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

[mmandziak]

Hi everyone,

I have been on airwarriors for quite some time now, but finally decided that it would be beneficial for me to make an account. I am scheduled to take my first ASTB attempt on August 8th. I have been studying using the google drives posted on here, ASTB prep app, and even the barrons and momentrix study books. I recently bought a thrustmaster T16000M joystick and thruster to begin preparing for the PBMB portion, but am having a hard time configuring it to my PC to use for the Jantzen simulator. I tried using it on the ASTB prep app last night, but the app crashed like TwoScoops mentioned. I have yet to try again today as he just posted an update on that issue. I am not super great with computers so any advice would be greatly appreciated to get the joystick up and running.

I also am having an interesting time preparing for the Terrain Identification and would be extremely grateful to anyone willing to share tips and tricks for that portion of the test. I have seen some posts mentioning the "pencil trick" and I have used that for the UAV portion which was a game changer, but I am not having the same luck using that for the terrain identification.

Thanks in advance for anyone reading this and willing to help. This website and all the posts on it have been incredible and have eased this process tremendously for me.

send me a message and we’ll talk about terrain ID.

 

[rhansenwa13]

Anyone submitted recently for I-Sel? My package is getting submitted today with medical already cleared. Wondering if anyone has a first hand experience of timing.

 

[Latte44]

I’m taking it this upcoming week and have went through both Gomez and Kyle drives but have been focusing on studying on the app this past week.

Few have said math was very identical on the exam, reading was harder, and mechanical was easier. In your experience, would you say this is true, and can you explain if it is or isn’t?

I’m scoring a consistent 90%+ on the practice exam for MST on the app but the closer my date gets the more anxious I get lol no matter how much I’ve studied.

Thanks in advance

I can not say enough good about the app really. Without it I would not have passed and I say that confidently so absolutely a great thing to be studying with and you should feel confidence with the scores you are achieving on it.
I would say that everyone's advice here would match mine like you said! Math is a struggle for me and always has been but through studying the ASTB app and watching a lot of Organic Chemistry Tutor on YouTube helped. I focused heavily on exponent rules, Logs, & DRT/work/ word problems. Also READ THE QUESTION! I can not stress this enough I worked through a whole problem only to find out that one of the numbers provided was in feet and the other in yards. Now that is not a huge deal (3 feet in a yard and all that jazz), but if I did not read the question a second time before picking an answer I would have gotten it wrong which instead I was able to get it right.
If I had to guess as to what brought down my AQR I would say it was the reading comprehension. I do not want to be a broken record as so many people have said the same thing, but it truly is boring passages. Stay engaged and do your best, I would say that 2 answers were just too much information and not the correct choice, then there was two that it could be between, but one just had that little piece that made it more specific than the other which would make it the wrong answer.
As far as the anxiety I completely understand that. Like I said in my first post I was seriously concerned given the company I am in here. Let me confidently tell you that I am by no means anyone special. I am not a wiz kid in any particular subject (except I'm an aviation nerd like most of us in here). I was able to study HARD and go over the material the best I could. The key is being calm, trusting yourself, and keep moving through. You can't change anything about the question, section, or test before, all you can do is keep moving forward.
As so many have said, this test is very "passable", it is a dream to be a pilot or be in the aviation field, if it was not you wouldn't be here and you would be this anxious about the test. I promise that you can do it and will be ok.
I hope I answered your questions and if not or you would like anymore elaboration please feel free to message me and I will gladly do my best to help. My scores were far from the top in here so I may not be the best authority on it but any info I can share I am more than happy to.

 

[sp2024]

Does anyone have any tips on Terrain ID, I can get the cardinal direction ones correct but I keep barely missing the ones where its "NNE vs ENE". Any input on how to differentiate such small differences ?

 

[mmandziak]

Does anyone have any tips on Terrain ID, I can get the cardinal direction ones correct but I keep barely missing the ones where it’s "NNE vs ENE". Any input on how to differentiate such small differences ?

Shoot me a message and I’ll help you out, I struggled with this too.

