ASTB - Prep/Study Guide feedback

[aemartinez3308]

Took the OAR today and figured I'd share everything I used to prepare in case it helps anyone else.

Score: 59
Studied: ~2 months -- first month a couple hours on the weekend + lots of time searching for relevant info and 2nd month at least an hour every day after work + more on the weekends. As a caveat I have been out of school for 7 years and my job has nothing to do with math or physics, so I had to re-learn basically all of the material for the math and mechanical sections.

If I were to do it over...
- I would start with a practice test to figure out the areas I needed to most help and then buy the relevant books. I overstudied some areas at first because I thought I needed to know way more physics than the practice tests included.

Overview of What to Study:
- https://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmotc/nami/Pages/ASTBOverview.aspx
-- This was the best guideline of what to study that I found on the internet. And I'm pretty sure I searched the entire internet. Wish I had found this sooner.

Practice Tests:
- http://www.petersonspublishing.com/OfficerCandidate/
-- They will send you an access code via email. You only get one code and you can only take each section once. Once it's scored, you're done, so plan accordingly.
- http://www.nelnetsolutions.com/pdf/free/masterofficercandidate.pdf
-- There is a full practice test at the end of the book. You have to time yourself. They do a good job explaining the answers but some of the diagrams / answers were not correct.
- https://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmotc/nami/Documents/ASTB_SampleQuestions_13May14.pdf
-- Not a full practice test but gives a good idea of how to gauge how hard the hard questions will be. Doesn't explain wrong answers but you can use the internet for that.
- https://www.triviumtestprep.com/astb-practice-test/
-- Not the best content wise, but I was worried about my timing so this helped with that.

Study Materials:

• Khan Academy - search for a subject and watch lectures if you need stuff explained to you in order to 'get it'
• Princeton Review GRE Math Prep https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451487869/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

--Good explanations / step by step solutions and felt like this covered basically everything I needed to brush up on.
- https://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/topic/astb
-- There's a ton of content on here. Search by subject. A lot of it looks like it was directly from the Arco book
- http://www.petersonspublishing.com/OfficerCandidate/
-- This is a second link to the same Arco book from before. There's a mountain of practice Qs in here.

• I also made my own flash cards and carried them around with me pretty much everywhere and got a mental math app and did that during my commute (no calculators...)
• https://www.airwarriors.com/communi...study-guide-feedback.28142/page-2#post-484550

-- Patrick's study guide was REALLY helpful

Good luck

Do you have Patrick's study guide still?

 

[Julia.cook]

Do you have Patrick's study guide still?

Hey do you know if the AQR score is influenced by how well you score on all subtests? i just need the AQR and PFAR of a 4 and 6
thank you

 

[Scimitarze]

Hey do you know if the AQR score is influenced by how well you score on all subtests? i just need the AQR and PFAR of a 4 and 6
thank you

IIRC AQR is more heavily weighted on the Reading part while still taking Math and the Engineering part into it too.

 

[Julia.cook]

IIRC AQR is more heavily weighted on the Reading part while still taking Math and the Engineering part into it too.

where do you get the information from? i just want to make sure it is relevant. I have been studying math and mechanical. But i dont want to priotize in stidying those sections when I do not need a OAR score. Just a AQR and PFAR.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

where do you get the information from? i just want to make sure it is relevant. I have been studying math and mechanical. But i dont want to priotize in stidying those sections when I do not need a OAR score. Just a AQR and PFAR.

The candidates that I had who studied and did the best on the ASTB studied for everything, and if you look at all the subtest each one in some way can be correlate to wither PFAR or FOFAR, and you are asking a question that cannot be answered as that info is specifically not released, per the NAMI website (see below)

Which subtests make the greatest contribution to my overall score?
The formulas that are utilized to compute final ASTB-E score components are proprietary information and will not be released by NMOTC. These formulas are compensatory, meaning that poor performance on a given subtest may often be offset by high performance on another. Examinees are encouraged, however, to perform as well as possible on all subtests.

