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

[exNavyOffRec]

Hey all, I just wanted to put up my scores, see what people think my chances are of getting picked up for SWO. I'm just sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting for that February board, so I'm trying to offset the waiting nerves.

ASTB: 70/8/8/8
GPA: 3.84
Major: Psychology

You have a great GPA so big plus there, SWO is pretty open to any degrees so you should be good there, but since you do have a degree in psychology how do you feel about people telling you what they think about your chances?

 

[hrtrice]

Now is there anything on the test that we future test takers should know about? I take mine on the 13 of next month and I'm hoping I can score as high as you.

Thanks very much. As for advice, the best I can say is to relax. The questions I know I missed were often the easiest. I just panicked and thought they were harder than they really were. Also, on the practical part of the test, during the section where you have to figure out directions in parking lots, you are allowed scratch paper. So before the test starts, draw out a chart with all the possible permutations. Good luck on the test!

 

[KnightFlight]

Soooo, the poop deck is actually the highest deck. And here I answered that just for fun!
In the emergency procedures section Red is Full power and Yellow is Low.
Study all about Navy officer ranks (who reports to who), shirt colors on the carrier (what colors does quality control wear), aircraft designations (what does MH do), and historic Navy Aircraft (what was the first Naval Attack Aircraft to land on a carrier).
Second attempt: 53 7/8/7

 

[Gillie1985]

Great to see you improved on your score, like I always asked where there any study guide you used or websites? You should be able to get picked up for pilot without a doubt.

 

[KnightFlight]

Great to see you improved on your score, like I always asked where there any study guide you used or websites? You should be able to get picked up for pilot without a doubt.

Thanks!
I studied a lot longer this time, maybe about 4-5 weeks. I would study about an hour a night everyday after work, mostly practicing math stuff. Then I would study about 5 hours or so each day on the weekends. I didn't "cram" like I did last time, I tried to get the proper amount of sleep, and I worked out about 5 days a week, I think this helped a lot. If you can't solve a question, look at the answers and try to work backwards rather than just googling the answer (I had to do this on the "how many ounces need to be added for a 60% solution..."question). I also played some "Gears of War" to help with my joystick portion (not sure if it helped but it was worth a shot). Try playing on inverted as on the joystick pull back is up and push forward is down.
@Texas452 posted a great gouge a while ago at:
ASTB-E/APEX 4 Experience -DEC 2013
I also recommend getting a book study guide (see previous posts for recommendations) that has practice tests just to see as many questions as possible. If you see a question that says "what color shirt does a aircraft handler where on the carrier?" Don't just study that, study the colors of every position on the ship, do this for all types of questions you see. Find your weak point and focus on that, mine was the math section so I did hundreds of practice questions. Besides that just try to relax and remember you have 3 chances to test. If you aren't successful round one take it as a learning experience and practice for a re-test. Force yourself to study at least an hour a day, stuff will stick with you better.
Best of luck to everyone!

 

[Hoad]

Hey guys, I've been stalking the forum for a while, and decided that I would go ahead and post! I took the ASTB yesterday, and while I think I did okay, I'll probably attempt again at some point. Admittedly, I don't have the best study habits...I pretty much only studied all day Tuesday, then tested Wednesday. That said, I've taken aeronautical science and college algebra somewhat recently, so I'm sure that helped. So, my final scores were 55 6/6/6. I know the test proctor told me those scores were above average, but what do you guys think?

A little bit more info on me, I'm an active Marine instructing at NAS Pensacola, and just submitted for MECEP (one of the Marine Corps' commissioning programs). I figured I'd take my ASTB now, because I'm trying to secure an aviation guarantee. Also, I'm doing pretty well in school. I've got a 3.68 GPA in my Aeronautical Science bachelor's degree.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who has posted advice or study material on here! I may not have studied as much as I should have, but the resources I found here were invaluable!!

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Hey guys, I've been stalking the forum for a while, and decided that I would go ahead and post! I took the ASTB yesterday, and while I think I did okay, I'll probably attempt again at some point. Admittedly, I don't have the best study habits...I pretty much only studied all day Tuesday, then tested Wednesday. That said, I've taken aeronautical science and college algebra somewhat recently, so I'm sure that helped. So, my final scores were 55 6/6/6. I know the test proctor told me those scores were above average, but what do you guys think?

