1.) Next SNA/NFO boards is going to be 25 Jan with a app deadline of 11 DEC. After that the next is an 23 APR boards.
2.) You must wait until the 31st day to retake the ASTB.
3.) Most recent score is the only one counted better/worse.
Good luck with the studies. Plenty of information on AW if you do some digging!
My recruiter told me today that he just read that was pushed earlier to Dec 1.
I took my test today. 51 6/7/6. I lurked this thread and only really started digging during the last week or two before finally taking the test. I had to reschedule twice so that left me with 3 months of studying 5 days minimum for at least an hour.
MATH
has always been my weakest subject. i studied this the third most (which I'll talk about more later). The test cut me off less than 5 minutes early and I felt like the test was really easy. It didnt get very difficult besides a fraction problem which went something like "x^2 + 5x / x + 5" which I dont really care to even find out the answer for right now. No matrices, or logs but i studied everything under the sun although it probably wasn't as vigorous as I should've.
READING
I graduated as a journalist and worked as a reporter so I didnt study for this portion at all because I aced every practice I took. I read the NYTimes daily and books so that was my practice. The first two questions or so were stupid easy then it got difficult, fast. It felt like some passages were written extremely complicated and I could imagine getting some of them right but it was obvious that I'd get some wrong when the following question or two was stupid easy again. My best advice is to eliminate any answer not directly mentioned in the passage but even then I couldn't be sure how I did in this section again because I was so confident yet the questions bounced all over the difficulty spectrum.
MECH
I figured this would be the hardest test for me but was only second hardest of the day. This was also what I thought I'd have to study for the most but that beast was waiting for me after this. I found this section to be easier and harder than the info provided in barrons or the gouges. A lot of it is common sense stuff regarding physics, even for someone like me with little background in science and math. The problems that gave me issues were about definitions of electrical things. I had about 3 or so questions ask me about which object hits the ground first when dropped (KNOW THIS.)
AVIATION STUFF
This was the most difficult section, as expected. This is also what I studied for the most, which is a double edged sword. If you get all the easy questions right like the names of a ship/plane and what things do, youre expected to also answer the ratings of people on the ship and who they answer to (which I never studied.) I know that this affected my score HEAVILY. I could answer all the easy questions but not the hard ones because I rationalized that, because I knew nothing about aviation to begin with, I should know the basics by heart. My advice is to STUDY EVERYTHING. YOU WILL NOT REMEMBER EVERYTHING BY HEART BUT SOME TERMS, NAMES, OR RATES WILL LOOK FAMILIAR AND YOU'LL HAVE SOME CLUE TO THE RIGHT ANSWER.
STUDY EVERYTHING. AGAIN, YOU WON'T REMEMBER EVERYTHING. NO ONE DOES. UNLESS YOU'RE THE HANDFUL OF NERDS THAT SCORE 80 9/9/9. THEY ARE OUTLIERS. BUT TAKE A LOOK AT EVERYTHING OVER AND OVER AND SOME OF IT WILL STICK, TRUST ME!
UAV
compass trick.
LISTENING
lean to the ear, i guess? its not that difficult.
JOYSTICK TRACKING
i play videogames enough to where i'll never be one in a large group who will say "i never grew up playing videogames im trash take it easy on me." I can keep up but I believe that playing videogames would not have helped me what so ever. This portion was so damn difficult I thought I was going crazy. If you had an exact set up at home to practice this then I could imagine it being easy but doing it for the first time? MADNESS. This is what probably made my score so damn low. I tried to stretch and do deep breathing multiple times during this section to try and stay calm but it is hell and just do your best.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I am v thankful for this forum. If I didnt have access here I'd probably have done a lot worse. If I could do anything over again, I'd have taken the test the first month I had scheduled, then retook it now. It'd be my second time using the joysticks and knowing what to expect with that (and questions like knowing aviation rates and obscure mechanical/aviation/nautical definitions.) BUT, I cant go back in time so it is what it is.
This forum also made me too anxious thinking I wasn't qualified because, again, the outliers who post here talking about playing their d1 sports and earning perfect/near-perfect ASTB scores. I planned, as another user mentioned, to blow my marks out the park because I didn't feel like my application was strong. Immediately after taking the test my proctor seemed pleased and reassured me hes seen pilots get picked up with lower scores. Did I mention that I have a non-STEM degree and a 3.0 GPA (3.86 in UNI but a 2.something in community college 10 years ago significantly lowered that.. YES, 10 YEARS AGO BECAUSE I AM ALSO 30 TRYING TO BECOME A PILOT BEFORE I TURN 31.) I absolutely must get in next years board because I am too late for the Dec 1 deadline and I'll be 32 by the time I go to OCS if I dont make it. Even if, for whatever reason, my scores dont qualify me for pilot, I am 100% confident I can get in for something in the media side due to my experience in journalism + design.
Anyways, this has been rant. All I want to say is that study everything, and study well + often. I used ANKI for flashcards and I wish I had made more than the 400 I did. GOOD LUCK!!