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

[perkinshe]

Thanks guys. I was hoping for a 60 on the OAR but I think the timing on the Mechanical screwed me up I didn't get to answer the last 4 questions on that section. I took Form 5 and overall it was a lot easier than I had planned. I would have taken it 6 month ago if I knew it would be this easy. I talked to my recruiter right after I took the test and he said my scores were competitive, but the next board isn't until September and selection has gotten ultra competitive which sucks. I wish I could get my packet together for the July Board. Oh by the way how do you get an Officer Interview I have never heard or that.

 

[Seafort]

You ask an officer if they would give you one. Unlike a Letter of Reference which come from officers and employers that know you or someone close to you, the officer interview is more like a job interview. The LORs are obviously biased. While not required, the officer interview can back up what your LORs say about your commitment and passion if you have a weaker package.

Think of the officer as the Hiring Manager and present yourself accordingly. If you do a good job, he will fill out a form or write a letter to the board as the HR manager might do for the General Manager. The form is called Interviewers Appraisal Sheet - NAVCRUIT Form 1131-5. If you can't find it by google, PM me, and I can send you the PDF file.

 

[james23]

You ask an officer if they would give you one. Unlike a Letter of Reference which come from officers and employers that know you or someone close to you, the officer interview is more like a job interview. The LORs are obviously biased. While not required, the officer interview can back up what your LORs say about your commitment and passion if you have a weaker package.

Think of the officer as the Hiring Manager and present yourself accordingly. If you do a good job, he will fill out a form or write a letter to the board as the HR manager might do for the General Manager. The form is called Interviewers Appraisal Sheet - NAVCRUIT Form 1131-5. If you can't find it by google, PM me, and I can send you the PDF file.

I also just got an interview with a O-5 Naval Aviator, I am assuming it could help a lot when it comes to strengthening it. The board would probably want to hear a good word from an officer so just do a good job on the interview. I also have the PDF sheet so shoot me a PM if anyone needs it.

-James

 

[EthanWing20]

Hello , I just graduated yesterday and I'm scheduled to take the ASTB next monday. I was wondering if the Mathematics questions on the ASTB more closely resemble the Marine gouge or The ARCO test prep book? I'm devoting this entire week to my studies and I want to make sure I spend more time with the material that most resembles the material on the ASTB.

 

[GreenLantern330]

EthanWing20, good luck on taking the ASTB! If you use the search function, or search through this thread, you can find everyone's opinion for study guides and the ASTB. Some have posted their own personal study guides that have gotten them scores in the 7s and 60s.

You might wanna check out this too.

http://www.navy-officer.com/astb.html

 

[EthanWing20]

Thanks for the Info. I read in a couple of threads that the ARCO math test is harder than the actual ASTB. I'm wondering if more people agree? I'm really just curious for peoples opinions because the Marine gouge for math seems a hell of a lot easier than the ARCO book. What do you guys think?

 

[seanofthedead86]

I took the ASTB (OAR only) on the 17th of June and made a 52 (which I am satisfied with because of the short length of time I had to study for it.) For the most part, it was easier than a lot of the practice tests I took. The reading was a little more in depth and sometimes a little harder than the practice questions I looked at and the mechanical is what I believe brought my score down because some of the stuff I had never seen before. I finished all tests with some time left. Math was easier than I expected. I suggest studying all the stuff on this web site (and http://www.navygouge.com/) plus the Barons study guide. Everything that was on the test can be found using these resources.

One thing I was confused about before the test was what exactly was on the reading section (because some study materials I looked at had synonyms/antonyms/sentence correction) and if anyone else feels the same way, its only paragraph comprehension.

The test is still fresh on my mind so if anyone has any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them.

 

[uffa]

Thanks for the offer, seanofthedead86. I'm scheduled to take the ASTB around mid-August and have a few concerns. I have some background with flying, so those related sections are not too foreign, but I have heard the image type/quality changes from the practice books to the actual exam. And maybe before I go into much more depth, what did you do for preparation in terms of study guides or other resources, and what served as the best?

 

[seanofthedead86]

Thanks for the offer, seanofthedead86. I'm scheduled to take the ASTB around mid-August and have a few concerns. I have some background with flying, so those related sections are not too foreign, but I have heard the image type/quality changes from the practice books to the actual exam. And maybe before I go into much more depth, what did you do for preparation in terms of study guides or other resources, and what served as the best?

