week for maybe 2 weeks.
Due to my age, I don't have too many options in terms of what job I can submit a package to (I will be 30 in March '19). My recruiter narrowed down a choice of either Intel or Public Affairs (which would be a great fit since my background is in marketing, advertising, and graphic design; definitely some applicable skills here). Was also interested in Intel, since my father is prior military and did a lot of Intel work back in his day. My GPA is 3.5, BA in Graphic Design and Digital Media, over 10 years in the field, no prior service.
So naturally, a 45 score wasn't enough to be considered competitive, not to mention my degree is not something that is especially desirable, especially for Intel, so I geared up for a retest. Found this forum, downloaded some zip files containing some study guides and practice tests. Since I felt that the math portion gave me the hardest time, I focused on that for the next 30 days, upping my study time to 2 - 4 hrs, 2 - 3 days a week. I would suggest getting a GRE test prep book for math, especially since none of the OAR books or online materials held a candle to how the actual test was, at least in my opinion.
I used this one: https://www.amazon.com/CliffsNotes-Math-Review-Standardized-Tests/dp/0544631021/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
So after locking down complex mathematical concepts, I felt ready enough for the retake, which was today. Breezed through the math portion, and was feeling pretty confident. I was a little suspicious that this time there weren't as many complicated word problems as the first time, not sure if that was a good or bad thing. There were some probability questions, maybe one or two geometry questions, most were just equations, (radicals, negative powers, fractional equations, etc) Easy stuff, even finished with 7 minutes to spare.
Reading was next, again pretty straight forward, I don't believe I had too much difficulty on this one. Pretty much the same as the first attempt, almost ran out of time though.
Mechanical was a different story, NOTHING compared to the first time. Almost all of the questions were not concepts I've studied before, or if I did I've long since forgotten. The overall test didn't even feel the same, I was expecting more diagrams, and gear related questions similar to the study materials I've gathered, but got completely taken for a loop. My heart sunk, and I guessed on a good number of questions.
I ended up with a 44 on my second attempt, so I did worse! I'm assuming that this time the mechanical portion was enough to completely diminish any improvements on my math score. Either that, or I did worse on the Reading than I thought. So now I have one last attempt to nail this thing and score above 50.
I'm looking at another retest sometime in Dec/Jan for the Feb '19 board. I've also managed to get a hold of an ASVAB prep book, since I've read somewhere that the mechanical portion in that is fairly similar to the OAR. Will do some more research, and dig into it more, but I'm not sure if I'm just not performing well on test day, or my nerves got the better of me, or simply not approaching the exam prep the right way. I don't plan on retaking until I'm positive I will get a better score, which seems to be easier said than done in my case. And since is my final attempt, I can't afford to take any chances.
Took the OAR back in Sept. and got a 45. Felt like the Math really threw me a curve ball there, was not my strongest test. The math had a lot of word problems with concepts I haven't used in years, did the best I could considering. Reading was pretty straight forward, I felt I did well in it. The Mechanical portion I felt was the easiest, got a lot of diagram questions, gears, etc. I gave little study time, maybe 4 - 6 hrs a week for maybe 2 weeks.
Due to my age, I don't have too many options in terms of what job I can submit a package to (I will be 30 in March '19). My recruiter narrowed down a choice of either Intel or Public Affairs (which would be a great fit since my background is in marketing, advertising, and graphic design; definitely some applicable skills here). Was also interested in Intel, since my father is prior military and did a lot of Intel work back in his day. My GPA is 3.5, BA in Graphic Design and Digital Media, over 10 years in the field, no prior service.
So naturally, a 45 score wasn't enough to be considered competitive, not to mention my degree is not something that is especially desirable, especially for Intel, so I geared up for a retest. Found this forum, downloaded some zip files containing some study guides and practice tests. Since I felt that the math portion gave me the hardest time, I focused on that for the next 30 days, upping my study time to 2 - 4 hrs, 2 - 3 days a week. I would suggest getting a GRE test prep book for math, especially since none of the OAR books or online materials held a candle to how the actual test was, at least in my opinion.
