October-ish 2015 Pilot/NFO Rolling Board

[Brandon Kies]

Welcome to the "hurry up and wait" of the military. My packets has been in since end of July. The only credible idea is that it will happen eventually. Sit back and enjoy this hurry up and wait. You'll experience much more of it if selected, and it won't be as pleasant as now.

Are you prior or active?

 

[Leon]

How does everyone have such high ASTB scores lol... taken it twice ending up with 49 5,6,5. Is there some practice simulator/ test for college applicants

The resources I got from my recruiter for both the ASTB and Nuke Tests were really terrible ("here's a 5 question sample of what you can see - good luck"). Honestly, if it wasn't for the resources on this website, I would have done worse. Admittedly, I would have done better too if I ate breakfast and lunch, and slept the night before. If you wouldn't mind, I'm gonna shoot you a PM - maybe I can give you some gouge that can help.

Brandon also made a good suggestion. Get a flight sim, borrow a stick and throttle from someone, and get to working on your coordination. Somebody has probably made some crazy flight maps on one sim or another, and it might be useful for when the roving line and dot start dancing across the screen.

 

[SoopurHero816]

How does everyone have such high ASTB scores lol. I am currently an active duty AWR1 hoping to apply in October for SNA and have taken it twice ending up with 49 5,6,5. Is there some practice simulator/ test for college applicants I don't know about. I'm SAR aircrewman with over 1500 flight hours and still found it very difficult.

Not to get off topic, but in between your studying download the app "Lumosity" it has a lot of problem solving, spatial reasoning, speed, and mind games that keep your head sharp when you don't feel like gouging your eyes out with a book.

Patiently awaiting a pilot board.... in the meantime I'm going to PT. I'll keep checking in.

 

[HighAngleHell]

Are you prior or active?

I'm prior service. 6 years Army National Guard in the infantry. Spent my time on mortars.

As for the rest of my stats:
Age: 25
ASTB: 60 8/8/8
Major: Business Marketing
GPA: 3.71
Work Exp: Management, analytics, and sales
Prior: E-5 (had to decline E-6 because not enough time on contract). 6 years Infantry
LOR: Former employers (NCOERs submitted as well)
Volunteer: Assistant head coach, high school soccer.

 

[RoamingBiologist]

Hello Airwarrior Community,
Just finished off my packet yesterday, I was politely upfront with my recruiter mentioning my age and that I have an April birthday and that making it to the October boards is a must. I had tried for weeks to get a meeting with my recruiter, until luckily I got one yesterday to finish my packet. Although there may not be a 100% answer to my question, how long will it take to process my packet completely if my recruiter sticks to his words on expediting it?

Good Luck Everyone!

 

[Unsat]

How does everyone have such high ASTB scores lol. I am currently an active duty AWR1 hoping to apply in October for SNA and have taken it twice ending up with 49 5,6,5. Is there some practice simulator/ test for college applicants I don't know about. I'm SAR aircrewman with over 1500 flight hours and still found it very difficult.

Same. I served 4 years as an MA3. (Patrol boat coxswain). My recruiter told me my knowledge of navigation and all would be enough. I ended up with a 44/5/5/6. Im just hoping the prior service will be enough to kick me over the edge.

 

[Brandon Kies]

Hello Airwarrior Community,
Just finished off my packet yesterday, I was politely upfront with my recruiter mentioning my age and that I have an April birthday and that making it to the October boards is a must. I had tried for weeks to get a meeting with my recruiter, until luckily I got one yesterday to finish my packet. Although there may not be a 100% answer to my question, how long will it take to process my packet completely if my recruiter sticks to his words on expediting it?

Good Luck Everyone!

I'm not sure about going through a recruiter since I'm active duty I submitted my application directly. If your package was completely finished I don't see a reason for your recruiter to hold on to it for any extended length of time other than to make sure it is in fact correct and complete. After it is submitted to the program manager as far as I know it is sitting on the pile to be reviewed at the next board.

 

[Doc Walsh]

Hey everyone, I'm checking in for this board. I am just waiting to get my transcripts conferred and i should be submitting my package next week.

 

[Hopeful Hoya]

The most important sections for your PFAR score are math, spatial appreciation (UAV) and the aeronautical history/knowledge section. I don't think buying a flight sim is really worth it unless you are horribly uncoordinated; the performance based section is very different from a normal flight sim setup (the sensitivity curves on the axes and just the feel of the controls themselves), and I think your time would be much better spent studying the sections I listed previously.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Same. I served 4 years as an MA3. (Patrol boat coxswain). My recruiter told me my knowledge of navigation and all would be enough. I ended up with a 44/5/5/6. Im just hoping the prior service will be enough to kick me over the edge.

I would study to get ready to in case you need to take it again, when it comes to aviation they pick the best qualified, so for aviation that means good ASTB scores, the prior service is nice, but it won't make up for low ASTB scores.

 

[mb1685]

I've been an aviation nut pretty much my whole life and have been simming since I was probably 7 or 8, and before I took the ASTB, I tried to replicate some of the PBM test on my own by flying the Microsoft Flight Simulator X Red Bull stunt course and listening to audio files with random letters and numbers in each channel. I honestly don't feel like any of it helped at all. The PBM just feels like pure chaos at times. I really don't think it's even testing your hand/eye coordination and attention dividing skills so much as it's just testing your ability to just not completely freak out and give up. That section is more of a stress test than an aptitude test, in my opinion.

 

[RoamingBiologist]

The most important sections for your PFAR score are math, spatial appreciation (UAV) and the aeronautical history/knowledge section. I don't think buying a flight sim is really worth it unless you are horribly uncoordinated; the performance based section is very different from a normal flight sim setup (the sensitivity curves on the axes and just the feel of the controls themselves), and I think your time would be much better spent studying the sections I listed previously.

Holy crap your scores blind me with all types of awesome. I thought the PBM was a bit cheap and all I did was listen and try to match things up. Although my scores aren't near yours, I'm hopeful background experience before, during, and after college add up for that. Apart of me thought about taking the test again, but my recruiter and the 99.95% of my brain said NOPE, just roll with it.

 

[Brandon Kies]

If you search hard enough online you can find a published paper where the navy had a 3rd party evaluate the ASTB, specifically the PBM section and in that paper it explains exactly what gives you a good score on the PBM

 

[Brandon Kies]

The most important sections for your PFAR score are math, spatial appreciation (UAV) and the aeronautical history/knowledge section. I don't think buying a flight sim is really worth it unless you are horribly uncoordinated; the performance based section is very different from a normal flight sim setup (the sensitivity curves on the axes and just the feel of the controls themselves), and I think your time would be much better spent studying the sections I listed previously.

Where exactly did you find out what part of the test attributes to a high PFAR?

 

[RoamingBiologist]

I'm not sure about going through a recruiter since I'm active duty I submitted my application directly. If your package was completely finished I don't see a reason for your recruiter to hold on to it for any extended length of time other than to make sure it is in fact correct and complete. After it is submitted to the program manager as far as I know it is sitting on the pile to be reviewed at the next board.

Thanks for the info! I'll just keep in contact with my recruiter and see if he has sent it out. I don't wanna seem like a douche, so I am just gonna be courtesy and just email/call.