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

[MotorCookie]

Good morning! I've seen alot of very knowledgeable people on this forum that have had some great answers about the ASTB exam. I have a question for these people. I am in the middle of the OCS application process where I am taking the ASTB, I have taken it twice thus far and have received some less than encouraging scores. I have scored a 50 5/3/5. In my second attempt at the test I felt like I had made massive improvements in my ability to track the object with both my throttle and stick. Despite my perceived improvements I received the same scores on the PFAR and FOFAR, I did however improve on my OAR. My question is, What portion of the Performance based measures test holds the most value? Is it the throttle and stick control? The dichotic listening portion? Or the instance when the two are intertwined? If anyone has some valuable input on what I should give more attention as I prepare to take the exam again I would be greatly appreciative! Hooyah!

No one knows which part of the test is the most important. All sections are probably equally important.

What part of the test did you feel like you did not do well in? How did you do when it came to the UAV section and the dichotic listening? Have you been practicing the stick and throttle portion using a simulator?

 

[csimm904]

No one knows which part of the test is the most important. All sections are probably equally important.

What part of the test did you feel like you did not do well in? How did you do when it came to the UAV section and the dichotic listening? Have you been practicing the stick and throttle portion using a simulator?

In my first take at the ASTB I felt that I struggled tremendously on the stick and throttle portion. I was struggling so bad I almost completely tuned out the dichotic listening part. Even with this poor performance I was able to score a 5/3/5 on the performance measures portion. Upon my second attempt at the test, after much practice with the throttle and stick, I received ethe exact same score. I felt that I had easily outperformed myself on my second attempt and I suppose the test would disagree. In general, that would have to be what I felt gave me the most issues. As far as the UAV section is concerned I also felt like I performed quite well in that area and much to my dismay I received the exact same score in my FOFAR. Needless to say this was tremendously frustrating and demoralizing. Got any advice, I can see that you absolutely killed this test lol.

 

[DBM]

Are the Marines still looking for pilots for 2025? I'm curious as to how applying may work for the Marines. Also, do the Marines fly as much as naval aviators do?

 

[TwoScoops]

Are the Marines still looking for pilots for 2025? I'm curious as to how applying may work for the Marines. Also, do the Marines fly as much as naval aviators do?

The amount a USMC officer flies is usually much less than in the Navy. Some guys fly a lot and half a lot of hours by the time they get out, but it is not the norm.

 

[DBM]

The amount a USMC officer flies is usually much less than in the Navy. Some guys fly a lot and half a lot of hours by the time they get out, but it is not the norm.

Ok thank you.

 

[ChillBeast69]

Hey guys, just finished the test today scored a 52 on the OAR and 7 9 8 on the ASTB. Very happy with my scores and very happy to be done with the test. Thank you to all of you on air warriors for the advice and resources, and thanks to TwoScoops for the prep App. Does anybody know what the LCAC psychomotor standard score is?Honestly just curious, I haven't heard people talk about that score that it gives you.

The main resources I used were

Kyles drive

Gomez drive

ASTB test prep book from amazon

ASTB Prep App by TwoScoops

Jantzen simulator

If anyone has any questions hit me up, I didn't do the best on the OAR but very happy to be above 50, I had to relearn and practice a lot of math. I wish I studied more for mechanical, but it went okay. I was surprised I didn't do as well on the ANIT portion as I was very confident in my answers, but I wonder if the mechanical portion affects ANIT?

I would say keys to success on the ASTB portion is getting all the UAV questions correctly and the dichotic listening correct. The UAV section is honestly a gimme, just hammer the practice on the prep app and try to get all those correct. For the stick and throttle portion I really didnt worry too much about using the simulator to get the lowest score, I would say its more worth it so you have an idea what the stick and throttle feel like and how the dichotic and emergency sections work before you go to the test. During the actual test I did my best to stay close to the targets, but wasnt perfect. I tried to prioritze getting the dichotic and emergencies correct which seems to have paid off. The terrain portion was challenging for me, for whatever reason even on the prep app I couldn't quite get perfect scores I was always one direction off. Overall, very happy with my scores and thankful for all the invaluable resources on this site. Good luck to anyone studying right now, its a grind, stick with it and be confident in your abilities.