I used this one: https://www.amazon.com/CliffsNotes-Math-Review-Standardized-Tests/dp/0544631021/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
So after locking down complex mathematical concepts, I felt ready enough for the retake, which was today. Breezed through the math portion, and was feeling pretty confident. I was a little suspicious that this time there weren't as many complicated word problems as the first time, not sure if that was a good or bad thing. There were some probability questions, maybe one or two geometry questions, most were just equations, (radicals, negative powers, fractional equations, etc) Easy stuff, even finished with 7 minutes to spare.
Reading was next, again pretty straight forward, I don't believe I had too much difficulty on this one. Pretty much the same as the first attempt, almost ran out of time though.
Mechanical was a different story, NOTHING compared to the first time. Almost all of the questions were not concepts I've studied before, or if I did I've long since forgotten. The overall test didn't even feel the same, I was expecting more diagrams, and gear related questions similar to the study materials I've gathered, but got completely taken for a loop. My heart sunk, and I guessed on a good number of questions.
I ended up with a 44 on my second attempt, so I did worse! I'm assuming that this time the mechanical portion was enough to completely diminish any improvements on my math score. Either that, or I did worse on the Reading than I thought. So now I have one last attempt to nail this thing and score above 50.
I'm looking at another retest sometime in Dec/Jan for the Feb '19 board. I've also managed to get a hold of an ASVAB prep book, since I've read somewhere that the mechanical portion in that is fairly similar to the OAR. Will do some more research, and dig into it more, but I'm not sure if I'm just not performing well on test day, or my nerves got the better of me, or simply not approaching the exam prep the right way. I don't plan on retaking until I'm positive I will get a better score, which seems to be easier said than done in my case. And since is my final attempt, I can't afford to take any chances.
Hey guys, just walked out of my 2nd attempt at the ASTB today, so I'll share my bit, since this thread is is legitimately the most helpful thing on the planet. A HUGE thanks to all the folks who posted on here. Couldn't have done it without you guys taking the time to help dumb guys like me. I apologize if this post gets long.
First Attempt - 10 Sept. 18: 57 7/6/6
Second Attempt - 17 Oct. 18: 64 9/9/9
A bit of background, I'm a senior majoring in Electrical Engineering, so I (thought I) had an advantage in the math and slight advantage in mechanical comprehension. I have zero background in aviation, but I was a Navy JROTC cadet for 4 years in high school, so the nautical/naval stuff came a little bit easier, but not by much. I'm stoked with my score, because I really do need it, since my GPA is a piece of crap.
Before I took the test for the first time, I spent about 3 weeks during the summer doing nothing but studying, and I was lucky enough to talk to Rudygoff10, who got a 72 9/9/9, and he sent me a boatload of study materials, including the Aegis group, Trivium, and Test prep books and online study guides already posted.
The books are okay for practice problems, but they SUCK at explaining concepts all the way through, with the exception of the aviation/nautical stuff. Although I didn't need it, Rudy recommends Khan Academy videos on YouTube for those of you guys who aren't so hot at math and/or mechanics. For aviation information, I watched the Pilot Training System video playlist on YouTube, and it goes over the relevant bits from the FAA PHAK. I'm a visual learner, so the videos helped a lot. For nautical information, the online study guide PDFs and Word Docs actually contain more relevant material than the books. Everything you need to know is in this thread, somewhere. If you guys want the links and stuff I used, just message me.
THE TEST (OAR):
MATH: The problems start off really easy and then it gets annoyingly complex. Conceptually, the math is not hard; it's just a lot of really annoying number-crunching. Get used to doing a lot of adding, subtracting, long dividing, and multiplying by hand, as fast as you can, but accurately. The most difficult thing you'll run into is logarithms and exponents. Know your logs and exponents. There are also a good amount of word problems with related rates, i.e. "If person X does something at this speed, and person Y starts off 2 hours later at another speed, how long will it take Y to catch up to X?"
What's funny about this section is that I actually ran out of time on both attempts, so don't worry too much if you do. In short, just practice, practice, practice.
