I recently took the ASTB. Like many of you, I found the lack of / contradicting information frustrating. How you score has a big impact on your future, so you naturally want to gather as much intel as possible to prepare. The Navy is extremely tight-lipped about it, so what information you can glean is unofficial and often unreliable.
I took the ASTB and scored
73/9/8/7 (basically top 1%) on my first attempt. In this guide I will share with you how I prepared and what to expect in taking the exam. There are two main sections: the ORA (English, mathematics, and physics) and the aviation section (some multiple choice tests and simulations). I was going for SWO, but decided to take the aviation section as well. I spent virtually all of my time preparing for the OAR, and about 1 hour preparing for the aviation section. As such, most of this guide will focus on the OAR section. Without further ado, here are the points which I think will help you the most in your preparation.
1) There are a lot of jerks of this forum who have nothing better to do than be an ass. There are also a lot of people on this forum who vent and are looking for emotional support/somewhere to wine. You have so sort through a lot of baggage here to find the useful information.
2) The Navy doesn't want you to know very much about the test, and you won't. Even after taking it, how exactly it is scored, how much each section is worth, and which questions you got wrong remain a mystery. You won't be able to prepare by knowing the exact type of questions and formulas.
3) You only get to take the test
3 times in your life, and
your last score is what counts,
NOT your best. That being said, I recommend you don't take it until you feel you are as prepared as you can be. If you want to retake, you will have to wait 31 days, and you can always have the problem of scoring worse the second time. You also won't know your scores by section (English, math, physics), so if you get an overall poor score, you will have to guess which sections you think need the most improvement. Life will be better for you if you just get a good score the first time through, so give it your best.
A bit About Me
I have a degree in physics, a university English GPA of 3.9, and am 3 credits away from a degree in mathematics. So, I am pretty strong in all the subjects of the OAR. Even so, I studied for 3 weeks, ~2 hours a day. Even if you have a physics,math/engineering degree, I recommend you do the same. One of the biggest challenges going from a university classroom to the OAR, is the reliance you have likely developed on calculators. You will not be given a calculator on the OAR. If you can't crunch the numbers by hand with a pencil, having degree in advanced vector calculus will be of no use to you. The subject level of the OAR is around AP high school level, but don't let that make you over-confident. Someone who knows basic algebra, and can preform long division quickly and accurately may very well do better than you.
Studying for the OAR
As I said, you won't be able to predict the exact questions/type of questions. Keep in mind that the questions others got won't necessarily be the ones you get. You will simply have to shotgun it, and try to be prepared for anything. Keep in mind the subject difficulty is not that high. It is comparable to advanced high school, early college level (you aren't going to see vector integrals on the math section) so you don't want to spend time studying material that is beyond the scope of the exam (more on this later).
Of English, physics, and mathematics, I'd recommend that you devote you study time 5% 20% 75% respectively.
English. In my opinion, there is little you can do to study for this. Presumably, if you are a citizen you will speak fluent English. The questions are all based on reading comprehension. You will be given a paragraph to read. There will then be a question about the paragraph (sometimes obscure) and you have to choose the
most correct answer. I often felt that there were multiple answers that could be correct, and that it was very subjective. Just choose an answer, and try not to overthink it too much (yes, it feels subjective and annoying). I do recommend you study the English sections in the book so that you will at least be familiar with the basic format. Honestly, there isn't much you can do to improve your English comprehension abilities. It is just too vague a subject to be able to make any improvements in a short period of time.
Physics. The variety of questions in this section was surprisingly broad. You definitely want to know
pulley systems and how to calculate mechanical advantages, how to balance two different weight on a titter-totter by choosing the distance from the fulcrum, or choosing the weight given the distance (
balancing torque), directions of gears in a system, and how to calculate
gear ratios by counting the teeth, and basic kinematics (
acceleration in free fall, velocity, momentum, collisions, friction). There were some obscure question with more advanced topics, but mostly it was basic. I recommend studying AP high school level, or first level college physics. The calculation is pretty minimal, and it mostly tests how well you know the concepts. Know how springs work, and the basics of kinetic and potential energy. If you could rock an AP physics test, you should do fine. If you happen to get the question about whether the black box or the white box will emit more radiation, the answer is
the black box. Study all the material you can find on the internet about mechanical comprehension tests.
