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

cgross220

cgross220

Member
Hey everyone, figured I'd post my ASTB findings here as well. Kind of got caught off guard a bit with taking my ASTB sooner than I thought, but I was able to take about 5 days off work prior to just study all day every day. I have a decent bit of gaming/flight sim experience, I do have my PPL (about 60 hours at the time of taking my ASTB), and I'm in the last semester of my engineering degree with a 3.94 GPA. I achieved a first attempt ASTB score of 65 9/9/9.

I used Baron's Military Flight Aptitude Test study guide plus the TBAS Test Prep software.

My studying was almost entirely focused on the textbook, with only about 1-2 hours spent on the TBAS software. For those who don't know, the TBAS is the Air Force's version of the PBM section of the ASTB. There are very few similarities and time should only be spent (if you do purchase the severely overpriced software) on the Directional Orientation (parking lot) test and the Multi-Target Tracking test. The AF Multi-Target Tracking test is also a joystick/rudder test, not the joystick/throttle test that the ASTB uses so even that isn't quite the same. In general, if you're not also looking at the Air Force or don't have $60 to get rid of, the TBAS Test Prep software is NOT worth it.

Using the Baron's study guide, I started by going through the chapters I knew would be most important--the math section and the aviation information section. I initially only went through the portions of the math chapter that I was "rusty" on, and then as I already had my PPL and was fairly familiar with most of the aviation information I focused on the Navy-specific information. At this point, I took the first practice test in Baron's. I treated this as the real test, set timers accordingly (yes, this doesn't quite fit with the adaptive test type that the ASTB really is but it still ensures you don't spend 10 minutes on each problem) and I took one test right after the other without grading or taking a break. After the first test was done, I went back and graded it and corrected every question I got wrong. And when I say I corrected the question I don't just mean find out the right answer but why it's the right answer. I made sure that every subsequent question of that type I knew how to do and would get absolutely right next time.

From here, I went back over all relevant chapters--Math, Reading, Mechanics, and Aviation/Nautical Information--from front to back. I again made especially sure to focus on the Math and Aviation/Nautical information, but still went over all vocab listed in the book, classes of levers, etc. After a day or two of studying this, I took the second practice test the day before my ASTB. I again took it the same way as before, and went back through and went back over every question I got wrong.

I took the night before my test off, relaxed a bit and went to bed early. My test was not until 1300 the next day so I let myself sleep until about 0800, had a good breakfast, did a bit more studying, and got to the testing site early enough to have a light lunch in the parking lot. I still went inside pretty early and got all checked in, and even was able to start my test early.

Overall, I honestly didn't think I did great on the test when it finished. I was fully prepared to ask my recruiter when I could take it again, as when the final screen popped up with my grade I thought there was no way I got all 9s and figured it was just explaining the grading scale. That's all to say; when you're taking the test and think you're doing terrible DO NOT GIVE UP. You're only going to screw yourself if you lose steam and lose focus. No one's grading you on how well you think you're doing, so just focus on the problem in front of you and ignore how you think you're doing.

Hope this helps some of y'all getting ready to take the test, and feel free to shoot me a PM or something if you have any further questions on the ASTB not answered by the other awesome people on this thread.
 
Oshun8235

Oshun8235

Active Member
cgross220 said:
Hey everyone, figured I'd post my ASTB findings here as well. Kind of got caught off guard a bit with taking my ASTB sooner than I thought, but I was able to take about 5 days off work prior to just study all day every day. I have a decent bit of gaming/flight sim experience, I do have my PPL (about 60 hours at the time of taking my ASTB), and I'm in the last semester of my engineering degree with a 3.94 GPA. I achieved a first attempt ASTB score of 65 9/9/9.

I used Baron's Military Flight Aptitude Test study guide plus the TBAS Test Prep software.