READING: Biggest tip I can give: Choose the statement that can ONLY be deduced from the paragraph, nothing more. Don't overthink it. Other choices may be true, but only one can be directly taken from the paragraph. Other than that, pretty straightforward, and I averaged about 2.5 minutes or so each question.
For me, reading each paragraph aloud helped a LOT. Be sure to each every choice very carefully. Again, practice makes perfect.
MECHANICS: Very little number-crunching and computing as opposed to understanding mechanical concepts. A bit unfair on my end because of my engineering background, but Rudy says "go through any books, guides, or flash cards to find the concepts, then look them up if you need further help. I used Khan Academy, but there's plenty of good ones." Also, know how to convert between Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin. That's a conceptually easy problem that trips up a lot of people.
----------------------------------take your 15 min break here.---------------------------------
AVIATION/NAUTICAL INFO: This is the section where you either know your stuff, or you don't, and it's the easiest section to improve on by hitting the books, flashcards, and online study guides. Pilot Training System videos were awesome for aviation. For nautical stuff, go with the books, but don't get too caught up with helicopters. For the naval information, know your naval history, especially naval aviation history along with general aviation history, as well as the jobs/rates for naval aviation. I can help you narrow down what you need/don't need to know, and what to look at.
The key here is that once you get more and more questions right, you will run into questions you have no idea what the answer is. Don't panic.
go through any books, guides, or flash cards to find the concepts, then look them up if you need further help. I used Khan Academy, but there's plenty of good ones.
NAVAL AVIATION TRAIT FACET INVENTORY: Most boring section of the test. Just answer the questions, be honest. No wrong answers.
PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASURES BATTERY:
UAV: Use these to practice. (https://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/cardshow.php?title=_36014). Get this flashcard set burned into your mind, and click the parking lot as fast as you can without messing up. Better to go a bit slower and more accurate than fast and wrong. Screen shows heading, ears and screen give you the target. I averaged about 2 seconds each. Compass method was too slow for me.
DICHOTIC LISTENING: Click button on left-hand throttle for odd numbers, pull trigger on right-hand joystick for even. I used Rudy's method to practice: "I probably went overboard and practiced this by using the voice memos function on my iPhone, recording a computer saying strings of numbers and letters, then playing different strings through different headphones and responding. I think it helped but it was probably overkill. Just for clarity it's always one target ear at a time only, characters are said at exactly the same time and volume. "
VERTICAL TRACKING TEST (VTT): Level: Easy. Just track the plane up and down using the throttle on the left-hand side. Get a feel for the controls, and be gentle. Just cranking the throttle super hard will make your cursor go all over place.
AIRCRAFT TRACKING TEST (ATT): Level: Medium. Play video games inverted to sort of get a feel for it. Remember to push FORWARD to go DOWN, PULL BACK to go UP, and LEFT and RIGHT are still the same. My joystick was crappy, so I had to press hard to get the movement. What I did was use my left hand to provide some stability, since it's not doing anything for this test.
COMBO VTT & ATT: Level: Very hard. Just do your best, and try to have some fun. Track one plane with your left hand going up and down, and another plane going all over the place with your joystick. What's confusing is UP and DOWN on the left hand-throttle is still the same, but the right-hand stuff is inverted. The hardest thing was getting over the shock of multi-tasking.
MTT: Level: Hard. Take everything you just did, and toss in the dichotic listening. Here, you should be getting slightly used to the left-hand, right-hand combo. Again, try your best.
EST (EMERGENCY PROCEDURES): Level: Very Hard. NO PRACTICE SECTION. It's the MTT, now tossing in emergency procedures. Focus more on getting the emergency procedures right than tracking the planes. Write down ALL of the procedures and directions they give you for each warning that comes up. Write down which way is 100% and 0% for your thumb and index finger controls. Also, be sure to bring your knobs back to neutral position after each emergency scenario.
That's pretty much all I got! If you have any questions, just message me. Best of luck, you guys!
