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

[Jacksa71]

When i took the test, I used the compass technique as well. But what I had to do to get the right answer was to flip north upside down (north was south and south was north) for the whole test. I am still not sure why because when I do the flash cards for practice I keep north as north and still get the answers right. when looking at the picture above I would need to flip the compass upside to get the correct answer.

 

[Triumph_MAC]

View attachment 30348

Hi all,

I would really appreciate help with this one. The first ones are so natural and I am confused by this one. C is the correct answer. Why isn't it A?

Like others said, the yellow pointer is pointing towards the red dot which would be South, so South is your new North making parking lot A the right answer. Making the compass and using that is a great way to crush that part. I’m right at 4:29 and get 65/65 on the cards in the study guide posted.

 

[sskanchiraju]

Hey everyone!
I haven't been on here since I took my ASTB-E back in November/December of 2019. I scored a 61/7/5/7 and at the time I was dead set on pilot and thought about retaking the exam just to try and get the PFAR score necessary. However, I changed course halfway through last year and ended up applying in November of 2020 for NFO and Intel. I'm still waiting on hearing back from the March Intel board but my recruiter informed that I got the Pro Y for NFO in the most recent board. I just wanted to come back to this thread and thank everyone who took/still take the time to answer not only my questions but answer questions in general and wanted to wish everyone good luck in their endeavors whether that's studying for the test, waiting for board results, or waiting for their FINSEL. This is an amazing community and I am truly grateful for you guys

 

[Flying Squid]

I am currently prepping with the PBM Trainer. Does anybody have suggestions for scores I should target? I am currently two notches down from max speed on both throttle and target speed and I am scoring around 80 consistently with 100% accuracy on the numbers portion. It seems like the min possible score is around 20 (or at least for me).

 

[Ghost SWO]

I am currently prepping with the PBM Trainer. Does anybody have suggestions for scores I should target? I am currently two notches down from max speed on both throttle and target speed and I am scoring around 90 consistently with 100% accuracy on the numbers portion. It seems like the min possible score is around 20 (or at least for me).

The numbers are a metric on the trainer, you'll never see that on the test. Keep at it and do your best. Shoot for as low as you can.

 

[James Fennell]

Hey all. My first ASTB scores were 57/7/5/5 with the goal of being an SNFO. Right now I'm trying to decide on whether or not I should retest. I graduated with a 2.8 in Physics (B.S.) and also hold a private pilot certificate. Id appreciate any help you guys could give.

 

[villo0692]

Hey all. My first ASTB scores were 57/7/5/5 with the goal of being an SNFO. Right now I'm trying to decide on whether or not I should retest. I graduated with a 2.8 in Physics (B.S.) and also hold a private pilot certificate. Id appreciate any help you guys could give.

I would

 

[Ghost SWO]

Hey all. My first ASTB scores were 57/7/5/5 with the goal of being an SNFO. Right now I'm trying to decide on whether or not I should retest. I graduated with a 2.8 in Physics (B.S.) and also hold a private pilot certificate. Id appreciate any help you guys could give.

I'd retest, your FOFAR of a 5 is the minimum. Your OAR is good but they won't care about OAR much. If you want to go NFO they care about the AQR and FOFAR.

 

[villo0692]

@Ghost SWO is gonna have a statue made of him when I get to Pensacola....y'all will remember my words

 

[Flying Squid]

Hey all! Took my test today. 64/8/8/8. Thank you for all of the help! Really appreciate it.

 

[Ghost SWO]

Hey all! Took my test today. 64/8/8/8. Thank you for all of the help! Really appreciate it.

Killed it, well done! No need to retake... If that wasn't clear already lol

 

[ed_98]

Hey all! Took my test today. 64/8/8/8. Thank you for all of the help! Really appreciate it.

Holy!
Great scores!

How much would you say that the PBM trainer helped you? I'm averaging 70's on target, 110's on throttle and like 90% on the audio ques. Max difficulty

 

[flatspinturkeyb]

Hi all,

Just scored a 66/9/9/9. Background in mechanical engineering. Currently getting PPL (~12 hours in). Thank you to everyone who has posted here. It helped tremendously in my studies. I studied for about 2 weeks but luckily for me a lot overlapped/was review from private pilot ground school as well as the math/mechanical knowledge from college.