A little bit more info on me, I'm an active Marine instructing at NAS Pensacola, and just submitted for MECEP (one of the Marine Corps' commissioning programs). I figured I'd take my ASTB now, because I'm trying to secure an aviation guarantee. Also, I'm doing pretty well in school. I've got a 3.68 GPA in my Aeronautical Science bachelor's degree.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who has posted advice or study material on here! I may not have studied as much as I should have, but the resources I found here were invaluable!!

minimum scores are 5's, max is 9, so I never considered those above average, average to me were when a guy rec'd 7's.

if you are going for USMC aviator the biggest thing for them is maxing out the PFT, there have been several USMC guys selected aviation with 6's but very high PFT.

great GPA BTW.

 

[Hoad]

They told me that the scale was from 1 to 9 stanine. That's probably where he got a 5 average from. Anyways, thanks man. I've worked hard to get where I am now, and it's reassuring to hear of Marines selected with 6's. My PFT is plenty high too, so I'm not too worried bout that.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

They told me that the scale was from 1 to 9 stanine. That's probably where he got a 5 average from. Anyways, thanks man. I've worked hard to get where I am now, and it's reassuring to hear of Marines selected with 6's. My PFT is plenty high too, so I'm not too worried bout that.

you should be good for the USMC, if you were USN I would say study and be prepared to test again.

the scoring is misleading, it would be like saying a "D" is average for a grade as that is the minimum passing grade, often the test administrators aren't aware what the minimums are or what is needed to be selected.

the test administrator we had would never tell the applicant if his score was good or not, he would always have a recruiter that dealt with the officer programs debrief him, he was a great test administrator.

 

[KnightFlight]

They told me that the scale was from 1 to 9 stanine. That's probably where he got a 5 average from. Anyways, thanks man. I've worked hard to get where I am now, and it's reassuring to hear of Marines selected with 6's. My PFT is plenty high too, so I'm not too worried bout that.

PFT for Marine Pilot selection should be 290+. I have a friend that got selected for pilot and I've talked to someone that was on the selection board for a while. Fight for a 300 though, at least max out pull ups and crunches, with a sub 20min 3 mile.

 

[Hoad]

Yeah, I know that the minimum for Marines is 4/6/6, and I definitely have that. The only part I don't max out is the run, but I'm working on it. It's right around 20 minutes now, but I've got some room for improvement.

 

[bear86]

I want to thank everyone who posted study guides on here for the new test. You deff helped me pass the test. 48/6/6/6. I'm in the Coast Guard and this qualifies me for flight school.

 

[Hoad]

Congrats man! I'm hoping mine will as well! What did you find the most challenging part?? The performance based measures definitely got the best of me!

 

[Gillie1985]

Congratulations!!!! On passing and be eligible for flight school. I take my test on the 13th and hope to post a passing score for flight school as well for the Navy. I'm happy to see another person pass this test. Bravo Zulu!!!

 

[sherbzie]

Hi Everybody,

I've been browsing these forums ever since I considered joining the Navy and going into aviation, but I only recently registered for an account. I took the ASTB today and now that I am "officially" entering the applicant pool, I thought I'd become more involved here as well.

Some background about me: I was a Biochemistry major (graduated with a B.S. in 2011), worked in a neuroscience lab at Hopkins for a few years and am currently pursuing my MPH (Masters in Public Health) at Hopkins, graduating in May. I recently went through a bit of a personal revolution regarding my career path and decided to look into the Navy; naval aviation, specifically. I have been obsessed with aviation since I was a little kid, but had always considered it more of a hobby than a career option until now (yes, my parents were those parents who were really hoping their kid would end up in medical school).

Anyway, I got my ASTB scores back and was pretty pleased with the results, considering I only had about a week to study for it (did I mention I'm in an accelerated masters program? Ugh.) Scores were as follows..

OAR: 61
AQR: 8
PFAR: 8
FOFAR: 7

I was hoping to do better on the OAR section, but my undergraduate GPA is decent (3.6), so hopefully that will offset any perceived deficit. I was really worried about the PBM section going into the exam; I had read that even those applicants with flight experience struggled with it. In reality, I had a blast doing it. It was challenging adapting to the control sensitivities, but I genuinely enjoyed the problem sets. I should note that I have zero flight experience, but was addicted to Microsoft Flight Simulator for much of my childhood (while my friends were playing N64), so I think that definitely helped.

Anyway, just wanted to share my experience and introduce myself! I'll be more active in the forums from this point on, and it's nice to know I'm in good company here. Have a great week everybody!

Sincerely,
Omar S.