First Attempt - 10 Sept. 18: 57 7/6/6
Second Attempt - 17 Oct. 18: 64 9/9/9
A bit of background, I'm a senior majoring in Electrical Engineering, so I (thought I) had an advantage in the math and slight advantage in mechanical comprehension. I have zero background in aviation, but I was a Navy JROTC cadet for 4 years in high school, so the nautical/naval stuff came a little bit easier, but not by much. I'm stoked with my score, because I really do need it, since my GPA is a piece of crap.
Before I took the test for the first time, I spent about 3 weeks during the summer doing nothing but studying, and I was lucky enough to talk to Rudygoff10, who got a 72 9/9/9, and he sent me a boatload of study materials, including the Aegis group, Trivium, and Test prep books and online study guides already posted.
The books are okay for practice problems, but they SUCK at explaining concepts all the way through, with the exception of the aviation/nautical stuff. Although I didn't need it, Rudy recommends Khan Academy videos on YouTube for those of you guys who aren't so hot at math and/or mechanics. For aviation information, I watched the Pilot Training System video playlist on YouTube, and it goes over the relevant bits from the FAA PHAK. I'm a visual learner, so the videos helped a lot. For nautical information, the online study guide PDFs and Word Docs actually contain more relevant material than the books. Everything you need to know is in this thread, somewhere. If you guys want the links and stuff I used, just message me.
THE TEST (OAR):
MATH: The problems start off really easy and then it gets annoyingly complex. Conceptually, the math is not hard; it's just a lot of really annoying number-crunching. Get used to doing a lot of adding, subtracting, long dividing, and multiplying by hand, as fast as you can, but accurately. The most difficult thing you'll run into is logarithms and exponents. Know your logs and exponents. There are also a good amount of word problems with related rates, i.e. "If person X does something at this speed, and person Y starts off 2 hours later at another speed, how long will it take Y to catch up to X?"
What's funny about this section is that I actually ran out of time on both attempts, so don't worry too much if you do. In short, just practice, practice, practice.
READING: Biggest tip I can give: Choose the statement that can ONLY be deduced from the paragraph, nothing more. Don't overthink it. Other choices may be true, but only one can be directly taken from the paragraph. Other than that, pretty straightforward, and I averaged about 2.5 minutes or so each question.
For me, reading each paragraph aloud helped a LOT. Be sure to each every choice very carefully. Again, practice makes perfect.
MECHANICS: Very little number-crunching and computing as opposed to understanding mechanical concepts. A bit unfair on my end because of my engineering background, but Rudy says "go through any books, guides, or flash cards to find the concepts, then look them up if you need further help. I used Khan Academy, but there's plenty of good ones." Also, know how to convert between Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin. That's a conceptually easy problem that trips up a lot of people.
----------------------------------take your 15 min break here.---------------------------------
AVIATION/NAUTICAL INFO: This is the section where you either know your stuff, or you don't, and it's the easiest section to improve on by hitting the books, flashcards, and online study guides. Pilot Training System videos were awesome for aviation. For nautical stuff, go with the books, but don't get too caught up with helicopters. For the naval information, know your naval history, especially naval aviation history along with general aviation history, as well as the jobs/rates for naval aviation. I can help you narrow down what you need/don't need to know, and what to look at.
The key here is that once you get more and more questions right, you will run into questions you have no idea what the answer is. Don't panic.
go through any books, guides, or flash cards to find the concepts, then look them up if you need further help. I used Khan Academy, but there's plenty of good ones.
NAVAL AVIATION TRAIT FACET INVENTORY: Most boring section of the test. Just answer the questions, be honest. No wrong answers.
PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASURES BATTERY:
UAV: Use these to practice. (https://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/cardshow.php?title=_36014). Get this flashcard set burned into your mind, and click the parking lot as fast as you can without messing up. Better to go a bit slower and more accurate than fast and wrong. Screen shows heading, ears and screen give you the target. I averaged about 2 seconds each. Compass method was too slow for me.
