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

[solo7]

I took the ASTB-E a year ago and got 8/8/8 and 72 on my first attempt.

I studied ~3-4 hours of text material + hours upon hours of simulation time. I recommend more study hours than that. A lot of my friends in my unit ask me for advice, so here's what I send them:

• Get some good rest in, this thing is a marathon.
• Learn this video. Once you memorize this, master it. When you get to the exam, it will give you the opportunity to practice this. Take all the time you need to get back in the groove and catch the pattern. Race yourself. You know you've mastered it when you can get them right every time in about 4-5 seconds or less. My record was 1.8 seconds, but I averaged around 3 seconds.
• Don't overthink it, it's a lot like the SAT.
• For the personality assessment, just be yourself and don't try to please them (some people try to predict the answer they think the USN/USMC wants, and it backfires)
• Questions adjust based on how you're performing. Just because you don't finish a section, does not mean you did not do well. I didn't get through the math or reading sections.
• I recommend investing in a simulator setup. I used this flight stick to practice in my free time.
• For software, FlightGear is what I used. It's free and will work on practically any laptop/computer. If you have a more powerful computer, you can try out one of the more sophisticated software, but I liked the simplicity of this one.
• If you ever want to just have fun with unrealistic flying, I bought Ace Combat Assault Horizon for like $5 on Steam. It's a fun way to build coordination. After all, that portion of the ASTB is a lot more about coordination than realism. It felt like an arcade game.

Don't stress about the ASTB. I promise you will do well; if not on your first attempt, definitely your second or third when you get a feel for it.

 

[acexofxspades25]

First off, big thanks to everyone who's taken the time to post tips and info in here.

Took it recently and scored a 47 5/7/6...my recruiter seemed happy that I passed, but I was honestly pretty disappointed in myself. I feel like I put too much effort into studying for the aviation portion, and neglected the OAR material.

I know the only person who can make the decision to retake it is me...but I'd like some input on whether it's worth retaking it or not. I meet the standards for Marines, however i'm not sure that the OAR portion will be competitive for the board selection.

Shooting for SNA
Prior service Marine
GPA: 3.5
Major: Accounting
PFT: 264

OAR means nothing to us Marines. I know you wrote that back in January, but stick with those scores. I was enlisted to commission, so I can't comment on the PFT. Know this, when you go to OCS, expect to lose pull ups and get faster at running. IN fact work on running now. That is one thing I wish I did more of, but when you have been in the Corps for 9 years and go to (your second bootcamp again) running isn't something you enjoy. With that being said, I ran a 21:20 before I got there, and left with a 19:08 3 mile, to put things into perspective. My tangent is over, but OAR means nothing to us, thats not how the OCS process works for us to get in.

 

[Deleted member 67926]

What is the typical score for SNA selects?

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

What is the typical score for SNA selects?

Read the aviation boards to find your answer...

 

[Rahul Gupta]

What is the typical score for SNA selects?

Typically I'd shoot for getting at or above all 6's....typically 7/7/7 is a more 'comfty' score (yes I made that word up). Also, I got a 7/7/6 and a 53...while I won't hear from any board until 2 years from now since i'm in the NROTC program at VT these scores have been very consistent for prorec both on this forum and within my unit to give you an idea.

 

[sealords]

Hello everyone, I think I really do need help with study material or tutor. I took my OAR test the first time scoring 33 and retake it yesterday and still scoring 36. So I have just only one last shot. Have looked into most material people post in here and its just a bunch of them, I used Peterson's study guide most in studying this last time. Pls if anyone can come to my aid with a study material, website, study plan or something I will appreciate it a lot. Work tense to be crazy at time, in and out of ship, different detachment and even with that I still study 4/5 hrs a day getting little sleep and rest, drop all my school class just to focus on this test and still not fruitful. Am station in Lemoore base, in case if anyone know a good tutor over here. Any more suggestion will be appreciated either reply to me post here or inbox me. thanks

 

[KeroK]

Hello everyone, I think I really do need help with study material or tutor. I took my OAR test the first time scoring 33 and retake it yesterday and still scoring 36. So I have just only one last shot. Have looked into most material people post in here and its just a bunch of them, I used Peterson's study guide most in studying this last time. Pls if anyone can come to my aid with a study material, website, study plan or something I will appreciate it a lot. ..

