Alright all you cool cats and kittens (Carole Baskins), been lurking a several months. Took the ASTB back in August. Scored terrible 40 3/5/5. I studied an astb prep book that i found on amazon. Terrible idea. I was overly confident about the compass trick (also terrible). So i didn't post my scores or any of that. Decided I would study Kyle's (amazing) Gouge. Literally all you need is that folder and the link to the anit flash cards. Took the test for the second time yesterday and scored a 56 6/6/6.
MATH. -Had a few "if x=4z and y=6z then what does y=" type questions, quite a few DRT problems, a few area and perimeter, 1 interest %, a couple average, and quite a bit of probability. For the ones i felt would take too long for me (who isn't the best at math without a calculator lol) i just tried to make an educated guess. Strictly studied kyle's gouge for this. I felt like i made improvements.
MECHANICAL- Saw questions about the venture effect, acceleration due to gravity 9.81 m/s squared 32.17ft./s squared, the bernoulie effect, levers, one wedge question, and an electrical symbol identification question, and lastly pulley's. Nothing too complicated here. I felt like I did a lot better with this compared to the first time. Again Kyle's gouge.
READING- I don't struggle with reading so it was easy enough. Towards the end i was getting anxious because I didn't want to run out of time like i did the first time. I noticed I had to catch myself because I began to answer it just to answer rather than pay attention to wording. Felt I did good the first and second time here. However the first time I believe i did run out of time. No studying here
OAR =56
TRAIT FACET-Not much to say here. Taking it the second time was annoying. The directions for this section popped up then the whole section disappeared and went right into pbm. When i finished pbm I only had an oar score and not complete ASTB. Anxiety through the rough because I was ready to see if those scores improved like i needed them to. So chief made a phone call and it basically showed that I had the exam on the screen too long and it timed out so they were able to reset that portion so that I could actually do it. Then i was able to get all scores.
PBM- So my first time I felt like i knew what i was doing with the compass trick. I messed myself up because i felt like i was cool enough to draw a compass and add in the NE NW SE SE lines. BOY I WAS WRONG. it completely threw me off with having to identify the parking lots. I missed quite a few. So I changed things up a second time. While lurking on here I saw someone say the compass wasn't the most efficient trick. So i drew down the scenarios with how the marker actually looks with said parking lots for each possible direction. This actually was faster and more efficient (after practicing 6 times to make sure I was good to go). I only missed one because I accidentally clicked because my finger was ancy. None the less MAJOR improvement.
TRACKING- Felt like this went smoother the second time than the first, mostly because i knew what to expect.
DICHOTIC- Wasn't bad. I missed 1 or two due to complacency of getting in the groove. Nothing too diffuclt here
EMERGENCY PROCEDURES- I missed one because I had Just heard engine and assumed it was the fire (even though i had already successfully completed) and tried to do it again. Not realizing it was engine malfunction because I only wrote down the word malfunction for that procedure.
All in all, STUDY KYLES GOUGE and you will be fine. I also saw the girl next to me writing down formulas for the OAR and NO ONE seemed to care so I may or may not have done the same. I will advise that writing the possible compass variations down is better than the compass trick as long as you can identify each one quickly. I averaged 2 seconds. I think my longest was 4. In between sections I wrote down motivating/encouraging words for myself. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL still needing to take the ASTB. I am pleased with my scores and hopefully they are good enough for the Jan Board.
MATH. -Had a few "if x=4z and y=6z then what does y=" type questions, quite a few DRT problems, a few area and perimeter, 1 interest %, a couple average, and quite a bit of probability. For the ones i felt would take too long for me (who isn't the best at math without a calculator lol) i just tried to make an educated guess. Strictly studied kyle's gouge for this. I felt like i made improvements.
MECHANICAL- Saw questions about the venture effect, acceleration due to gravity 9.81 m/s squared 32.17ft./s squared, the bernoulie effect, levers, one wedge question, and an electrical symbol identification question, and lastly pulley's. Nothing too complicated here. I felt like I did a lot better with this compared to the first time. Again Kyle's gouge.
READING- I don't struggle with reading so it was easy enough. Towards the end i was getting anxious because I didn't want to run out of time like i did the first time. I noticed I had to catch myself because I began to answer it just to answer rather than pay attention to wording. Felt I did good the first and second time here. However the first time I believe i did run out of time. No studying here
OAR =56
TRAIT FACET-Not much to say here. Taking it the second time was annoying. The directions for this section popped up then the whole section disappeared and went right into pbm. When i finished pbm I only had an oar score and not complete ASTB. Anxiety through the rough because I was ready to see if those scores improved like i needed them to. So chief made a phone call and it basically showed that I had the exam on the screen too long and it timed out so they were able to reset that portion so that I could actually do it. Then i was able to get all scores.
PBM- So my first time I felt like i knew what i was doing with the compass trick. I messed myself up because i felt like i was cool enough to draw a compass and add in the NE NW SE SE lines. BOY I WAS WRONG. it completely threw me off with having to identify the parking lots. I missed quite a few. So I changed things up a second time. While lurking on here I saw someone say the compass wasn't the most efficient trick. So i drew down the scenarios with how the marker actually looks with said parking lots for each possible direction. This actually was faster and more efficient (after practicing 6 times to make sure I was good to go). I only missed one because I accidentally clicked because my finger was ancy. None the less MAJOR improvement.
TRACKING- Felt like this went smoother the second time than the first, mostly because i knew what to expect.
DICHOTIC- Wasn't bad. I missed 1 or two due to complacency of getting in the groove. Nothing too diffuclt here
EMERGENCY PROCEDURES- I missed one because I had Just heard engine and assumed it was the fire (even though i had already successfully completed) and tried to do it again. Not realizing it was engine malfunction because I only wrote down the word malfunction for that procedure.
All in all, STUDY KYLES GOUGE and you will be fine. I also saw the girl next to me writing down formulas for the OAR and NO ONE seemed to care so I may or may not have done the same. I will advise that writing the possible compass variations down is better than the compass trick as long as you can identify each one quickly. I averaged 2 seconds. I think my longest was 4. In between sections I wrote down motivating/encouraging words for myself. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL still needing to take the ASTB. I am pleased with my scores and hopefully they are good enough for the Jan Board.
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