I mainly used the Barron's book, which I felt helped me be prepared for both the reading comprehension and mechanical comprehension, as well as some of the ANIT. I don't think it adequately prepared me for the math. I mainly used the UAV flashcards and PBM trainer below for the PBM portion, which prepared me about as well as I felt I could be. Here are all the resources I used which are basically just a compilation of this thread:

Barron's Military Flight Aptitude Tests
This reddit post
UAV flashcards
Random ANIT flashcards
More random ANIT flashcards
This Navy practice test
PBM trainer
Old Marine Gouge
More random materials

Could you share some more stats like age, GPA, intended track? The recruiter must've been very encouraging when you got that ASTB score.

 

[JMT865]

3.90 GPA (53, 6, 7, 7 ASTB-e). Applying SNA for FY22. Should I retake?

 

[wildepana1]

I took the test today for my second time.

First attempt: 48 - 5/5/5 (12/19/2019)
Second attempt: 53 - 7/8/7 (2/25/2020)

Initially, I thought I was screwed, but my second score came to my surprise.

Because I got most of my degree done online, I really had to put a lot of effort into studying for this test. I studied full-time for about 4 months prior to my first attempt. After my failure, I took a few weeks off to relax before getting back into the game. During that time I also programmed my three practice simulators.

I had a hard time sleeping last night because I was so anxious, but at the same time super excited and eager to just get this test done once and for all. I got about 6 hours of sleep. I woke up and just ate a Cliff energy bar to tide myself over for the next 5 hours. I also ate a Snickers and drank some gatorade to give myself an energy boost shortly before I started. Do not eat too much, that got me my first test attempt. I ate pancakes and I was stuffed, big mistake! Just have a simple snack to tide you over.

What really helped was Kyle's ASTB Study Kit 2019, so take full advantage of it: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AvPi5oH_h_13TGajDvflDWkftwXO8LS6

Math:
Exponents, expressions, proportions, DRT problems, mixture problems, working-together problems, geometry, probabilities, and more.

If you're skeptical about your math abilities, no shame. Start fresh by watching all of MathAntics's videos on Youtube. You should also visit their website and run through their entire playlist. Then you need to really work on becoming fluent with algebraic word problems. Algebra is about solving for an unknown property. Every word problem involves an unknown property to solve for by writing an equation that represents the situation. Another Youtuber that was very helpful was The Organic Chemistry Tutor.

Watching Youtube videos, I learned more in one day than a semester back in High School.

I mean it, focus on the word problems. Especially DRT! Know the three DRT formulas.

What really helped me on the DRT word problems was writing down the most applicable DRT formula given the situation. For example, for problems involving when two planes will converge from a certain distance. I knew I needed to find how many hours. So the applicable formula was D=RT.

Reading:
Just read and understand what the passage is saying. Go over each answer choice one by one and rule them out! Look for details in the answer choices that conflict with the passage.

Most of the readings were Navy policy and history. You don't need to be a lawyer to understand what the passage is saying.

Mechanical:
A lot of random questions involving air density, air pressure, voltage, mechanical advantage of levers, and too much for me to recall.

Some questions involved fluid flow and volume. For example, at which point of the narrowed funnel does water flow the fastest? How airplanes fly with pressure differentiation, what point of the trajectory has the greatest velocity, etc...

Some harder problems asked me how much an object of weight on Earth would weigh on Mars given the planet's "acceleration of mass m/s^2 yatayatayata." I had to guess. Don't spend more than 10 seconds determining if you can solve it or not. If you know for sure you can't solve it, just guess it and move on.

Make sure you understand how to determine the MA of all simple machines. To name a few that were most important:
First-Class Lever: L1 * F1 = L2 * F2
Second & Third-Class Lever: Middle Force * Middle Length / End Length = Lift/Push Force
Hydraulic Jack: Output Radius / Input Radius #It can also be diameter since they're proportional.
Pulley MA: Count ropes supporting the moveable pulley.

Drill them into your head!

Momentrix OAR really helped with my mechanical knowledge.

If you have an engineering degree and/or background, you're at a tremendous advantage.