Thanks all.

God bless

 

[JFinley]

Hey guys, just finished the test today scored a 52 on the OAR and 7 9 8 on the ASTB. Very happy with my scores and very happy to be done with the test. Thank you to all of you on air warriors for the advice and resources, and thanks to TwoScoops for the prep App. Does anybody know what the LCAC psychomotor standard score is?Honestly just curious, I haven't heard people talk about that score that it gives you.

The main resources I used were

Kyles drive

Gomez drive

ASTB test prep book from amazon

ASTB Prep App by TwoScoops

Jantzen simulator

If anyone has any questions hit me up, I didn't do the best on the OAR but very happy to be above 50, I had to relearn and practice a lot of math. I wish I studied more for mechanical, but it went okay. I was surprised I didn't do as well on the ANIT portion as I was very confident in my answers, but I wonder if the mechanical portion affects ANIT?

I would say keys to success on the ASTB portion is getting all the UAV questions correctly and the dichotic listening correct. The UAV section is honestly a gimme, just hammer the practice on the prep app and try to get all those correct. For the stick and throttle portion I really didnt worry too much about using the simulator to get the lowest score, I would say its more worth it so you have an idea what the stick and throttle feel like and how the dichotic and emergency sections work before you go to the test. During the actual test I did my best to stay close to the targets, but wasnt perfect. I tried to prioritze getting the dichotic and emergencies correct which seems to have paid off. The terrain portion was challenging for me, for whatever reason even on the prep app I couldn't quite get perfect scores I was always one direction off. Overall, very happy with my scores and thankful for all the invaluable resources on this site. Good luck to anyone studying right now, its a grind, stick with it and be confident in your abilities.

Thanks all.

God bless

Congrats man, happy to hear you did well.

I take my first test on November 18th, been grinding the sims and terrain, but I've been wondering what the listening part is like on the real test in terms of time in between numbers. I've been practicing with .25 seconds on the ASTB app, would you say that's preparing me for the real test?

I'm in the same boat as you when it comes to relearning and practicing math all over again, would you say you felt confident that the drives prepared you math wise?

Another thing, I've been using the app, cram flashcards, and the ASTB barons book for ANIT and mechanical. Would you say those are effective?

 

[ChillBeast69]

Congrats man, happy to hear you did well.

I take my first test on November 18th, been grinding the sims and terrain, but I've been wondering what the listening part is like on the real test in terms of time in between numbers. I've been practicing with .25 seconds on the ASTB app, would you say that's preparing me for the real test?

I'm in the same boat as you when it comes to relearning and practicing math all over again, would you say you felt confident that the drives prepared you math wise?

Another thing, I've been using the app, cram flashcards, and the ASTB barons book for ANIT and mechanical. Would you say those are effective?

The dichotic training on the jantzen sim was pretty accurate I would say. I think time between numbers is longer than that, it’s hard to say though. Go on the jantzen sim and try it and see what you think, even if you don’t have the stick and throttle you can hear what it sounds like through headphones. Make sure the headphones are put on correctly and the volume is turned up on the real test. Honestly I still didn’t feel super confident on math, I kinda just wanted to take the test and see where I was at and then reevaluate if scores weren’t great.

The drives are useful for the practice tests in my opinion, I would say a lot of the questions in the drives are very close to what they give you if not more difficult. I kept hammering them out the week before my test to get reps. The prep app is nice to go back and review specific topics. I was surprised that the math wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but obviously you should prepare like it’s gonna be harder than you think just in case.

And yes I forgot to mention the cram flash cards, they were very helpful. There are some mechanical flashcards I will link here too. The app definitely goes a little into the weeds in my opinion with the mechanical. It’s mainly common sense stuff with some easier math questions, but with some stuff you should still study and brush up on like the different laws, simple machines, gears, pulleys,etc. With all my focus on math I neglected mechanical a bit, so don’t forget about it.