With the vast trove of resources and guidance on this forum, you have everything you need to determine a successful study plan. The information is right here -- you just need to put it together in a way that works for you. While it's commendable that you fit in several hours of study time, despite a busy schedule, extensive amounts of study time mean little if you aren't studying effectively.

Being busy with work/life is a challenge many of us have. In the middle of my OAR prep, I had to care for a very ill parent, move across the country to start a new job at a fast-paced tech company, and earn 12 straight-A credits from evening college courses to improve my old undergrad GPA. All told, I was only able to get in six scattered hours of dedicated study for the OAR before my test date. I've always struggled with math and physics, and haven't touched those subjects since high school, which was more than 15 years ago.

I should have tanked on the OAR. But I scored a 54. That is by no means an impressive result. It is, however, proof that even someone with a busy schedule and a weak STEM background can get a decent score with minimal, but effective study time.

My suggestion is to start with the personal ASTB Study Guide that is frequently mentioned/circulated on this thread. Create flash cards based on that, but use that creation time as active study time. Don't just mindlessly make the cards. By this I mean you should actually solve all the problems and look up any concepts you don't understand before putting them on a flashcard and moving on to the next. That way you will be making a refresher deck you can study whenever you have a spare moment, while also identifying specific problems that require extra study time. Then work on those problem areas using published study guides and resources like Khan's Academy. Also, read as many pages of this thread as you can and expand your study scope based on that. Yes, it's several hundred pages. If I managed to read them all by squeezing them in during any spare time I had -- even if it was just five minutes -- you can, too. Although this may not constitute actual study, I strongly believe that the insights I gleaned from reading the posts helped immensely on a subconscious level (perhaps osmosis?).

Best of luck to you. But you won't need luck if you study properly.

 

[acexofxspades25]

Alright folks, I took the ASTB for the 3rd and final time today. 1st scores I got, which I submitted with my ECP package for an aviation guarantee was a 40, 4/5/5. I figured I'd be okay with those since the Marine Corps can give you a 1 point waiver. Word to the wise on that one, they won't give you an age waiver and a test point waiver. I did the Enlisted Commissioning Program, and since I was stationed in Pensacola, its made this process a lot easier for me with NAMI, and a test site here and I have to wait before going to TBS anyway, so why not try again. So I took it again in February and got a 40 3/3/3. Yup, I did worse. Round 3 was today, and I'm happy to report i got a 49 (I don't care that much about the OAR) 6/7/6. Like many I used this forum extensively for the last several months and it certainty helped a ton. APEX was even down this morning, but they got it fixed relatively quickly. I say this, for those who wish to take this exam, trust me and the hundred of others who have stated this forum works, and can make you successful, but that is completely up to you. I'm commissioned, with no real job right now, I have a son and wife whose a student and a nurse. I don't have a plethora of time to just study either.

Math section:
Its stupid important, and take your time! I think I ran out of time, APEX was acting slow and weird. However, I just cared about answering the question at hand to the best of my ability and trying not to guess, because right answers outweigh wrong answers. I put that theory to the test. Math equates to OAR and your AQR. I did get a binary question, and it was weird. Binary of 2 is 0010 or something which is 2x1 + 2x0. What is binary of 4 for (7 +8) or something like that. Answer choices were 15, 21,23,33. Yeah I guessed (when in doubt C it out).

Reading:
Yup boring, deduce what you can. Did see duplicate questions from previous exams.

MCT:
Mostly theoretical stuff, a bullet is dropped, and a bullet is fired from a gun horizontally, which one hits the ground first type questions.

ANIT:
Know them planes, and what aircraft did what, and general aviation stuff. I'm an Air Traffic Control Instructor, so most of that was fairly easy to me.

PBM:
Compass trick works, and I only got 1 wrong, and averaged roughly 2ish seconds. I took a little longer for a few of the non-standard direction ones.

Listening part:
By all means do the lean if you need to, being a controller I'm used to listening using both ears with information being fed to you. I also closed my eyes for this portion just like when I do an audio exam each year.

