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

StevenBlue18

Multi Life
Per https://www.usnavy.vt.edu/documents/astboverview.pdf:

The following general guidance is offered to assist examinees in preparing for an ASTB test or retest.
  • Academic Qualifications Rating (AQR): This score is affected by performance on all subtests, but the strongest influence is made by the Math Skills Test.
  • Pilot Flight Aptitude Rating (PFAR): This score is affected by performance on all subtests, but the greatest contribution is made by the Aviation & Nautical Info and Spatial Apperception Tests.
  • Flight Officer Flight Aptitude Rating (FOFAR): This score is affected by performance on all subtests, but the strongest influence is made by the Math Skills Test.
  • Officer Aptitude Rating (OAR): This score is affected by performance on the first three subtests, Math Skills, Reading Comprehension, and Mechanical Comprehension.
Previously stated in this thread.
 

Stephem

Member
I took the OAR test for the 2nd time last week and got a 56. I studied for about six weeks this time a couple of hours a day. My 1st score was 42 with only two weeks of studying.

MST: I saw a few question about probability like if you are a black jack player in Vegas and you are the first one to draw a card what is the probability that you get a King? I can't remember the other questions but I got some system of equations, a few DRTs, some word problem, probabilities, and hard fractions. It has been a year since I took my 1st one, I forgot that you have to hover on the timer icon to see your time. I thought I was running out of time. I kind of rushed myself on the last couple of questions. I am pretty sure I did the worst here and it also affected my phase on the RST. I felt like most of the questions I got was hard but I did not get any Logarithms or Matrix.

Keep in mind also that most books tell you that you only have 25 minutes for this test but its actually 40 minutes. The books are probably still based on the older version of the test. I am pretty sure that I did not used up my whole 40 minutes.

RST: Like everyone here says, its just reading a passage and picking the most right answer. Some are like seven sentences long some are only a few. I am guessing I get wrong answer whenever the question became easy. I saw a few question about Mt Everest and a bunch about the Navy. Like everyone here say, the right answer is gonna be coming from the passage try not to bring in any outside information. It was kind of hard for me as I am active duty Navy so I got a lot of information that is in my mind about the topic that is not in the passage but were in the choices. I did not get to answer three questions, I ran out of time.

MCT: I think this is where I made money. The questions are pretty straight forward. There was only two questions where I have to do any calculations. I had a question about first class lever, how much force is needed to balance a beam when you have two objects on one side and they are this far from the fulcrum how much force is needed on the other end. Another was the height of an object when it gets thrown up in the air and it drop within so many second. I also got a couple of questions about angular momentum, formula for work, levers, pendulum. I cant remember the rest of them but this section was the easiest for me. I was surprised not get any pulley or gear questions. I finished this one with three minutes to spare.

I feel like I could have gotten a better score if I did not rushed my self on the math portion which also affected my reading test. I thought I have failed because of how I did in Math but the result showed up and I am happy with what I got. I used Khan Academy and a lot of YouTube videos to refresh on basic math, Barron book, Petersons and most importantly the gouges from this thread. Just be aware that some of the gouges here may contain wrong information and contradict each other, just do your own research if you see them. Someone here also mention about bring an earplug on the test. I brought ear muffs just in case and that really helped out. I took my test in a room of six other test takers that were making all kinds of noises and I think they were doing some maintenance next door. It was just loud and destructing the whole time.
 

