i am having an issue with my math skills for the astb. i am having issues not reading all the words in the word problem sections or i miss a very important word because of the time constraints I am under and happens consistently. any suggestions?
TL;DR Practice and reps, read efficiently and keep moving but know you have more time than you realize, identify the objective of the question first the put together the pieces you need to reach the solution, you got this!
Inoculate yourself to the time constraints by crushing as many practice exams from the Kyle and Gomez drives as you're able. Reps will net you practice and confidence. Respectfully, if you can't remain reasonably focused and accurate under the pressure of a timed math test in a quiet room, you are probably going to have a rough military career.
Break down the test. At max you have 40 minutes to answer 30 questions for the math section. That means about a minute and 30 seconds per question. With that said, don't focus on the timer at such a micro scale. Stressing over the timer won't help you solve problems, so make some checkpoints and backstops for yourself.
With 30 minutes left on the test, you should have answered around 8 questions.
With 20 minutes left on the test, you should have answered around 15 questions.
With 10 minutes, around 24.
Use these as minimum benchmarks.
If I recall, the ASTB does not show you what # question you're on so keep a tally on your scratch paper of questions completed as you progress.
Consider the nature of the test. The ASTB is adaptive so if every question seems difficult, it's because you're getting them right.
Please correct me if I'm wrong on this, but my understanding is it's better to answer some questions accurately as opposed to rushing to get it done and potentially wildly guessing on a handful. Strive for 30 but don't rush to get 30. Post #9580 on this thread got almost perfect scores, and they mentioned their math portion ended early with about 18 questions in the bag. They also described a massive difficulty spike. I believe the test only takes as long as it needs to generate your score. By this logic, you have more time than you think on each question because if you're getting them right, you don't need the full 40 minutes.
With that in mind, allow yourself to slow down just enough to fully read and absorb the question with all its information. First identify what the objective to answering the question is, then put together all the pieces you need to answer it.
Not sure if this is helpful but that's how I've been looking at it in preparation.
Everything the Navy throws at you is designed to be completely doable, but just outside typical comfort zone.