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

[fearedengineer]

Did you not use the flash cards?

I did bro even the 400+ one on cram. I even went back and reviewed the flash cards and the only questions I remember seeing on the ASTB from there were about angle of attack, elevator, and starboard light.

 

[Danger95]

I did bro even the 400+ one on cram. I even went back and reviewed the flash cards and the only questions I remember seeing on the ASTB from there were about angle of attack, elevator, and starboard light.

Since you don’t have any aviation background I can tell you probably didn’t understand some of the concepts so my best advice for you would be to start from scratch when I was studying for my private pilot written exam I used this app called the FAA private pilot prep. Studied up on it for 2 weeks and I understand everything I need to pass my written with an 87 so my best advice would be for you to get that app it’s like 63 bucks and just study up on it. Now you don’t need to study every section but you can study up on the basics either that or you can order the FAR/AIM off Amazon

 

[fearedengineer]

Since you don’t have any aviation background I can tell you probably didn’t understand some of the concepts so my best advice for you would be to start from scratch when I was studying for my private pilot written exam I used this app called the FAA private pilot prep. Studied up on it for 2 weeks and I understand everything I need to pass my written with an 87 so my best advice would be for you to get that app it’s like 63 bucks and just study up on it. Now you don’t need to study every section but you can study up on the basics either that or you can order the FAR/AIM off Amazon

You are probably right, I will definitely give these a shot, thanks

 

[Pringles]

Hey everyone. It's been a long road getting into physical shape and studying my ass off, but I've officially set my first ever ASTB for the 28th. I'm aiming for SNFO. 30 years old, GPA 2.99, but I've been in the private sector for the last seven years and have gained significant real world experience on professionalism and team leadership.

I've been using the ASTB Prep app and have done very well on the math section, consistently landing in the "Very Hard" curve with only one or two wrong answers. I'm yet to get it finished in 30 minutes, but I'm darn close and take a new test every other day on top of reviewing for it. I want to ace this part.

For the ANIT, I picked up the Saitek X52 and have been spending time in DCS getting familiar with how each piece of an aircraft works together so as to have a better knowledge than just on paper. Should I keep doing this, or would it be a waste of time? I'm also reading through every flash card and review PDF available through here that I can find. You all are a godsend for posting it.

UAV PBM time is consistently 20/20 between .9 and 1.2 seconds with hard difficulty. Consistently 20/20 on the TI. I haven't done much with the RCS as I've found the Jantzen simulator (with the X52 mapped to keys) to be the best for it. Still measuring around 50% lock-on time in the app, though.

I'm confident at the reading portion, as my ACT scores for reading were always top 1% and I've taken many standardized tests in my life.

The mechanical section is still really throwing me for a loop as some of the questions are very oddly worded or switch the measurement one would expect to use for an answer... Is this similar to the ASTB that I will need to translate answers into whatever format the four options are? I heard somewhere that all of the answers for power will be in Joules and to know how to make the switch. Will these formulas be available the entire time? By far this is my biggest concern.

Any overarching advice for someone going in for their first test? Thanks in advance.

 

[eqleer]

Hey everyone. It's been a long road getting into physical shape and studying my ass off, but I've officially set my first ever ASTB for the 28th. I'm aiming for SNFO. 30 years old, GPA 2.99, but I've been in the private sector for the last seven years and have gained significant real world experience on professionalism and team leadership.

I've been using the ASTB Prep app and have done very well on the math section, consistently landing in the "Very Hard" curve with only one or two wrong answers. I'm yet to get it finished in 30 minutes, but I'm darn close and take a new test every other day on top of reviewing for it. I want to ace this part.

For the ANIT, I picked up the Saitek X52 and have been spending time in DCS getting familiar with how each piece of an aircraft works together so as to have a better knowledge than just on paper. Should I keep doing this, or would it be a waste of time? I'm also reading through every flash card and review PDF available through here that I can find. You all are a godsend for posting it.

UAV PBM time is consistently 20/20 between .9 and 1.2 seconds with hard difficulty. Consistently 20/20 on the TI. I haven't done much with the RCS as I've found the Jantzen simulator (with the X52 mapped to keys) to be the best for it. Still measuring around 50% lock-on time in the app, though.

I'm confident at the reading portion, as my ACT scores for reading were always top 1% and I've taken many standardized tests in my life.

The mechanical section is still really throwing me for a loop as some of the questions are very oddly worded or switch the measurement one would expect to use for an answer... Is this similar to the ASTB that I will need to translate answers into whatever format the four options are? I heard somewhere that all of the answers for power will be in Joules and to know how to make the switch. Will these formulas be available the entire time? By far this is my biggest concern.