DICHOTIC LISTENING: Click button on left-hand throttle for odd numbers, pull trigger on right-hand joystick for even. I used Rudy's method to practice: "I probably went overboard and practiced this by using the voice memos function on my iPhone, recording a computer saying strings of numbers and letters, then playing different strings through different headphones and responding. I think it helped but it was probably overkill. Just for clarity it's always one target ear at a time only, characters are said at exactly the same time and volume. "
VERTICAL TRACKING TEST (VTT): Level: Easy. Just track the plane up and down using the throttle on the left-hand side. Get a feel for the controls, and be gentle. Just cranking the throttle super hard will make your cursor go all over place.
AIRCRAFT TRACKING TEST (ATT): Level: Medium. Play video games inverted to sort of get a feel for it. Remember to push FORWARD to go DOWN, PULL BACK to go UP, and LEFT and RIGHT are still the same. My joystick was crappy, so I had to press hard to get the movement. What I did was use my left hand to provide some stability, since it's not doing anything for this test.
COMBO VTT & ATT: Level: Very hard. Just do your best, and try to have some fun. Track one plane with your left hand going up and down, and another plane going all over the place with your joystick. What's confusing is UP and DOWN on the left hand-throttle is still the same, but the right-hand stuff is inverted. The hardest thing was getting over the shock of multi-tasking.
MTT: Level: Hard. Take everything you just did, and toss in the dichotic listening. Here, you should be getting slightly used to the left-hand, right-hand combo. Again, try your best.
EST (EMERGENCY PROCEDURES): Level: Very Hard. NO PRACTICE SECTION. It's the MTT, now tossing in emergency procedures. Focus more on getting the emergency procedures right than tracking the planes. Write down ALL of the procedures and directions they give you for each warning that comes up. Write down which way is 100% and 0% for your thumb and index finger controls. Also, be sure to bring your knobs back to neutral position after each emergency scenario.
That's pretty much all I got! If you have any questions, just message me. Best of luck, you guys!
mitebcool77
Member
Took the ASTB a couple days ago. Background: 26, MIS major, 3.10 GPA, Prior enlisted Airman, Pilot and NFO age waiver. I honestly felt underprepared going into it; I work full time, go to school full time, and drill for the AirNG once a month. However, I studied the crap out of these flashcards which were a huge help for the ANIT, and I also worked through the math problem document that Jacob's (the 9/9/9 guy) post linked to which was also a great refresher.
For the math section, I didn't really get anything that I thought was too difficult so I was kind of worried, knowing that the test is adaptive. I never got kicked out of the test and I actually ran out of time. Most of the questions that I remember had to do with solving for x, and there was one about the odds of getting a heart from a shuffled deck. Also, there were a couple questions about finding the last two test scores, knowing the final average and the other test scores. Another one was finding the missing angle of an acute triangle where the other two angles are like (3x-1) and the missing angle's supplementary angle was 4x. Another one had to do with a barn's size based on its shadow knowing a man's height and the shadow's height.
Reading: Went into this confident. I'm a reader, after all..Wow, incredibly boring and they do a great job trying to trick you. Also ran out of time on this one. All the aforementioned tips are correct. Only one answer is fully supported by the paragraph, so pay attention. I was pretty drained when this portion started and the questions also seemed to alternate between easy and hard which had me confused.
Mechanical: I have practically no background in mechanics. I also barely studied for this section which was stupid, and I honestly had to give my best educated guess on almost every problem. I had a questions like: At the same time, a bullet is fired from a gun and a bullet is dropped from the same height. Which will reach the ground faster? I said the gun bullet. Some other ones: where is the kinetic enegy greater, trying to find the mass of a toy car that is pushed with the force of 4 somethings and travels 2 m/s^2(I guessed 2kg), which ball would reach the ground faster if one was dropped and one was tossed into the air(guessed the tossed ball). No gear, pulley, etc questions.
NATFI: awful. You don't take the NATFI, the NATFI takes you.
UAV: Definitely use the flashcards linked in this thread. The practice session was helpful, but I was somewhat nervous on this portion and missed 3 because I was trying to go to fast. One of those errors was because I clicked a box I didn't mean to, so try and remain calm during this section. I ranged from 1.X seconds to 5.