ANIT:
Bunch of typical aviation and Navy stuff. "How did aircraft carriers evolve to support the F-14?" I'm assuming larger jet-blast deflectors, but that wasn't a choice, so I selected more powerful catapults. Some other answer choices I recall that made me laugh were "more powerful aircraft, larger flight decks." Another interesting question "what aircraft was retrofitted to be a tanker during Operation Iraqi Freedom? - Super Hornet?". Definitely not the Harrier, the Tomcat, or the "Avenger?" Other questions I recall were "Famous dive bomber - Dauntless," "If all VASI lights red - too low," airport tower signal lights, angle of attack, flight deck crew colors, and much more. The only nautical question I got was "What happens to the freeboard if you add more weight to the ship?"

Read the gouges, visit a museum, practice flashcards, and much more. These really helped: https://www.cram.com/flashcards/tes...l-information-test-anit-comprehensive-4718163

BI-RV:
From what my recruiter told me, they recently did a software update to the test in Pensacola. They changed this section so now you just have to click the text to proceed to the next paired statement. That being said, break your habit of double-clicking!!! This was explicitly warned in the test section's instructions.

Some questions were "I occasionally run stop signs when in a hurry," "I get mad easily...," "my car occasionally runs out of gas," and a lot more! Just try not to contradict yourself. Be patient and read before you answer. Pilots should follow checklists to save themselves and the plane. If not sure, just select the least destructive scenario.

PBMB:
I wasn't prepared for the PBMB my first attempt, which is what killed my score. I have no doubt my simulators improved my stamina and gave me some serious practice.

See my past posts for the simulators I published for the tracking portions, dichotic listening test, and UAV test.

Although my recruiter laughed, I brought my own pair of headphones just in case of even the slightest chance of their headphones not working properly.

UAV Test:
I only missed one and that was because I heard someone laugh hysterically in the background which caught my attention off-guard. Take advantage of my UAV simulator. Create a strategy to answer each orientation in your head, rather than using the paper method. Make sure that you don't get them backwards like most people do. The red nose points to your heading, not the yellow tail!!! Run through my practice simulator repeatedly until your hand is sore! If you can train yourself to do them all in your head, you can get a score like this:

View attachment 24626

Dichotic Listening Test:
On the dichotic listening test, clear your ears by swallowing, take a breath, and relax. Focus your attention in the active target ear. Do not press any trigger until you hear both characters have played in both the left and right ears. This is due to latency by a few milliseconds between the audio being played in one ear before the other. At one point I was quick to depress a trigger on the joystick, but quickly realized that number I responded to was from the non-target ear. Don't rush yourself!

What really helped me was to mentally repeat the characters that I heard in the target ear as they were playing.

Needless to say, take advantage of my dichotic listening simulator!

Tracking & Emergency Scenarios Test:
I cannot stress this enough, GET IN THE HABIT OF Y-AXIS LOOK INVERSION! If you play any FPS games like COD or Halo, set your look to inverted and deal with it! The Navy uses the Saitek X52 joystick. If this test means that much to you, I would even consider investing in one. I for one got the Logitech X56 HOTAS because I enjoy playing flight simulators as well.

For the Emergency Scenarios Test, memorize the emergency scenarios in your head. Repeat them even in your free time until they are drilled into your head!

View attachment 24622

FIRE:
-Fuel: LOW
-Power: LOW
-Press the clutch!

ENGINE:
-Fuel: HIGH
-Power: HIGH
-Press the clutch!

PROPELLOR:
-Fuel: NEUTRAL
-Power: HIGH
-Press the clutch!

After you've tested on all three emergency scenarios, the gauges will disappear and you will have about 30 seconds to continue the multi-tracking. During that time just hang in there and give it your best shot to maximize your score! It's like the final round in the game. Immediately after, you will receive your final ASTB score.

A frequently asked question is what positions do the colors on the gauges represent. RED - HIGH, GREEN - NEUTRAL, YELLOW - LOW. See attached "EST-Examinees-attempt-to-track.png"

Look at "EST-Examinees-attempt-to-track.png" and just imagine yourself crosshair tracking two flies simultaneously with a flight sim joystick.

If you're computer savvy, take advantage of the tracking visualizer I made and use JoyToKey with a flight simulator joystick and bind it to your mouse cursor. Remember to make the Y-axis inverted (Up goes down and down goes up).

Lastly, don't die by the gouge! Read the test instructions beforehand to ensure no discrepancies from what you studied.

How often you practice shows how badly you want this career. Just don't schedule to take the ASTB until you're 100% comfortable with all of the material on this forum. Make the effort and research!

hey you said you had programmed three practice simulators do you mind sharing those?