Just took my first ASTB this afternoon, 72 9/8/8. I'm a 3rd year aerospace major in NROTC.
Biggest takeaways from the exam are definitely to relax and just do your best. I was super nervous going into the exam, but if you care enough to do your research and be on this forum, then you probably care enough that you'll do just fine. Study hard with the drives and do practice tests. I never did a full on practice test, mostly just a few questions at a time and then checking my work. I studied on and off for 3 or so months, maybe 30 mins tops every other day. Test week I went hard in the paint and studied all day for three or four days straight. Probably not a good strategy as this really stressed me out and made me feel unprepared.
The math section was not really what I was expecting. Questions weren't super easy from the start, but they still doable (basic algebra and whatnot). being the first section on top of being super nervous didnt help either. I had one question on perfect numbers that I guessed on. Problems got really hard really fast (matrix multiplication, long convoluted log equations etc.) and then it ended. it felt like i had only 10 questions or so and i was done pretty quick. that threw me for a loop because I couldn't tell if it ended because I was doing good or because I bombed it.
Didnt study at all for reading, just read this forum and went in blind. Already been mentioned but its all really boring articles, and just eliminate choices that arent explicitly in the text. I took the full time for this one, it only ended when I had like 20 seconds left. not sure how many questions I got through either. i dont think you really need to stress out time wise for this one.
Mechanical was pretty easy, its not really like the prep app if youve been using it. There was no math or anything like that, just purely conceptual. I didnt get any circuits or electrons like some people mentioned, mostly pulleys, work, bernoullis, etc. If you've taken any sort of physics and gone through the practice tests you'll be fine.
ANIT wasnt what I expected either. No airspace, lights, or navy rates questions. im sure theyre in the bank but i didnt see any myself. Mostly basic airplane info ie "what happens when you pull back on the stick" 'what is an empennage" etc. I got one curveball on carburetor icing that i made my best guess on. If you like planes at all or play flight sims this section will probably not be an issue.
The UAV section messed me up the most. I used the prep app non stop for like a week before the exam and was getting 41-42 out of 42 every time, averaging around ~1s using my phone. I thought this would be the easiest part of the exam. When I got to the actual portion though its not 100% like the app as I had been told. definitely very similar but the biggest thing was its not a picture of a drone like the app, its just a little ball and an arrow. I based most of my muscle memory off of using the drone wings as quadrants so this definitely messed me up. I got 2 wrong and my reaction time was abysmal, in the 2-4 second range for some. I convinced myself i was doing terrible after that, which didnt help.
The stick portion is pretty much the same as the prep app other than the ancient early 2000s UI on the actual exam. looks a lot like the jantzen sim though if you use that. I found it much harder than the prep app in terms of speed but it wasnt terrible. Write your emergency procedures down legibly because I messed one up due to labeling it wrong. also, the stick at my testing center sucked. I used a thrustmaster to study so I wasnt used to how loose the X-52 stick would be, or how stiff the throttle would be. there was a knob to adjust the throttle but it was broken, so you really had to muscle that thing to get it to move, all while trying not to knock it off the table.
try and ace the listening section. I had heard it was heavily weighted so most of my attention went to that and i think i got all of them, which might explain how i still got an 8 after goofing up the EPs. Use the prep app or the jantzen sim and youll be fine, just focus mostly on the sounds when you get to that portion.
terrain identification is way easier than the prep app. way less zoomed in and with very noticeable landmarks. draw a compass and use landmarks and youll be fine. I dont think i missed any of them and I barely practiced it.
Overall, I thought I did terrible before I saw my score. missing two UAV sections and butchering one of the EPs, as well as only having like 10 math questions really made me think I was gonna bomb it. I read on this forum that missing two on the UAV would bring you down to like a 6 or something but that's not true. Take what you read with a grain of salt and just do your best.
Good luck to anyone taking it soon. keep your head up and go easy on yourself, the exam is only as hard as you make it.