 

[Scimitarze]

where do you get the information from? i just want to make sure it is relevant. I have been studying math and mechanical. But i dont want to priotize in stidying those sections when I do not need a OAR score. Just a AQR and PFAR.

Like NavyRec said there's no official public info on how the scoring works outside gouge and common sense (ex: the ANIT and hand-eye coord test affecting PFAR). Study everything and study your weak area twice without getting cocky, I thought I had the UAV trick down and walked in overly confident which led me to absolutely get my ass kicked by it. Took my would-be high PFAR from a great ANIT, hearing, and joystick exercise down to a 7/6/6.

 

[Julia.cook]

Like NavyRec said there's no official public info on how the scoring works outside gouge and common sense (ex: the ANIT and hand-eye coord test affecting PFAR). Study everything and study your weak area twice without getting cocky, I thought I had the UAV trick down and walked in overly confident which led me to absolutely get my ass kicked by it. Took my would-be high PFAR from a great ANIT, hearing, and joystick exercise down to a 7/6/6.

okay thank you!
do you have the UAV practice study guide by any chance?

 

[Scimitarze]

okay thank you!
do you have the UAV practice study guide by any chance?

Check the ASTB thread with a lot of posts and start reading it from 2017 or so and make some notes since there's a lot of good info in there. You can't really study the UAV section but you can definitely practice it and make an aid during the test with a piece of paper. I forgot the exact video, but I think it's on YouTube, and if not, it's def somewhere in the thread.

Here's a good collection of files that I got from the mega thread to help you out.

OAR - Google Drive

drive.google.com

ASTB material - Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[Julia.cook]

Check the ASTB thread with a lot of posts and start reading it from 2017 or so and make some notes since there's a lot of good info in there. You can't really study the UAV section but you can definitely practice it and make an aid during the test with a piece of paper. I forgot the exact video, but I think it's on YouTube, and if not, it's def somewhere in the thread.

Here's a good collection of files that I got from the mega thread to help you out.

OAR - Google Drive

drive.google.com

ASTB material - Google Drive

drive.google.com

thank you i appreciate it!

 

[Jenshotjr2013]

okay thank you!
do you have the UAV practice study guide by any chance?

Here is a cheat code.

 

[MollyE25]

Hey y’all- unfortunately my path to OCS was halted because of medical issues :/

I’m looking to give away all the study materials I have: three books, a binder full of all the gouge I could find here.
I’m willing to give them away for free and I only ask that you cover the cost of shipping.
Message me if interested.

 

[Oshun8235]

Hey y’all- unfortunately my path to OCS was halted because of medical issues :/

I’m looking to give away all the study materials I have: three books, a binder full of all the gouge I could find here.
I’m willing to give them away for free and I only ask that you cover the cost of shipping.
Message me if interested.

Sorry about your situation. But how much would the shipping cost be?

 

[MollyE25]

Sorry about your situation. But how much would the shipping cost be?

It depends on where you’re located. I’m in metro DC area but I could get a quote from the USPS website

 

[Oshun8235]

Actually I have the other 2 books. How mu

It depends on where you’re located. I’m in metro DC area but I could get a quote from the USPS website

Damn lol I just drove through DC earlier today after coming from Williamsburg, VA. I live in Aberdeen, MD. I Actually already have the other 2 books. I would rather just have the GRE book instead.

 

[RNeptune]

Hello everyone! I am taking the ASTB on January 15th. I have been studying for a little over a month now using recommended study guides and Kyle's gouge. However, there is a lot of information. If anyone has any last minute advice or materials / study guides and willing to share I would be more than thankful! All of this is pretty new to me so I am nervous to say the least. I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in psychology with a 3.8 GPA so needless to say my degree was not focused on this type of knowledge. My main motivation to join the Navy is because my husband is in. I have always been interested in joining however just never took the leap to actually do it. We discussed me finally joining and it will be a great move for our future. Thanks again!