Any overarching advice for someone going in for their first test? Thanks in advance.

You may want to want to get your math time lower.

There are some (I'd say 1 or 2 on mine) questions where you will have to convert, and no the conversation is not provided.

Stay focused if you think you did bad on one section shake it off do not let that affect your other sections.

 

[jgeraghty]

I'm yet to get it finished in 30 minutes, but I'm darn close

Moving quicker will help, but the math section was pretty short for me at about 20 questions if I'm remembering correctly. I imagine this will be true if you are scoring very well and getting to the harder questions. However, that is just my speculation, so I would continue to practice.

spending time in DCS getting familiar with how each piece of an aircraft works together

My questions on this topic went as deep as "what do the control surfaces do if the pilot moves the joystick right? how does the attitude of the airplane change?". Being able to put words to these processes will be more helpful than DCS practice. I saw the ANIT as a test of how much information you could memorize rather than how well you could understand processes.

switch the measurement one would expect to use for an answer

I don't remember having to convert units very much on the mechanical section. Basic conversions might show up (centimeters to meters, feet to yards, etc.), but anything beyond that should have a formula provided. Regarding wattage/power, knowing that 1 Watt = 1 Joule/second should be more than enough for conversions. The formula sheet is easy to forget, so check that if you're not sure about anything.

As for any ASTB advice, this was just my experience. It sounds like you're well prepared, so continue doing what you're doing leading up to the test. Rest up, eat well, and hydrate the day before. Don't doubt yourself, and good luck on the test.

 

[dav246]

Hey guys, just took my first attempt at the ASTB and didn’t do too well. I got a 50/5/7/6. But I will share my experience and maybe, it can help anyone taking it soon. I found math to be really easy and it kinda makes me wonder if I did badly since I read that it gets harder the better you do, but I am sure I got almost all the questions right. It was very basic algebra, probability, and geometry. I found the test to be way easier than all the practice exams I took. I finished the test in 15 minutes. The reading was just alot of focusing, none of the practice material will prepare you for it. They give a three-sentence passage and choices that relate to the passage the most. Some questions are obvious some are not. My biggest tip is to analyze each sentence and understand it before moving on to the next. Finished it with 5 minutes remaining. I didn't really prep for the mechanics as much. I think this section is what got me. Just know the concepts majority of questions its either you know or don't know. Barely any calculation. I saw some questions from Barron so I recommend picking up that book. The section that left me most disappointed was the ANIT. Prior to taking this test, I thought the section I would do best in would be the ANIT. I prepped so much for it yet I got caught off guard and I was surprised by how much I didn't know. Basically, almost all of what I studied didn’t appear and there were some questions that I didn’t even see/read. It was about half Navy questions and half aviation questions. I saw no helo questions and maybe one airport question regarding lights. I think I got 50/60% correct. I read and watched alot of material regarding the ANIT and did pretty much all or as many practice exams as I could take but still wasn't enough. The UAV was easy, I got all the answers right. It's similar to the ASTB prep app where the announcer will ask for the target. I will warn anyone who takes it there will be moments when the announcer will not say anything. Throttle and stick was pretty easy as well. I found it easier than Janzem sim they don't say numbers as frequently but one thing that caught me off guard was the letter 'h' and 8(both sounded similar). The structure is still the same so all the buttons that everyone has mentioned previously from their exam have not changed. The Terrain I found it both easier and harder than the ASTB prep app. It's easier to identify and navigate the surrounding terrain on the actual ASTB but it's not multiple choice they give you a cardinal direction compass(again, no multiple choice) and you have to click the correct direction on that compass, which I found to be more difficult since you cannot estimate like the prep app. I think I did decent here but probably got some wrong here.

Any Tips on the ANIT? To people who originally scored low but improved what did you do to improve? Before studying for this test I had zero Navy and aviation knowledge so I had to do alot of learning. I did alot of reading, practice exams, and lecture videos(watched a little bit of the MIT flight videos). Any good resources for learning about Navy stuff? or Aviation? Also, did anyone get a radio question? I forgot what the question was it sounded something like "if 1337(forgot the number) were to call x where would he call(something like that)?" I think one of the choices was VOR. I forgot the rest of the choices.

I feel like your ANIT is what is really dragging you down brother. I studied for that personally with the Cram cards, Twoscoops's app, and the pilots handbook of aeronautical knowledge. You can bump up that OAR by studying for the mech comp and maybe grinding some more math topics.