Biggest thing in my opinion is just staying calm and not overthinking your answers or switching them at the last second. Read the directions thoroughly as there are definitely some gotchas that can mess you up like knowing the controls on the joystick and throttle, and having the headphones in the correct ears. Get a good nights sleep, bring water, and eat a good breakfast. Good luck you got this.


Mechanical cards:https://www.proprofsflashcards.com/story.php?title=astb-mechanical-comprehension-test

 

[Stingray902]

Good morning! I've seen alot of very knowledgeable people on this forum that have had some great answers about the ASTB exam. I have a question for these people. I am in the middle of the OCS application process where I am taking the ASTB, I have taken it twice thus far and have received some less than encouraging scores. I have scored a 50 5/3/5. In my second attempt at the test I felt like I had made massive improvements in my ability to track the object with both my throttle and stick. Despite my perceived improvements I received the same scores on the PFAR and FOFAR, I did however improve on my OAR. My question is, What portion of the Performance based measures test holds the most value? Is it the throttle and stick control? The dichotic listening portion? Or the instance when the two are intertwined? If anyone has some valuable input on what I should give more attention as I prepare to take the exam again I would be greatly appreciative! Hooyah!

Math is the most important section in my opinion, it is heavily weighted for pfar. Practice stick and throttle using the jantzen sim and you should have no problem with the pbm portion.

 

[DBM]

How long do recruiters normally take to reach out to you? I called the nearest officer recruiting office, gave them my information and all that, and the person on the phone said that an Officer would reach out to me. That was on October 21st. I called again on October 24th and on November 4th but I was told that they were a bit behind on getting back to those who have reached out or something along those lines. I plan on giving them a call tomorrow hopefully but if I still get the same response, are there any recommendations on what I should do?

 

[mmandziak]

How long do recruiters normally take to reach out to you? I called the nearest officer recruiting office, gave them my information and all that, and the person on the phone said that an Officer would reach out to me. That was on October 21st. I called again on October 24th and on November 4th but I was told that they were a bit behind on getting back to those who have reached out or something along those lines. I plan on giving them a call tomorrow hopefully but if I still get the same response, are there any recommendations on what I should do?

walk in to their office. I went through the same ordeal as you, and I just walked in which helped establish a relationship.

 

[DBM]

walk in to their office. I went through the same ordeal as you, and I just walked in which helped establish a relationship.

Yeah I think that's honestly my best option at this point. Ill try and call once more tomorrow. If nothing comes from it, then I'll go in person. Thank you.

 

[JFinley]

Taking my ASTB in 5 days, any last advice or tips?

 

[jsnchwen]

Edit: disregard, I'm an idiot (headphone issue) - have a nice day


Is anyone using the remade Jantzen simulator right now? I feel like I'm massively misunderstanding the Dichotic Listening instructions. (https://jomo1-1.github.io/ASTB-remade/)

The instructions say to press e when you hear an even number in your left ear. Ok, understood.

I've toggled the debug text, so I can see the status of the cues and if I'm hitting them.

There are times where the the target ear is left and the the voice in my right ear says a even number, but the debug text says that this is a cue which goes against the instructions, no?

Then, there are other times where the voice doesn't seem to coming from a specific side (almost feels like it's coming from both ears) and it counts this a a target ear; this could be my earbuds issues...

Can anyone confirm if I'm misunderstanding how to use the sim?

Thanks in advance

 

[HarrisJ_63]

For the life of me I cannot figure out how to do well on the terrain ID to the point where I’m about to thrown in the towel and just wing it on the exam for my second attempt.

I’ve tried the pencil trick(went back through this thread from when it was first added in) and the compass trick( watched that YouTube video 20 times now) and I’m still getting 8/18 or 9/18 on the app. The most correct I got was 12/18. Does anyone have any other tricks or am I just dumb and doomed?