 

[23brooks23]

Hey guys I know this the astb thread but I just wanted to get some feedback from y'all here since it seems like this thread is very active.
Im applying the upcoming SNA board in September and the cut off date for my app is august 3rd. I scored a 53 7/8/7 and have a 2.7 GPA. But I wanted to know if you guys could give me some feedback on my motivational statement.

I wish to have the honor of serving my country in the United States Navy. As a child that's come from a family that has ties to the military for as far as I can remember. My mother was in the Army as a nurse, my stepfather was in the Navy. My grandfather on my mother’s side was an Army officer. My grandfather on my father’s side was in the Air Force. It’s always been around me and truthfully in my blood to serve. I wish I would've started this process sooner.
Throughout my childhood and early adult life, I was heavily involved in sports. I was a 3 sport letterman in high school and went off to play D1 college football at a couple of different schools and during my time in college, I was fortunate to win a conference championship and a bowl game. Looking back at my time as an athlete and playing sports it molded me into the person that I am today. I learned how to be a good teammate. I was able to see firsthand the importance of honesty, integrity, and unity when trying to achieve our common goals.These values that sports teach us are what makes for a successful yet humble person. Over the years of playing, I got to be on many different teams playing different sports collecting many accolades and recognition. But to me, the best accolade that I would constantly receive would be getting voted on to the leadership council. Being successful at my position on the team wasn’t what would get me on that council. It was the value that I would bring to help everyone else come together so we could have a common goal. I was tasked with upholding our high standards and teaching incoming members to represent our values. And to be an officer in the Navy or any branch of the military for that matter they need to have that in mind.
I’ve always had a love for aviation. When I was a kid I would always want some rc plane or helicopter. And when we would go on trips I had to sit in the window seat so I could look outside as we flew. But with me being so involved with sports I never really looked into aviation as a career path. As my playing career started coming to an end I had to start finding the career that I wanted for my life. I didn't want to work a desk job, I didn't want to do something monotonous. And I came back to my love for aviation. It’s challenging, rewarding, and something very fun to do on a day-to-day basis. So I did my research and got myself into a flight school putting myself on the right track to go to the airlines. But I would keep getting that sense that I needed to serve my country. And that's when I realized that everything that I've done in my life and the things that I'm doing now were meant to lead me to this opportunity.
With all the years of experience playing sports and the leadership positions that I have been put in on those teams, I feel that I would be a great addition as an officer on the best team in the world. As well as the experience that I'm getting with flying and the licenses that I've earned as a pilot, I believe that I would make a great pilot for the United States Navy. And I would be honored to carry on what my family has done before me and continue to improve as a man, leader and pilot as a commissioned officer.

any feedback would much appreciated.

 

[mmandziak]

Hey guys I know this the astb thread but I just wanted to get some feedback from y'all here since it seems like this thread is very active.
Im applying the upcoming SNA board in September and the cut off date for my app is august 3rd. I scored a 53 7/8/7 and have a 2.7 GPA. But I wanted to know if you guys could give me some feedback on my motivational statement.