 

[FSDONightmare]

Hey all,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I wanted to start out by saying THANK YOU to everyone who has posted here and on Reddit, as well as those who have created practice apps and websites. Your contribution is essential to people like me who had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

This morning I took my first run at the ASTB and was lucky enough to score 65 9/8/8.

As people have said before, the content here closely matches the testing content, but I will debrief my experience below.

MATH
I was only allowed one sheet of paper front and back, which was a hinderance as I tend to write big and messy and have practiced with the ability to change out paper as needed. The questions asked here were not by any means high level math, but they WERE difficult, and I ended up guessing on probably half of them. Know your square roots, especially those with numbers ahead of the root sign. Know how to find area of a shape given something like "if the base is 7 times the height, and the perimeter is 80x". know how to find a percentage of a percentage, especially in situations where discounts are added together on the price of a car. Know how to find the perimeter of a triangle if you're given the hypotenuse as 3(sqrt of 2). Know how to find probability of someone both rolling a die AND pulling a certain type of card from a deck. As mentioned before, don't worry about knowing formulas for area, they are all given, and they only asked maybe one or two. Know how to find the area of a circular track given the interior area and the width of the track itself. I was not asked any matrices, logarithms, or advanced geometry. I DID, however, rush to complete this section and anything I couldn't figure out in a minute or so I just guessed and moved on.

READING
Not much to say here, just read fast and choose the correct answer. The topics discussed were SO much less interesting than anything that any prep book has. The passages are so incredibly dry and technical. Try reading Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators by Hurt, that's about the level of jargon and writing.

MECHANICAL.
Almost no calculations, it really is just your ability to reason. Know what happens when you put larger or smaller tires on a car and what it will do to your speedometer. Know what happens when metals heat or cool down. Know how to mathematically balance a lever with a load on one end. I would say just focus on the WHY of mechanical principles.

AVIATION/NAUTICAL KNOWLEGE
Mostly just aviation knowledge, quite a bit of helicopter related questions, and a few questions on general quarters, deck crew colors, and certain aviation weapons systems. Know the parts of an aircraft, to include parts of military-only aircraft. Know various types of aircraft as well. Very few if any ship parts/nomenclature, and no questions on rates or ranks. For the pilots out there, this will be a lot of "Duh" stuff. For example- "which part of the wing moves? how does one counteract adverse yaw?"

EVERYTHING ELSE
Everything else on the test has, in my opinion, been beat to death. The gouges on the psychomotor part are really accurate, and it's a difficult part of the test for sure. Be aware that there IS a terrain identification portion, and its hard (0, 30, 60, 90 degree marks) and you have to select the heading based off of a compass with all the available options; there isn't 4 options like the app has. In essence you have 12 options to choose from for every question.

Thats all I got. Again, I really do appreciate all that everyone here has done. This is an awesome group of people that really do want to see everyone do well. Study hard, and study often, and you will do just fine.

 

[Empire16]

Hey guys, just took my first attempt at the ASTB and didn’t do too well. I got a 50/5/7/6. But I will share my experience and maybe, it can help anyone taking it soon. I found math to be really easy and it kinda makes me wonder if I did badly since I read that it gets harder the better you do, but I am sure I got almost all the questions right. It was very basic algebra, probability, and geometry. I found the test to be way easier than all the practice exams I took. I finished the test in 15 minutes. The reading was just alot of focusing, none of the practice material will prepare you for it. They give a three-sentence passage and choices that relate to the passage the most. Some questions are obvious some are not. My biggest tip is to analyze each sentence and understand it before moving on to the next. Finished it with 5 minutes remaining. I didn't really prep for the mechanics as much. I think this section is what got me. Just know the concepts majority of questions its either you know or don't know. Barely any calculation. I saw some questions from Barron so I recommend picking up that book. The section that left me most disappointed was the ANIT. Prior to taking this test, I thought the section I would do best in would be the ANIT. I prepped so much for it yet I got caught off guard and I was surprised by how much I didn't know. Basically, almost all of what I studied didn’t appear and there were some questions that I didn’t even see/read. It was about half Navy questions and half aviation questions. I saw no helo questions and maybe one airport question regarding lights. I think I got 50/60% correct. I read and watched alot of material regarding the ANIT and did pretty much all or as many practice exams as I could take but still wasn't enough. The UAV was easy, I got all the answers right. It's similar to the ASTB prep app where the announcer will ask for the target. I will warn anyone who takes it there will be moments when the announcer will not say anything. Throttle and stick was pretty easy as well. I found it easier than Janzem sim they don't say numbers as frequently but one thing that caught me off guard was the letter 'h' and 8(both sounded similar). The structure is still the same so all the buttons that everyone has mentioned previously from their exam have not changed. The Terrain I found it both easier and harder than the ASTB prep app. It's easier to identify and navigate the surrounding terrain on the actual ASTB but it's not multiple choice they give you a cardinal direction compass(again, no multiple choice) and you have to click the correct direction on that compass, which I found to be more difficult since you cannot estimate like the prep app. I think I did decent here but probably got some wrong here.