Bruce_Almighty

Well-Known Member
I posted earlier about taking the ASTB for the second time. I was lucky enough to nail this test on my third and final time. My first set of scores were a 37, 4,7,4. I took the test a second time with a 40, 4,5,4. Taking the test a final time I was able to score 45, 6,8,6. Huge shoutout to CHOPS_avn for the help. I will tell you guys I am not the best person at math. I recommend giving it a go for a third if you are on the edge. It was a huge gamble on my part but I wanted to apply for pilot really bad.
MATH
I used Learning Express Officer candidate book, Barron's flight guide, and 2018 ASTB guide. I can not stress enough these books are inadequate for anyone with math struggles. The file of 114 math questions was absolutely essential. I know for a shadow of a doubt that doing these problems over and over again helped me get better scores. I can not stress enough, doing these problems will help you. The ASTB personal study guide and the gouges were really helpful.
Reading
Questions were straightforward, many had questions that 2-3 of the answers made no sense or little words went against the paragraph. Fairly simple and straightforward.
Mechanical
I used a few items to study for this section. My main studying came from the ASTB Mechanical flashcards. They helped out a lot and the bulk of my questions came from this.
https://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/story.php?title=astb-mechanical-comprehension-test
I will recommend another book that people have not read. My major was aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle. This book I am attaching below covers math as well, Physic's/Mechanical, and electrical theory. A lot of mechanical questions that are on the ASTB came from this book. Covering, the formulas for work, newtons laws, mechanical advantage, leverage, and other principles. The book has a huge section of the electrical theory that you can draw from. I had a question like, what registers ohms? This book should help below.
ANIT
I am a pilot so this stuff came really easy to me. Study the Gleim pilots guide to help give you a base or use the gouges. I had similar questions on this test.
UAV
Honestly, pilot came back into play again. I did fairly well from my flying on a regular basis. The UAV videos helped some but this stuff came naturally to me. My bulk of missed answers came from the questions where you were coming from the northwest and headed southeast for example. For some reason, the arrow pointing northwest or northeast was easy for me but I struggled on the arrow pointing southeast or southwest. Flight simulators can help a lot with this. It's kind of like looking at a runway.
PBM
I won't go into detail because a lot of people have done this already. My best recommendation for you all is, using a flight sim. If you can spare the expense ACE COMBAT 6 FIRES of LIBERATION on XBOX 360. I purchased the game years ago and play it religiously. XBOX 360 has a joystick and throttle that you can buy for ACE COMBAT 6. Just google ACE COMBAT 6 joystick and throttle. From someone that got an 8 on PBM, buy a stick and throttle. From personal experience, I did not have the stick and throttle for my ACE COMBAT video game on my previous two attempts. Believe me, using that stick and throttle for a combat simulator such as ACE COMBAT made my reaction time much quicker and inverted controls were natural to me. I constantly went for gun kills instead of missile kills which helped me track targets better. Gun kills used a targeting reticle and it paid off. There was a complete difference in my skills going from a XBOX controller to the Joystick. It was a complete game changer and worth the expense.
Listening test was really just reactions and honestly being a pilot helped. Constantly listening for numbers from atc regarding the tail number and others was the edge for me.
Emergency Scenarios
Right down the scenarios like everyone says. I wrote down in huge letters each scenario. I wrote the direction and area of the throttles in large letters. On each scenario, I included the task, control, percentage and direction of control for the percentage. Writing down in large letters almost filling up the page helped tremendously.
My OAR score is the only thing I worry about but I am really satisfied with my ASTB scores especially pilot. I am applying for the February pilot, well see how it goes. If there's any questions regarding pilot items I am happy to help for the test. That is my area of expertise and degree lol. Good luck to everyone else applying.


images
 

prestonaz

Active Member
Went from a 48 OAR to a 57 OAR. Just took the test about two hours ago. I am quite happy with my score and after talking to a few outside sources as well as my recruiter, I believe this score will qualify me for SWO. I'd love to hear your thoughts on 57 SWO with solid LORs.

My GPA is a 3.5 in History, and I also have a Political Thought and Leadership certificate, not that it really helps with the Navy per say.

So here's the deal with the test:

Math
I studied very hard for this portion, and it is undoubtedly the reason my score boosted. Some questions I had:

sq rt 216

Homework is worth 10%, 4 Exams are worth 20%, and the final exam is worth 30%. Exams were 78, 80, and 83, and X, the homework 65. The 4th exam was 5/6 times the average of the first three, and the final was 10 points less than the 4th exam. What is the Final?

a log question structured like this: log base 8 (4-x)=2. Find X -- I forget the exact numbers.