I wish to have the honor of serving my country in the United States Navy. As a child that's come from a family that has ties to the military for as far as I can remember. My mother was in the Army as a nurse, my stepfather was in the Navy. My grandfather on my mother’s side was an Army officer. My grandfather on my father’s side was in the Air Force. It’s always been around me and truthfully in my blood to serve. I wish I would've started this process sooner.
Throughout my childhood and early adult life, I was heavily involved in sports. I was a 3 sport letterman in high school and went off to play D1 college football at a couple of different schools and during my time in college, I was fortunate to win a conference championship and a bowl game. Looking back at my time as an athlete and playing sports it molded me into the person that I am today. I learned how to be a good teammate. I was able to see firsthand the importance of honesty, integrity, and unity when trying to achieve our common goals.These values that sports teach us are what makes for a successful yet humble person. Over the years of playing, I got to be on many different teams playing different sports collecting many accolades and recognition. But to me, the best accolade that I would constantly receive would be getting voted on to the leadership council. Being successful at my position on the team wasn’t what would get me on that council. It was the value that I would bring to help everyone else come together so we could have a common goal. I was tasked with upholding our high standards and teaching incoming members to represent our values. And to be an officer in the Navy or any branch of the military for that matter they need to have that in mind.
I’ve always had a love for aviation. When I was a kid I would always want some rc plane or helicopter. And when we would go on trips I had to sit in the window seat so I could look outside as we flew. But with me being so involved with sports I never really looked into aviation as a career path. As my playing career started coming to an end I had to start finding the career that I wanted for my life. I didn't want to work a desk job, I didn't want to do something monotonous. And I came back to my love for aviation. It’s challenging, rewarding, and something very fun to do on a day-to-day basis. So I did my research and got myself into a flight school putting myself on the right track to go to the airlines. But I would keep getting that sense that I needed to serve my country. And that's when I realized that everything that I've done in my life and the things that I'm doing now were meant to lead me to this opportunity.
With all the years of experience playing sports and the leadership positions that I have been put in on those teams, I feel that I would be a great addition as an officer on the best team in the world. As well as the experience that I'm getting with flying and the licenses that I've earned as a pilot, I believe that I would make a great pilot for the United States Navy. And I would be honored to carry on what my family has done before me and continue to improve as a man, leader and pilot as a commissioned officer.

any feedback would much appreciated.

Wrong thread. But, motivational statement doesn’t matter for SNA. They likely won’t even read it. They will just look at your GPA and ASTB score.

 

[23brooks23]

Wrong thread. But, motivational statement doesn’t matter for SNA. They likely won’t even read it. They will just look at your GPA and ASTB score.

Yeah ik, I posted it on the other thread but they’re not as active on there. But I appreciate your feedback. Ik they may not really look at it I just wanted to make sure it was still good in case they do.

 

[mmandziak]

Yeah ik, I posted it on the other thread but they’re not as active on there. But I appreciate your feedback. Ik they may not really look at it I just wanted to make sure it was still good in case they do.

It’s not an if or maybe situation. They simply won’t look at it. They don’t care about flight hours, LOR’s, a good statement, or anything that isn’t GPA or ASTB.

 

[Danger95]

It’s not an if or maybe situation. They simply won’t look at it. They don’t care about flight hours, LOR’s, a good statement, or anything that isn’t GPA or ASTB.

How do you know what they look at and what they ignore? have you sat at the board and witnessed the process? Don’t disseminate wrong information if you have never sat on a board panel.

 

[mmandziak]

How do you know what they look at and what they ignore? have you sat at the board and witnessed the process? Don’t disseminate wrong information if you have never sat on a board panel.

because that’s the gouge on the board process? You can ask other people that are active here…I’m not just regurgitating false information for the fun of it.

 

[ea6bflyr]

@Nnamdi25 your GPA is your biggest minus. 2.7 in a technical degree might be okay, but a 2.7 in a non-tech degree and your probably dead in the water. (Your profile is empty)

What did your OR say about your GPA?

At this point, the only way to make your application stronger is to re-take the ASTB and shoot for 9’s.

 

[Danger95]

@Nnamdi25 your GPA is your biggest minus. 2.7 in a technical degree might be okay, but a 2.7 in a non-tech degree and your probably dead in the water. (Your profile is empty)

What did your OR say about your GPA?

At this point, the only way to make your application stronger is to re-take the ASTB and shoot for 9’s.

These are not my stats

 

[exNavyOffRec]

How do you know what they look at and what they ignore? have you sat at the board and witnessed the process? Don’t disseminate wrong information if you have never sat on a board panel.

He isn't wrong, unless you have a waiver they don't bother with those things it has been that way for decades now. The most important indicator of success in the pipeline is the ASTB, that is why the actual review of the application goes so fast for aviation while others like IWC, Supply, or CEC take many days.

 

[mmandziak]

I wasn’t trying to be a dick to you guys or anything like that. I was just regurgitating gouge that has been backed up by multiple verified sources.

@23brooks23 @Nnamdi25