Any Tips on the ANIT? To people who originally scored low but improved what did you do to improve? Before studying for this test I had zero Navy and aviation knowledge so I had to do alot of learning. I did alot of reading, practice exams, and lecture videos(watched a little bit of the MIT flight videos). Any good resources for learning about Navy stuff? or Aviation? Also, did anyone get a radio question? I forgot what the question was it sounded something like "if 1337(forgot the number) were to call x where would he call(something like that)?" I think one of the choices was VOR. I forgot the rest of the choices.

Going to guess that the radio question is a squak code and it goes to the ATC (air traffic control).

 

[OGBean]

Just took the ASTB for the second time, 62 7 6 7. Should I risk the third try? I'm an OCS candidate and I have a 3.95 GPA, criminology major but I took some calculus and physics courses and got As in them throughout college and I have some good LORs, work and student-athlete experience. However I'm seeing more from this thread that scores tend to be more important than other parts of the application by a lot. My goal is pilot but I know its super competitive and my scores are not great. Would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions.

 

[pcola478]

Just took the ASTB for the second time, 62 7 6 7. Should I risk the third try? I'm an OCS candidate and I have a 3.95 GPA, criminology major but I took some calculus and physics courses and got As in them throughout college and I have some good LORs, work and student-athlete experience. However I'm seeing more from this thread that scores tend to be more important than other parts of the application by a lot. My goal is pilot but I know its super competitive and my scores are not great. Would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions.

The 6 PFAR isn’t doing you any favors but the OAR and other parts of your application are solid. From what I’ve read, the LORs are more a formality for pilot applicants. If I were you, I’d keep an eye on this current board and the results. Keep studying as if you’re going to take it again. There are a lot of excellent resources on here. Most people have pretty stacked scores right now (8-9 PFARs). Did you see an improvement from your first attempt?

 

[Mil3s]

Just took the ASTB for the second time, 62 7 6 7. Should I risk the third try? I'm an OCS candidate and I have a 3.95 GPA, criminology major but I took some calculus and physics courses and got As in them throughout college and I have some good LORs, work and student-athlete experience. However I'm seeing more from this thread that scores tend to be more important than other parts of the application by a lot. My goal is pilot but I know its super competitive and my scores are not great. Would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions.

I agree with what Pcola, I would say to take it again but maybe give yourself more time to study for the PFAR. Also I would keep a eye out on the selection rate for this coming board, based on the excel sheets this board and the previous board have very similar scores and from the previous board a good amount of PFAR 6s got selected so there is a chance. But with that being said i would say study harder and retake, especially after seeing how this December board pans out.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Just took the ASTB for the second time, 62 7 6 7. Should I risk the third try? I'm an OCS candidate and I have a 3.95 GPA, criminology major but I took some calculus and physics courses and got As in them throughout college and I have some good LORs, work and student-athlete experience. However I'm seeing more from this thread that scores tend to be more important than other parts of the application by a lot. My goal is pilot but I know its super competitive and my scores are not great. Would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions.

What was your first set of scores and was there an improvement? If you look over time 6's are rarely accepted for SNA, now if you want SNFO you have a decent shot.

Your best bet is to keep practicing and studying. Have you graduated and if not when do you graduate?

 

[OGBean]

The 6 PFAR isn’t doing you any favors but the OAR and other parts of your application are solid. From what I’ve read, the LORs are more a formality for pilot applicants. If I were you, I’d keep an eye on this current board and the results. Keep studying as if you’re going to take it again. There are a lot of excellent resources on here. Most people have pretty stacked scores right now (8-9 PFARs). Did you see an improvement from your first attempt?

Thank you for your feedback! And yes my first attempt was 60 and some 5s and 4s. I do not remember the exact scores but nothing over a 5.

 

[OGBean]

I agree with what Pcola, I would say to take it again but maybe give yourself more time to study for the PFAR. Also I would keep a eye out on the selection rate for this coming board, based on the excel sheets this board and the previous board have very similar scores and from the previous board a good amount of PFAR 6s got selected so there is a chance. But with that being said i would say study harder and retake, especially after seeing how this December board pans out.

Sounds good, thank you!