Mathematics. Now here is where the real magic is, and where a recommend you devote the vast majority of your study time. It is the most specific of all the subject areas, the one you will do the most poorly on if you are out of practice, and the easiest to improve through study. The difficulty level is about algebra 2 level. Again, think AP high school, or early college math. My three tips for this section would be:
drill the basics, drill the basics, and drill the basics. The test is interactive, and starts you out in a medium difficulty. Even if you are rock solid on the more advanced stuff, you will never get there if you answer the mid-level questions wrong. Don't worry about the more advanced stuff unless you've got the basics really, really solid. I recommend getting an app with flash cards on your phone, and drilling through times tables and addition/subtraction problems several times a day. Practice and practice multiplying and dividing by hand, multiplying and adding mixed fractions, ect. It is very important that you can do basic calculations quickly, and easily. Remember, there will be no calculator. By the end of my studying, I had a pile about an inch thick of scratch paper from my calculations.
You were probably told that the math section is 25 questions, 20 minutes.
This is false! My math section was 40 minutes, and ended about 16 questions in when I still had 7 minutes left of the clock. If you are thinking that you need to be able to knock out the questions in 50 s a piece and worried that you can't, don't be. I can't say why exactly my tests tended to end early, but I believe it is because the computer has determined my skill level and thus ends the test. I can't say that this necessarily a good thing, or that it only does this if you've done well.
Fight the temptation to guess and move on. You will probably be wrong, and will be put into a lower skill level. Remember, if you want to get to the more advanced questions, you have to get the easier ones right first. There were some questions I did in 20 s, others I spent 5 minutes on, because I made a mistake early on and and to start over. Keep calm, and focus on precision rather than speed. Remember, slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Only guess if you know you won't be able to get the answer. Obviously, don't run out the clock staring at the screen. According to the test administrator, you only need to get 12-15 correct answers on the math section to get a good score.
Don't worry about getting 25 questions done! Do note that you will not be able to see what the number of the question you are on is. You will have to count, and mark it on your paper if you want to keep track.
I highly, highly recommend that you read through this book (file is attached) and take all the practice material (except for the English vocabulary, as vocabulary is not part of the ASTB). Even though the different test are slightly different, and may not be exactly what you encounter, it is still an excellent way to get the required practice. Unless you are already in tip top academic shape, you will need a high volume of calculation to get you into peak condition. Work your way through the book, timing yourself of the exams. Take them multiple times. Get all the bugs worked out before you sit down for the real test.
Math Topics I Encountered
Basic algebra. Given an equation, do various manipulation to solve for one variable or another. Painter type problem. 2 painters start at 1:00, starting at 3:00 one painter is added each hour. At what time will they finish? (you will see lots of these in the book I attached). Basic probability. I recommend you study card and dice probability problems. They can be very challenging if you haven't encountered the tricks before. I won't bother rewriting what you will encounter in the book. I recommend you
study every math problem in it, and be able to solve them in 2 min 30 s or less. Focus on precision first, then really try to get you speed up while maintaining precision. When you actually sit for the ASTB, just focus on accuracy.
Know the properties of logs, and how to calculate them. I only encountered integer solutions, and though these were the most advanced questions, they were some of the easiest to solve.
Aviation Section
I don't intend on applying to aviation, so I didn't put much study into it and thus have little advice for you. I am told that the questions on the aviation written do not change, and thus are well know and can be found in the dark recesses of the internet. If aviation is your focus, you may want to look into this.
The simulations are VERY hard, and it will seem like you are doing horribly. It is essentially a multitasking overload test. My three tips for the flight simulations are, listen to you headset, listen to your headset, and listen to you headset. This is what I did, and did pretty well on my scores. Keeping the plane on target was a complete joke. Most of the time I was flailing about wildly, almost always in the wrong direction. I listed to the headset however, and got a good score. I wouldn't be surprised if the flight controls are purely a distraction, and you score is based on the headset instructions (just a theory of mine). In any case, give 95% of your attention to the headset, and 5% to flying the panes (yes, you have to fly 2 at once).
For the map orientation section, I highly, highly recommend you watch this video and use this technique. It is easy, and basically makes this section money in the bank.
Some Things to Note
I don't know what it will be like for you, but I took my test in Seattle, and had a room with a computer all to myself. I don't know if they watch you with cameras, but wouldn't be surprised, so don't cheat. You are given pencils and paper. You might want to ask for extra just in case before the test starts. You will have time before, and between each section. I don't know if they would consider it cheating, but you could use this time to write down notes on you paper (e.g. times tables and such) that may be of use to you in case you freeze up during the test and blank on something. Don't worry if your computer malfunctions. Mine did. Just tell the administrator and they will get it sorted eventually.
Once you get your score, if you want your percentile, you need to know how the Navy scoring system works. The mean is set to 50, and the standard deviation is 10. So, take your score, subtract 50, divide by 10, then use a Z table with your calculated Z score to see what percentile you fell into.
That's all I've got. Best of luck!
