Finished the ASTB...opinions?

[AdamS]

OK guys, well I did my ASTB today. I am dissapointed, but I did ok. I got a 49 OAR, 5 6 5 5 5.

My recruiter says I am way above average for the people in our area, in fact there were only a couple guys in the last few months that scored higher than me. Anyways, I still think the academics and pilot could have been better.

Nonetheless, he thinks I will be competitive, but I am not sure. I have a 2.7 from a major university(U. Virginia, tied with Berkely for #1 public) with two major degrees(histoyr/foreign affairs) and a minor degree(astonomy) I have a couple of courses in a masters program in foreign affairs(4.0) and am accepted into law school while I wait to find this stuff out.

I speak 3 languages, and am pretty sure I can write a damn damn good motivational statement. What I would like is if you guys could be really critical and tell me if you think I have a decent shot, and if I did ok on the ASTB, and anythign else I might think to do to increase my chances. Thanks as always!

 

[RC]

Good Job Adam...
best of luck with your application

 

[Hartman]

You have a good application, Adam. If you have problems getting an '03 slot, it won't be because you weren't competitive. Acquiring a pilot slot right now is a little bit like taking the pastor's daughter to prom. However, nothing in this world is impossible for those who are determined. Be thankful that you're still young. You have the '04 category as a backup. There are others on this forum who aren't so lucky. Good luck!

 

[airgreg]

Congrats on the test results Adam. The double-major looks impressive. Here are some things my recruiter told me:

- For the run part of the PRT, 9:59 looks a hell of a lot more impressive than 10:01. Try to get in the "3-digit" range.
- Reference letters should be from people who can speak to your leadership abilities.
- Extra-curricular stuff is almost as important as GPA. Sports team involvement is good. Leadership in sports is ideal.

That is just what my recruiter said so believe what you want...

As far as being super critical, here ya go:
I'm not sure that 5's are "way above average" when considered in a national context. You're competing against everyone in the country who wants to be a Navy pilot. I was under the impression that 4.5 was supposed to be the national "average" score, based on the way they score it (1-9). I could be wrong about that so someone correct me. Your test scores are definitely good, but from the limited gouge that I've heard, they aren't really "way above average". Please get a second opinion on this cuz I'm not 100% sure...

BTW, from what I've seen on this board, 49 is a pretty good OAR. Best of luck to you,
-Greg

 

[AdamS]

Thanks for the replies so far guys-
Airgreg, my recruiter told me basically that in his area(I guess MD/DC?) a lot of the scores had not been very high, so my 5's was actually better than the average for the people his office was dealing with-I am sure its not way above average nationally-I agree completely. In fact, from what it looked like I was fairly close to a 6,7,5,5,5 as well-which really frustrated me-I thought I did MUCH better in the Math and Mech than I actually did.

So the question for you Hartman is this-if I apply now and for the sake of argument am turned down, when would be the right time to apply for the first '04 slots?

DaVinci-I will be working on getting reccomendations but I can tell you right now they are not going to be from anybody too fancy-just people I worked with/professors, people like that. I know very few people qualified to write reccomendations that actually think this kind of thing is a good idea, so I am SOL-hopefully we will make the motivational make up for it.

 

[Hartman]

Adam-
Check through some of the previous posts from ghost_ttu. I think this dude is waiting to re-apply himself. If I’m not mistaken, his recruiter is an aviator and has the skinny on a lot of stuff (like ’04 slots) that other recruiters don’t.

Give your application a try. I was accepted less than a month ago with an OAR lower than yours. I would say a 49 is pretty darn good.

 

[JTP]

Adam know any Naval Aviators or past prof's who might have served? All 5 of mine were Naval/Marine Officers, I'm hoping that will pick me up where my 2.9 GPA dropped me off.
Dig deep....think of who will write the best and who will look the best.

YEAH COME ON!!

 

[AdamS]

JTP-not a single one I have a close family friend who was a combat air force pilot in Vietnam but I dont think he knows me well enough to be willing to do it I am thinking long and hard about this one, will try to come up with something in the next few weeks while I finish the physical and PRT.

 

[ghost_ttu]

Adam, you are right, you have a great app. But let me tell you they are serious about throttling back on the number of apps let in right now. It WILL slack up. I have a 50 OAR and 5 and 5 on the Aviation section and something else they are looking at (I forget). Eagle Scout, MIS degree with 2.5 (el sucko gpa) Vigil Honor member OA, Rugby, Flag football, football, district champion tennis, private pilot's license, almost 100 hours, 80 situps, 55 pushups, my run was sub par with 12:30 but that was before they changed the time requmt. It goes on, but I'm just letting you know some of the stuff I had on my REJECTED application. I had 4 speeding tickets. that is the only blemish on my app. so apply, hope for the best, but be patient if it doesn't happen. I'm 25 graduated May 99 (Hartman) from Tech. so I don't have but another year to get in, but you just have to roll with the punches. It will happen man.

 

[Hartman]

ghost_ttu-
I think the Navy knows about you Rugby guys at Texas Tech. Just joking, man! I went to a Rugby party once while I was at Tech. It was like "Animal House" in real life!

Four speeding tickets....Rugby....I see all the ingredients for a fighter pilot here.

 

[JTP]

quote: I have a close family friend who was a combat air force pilot in Vietnam but I dont think he knows me well enough to be willing to do it

Sounds like a good one to me. He'll probably understand to a certain degree what your going through, and want to help. He would probably look a lot better than your ex girlfriend whom you've known since birth or something.

YEAH COME ON!!

 

[Stegall]

Adam, just breathe!!! If you are unhappy with your score, retake the ASTB.

I'm getting ready to drop into the office in a few to pick up my paper work! YAY!

 

[ghost_ttu]

Hartman, you couldn't describe a rugby party more perfectly. I went to fraternity/sorority parties, and I don't think any of them, no, I know none of them were as crazy as rugby parties. Time of my life man! And you got to legally beat the hell out of people, just a small bonus, now if I could just get a damn pilot slot I'd love to fly really fast and blow stuff up.

 

[AdamS]

Hey thanks for the words Ghost, I appreciate your advice. My package sounds similar to yours, but with two speeding tickets instead of four If I get rejected here in a month or so I will study up and retake the ASTB(since I honestly think I can only do better, I should have gotten at least a 6 on the AQR and I could have done better in the Aviation and Spatial), and then I can apply later on. It sounds like you are up to speed with this stuff, so I will probably be bugging you

 

[ghost_ttu]

It's fine to bug me, but I'd say the guys that ACTUALLY got in would be the ones to bug. They are sitting in much better seats. As for the speeding tickets, what can I say I like to go fast