My studying was almost entirely focused on the textbook, with only about 1-2 hours spent on the TBAS software. For those who don't know, the TBAS is the Air Force's version of the PBM section of the ASTB. There are very few similarities and time should only be spent (if you do purchase the severely overpriced software) on the Directional Orientation (parking lot) test and the Multi-Target Tracking test. The AF Multi-Target Tracking test is also a joystick/rudder test, not the joystick/throttle test that the ASTB uses so even that isn't quite the same. In general, if you're not also looking at the Air Force or don't have $60 to get rid of, the TBAS Test Prep software is NOT worth it.

Using the Baron's study guide, I started by going through the chapters I knew would be most important--the math section and the aviation information section. I initially only went through the portions of the math chapter that I was "rusty" on, and then as I already had my PPL and was fairly familiar with most of the aviation information I focused on the Navy-specific information. At this point, I took the first practice test in Baron's. I treated this as the real test, set timers accordingly (yes, this doesn't quite fit with the adaptive test type that the ASTB really is but it still ensures you don't spend 10 minutes on each problem) and I took one test right after the other without grading or taking a break. After the first test was done, I went back and graded it and corrected every question I got wrong. And when I say I corrected the question I don't just mean find out the right answer but why it's the right answer. I made sure that every subsequent question of that type I knew how to do and would get absolutely right next time.

From here, I went back over all relevant chapters--Math, Reading, Mechanics, and Aviation/Nautical Information--from front to back. I again made especially sure to focus on the Math and Aviation/Nautical information, but still went over all vocab listed in the book, classes of levers, etc. After a day or two of studying this, I took the second practice test the day before my ASTB. I again took it the same way as before, and went back through and went back over every question I got wrong.

I took the night before my test off, relaxed a bit and went to bed early. My test was not until 1300 the next day so I let myself sleep until about 0800, had a good breakfast, did a bit more studying, and got to the testing site early enough to have a light lunch in the parking lot. I still went inside pretty early and got all checked in, and even was able to start my test early.

Overall, I honestly didn't think I did great on the test when it finished. I was fully prepared to ask my recruiter when I could take it again, as when the final screen popped up with my grade I thought there was no way I got all 9s and figured it was just explaining the grading scale. That's all to say; when you're taking the test and think you're doing terrible DO NOT GIVE UP. You're only going to screw yourself if you lose steam and lose focus. No one's grading you on how well you think you're doing, so just focus on the problem in front of you and ignore how you think you're doing.

Hope this helps some of y'all getting ready to take the test, and feel free to shoot me a PM or something if you have any further questions on the ASTB not answered by the other awesome people on this thread.
Click to expand...
Congratulations. I look forward to sharing the same success story this second time around as well as help others. As far as the math what can you remember seeing?.
 
cgross220

cgross220

Member
Oshun8235 said:
As far as the math what can you remember seeing?.
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly the majority of questions were algebra word-problems. Studying proper order of operations is crucial as well as polynomials and factoring. Keep in mind that it is an adaptive style test, though, so the problems that it will have the most of depends on what problems you get wrong. If you study all algebra, polynomials, factoring, etc., then get two geometry problems incorrect in a row, geometry is all you'll see until you start getting them right. In other words, focus on your weaknesses in math not necessarily on what was seen more on anyone else's test
 
Oshun8235

Oshun8235

Active Member
cgross220 said:
If I remember correctly the majority of questions were algebra word-problems. Studying proper order of operations is crucial as well as polynomials and factoring. Keep in mind that it is an adaptive style test, though, so the problems that it will have the most of depends on what problems you get wrong. If you study all algebra, polynomials, factoring, etc., then get two geometry problems incorrect in a row, geometry is all you'll see until you start getting them right. In other words, focus on your weaknesses in math not necessarily on what was seen more on anyone else's test
Click to expand...
Yup gotcha. And thanks
 
S

SGP_777

New Member
Hello everyone, this is my first time posting here but I just wanted to get some opinions on how competitive I am with my scores. I am currently contracting for a SNA slot in the Marine Corps for the April board. I received a first attempt ASTB score of 56 7/9/7 . I am a graduating senior at Purdue University, majoring in Professional Flight with a 3.6 GPA. I have around 200 flight hours, commercial certificate, multi engine, and instrument rating. It sounds like I am lucky to have already been processed through MEPS, and I am headed down to NAMI next month. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
 
