Hey ya'll, just took the ASTB for the first time yesterday and scored a 53 7/9/8. Wanted to share some advice and tips, as many do here, from my experience. Thank you to all in this thread who have helped me along the way!
To give some background, I graduated from college this past May with a Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology and a Minor in Family Studies with a 3.91 GPA. I was worried about math and mechanics mainly as I knew I hadn't done much math since high school due to my major, and I never took any physics classes throughout my academic career, so I knew I needed to focus on these areas most. To study I mainly used the ASTB Prep App, Gomez Drive math worksheets, Gomez Drive mechanics practice tests, Jantzen SIM, and the CRAM flashcards everyone uses, along with the Quizlet folder for ANIT from this post
HungryGoliath2018's Quizlet Folder.
Math: This section of the test was pretty easy after having gone through the Gomez worksheets and ASTB Prep App topics. Ran into some simple geometry (some simple geometry formulas provided on the test), probability, logarithms, fractions, and simplifying complex polynomials; that's all I can remember. I did use a tutor to get me back into the math concepts, which I would highly recommend if you know math is an area you struggle in; especially since math has the most weight out of the OAR toward your AQR, PFAR, and FOFAR. Kicked me out with about 10 minutes left.
Reading: As many say, boring lol. The passages aren't too long but it can be hard to choose the correct answer as many of them could be true, but you are looking for the one you can simply infer from the information you're given. Not much to say here, just try your best. I didn't practice reading at all before the test. Used up all of the time.
Mechanics: Only used the Gomez drive practice tests and ASTB Prep App to study. Very simple but I'm not very good at mechanics so it was a little harder for me lol. Some easy questions I had to calculate for such as work or velocity. Know the formulas and simple machines and you should be set here, especially if it's one of your strong suits.
ANIT: Study the CRAM flashcards and the Quizlet set I've linked above, as well as all info provided from the ASTB Prep App and this section should be a walk in the park. Had to guess on a couple I've never seen before across any of the Gauges people have shared but it was simple to use process of elimination.
UAV & Terrain ID: USE UAV AND TERRAIN ID PRACTICE TESTS FROM THE PREP APP!!! I cannot stress enough how easy these two sections are if you practice using the app. Get your reaction time below 2 secs for the UAV portion and make sure you practice using the hard mode that uses NE, SE, NW, and SW directions, as these popped up on my test. For TID, I don't think time matters much, I used up almost all 30 seconds sometimes. It is a lot easier on the test than it is on the app; so if you become good on the app, it shouldn't be a problem on the test.
Stick & Throttle + DLT & Emergency Procedures: If you have the money buy the X52 to practice. Use the Jantzen SIM every night before bed on the highest difficulty. The test is much easier if you practice this way as it is around 2.5 notches up from the medium difficulty of the SIM. I didn't practice Emergency Procedures at all, but its extremely easy if you just write down the instructions they give you for each scenario and reference it as it happens. It's important to do your best to keep tracking as the EP appear, so keep that in mind and don't stop just to flip the switches where they need to go.
During the test I thought I was doing awful and would need to retake, but to my surprise, I qualified for ISEL first try. By no means should you follow my advice to a T; practice what you're weakest in, go through all of the Gomez drive you can, and try your best to memorize as much as you can for ANIT. Remember to take a breath between tests, if you feel like you're doing bad ignore that feeling, don't think about past tests as it progresses or say "dang I think I got that wrong," what's important is giving 110% to each question that comes up or the next test, regardless of if you think you missed one or not. Overall, study as much as you can, I studied for a week straight leading up to my test and that's the only thing I focused on. It's not as bad as you think I promise; come prepared and ready and remember you have 3 tries, 1 bad test will not define you for the rest of your career.
I'm off to medical now which I believe is my biggest hurdle. You all got this, believe in yourself, and go 110% in everything you do. I wish you all the best of luck, and perhaps we'll see each other at OCS and Flight School one day!