There is 90,000 cubic units of human pee and poo. the height of the cylinder storage is 25, and the diameter is 10. How many cylinders are necessary to store all the poop.

There is a brick wall 3 feet, by 12 feet, by 6 feet. Each brick is 3 inches, by 6 inches, by 6 inches. How many bricks are needed to fill the wall

Solve for x
x^3+x^2+x-1=y+1
y=x^2+x-1 Cannot remember exact numbers

There is a track field with an area of 2500 sq. feet. the track surrounding the the area is 8 feet wide. Find the Surface area.

Reading Comprehension
Nothing new under the sun. Literally went until the very last second, like started a new question with six seconds left. Royally pissed me off.

Mechanical Comprehension
I am not qualified to help anybody with mechanical questions. I have never taken physics, and studied this the least. That being said, I had fundamental questions. Nothing to high brow. Some questions I got were:

You are swinging a brick around by a string vertically. Where is the most tension in the string?

250 pounds is 2 feet away from the fulcrum, 40 pounds is X feet away from the fulcrum. Find the distance.

The air in a vacuum (picture looks like an hour glass) has the highest velocity at which point?

There is an ideal constant gas. The temperature does not change, but the pressure changes 3 fold. What happens to the volume?

There is a pulley attached to the ceiling, with a weight attached to one end. Where is the most tension in the pulley?

There are two mice spinning on a record player. One is closer to the center, the other is farther on the record. Which one has a faster velocity?

You have a ball that is dropped off of a cliff, and one that is tossed off a cliff at the same time. Which one hits the ground first?

And that's what I can remember right now!

Some words of wisdom, if anyone cares to listen.

Start on page 200 and work your way up to page 304. There were so many questions that I worked on within this forum, and it most definitely helped me improve my score, especially in Math.

If you can, take two days off for yourself before your test. Treat it like an event, because it is. This decides your future. I wish I had two days to myself prior. I was working on 3 hours of sleep when I took the test because I was so restless the night of, I kept on reading the mechanical comprehension study guides over and over again. Don't do what I did!

This forum is the most useful gouge you can find. Nothing beats it. Y'all are wonderful.

God Bless,

Prestonaz
 

Scimitarze

Automated Member
Homework is worth 10%, 4 Exams are worth 20%, and the final exam is worth 30%. Exams were 78, 80, and 83, and X, the homework 65. The 4th exam was 5/6 times the average of the first three, and the final was 10 points less than the 4th exam. What is the Final?

Am I overthinking this, or are the grade weights completely irrelevant in this problem? These and probability questions are my absoute weakness.
 

StevenBlue18

Multi Life
Am I overthinking this, or are the grade weights completely irrelevant in this problem? These and probability questions are my absoute weakness.
Haven’t really solved it but it would seem even mentioning homework or the % of total that all them add to is irrelevant. Doesn’t even mention a final total. But might be just missing some details. He is giving you an idea of what to expect so it still helps. :)
 

Scimitarze

Automated Member
Haven’t really solved it but it would seem even mentioning homework or the % of total that all them add to is irrelevant. Doesn’t even mention a final total. But might be just missing some details. He is giving you an idea of what to expect so it still helps. :)

Will do. Still have to rehit the weighted problems on a worksheet then.
 

prestonaz

Active Member
Haven’t really solved it but it would seem even mentioning homework or the % of total that all them add to is irrelevant. Doesn’t even mention a final total. But might be just missing some details. He is giving you an idea of what to expect so it still helps. :)
The weights of the grade are relevant. No details are missing. The final is worth 10 points less than the 4th exam.