E

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
SGP_777 said:
Hello everyone, this is my first time posting here but I just wanted to get some opinions on how competitive I am with my scores. I am currently contracting for a SNA slot in the Marine Corps for the April board. I received a first attempt ASTB score of 56 7/9/7 . I am a graduating senior at Purdue University, majoring in Professional Flight with a 3.6 GPA. I have around 200 flight hours, commercial certificate, multi engine, and instrument rating. It sounds like I am lucky to have already been processed through MEPS, and I am headed down to NAMI next month. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
USMC puts a lot of weight on the PFT, otherwise you look like a good candidate for them.
 
M

Mike1432

Well-Known Member
First attempt ASTB score: 60,8,8,7. Going for SNA.

Primary resources:

Secondary resources:
  • YouTube videos for math and mechanical comprehension sections.
  • Algebra textbooks from high school.
  • LSAT (law school admission test) reading comprehension strategies.

Takeaways

OAR
Identify your strengths and weaknesses early on; for me that was the MST and MCT. I then focused my study time ~60% MST, 10% RCT, and 30% MCT. I studied for about 2-3 months. Repetition is key in your preparation for the math; just do math problems over and over and keep focusing on things that you feel less comfortable in. Logarithms, exponents, distance * rate, interest, and averaging problems all made an appearance.

ANIT
I thought I did horrible on this section since all of the terms and studying I had done seemed barely applicable. The questions became hard very quickly so I just focused on staying calm and answering the best I could. I had plenty of time to finish this section and used that time to rule out wrong answers when I had to guess.

PBM
My throttle was set up such that any position above or below neutral controlled the rate of movement of the cursor rather than just set the cursor's position. This significantly added to the difficulty in my opinion. I used DCS to practice throttle control and stick control and I found doing air-air refueling mimics the challenge well. I do not have my PPL and have only 1 hour of actual flight time.

For the UAV section, I did not use the compass method. Instead, I would identify how many 90 degree turns from the UAV's direction I crossed to get to the correct heading. I would then count that many car parks to the left or right and it will never be more than 2. For example, if the UAV is heading SW and the target is the E car park, you cross two 90 degree turns (S then E) to the left. The correct car park is thus the second car park to the left (counter clockwise) from the top. Do what works best for you, I just found that I could do this in my head and keep my response times under 2 seconds consistently.
 
Hokie2021

Hokie2021

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone! Just finished taking the ASTB for the first time, and scored a 52 7/7/7. I want to thank everyone that has contributed to this thread for helping me achieve my score. Without you all this would not have been possible. Because of this, I feel obligated to also share my experience with the ASTB. I am applying for SNA.

Preparation:
I originally bought the Barrons test prep book last summer, but at that point, I really only used it to familiarize myself with the ASTB. I would say I really began studying about 5 weeks ago. On average I probably spent 4-6 hours per day, 7 days a week studying. Barrons does a great job with the Mechanical Comprehension and ANIT sections, however most of my studying was with Kyle's guide, and the cram flashcards.

Math:
Being a poli sci major, this was the section that I was most concerned about. I haven't taken a math course since high school. I would say 75% of my studying was dedicated to this section of the test. I prepared especially for DRT problems, logs, probability, and weighted averages. I basically got none of these. My test was mostly simplifying algebraic expressions with a few relatively easy probability problems. I had a question that someone has mentioned before, "If a fisherman only gets bites 1/8 of the time and of those bites only catches a fish 1/3 bites, how many casts does he need to catch 8 fish"? I got booted after only like 15 problems, so I thought I had completely botched this portion of the test since they never really got harder.

Reading:
Haven taken multiple Political Theory courses (that shit is impossible to understand), I did not study for this section at all. I figured I either have it or I don't. On the test, the material was boring and dry, but there seemed to be only answer choice that could be inferred from the passage. This was the easiest section for me. I probably answered 30 questions before I was booted out.