Dichotic listening: Not terrible. Lean into the ear your supposed to be listening to. I got a couple wrong because I pressed the wrong button trying to be extremely quick.
Vertical tracking: Not very hard at all. It tries to shake you but when you're only focusing on it, it's not difficult.
Aircraft tracking: Not very easy. I switched all my gaming to inverted Y axis and it was a MASSIVE help. I can't even play games with a normal Y axis anymore, I'm ruined.
Both at the same time: I felt like a hot mess. I can't give any tips here, I basically just tried to get in the zone and do the damn thing.
Both with listening: My favorite part, because the listening distracted me from how poorly I thought I was doing.
Emergency Procedures: I wrote them down, and I recommend you do as well, but they were so simple I didn't reference the sheet. The first emergency I forgot to press the clutch to reset for a few seconds, but the next two went well.
When this was all over I saw my scores: 57 6/7/7. Not the greatest, but I literally did a jumping fist pump on my way to the door(I was the only examinee). My recruiter seemed pretty happy with them too. I was disqualified from pilot at the NAMI because my eyesight was just poor enough so I'll probably only apply for NFO since I'm iffy about LASIK.
For the math section, I didn't really get anything that I thought was too difficult so I was kind of worried, knowing that the test is adaptive. I never got kicked out of the test and I actually ran out of time. Most of the questions that I remember had to do with solving for x, and there was one about the odds of getting a heart from a shuffled deck. Also, there were a couple questions about finding the last two test scores, knowing the final average and the other test scores. Another one was finding the missing angle of an acute triangle where the other two angles are like (3x-1) and the missing angle's supplementary angle was 4x. Another one had to do with a barn's size based on its shadow knowing a man's height and the shadow's height.
Reading: Went into this confident. I'm a reader, after all..Wow, incredibly boring and they do a great job trying to trick you. Also ran out of time on this one. All the aforementioned tips are correct. Only one answer is fully supported by the paragraph, so pay attention. I was pretty drained when this portion started and the questions also seemed to alternate between easy and hard which had me confused.
Mechanical: I have practically no background in mechanics. I also barely studied for this section which was stupid, and I honestly had to give my best educated guess on almost every problem. I had a questions like: At the same time, a bullet is fired from a gun and a bullet is dropped from the same height. Which will reach the ground faster? I said the gun bullet. Some other ones: where is the kinetic enegy greater, trying to find the mass of a toy car that is pushed with the force of 4 somethings and travels 2 m/s^2(I guessed 2kg), which ball would reach the ground faster if one was dropped and one was tossed into the air(guessed the tossed ball). No gear, pulley, etc questions.
NATFI: awful. You don't take the NATFI, the NATFI takes you.
UAV: Definitely use the flashcards linked in this thread. The practice session was helpful, but I was somewhat nervous on this portion and missed 3 because I was trying to go to fast. One of those errors was because I clicked a box I didn't mean to, so try and remain calm during this section. I ranged from 1.X seconds to 5.
Dichotic listening: Not terrible. Lean into the ear your supposed to be listening to. I got a couple wrong because I pressed the wrong button trying to be extremely quick.
Vertical tracking: Not very hard at all. It tries to shake you but when you're only focusing on it, it's not difficult.
Aircraft tracking: Not very easy. I switched all my gaming to inverted Y axis and it was a MASSIVE help. I can't even play games with a normal Y axis anymore, I'm ruined.
Both at the same time: I felt like a hot mess. I can't give any tips here, I basically just tried to get in the zone and do the damn thing.
Both with listening: My favorite part, because the listening distracted me from how poorly I thought I was doing.
Emergency Procedures: I wrote them down, and I recommend you do as well, but they were so simple I didn't reference the sheet. The first emergency I forgot to press the clutch to reset for a few seconds, but the next two went well.
When this was all over I saw my scores: 57 6/7/7. Not the greatest, but I literally did a jumping fist pump on my way to the door(I was the only examinee). My recruiter seemed pretty happy with them too. I was disqualified from pilot at the NAMI because my eyesight was just poor enough so I'll probably only apply for NFO since I'm iffy about LASIK.