The 4th exam is 5/6th the average of the first three. The final exam is worth 30%.All the information necessary to find the final exam is there
 

prestonaz

Active Member
Went from a 48 OAR to a 57 OAR. Just took the test about two hours ago. I am quite happy with my score and after talking to a few outside sources as well as my recruiter, I believe this score will qualify me for SWO. I'd love to hear your thoughts on 57 SWO with solid LORs.

My GPA is a 3.5 in History, and I also have a Political Thought and Leadership certificate, not that it really helps with the Navy per say.

So here's the deal with the test:

Math
I studied very hard for this portion, and it is undoubtedly the reason my score boosted. Some questions I had:

sq rt 216

Homework is worth 10%, 4 Exams are worth 20%, and the final exam is worth 30%. Exams were 78, 80, and 83, and X, the homework 65. The 4th exam was 5/6 times the average of the first three, and the final was 10 points less than the 4th exam. What is the Final?

a log question structured like this: log base 8 (4-x)=2. Find X -- I forget the exact numbers.

There is 90,000 cubic units of human pee and poo. the height of the cylinder storage is 25, and the diameter is 10. How many cylinders are necessary to store all the poop.

There is a brick wall 3 feet, by 12 feet, by 6 feet. Each brick is 3 inches, by 6 inches, by 6 inches. How many bricks are needed to fill the wall

Solve for x
x^3+x^2+x-1=y+1
y=x^2+x-1 Cannot remember exact numbers

There is a track field with an area of 2500 sq. feet. the track surrounding the the area is 8 feet wide. Find the Surface area.

Reading Comprehension
Nothing new under the sun. Literally went until the very last second, like started a new question with six seconds left. Royally pissed me off.

Mechanical Comprehension
I am not qualified to help anybody with mechanical questions. I have never taken physics, and studied this the least. That being said, I had fundamental questions. Nothing to high brow. Some questions I got were:

You are swinging a brick around by a string vertically. Where is the most tension in the string?

250 pounds is 2 feet away from the fulcrum, 40 pounds is X feet away from the fulcrum. Find the distance.

The air in a vacuum (picture looks like an hour glass) has the highest velocity at which point?

There is an ideal constant gas. The temperature does not change, but the pressure changes 3 fold. What happens to the volume?

There is a pulley attached to the ceiling, with a weight attached to one end. Where is the most tension in the pulley?

There are two mice spinning on a record player. One is closer to the center, the other is farther on the record. Which one has a faster velocity?

You have a ball that is dropped off of a cliff, and one that is tossed off a cliff at the same time. Which one hits the ground first?

And that's what I can remember right now!

Some words of wisdom, if anyone cares to listen.

Start on page 200 and work your way up to page 304. There were so many questions that I worked on within this forum, and it most definitely helped me improve my score, especially in Math.

If you can, take two days off for yourself before your test. Treat it like an event, because it is. This decides your future. I wish I had two days to myself prior. I was working on 3 hours of sleep when I took the test because I was so restless the night of, I kept on reading the mechanical comprehension study guides over and over again. Don't do what I did!

This forum is the most useful gouge you can find. Nothing beats it. Y'all are wonderful.

God Bless,

Prestonaz
EDIT: The Final is worth 10% of the Grade. Sorry. Long Question.
 

Scimitarze

Automated Member
EDIT: The Final is worth 10% of the Grade. Sorry. Long Question.
Yea thanks, I thought it was asking for the final exam rather than final grade then. I had a precal professor in HS that would load up word problems with unnecessary information to trick us/throw us off and make us mine the relevant info. Looks like I'll have to get over that :(.
 

prestonaz

Active Member
Yea thanks, I thought it was asking for the final exam rather than final grade then. I had a precal professor in HS that would load up word problems with unnecessary information to trick us/throw us off and make us mine the relevant info. Looks like I'll have to get over that :(.
Have you taken the test yet? Of the two times I’ve taken it, I’ve seen no trick questions.
 
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