Mechanical:
I never took a physics class in high school and certainly not in college, so I was somewhat concerned about this section. I studied information from Barrons and Kyle's guide, and they both do a great job of preparing you for this section, however during this portion of the test, most of my questions were on concepts that I did not recognize. I had one pulley question and a whole lot of other stuff that I just gave my best guess. All of them but two were conceptual. I probably only answered 10-12 problems before being booted.

I elected to skip my 15 minute break because I was focused and eager to continue on.

ANIT:
I spent a ton of time reviewing the cram flashcards that I will link below. Any time I came across a new piece of information that I did not know when taking practice tests, searching the forums, etc, I would make my own flashcard. I probably made about 200 flashcards myself. I went through these every night before I went to bed. On the test, the only question I was familiar with was an easy question about ailerons. I had a question asking me what some LT Commander was the first to do with an E2C Hawkeye? I guessed and moved on. Again, I only answered about 10-12 questions before i got booted. I thought I was donezo at this point since I was getting booted so quickly from every section.

NATFI:
lol

UAV
I did use the compass trick and totally suggest trying it for yourself. Use the flashcards to practice and you will be fine. I missed three questions because I was trying to go faster than I was capable of. I probably averaged around 2.5 seconds per question. Again, I thought I was donezo because I had expected to miss zero.

PBM:
I prepared for this section with the training guide that Jantzen_Wells made, and it certainly helped. I took a big highlighter and pretended it was a flight stick while I would visualize tracking the plane. On the test itself, I used the Hotas X 52. The dichotic listening was much easier than I expected it to be. I kept both earphones on, and leaned to the target ear. This section is not bad. The vertical tracking was kind of difficult because of the deadzone on the throttle made it difficult to track when the target was going down. The stick portion sucked too. My stick kept getting stuck in the pushed forward position, and when I would try to continue following the plane, my crosshairs would not move at all. The combined section with all three was probably my best section for the three tracking ones. The emergency procedures are not hard at all. Write them down and you will be fine. My first emergency was a fire. I did everything to procedure and for some reason it would not register my inputs. Time expired for that emergency and the screen flashed red. For the other two emergencies, everything worked fine and I completed them in only a few seconds. Just like that, the test was over. Definitely the fastest three hours of my life. At this point, I was expecting to have done horrible. I missed UAV questions, emergency procedures, etc. I was super stoked when i saw my score.


Overall, let me serve as an example to all the non stem majors. You can be trash at math and physics, mess up the UAV portion, and bomb the PBM and still do alright. My advice would be to just stay cool and don't get frustrated. If you stay focused you will do just fine.

Memorize ASTB Aviation/Nautical Information Test (ANIT) [comprehensive] Flashcards - Cram.com

Memorize Flashcards On ASTB Aviation/Nautical Information Test (ANIT) [comprehensive] at Cram.com. We can help you quickly memorize the terms and more!
www.cram.com www.cram.com

State the Correct Answer for Directions Flashcards Flashcards by ProProfs

Study State the Correct Answer for Directions Flashcards Flashcards at ProProfs - For all those pilot wannabes to practice the TBAS UAV section. Be prepared for the TBAS UAV section and master this topic with ease and fun by attempting Flashcards quizzes.
www.proprofs.com www.proprofs.com

Kyle's ASTB Study Kit 2019 - Google Drive

drive.google.com drive.google.com
 
S

Shheen

Well-Known Member
Howdy,

I am currently in the USN. I am looking to become a pilot. I had scheduled my ASTB months out, however, the Admiral I work for had it moved to next week. I have studied a small amount, but looking for more guidance.

Thanks,
Shheen
 
S

Shheen

Well-Known Member
Mouselovr said:
As a result of the complications with the January boards and quotas, no one (including the navy) is quite sure what's going on. The exact status of "what is" the May board is still up in the air. Rumor is that the first "normal" aviation board will be August which is likely why they are saying to submit in July.
Click to expand...

