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

[FloridaDad]

Please, what’s the name of the app ?

ASTB App

I've been using it for about a bit over a week now and it's not perfect but it's pretty great. The UAV simulator has been a wonderful way to fill a free 5 minutes here and there and I'm already much much better at quickly determining directions. My first two attempts were around 12 out of 20 and about 4 seconds per correct response. My most recent attempt was 19/20 and 1.6 seconds average. The reading comprehension section isn't super helpful but I may feel that way because I've always found reading comprehension to be incredibly easy. The math has majorly helped me out though! I'm re-learning concepts from Algebra over ten years ago and the constant drilling is making me better and better and faster and faster. Being able to see exactly what questions I'm missing and then go study those concepts has been helpful. I just started the mechanical comprehension section so hopefully that's as good as the math and the flashcards for the aviation and nautical information section are going to be a big help. Obviously I haven't taken the test yet so I could find out this entire thing is worthless haha, but from my experience so far, it was well worth the money for the math reviews and the UAV sim. I'm going to supplement it with other recourses found on here, I don't want to get all my prep work from one source to make sure I'm covering whatever one source misses with another source. I'm taking the test in mid-December so I'll have about 2 months of intense study (a couple hours a day at least normally) going into it. I'm feeling confident but honestly I've never been more intimidated by a test mostly because of how high I have to score. I know my GPA is just barely the minimum so in order to pull this off I'll need to score 8's and 9's on the test!

 

[bjudelson12]

Good afternoon,

I took the ASTB today and would appreciate some feedback on my results. I got 63 9/8/8, looking to go SNA. I'm a private pilot and aerospace engineering student applying to OCS (for context). Do you think this is a competitive score?

 

[carviator]

Good afternoon,

I took the ASTB today and would appreciate some feedback on my results. I got 63 9/8/8, looking to go SNA. I'm a private pilot and aerospace engineering student applying to OCS (for context). Do you think this is a competitive score?

That's extremely competitive. That's what I'm aiming for. What was your study regimen? I'm a private pilot and instrument rating and this astb has me stressing hard.

 

[bjudelson12]

That's extremely competitive. That's what I'm aiming for. What was your study regimen? I'm a private pilot and instrument rating and this astb has me stressing hard.

Thanks, that's great to hear! To be honest I probably spent 8-10 hrs total over the past few days doing some practice math and physics problems (it's been quite a while since I've had to do math without a calculator haha). I wouldn't worry too much about the aviation section of the test if you did well on your FAA written exam. I grew up sailing so the nautical info wasn't too bad either. You can't really prepare for it but the joystick tracking part was quite different from what I was expecting (and from flying), there was definitely a learning curve to it. Hope that helps, I read through some previous comments in this thread which gave some context and helped me prepare mentally.

 

[FloridaDad]

Thanks, that's great to hear! To be honest I probably spent 8-10 hrs total over the past few days doing some practice math and physics problems (it's been quite a while since I've had to do math without a calculator haha). I wouldn't worry too much about the aviation section of the test if you did well on your FAA written exam. I grew up sailing so the nautical info wasn't too bad either. You can't really prepare for it but the joystick tracking part was quite different from what I was expecting (and from flying), there was definitely a learning curve to it. Hope that helps, I read through some previous comments in this thread which gave some context and helped me prepare mentally.

For someone with non aviation experience, how close is the aviation section to the FAA exam? A pilot friend gave me access to the course he used to prepare for that, but I don't want to overkill studying that and not work on other areas that need study.

 

[carviator]

For someone with non aviation experience, how close is the aviation section to the FAA exam? A pilot friend gave me access to the course he used to prepare for that, but I don't want to overkill studying that and not work on other areas that need study.

From the Barron's astb study guide I'm reading, I would say I know 99% of the Aviation related content in it from being a private pilot. If your friend gave you a ground school course for private pilot, I'd recommend doing it if you have the time, it definitely won't hurt you. That being said it might be overkill.

 

[bjudelson12]

For someone with non aviation experience, how close is the aviation section to the FAA exam? A pilot friend gave me access to the course he used to prepare for that, but I don't want to overkill studying that and not work on other areas that need study.

Since the test is adaptive, it's hard to say, but I'd guess at least half of a private pilot study guide is overkill. More knowledge never hurts though.

 

[FloridaDad]

From the Barron's astb study guide I'm reading, I would say I know 99% of the Aviation related content in it from being a private pilot. If your friend gave you a ground school course for private pilot, I'd recommend doing it if you have the time, it definitely won't hurt you. That being said it might be overkill.

Since the test is adaptive, it's hard to say, but I'd guess at least half of a private pilot study guide is overkill. More knowledge never hurts though.

Thanks for the insight guys! I'm shooting for 8's and 9's so I need all the knowledge I can learn I think I'll focus primarily on test prep guides and similar content from here, but I'll spend some time on that course as well when I have the time.