Use the study materials from the site I linked in my last post. Stuff is golden. As far as books are concerned, I used Barrons "Officer Candidate School Tests." Its golden as well. I bought Cliff Test Preps "Officer Candidate Tests" but I would stay away from that one. Way too much useless information. I also used two books from Peterson's (can be found here: http://www.nelnetsolutions.com/dod/), the "Military Flight Aptitude Test prep" and the "Officer Candidate Test prep". Do the practice questions and practice test.

The Marine Gouge, Airpatrick's study material, the Barrons book, and the Petterson's books were all more than enough, I thought, to study for the test. My suggestion as far what to focus on; Math and Mechinical are the most important (not that everything else isnt) but it is kinda hard to study for the Reading Comprehension. IMO, your either gonna get it or your not. Do some practice questions to get the feel of how they are set up but don't dwell on it. For Math and Mechanical, do the practice tests, and do them again and again and again until you get all the questions right and do them within the allotted time. If you do this, you will be able to finish the actual test with time to spare.

A strategy that worked for me on the real test, in terms of finishing with enough time, was that if I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish a question in a timely manner, I flagged it and skipped it, and went on to the next. No use wasting a bunch of time on one question when their are many more that you can answer correctly quickly. Doing this, i had enough time to go back to the questions I skipped and at the very least guess the answer, which s better than nothing.

 

[Lucy]

To exapnd on the info for uffa, the math section is used in calculating your OAR score, in addition to 2 of the other subsets, so one of the best ways to make sure you do well is to do well on the math. There will be some questions that are not in any of the guides, so you want to make sure you do well on all of the ones you do get exposure to. I got a 56 5/5/5, and the math was my hardest section outside of the flight info, which seems you should have a leg up on. Much of the study material in Barrons in the Officer Apt tests book was directly asked for on my test.

 

[uffa]

Thank you very much, both Lucy and seanofthedead86, for your suggestions. I already have the ARCO "Master the Military Flight Aptitude Tests" 7th edition but will also get those other you have suggested. There is certainly a lot of material out there between the different versions of publishers and websites, so hopefully the differences will cover every possibility for the exam. So, anything other than the reading section type issues (that seemed to be different than the study guides) that are to of concern?

 

[Lucky3]

I think you guys are over thinking this test

I just took the ASTB yesterday. I have never flown a plane or played flight simulators. All of my gouge was found using google or links here. I only studied for a week and I got: 8-8-7-67

The most beneficial to me was: 1)The FAA handbook, chapter 4 is LONG and I did a bad job of reading the last 20+ pages. There was a few questions I would have gotten right had I paid more attention. I focused on chapters 2, 3, and 5. Looking back I would have looked at the instruments/gauges and helicopter section closer. There is more than enough information on weather and airport operations in the gouge.
2) Spacial Apperception: Google Spacial Apperception study guide. There is note card sight that has around 30 examples and some are the same as the ones encountered on the test (at least for test 3).
3) Gouge/word documents prepared on here and marine gouge: They prepare you for the history and nautical questions.

 

[james23]

Just took the ASTB today, 6/6/6 48... I was hoping for better, but I honestly think that reading section killed my OAR.

Should I retake or just give it a go? I worry I might score less..

 

[Goosed]

James23 - Depends on what you are applying for. I applied in the April 2009 boards for SNA, NFO & Intel with a 6/6/7 58 and was a non-select for all three, despite my recruiters honest assessment that I met the "Whole Person" concept. If you want SNA, then I would say retake. But, if the rest of your profile is strong, then it may be moot, but why risk it? I'm retaking the ASTB tomorrow at 0800 and then reapplying for the July boards.

 

[Goosed]

Just took the ASTB today, 6/6/6 48... I was hoping for better, but I honestly think that reading section killed my OAR.

Should I retake or just give it a go? I worry I might score less..

Check out this link I just found on the June 2010 Boards thread: http://nyusn.blogspot.com/2010_04_14_archive.html. It definitely gives me an idea of what I need to shoot for to be selected for SNA (60+ OAR and 7's across the board).