Board is 02Aug. Due date is 25Jun.
 
WannaFlyHigh

WannaFlyHigh

Well-Known Member
cgross220 said:
Hey everyone, figured I'd post my ASTB findings here as well. Kind of got caught off guard a bit with taking my ASTB sooner than I thought, but I was able to take about 5 days off work prior to just study all day every day. I have a decent bit of gaming/flight sim experience, I do have my PPL (about 60 hours at the time of taking my ASTB), and I'm in the last semester of my engineering degree with a 3.94 GPA. I achieved a first attempt ASTB score of 65 9/9/9.

I used Baron's Military Flight Aptitude Test study guide plus the TBAS Test Prep software.

My studying was almost entirely focused on the textbook, with only about 1-2 hours spent on the TBAS software. For those who don't know, the TBAS is the Air Force's version of the PBM section of the ASTB. There are very few similarities and time should only be spent (if you do purchase the severely overpriced software) on the Directional Orientation (parking lot) test and the Multi-Target Tracking test. The AF Multi-Target Tracking test is also a joystick/rudder test, not the joystick/throttle test that the ASTB uses so even that isn't quite the same. In general, if you're not also looking at the Air Force or don't have $60 to get rid of, the TBAS Test Prep software is NOT worth it.

Using the Baron's study guide, I started by going through the chapters I knew would be most important--the math section and the aviation information section. I initially only went through the portions of the math chapter that I was "rusty" on, and then as I already had my PPL and was fairly familiar with most of the aviation information I focused on the Navy-specific information. At this point, I took the first practice test in Baron's. I treated this as the real test, set timers accordingly (yes, this doesn't quite fit with the adaptive test type that the ASTB really is but it still ensures you don't spend 10 minutes on each problem) and I took one test right after the other without grading or taking a break. After the first test was done, I went back and graded it and corrected every question I got wrong. And when I say I corrected the question I don't just mean find out the right answer but why it's the right answer. I made sure that every subsequent question of that type I knew how to do and would get absolutely right next time.

From here, I went back over all relevant chapters--Math, Reading, Mechanics, and Aviation/Nautical Information--from front to back. I again made especially sure to focus on the Math and Aviation/Nautical information, but still went over all vocab listed in the book, classes of levers, etc. After a day or two of studying this, I took the second practice test the day before my ASTB. I again took it the same way as before, and went back through and went back over every question I got wrong.

I took the night before my test off, relaxed a bit and went to bed early. My test was not until 1300 the next day so I let myself sleep until about 0800, had a good breakfast, did a bit more studying, and got to the testing site early enough to have a light lunch in the parking lot. I still went inside pretty early and got all checked in, and even was able to start my test early.

Overall, I honestly didn't think I did great on the test when it finished. I was fully prepared to ask my recruiter when I could take it again, as when the final screen popped up with my grade I thought there was no way I got all 9s and figured it was just explaining the grading scale. That's all to say; when you're taking the test and think you're doing terrible DO NOT GIVE UP. You're only going to screw yourself if you lose steam and lose focus. No one's grading you on how well you think you're doing, so just focus on the problem in front of you and ignore how you think you're doing.

Hope this helps some of y'all getting ready to take the test, and feel free to shoot me a PM or something if you have any further questions on the ASTB not answered by the other awesome people on this thread.
Click to expand...
Damn bro, save some OCS slots for the rest of us
 
Grapeape

Grapeape

Member
Took the ASTB for the first time today and need it up a bit lower than desired so I plan on taking it again in a few weeks.
48 6/7/6 2.6 gpa Im 30 with about 150 hours of flight experience and my ppl.
 
T

Triumph_MAC

Well-Known Member
Mouselovr said:
As a result of the complications with the January boards and quotas, no one (including the navy) is quite sure what's going on. The exact status of "what is" the May board is still up in the air. Rumor is that the first "normal" aviation board will be August which is likely why they are saying to submit in July.
Click to expand...
Did your recruiter pass this information to you? Just curious of the validity of this since I was hoping to apply for the May board.
 
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