Took the test for the first time not too long ago and thought I'd post my experience with it just in case anyone finds it useful.
Stats
66 8/7/8 ASTB score and 3.78 GPA.
General Preparation
I studied for about a month, with an average of around 30-60 mins a day. I wish I could have studied more, but I took the exam during my busiest and hardest semester in college, so yeah... The main thing I used was the Trivium test prep book for the ASTB, and overall, I thought it was decent but lacking in some areas. A lot of the things it taught (particularly in math) did not appear on the actual exam or in any practice exams, and in general, the practice tests and questions in this book were easier than the actual exam questions. It's a good starting point, but it should not be your only source of preparation. I also used this forum, though I wish I had taken the time to look through this thread more thoroughly because there is a lot of good information in here. I really only started paging through here the day before the exam unfortunately.
Math
Not bad at all. The questions reminded me of the SAT/ACT exams, so there was nothing I hadn't seen before. Practice tests and questions are the best way to prepare for this section in my opinion, and since I hadn't done these types of math problems in a while, I just needed some practice to get back in the swing of things. I actually got off to a bad start on the ASTB because the very first question was some math problem about interest that I had no idea about, and it took me like five minutes just to solve it, but after that it was fine. Again, practice questions really help you because they give you experience with panicking when you see something you don't know so that on the day of the exam you don't completely lose your cool if it happens to you there. Certainly helped me in that regard. The toughest problems were the log (I got a lot of log questions) and matrices, which were not covered at all in the Trivium book, but I think I managed to get through them. Honestly the worst part was just re-learning how to do multiplication and division without a calculator.
Reading
This has always been my best subject, both in class and on standardized tests, and so I studied very little for it. However, the small amount of studying I did do was not helpful, and the actual exam questions were way harder than the ones on the practice test. I stupidly did not even read the instructions for this section on the actual exam, so when I got to the questions, I was kind of confused. They give you a short passage and then present you with four statements, and I guess you're supposed to pick which one best summarizes the passage? This was different from the practice I did, which asked about word definitions, author intent, etc. (the type of questions and format you'd see on SAT reading section). Furthermore, the passages on the actual exam were incredibly dry. I usually enjoy reading about military-related things, but these passages were all boring procedural overviews that were hard to follow because they were so bland and generalizing. There were a couple passages not related to the military, though.
Mechanical
Probably my worst written section. I am terrible at physics and haven't taken a physics class in years (well, actually I am in one right now, but it is much different and more difficult than anything on the ASTB), and this portion was no exception. This might have been the section I studied the most for, and yet there were still quite a few problems I did not get. It is the only section that I ran out of time on too. I don't really have much else to say here since I can't remember what most of the questions here, but regardless, I'm nowhere near qualified to give advice on mechanics anyway. I guess just know your mechanical advantage calculations at the very least.
Aviation/Nautical Information
After reading through this thread and doing practice questions, I thought this section would be harder than it actually was because I was thinking it would be a lot of aviation history. The Trivium book has almost zero history in it and focused mainly on aviation and nautical technical terms, so I did not feel prepared at all until I started reading this thread the day before the exam. But I think I lucked out on the exam because I did not get that many history questions, and the ones that I did get weren't too bad (who was the first pilot to fly mach 1, what plane was designated the Hornet, etc.). I also got like five or six questions just on ailerons, which I thought was weird... Anyway, I would definitely suggest studying aviation history in addition to nautical and aviation technical terms. There is a link to a flashcard deck floating around in this thread that is worth looking at (think it might be the one linked a couple posts above).
Personality
Most boring and tedious part of the test, and there were a lot of questions where I felt like neither answer fit me.
UAV/Compass
I did not know this portion of the test (along with the rest of the performance-based parts) even existed until the day before the exam, which goes to show my ignorance I guess. The Trivium book glosses over these sections by mentioning them in like a paragraph or two, so this is where this thread really came in handy. The flashcards that everyone links are really good practice, though I have to admit, I did not understand this section at all at first. I was so confused I had to watch a short YouTube video which went through a couple examples, and it was only then that I understood how to look down at the compass and judge the correct direction. On the actual exam, I drew a compass on my sheet of paper and would flip it around for each question. I think I got about three wrong in total, and it took me 1-3 seconds per answer. This is an easy section once you get the hang of it.
Listening
Absolutely bombed this section. Reading through the forum, this sounded easy, and since it was the day before the exam, I elected not to practice it... Big mistake. The headset they gave me at the exam was crappy, and I couldn't really tell which ear which sound was coming from. Throughout the rest of the exam, the listening would give me trouble. I would definitely suggest practicing this part of the test beforehand.
Throttle/Stick
Very hard. I have never used a throttle and stick for anything before this exam, so this was a new experience for me. The thing that confused me at first was that the throttle is not inverted but the stick is, so I was consistently messing up because of that. I also had this weird idea that if the vertical axis on the stick is inverted, then the horizontal axis should also be inverted, but that wasn't the case and right is still right and left is still left. I knew that from reading it here on the forum, but I still occasionally messed it up. The enemy airplane was also extremely fast and agile while you were slow and rigid no matter how hard or fast you would move the stick. Needless to say, I didn't do particularly well on this part, but I felt like I was getting better with every second that passed. By the end of the exam I was beginning to get the hang of it, and it was actually starting to feel fun. If I took this exam again, I am confident I could do better on this portion at least.
Conclusion
I think I am fine with the score I got, and I probably won't be retaking it. I wish I could have gotten a better pilot score, but whatever. My advice to anyone taking the test: do a lot of practice questions and make sure you review the answers. Don't rely solely on information from information from one book. Also, look through this thread because there is a lot of good information in here that I wish I would have taken advantage of. To be honest I don't know if I'll be applying for OCS at this point, but good luck to those of you who are.
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