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mitebcool77
Member
Forgot the ANIT, incase this helps anybody:
ANIT: Felt really confident here. Those flashcards were truly a huge help. First jet-powered fighter, CBVG, VFR, literally got asked two different ways what elevators do, VASI, what plane was repurposed as a refueler during OIF(still don't know). I got kicked out early on this section (finally).
ANIT: Felt really confident here. Those flashcards were truly a huge help. First jet-powered fighter, CBVG, VFR, literally got asked two different ways what elevators do, VASI, what plane was repurposed as a refueler during OIF(still don't know). I got kicked out early on this section (finally).
Bruce_Almighty
Well-Known Member
Hey all, new to the thread just took my astb. So I probably did as good/bad as some people first time around.
OAR 41, 4/5/4
I’m a civilian pilot so I thought the stick and throttle would be easy. Felt like I did better than what I scored. Been reading a lot of the posts on how to get better on math and mechanical. Lot of it seems straight forward. I know I can do better.
My two areas that really bothered me was UAV. I did pretty well on the straight forward ones. I struggled on the directions that came at an angle in between west and south for example. My other area that I struggled/didn’t work. I did the correct procedures for the emergency procedures. However, one or two of them I died. Did anyone else have this problem? The other issue was, when it states 100% for example. Does that mean the meter will go into the red on the dial? Or is it supposed to go green when you do it right? Answering that might be what I did wrong.
Reading and the ANIT was pretty easy for me. Out of maybe nerves I clicked the wrong buttons for some of the hearing tests. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
OAR 41, 4/5/4
I’m a civilian pilot so I thought the stick and throttle would be easy. Felt like I did better than what I scored. Been reading a lot of the posts on how to get better on math and mechanical. Lot of it seems straight forward. I know I can do better.
My two areas that really bothered me was UAV. I did pretty well on the straight forward ones. I struggled on the directions that came at an angle in between west and south for example. My other area that I struggled/didn’t work. I did the correct procedures for the emergency procedures. However, one or two of them I died. Did anyone else have this problem? The other issue was, when it states 100% for example. Does that mean the meter will go into the red on the dial? Or is it supposed to go green when you do it right? Answering that might be what I did wrong.
Reading and the ANIT was pretty easy for me. Out of maybe nerves I clicked the wrong buttons for some of the hearing tests. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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rckmorty123
New Member
WOW congrats! If you dont mind me asking, what was your GPA? (doesnt have to be exact)
how many hours did you study to take the second test?
how many hours did you study to take the second test?
Thanks, man. My GPA's a piece of crap 2.57 for Electrical Engineering. To be honest with you, I focused more on getting jobs, internships, and practical experience in the real world than in-class bookwork, so my GPA reflects that, but my resume is loaded.
For my second round, school was already in session, so I didn't have much time to study. I'll be up-front with you, the night before the test, I should have gone to bed earlier, but I was up until 3am just dicking around. Bad move. My test was scheduled for 11am, so I woke up at 8am and CRAMMED and skimmed all my study guides for about 2 hours. By some miracle, I was able to pull it off. I'd like to tell you that I properly set aside time every day, ate right, slept well, and did all of these great things, but that's just not the case, and I know that what I did won't work for everyone.
In short, don't do what I did. I honestly think the first time around, I was just so scared that I couldn't think right. 2nd time around, I was more familiar with what to expect. Any more questions, let me know!
Scimitarze
Automated Member
Thanks to everyone for posting guides and tips! I still have awhile before I can take the test, but it's good to get a head start!
dbutterfield
Member
Has anyone looked at the OAR math guide that zhenya.goncharov posted in post #4,500? I have no clue how to start/do #18. They give solutions to the problems but it doesn't make sense to me. Are there a typos in the problem?