 

[Fernandoseq]

Hey everyone,

I’d like to get your opinion on my situation. Just took the ASTB today for the first time around and scored 54 6/6/6 after 1.5 months studying and am only interested in applying for SNA. Honestly kinda disappointed, I could have done better. I’m 26 and graduated with a 2.65 in Chemical Science (had to work during college) three years ago. I’m concerned about two things: [1) Whether this score qualifies for a GPA waiver, which I think it does from what I have seen on previous posts and 2) Whether I’ll get accepted for SNA with this score knowing it’s not low nor competitive either, but also having the lower end of GPA]. I was shooting for minimum of 60 /8/8/8. My recruiter said my score is actually really good.

Given that the first 2022 board meeting got pushed to May, my guess is that I may have a better chance with this score since, in my opinion, they will probably be accepting a larger amount of applicant due to the meeting being almost half-way into the year.

Do you think I should retake it or apply with this score?

Do you think this score qualifies for GPA waiver?

What my chances of SNA acceptance might be with this score?

What are other options if not accepted (I know some people take the Reserve path, I think? Not sure how that works)

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Hey everyone,

I’d like to get your opinion on my situation. Just took the ASTB today for the first time around and scored 54 6/6/6 after 1.5 months studying and am only interested in applying for SNA. Honestly kinda disappointed, I could have done better. I’m 26 and graduated with a 2.65 in Chemical Science (had to work during college) three years ago. I’m concerned about two things: [1) Whether this score qualifies for a GPA waiver, which I think it does from what I have seen on previous posts and 2) Whether I’ll get accepted for SNA with this score knowing it’s not low nor competitive either, but also having the lower end of GPA]. I was shooting for minimum of 60 /8/8/8. My recruiter said my score is actually really good.

Given that the first 2022 board meeting got pushed to May, my guess is that I may have a better chance with this score since, in my opinion, they will probably be accepting a larger amount of applicant due to the meeting being almost half-way into the year.

Do you think I should retake it or apply with this score?

Do you think this score qualifies for GPA waiver?

What my chances of SNA acceptance might be with this score?

What are other options if not accepted (I know some people take the Reserve path, I think? Not sure how that works)

1. You don't need a GPA waiver as there is no min GPA for SNA and SNFO.

2. That score is low, 6's do get picked up but it is a rarer thing, you want at least a 7 to give yourself a decent chance, if your recruiter thinks a 6 is good he is either not a good recruiter or just blowing smoke to make you feel good.

The May board will not be a better chance for selection, the number of spots is divided by the number of boards and then they cap the applicants, so those that need to wait that scored a 5 or 6 will have time to retake and get 7's and 8's which means it could be more competitive.

Since you have time you can study and retake to give yourself a better shot.

 

[sethwhiskey]

I would pick up an ASVAB book and learn the math there then start on the gouge here. If you still need more, pick up a GMAT book and do the math in there. The ASVAB math is much easier and should be a good building block for the ASTB. Starting with pre-algebra to algebra 2 might be okay, but the ASVAB is for people with high school degrees so I don't see why anyone couldn't handle just going straight to that. If you don't understand something just google it and there will be a khan academy video on it.

Also the pilot stuff isn't as applicable to the ASTB as it is for the AFOQT. You'll be fine on the stuff where it asks you what a aileron is, but that isn't that big of a part of the test. You still need to focus on the UAV and tracking the super fast plane with the stick/throttle

rog thank you my man. This helps a lot.

 

[sethwhiskey]

1. You don't need a GPA waiver as there is no min GPA for SNA and SNFO.

2. That score is low, 6's do get picked up but it is a rarer thing, you want at least a 7 to give yourself a decent chance, if your recruiter thinks a 6 is good he is either not a good recruiter or just blowing smoke to make you feel good.

The May board will not be a better chance for selection, the number of spots is divided by the number of boards and then they cap the applicants, so those that need to wait that scored a 5 or 6 will have time to retake and get 7's and 8's which means it could be more competitive.

Since you have time you can study and retake to give yourself a better shot.

how do we know the board was pushed to may??

 

[exNavyOffRec]

how do we know the board was pushed to may??

There wasn't a board scheduled before May, the last one on the schedule was November, but traditionally there is one in Jan or Feb. When the new schedule came out the next board after Nov was May so it wasn't actually pushed as you can't push something that didn't exist.

 

[sethwhiskey]

There wasn't a board scheduled before May, the last one on the schedule was November, but traditionally there is one in Jan or Feb. When the new schedule came out the next board after Nov was May so it wasn't actually pushed as you can't push something that didn't exist.

oh could have sworn my recruiter told me February was board review. Might have been when she just wants the whole thing ready for submission.

Where can I find direct information on board dates?

 

[exNavyOffRec]

look on the 1 Nov SNA thread it is on one of those posts.