Q: Harvey paid $400 for a used car that travels 28 miles per gallon on the highway and 20 miles per gallon in the city. If he drove twice as many while using 34 gallons of gasoline, how many miles did he drive altogether? A)1000 B)840 C)400 D)340 E)280
A: B. Let x be the number of city miles Harvey drove, and let 2x be the number of highway miles. Miles divided by miles per gallon should give the number of gallons of gas used. Thus:
x/20=2x/28=34
x/20=x/14=34
Multiply the equation by the LCD 140 to get: 7x+10x=4760
Since Harvey drove a total of 3x miles, the correct answer is 3(280)=840
Is the question supposed to read "If he drove twice as many highway miles while using 34 gallons"? Also shouldn't the first step of the solution read x/20+2x/28=34? It all makes sense to me if those 2 typos are corrected.
Anyone that has used that OAR math guide know if that's a good representation of how hard/easy the math problems are? Thanks
Q: Harvey paid $400 for a used car that travels 28 miles per gallon on the highway and 20 miles per gallon in the city. If he drove twice as many while using 34 gallons of gasoline, how many miles did he drive altogether? A)1000 B)840 C)400 D)340 E)280
A: B. Let x be the number of city miles Harvey drove, and let 2x be the number of highway miles. Miles divided by miles per gallon should give the number of gallons of gas used. Thus:
x/20=2x/28=34
x/20=x/14=34
Multiply the equation by the LCD 140 to get: 7x+10x=4760
Since Harvey drove a total of 3x miles, the correct answer is 3(280)=840
Is the question supposed to read "If he drove twice as many highway miles while using 34 gallons"? Also shouldn't the first step of the solution read x/20+2x/28=34? It all makes sense to me if those 2 typos are corrected.
Anyone that has used that OAR math guide know if that's a good representation of how hard/easy the math problems are? Thanks
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mitebcool77
Member
I recently took the test and used that math guide; it definitely helped refresh my algebra skills. Right off the bat I can tell you I saw a question very similar to #1 on the guide. I'd say if you can comfortably work through these problems you shouldn't have a problem on the test.
dbutterfield
Member
Awesome, thanks! Ever gouge I read on here said the problems in the books were easier than the ones on the test. I personally felt that sheet was a little more difficult and hoped it be a better gauge for the test.
JuneAce345
Member
Today I found out I got picked up for NFO. My scores were 5/7/6 with a 3.48 GPA in Science. Another guy in my unit picked up (today) pilot with a 5/6/5 and like a 3.0 GPA in Civil Engineering.
I was honestly surprised that we both picked up because our scores aren't "phenomenal", so hopefully this can give some people an ease of mind if they think their scores aren't the greatest.
All the gouge on here definitely helped me raise my scores - especially the flashcards for spatial orientation. Thanks everyone for their help and good luck in getting what you want!
I was honestly surprised that we both picked up because our scores aren't "phenomenal", so hopefully this can give some people an ease of mind if they think their scores aren't the greatest.
All the gouge on here definitely helped me raise my scores - especially the flashcards for spatial orientation. Thanks everyone for their help and good luck in getting what you want!
Scimitarze
Automated Member
what were yall's OAR scores?
jboliver08
Well-Known Member
First time post here. Just took the ASTB for the second time on Friday. Scores on the first attempt was 34, 3/7/6 with about 1 week of studying. Friday I scored 50, 5/6/5. I'm really pleased with the progress I made on my OAR score but super bummed on my other scores. I believe they went down due to me going into the test with a lot of nerves because I'm finalizing my package for the Feb 19 NFO board and I'm reaching the package submission deadline. Being that they changed the minimum requirement back in April for the FOFAR from a 5 to a 6, I just missed it by 1 point. This means I'll be going back in on the 19th of November for my third and final shot. I'm age restricted meaning I'm too old for pilot so NFO is my only shot to stay in the aviation community.
Any advice to the Performance section of the test would be greatly appreciated.
A little background of myself:
-Age: 30
-9 years Active Duty
-AWS2 (Naval Aircrewman)
-GPA: 3.1
Any advice to the Performance section of the test would be greatly appreciated.
A little background of myself:
-Age: 30
-9 years Active Duty
-AWS2 (Naval Aircrewman)
-GPA: 3.1