STICK and THROTTLE
Its not meant to be pleasant, and find your dead zones. They used the Saitek x52 set up, you can find it on Amazon for like a $139. They used to use the HOTAS Cougar. I bought the HOTAS for xbox 1 and played Ace Combat 7. I mean I think it helped some.

now the EMERGENCY section. This was truly helpful! FIRE: both dials down, hit clutch. The next one is Both dials up, hit clutch. and PROP, fuel dial to 50%, and power to 100%, hit clutch. Whoever had that up, THANK YOU. solved those in like a few seconds, and I was back to playing the chase game.

Seriously though I was the only one in mine, and I took breaks like it was cool. You can only move on from each section after hitting NEXT yourself. If you need a few minuted to decompress, by go do it. Figure out what works for you and don't burn through chances until you feel comfortable. Good luck future officers, and pilots. MARINES again, OAR mean nothing to us, just AQR,PFAR, and FOFAR. 4/6/6 to be exact, and you can can waive 1 point for any one of those, but not multiple.

 

[Martin Peychev]

I don't know if this is what you're looking for or not?

http://www.petersonspublishing.com/OfficerCandidate/

Yes, thank you! However; the confirmation code just keeps coming up as not valid.

 

[tboyett]

Good afternoon,

First off I want to thank everybody on this thread for posting their study guides, tips, etc. that has helped me attain a competitive test score (51 OAR, 6/6/7 AQR/PFAR/FOFAR). I am applying for the August board, and I want to apply as SNA, SNFO, and SWO.

However, when I called my recruiter the next day, I mentioned that I wear contacts, and he stated that was not an issue as long as my vision was 20/20 corrected. Then, he connects me with another recruiter, who instantly tells me that I can only apply for NFO since I have contacts. I read through the NAMI and the visual requirements state 20/40 uncorrected. After speaking with an active military pilot, he mentioned to tell my recruiter to put me down for SNA. Basically, I’m trying to clarify whether or not I can apply for SNA with contacts, since I have been told both that I can and cannot. Thank you in advance, and good luck to everybody applying and testing!

 

[pleahy15]

Good afternoon,

First off I want to thank everybody on this thread for posting their study guides, tips, etc. that has helped me attain a competitive test score (51 OAR, 6/6/7 AQR/PFAR/FOFAR). I am applying for the August board, and I want to apply as SNA, SNFO, and SWO.

However, when I called my recruiter the next day, I mentioned that I wear contacts, and he stated that was not an issue as long as my vision was 20/20 corrected. Then, he connects me with another recruiter, who instantly tells me that I can only apply for NFO since I have contacts. I read through the NAMI and the visual requirements state 20/40 uncorrected. After speaking with an active military pilot, he mentioned to tell my recruiter to put me down for SNA. Basically, I’m trying to clarify whether or not I can apply for SNA with contacts, since I have been told both that I can and cannot. Thank you in advance, and good luck to everybody applying and testing!

Good luck! I’m applying for the same board.

 

[TF7325]

Good afternoon,

First off I want to thank everybody on this thread for posting their study guides, tips, etc. that has helped me attain a competitive test score (51 OAR, 6/6/7 AQR/PFAR/FOFAR). I am applying for the August board, and I want to apply as SNA, SNFO, and SWO.

However, when I called my recruiter the next day, I mentioned that I wear contacts, and he stated that was not an issue as long as my vision was 20/20 corrected. Then, he connects me with another recruiter, who instantly tells me that I can only apply for NFO since I have contacts. I read through the NAMI and the visual requirements state 20/40 uncorrected. After speaking with an active military pilot, he mentioned to tell my recruiter to put me down for SNA. Basically, I’m trying to clarify whether or not I can apply for SNA with contacts, since I have been told both that I can and cannot. Thank you in advance, and good luck to everybody applying and testing!

You’re right for the 20/40 I corrected vision and 20/20 corrected. You also have to pass depth perception at MEPS. Good luck.

 

[Prometheus_]

However, when I called my recruiter the next day, I mentioned that I wear contacts, and he stated that was not an issue as long as my vision was 20/20 corrected. Then, he connects me with another recruiter, who instantly tells me that I can only apply for NFO since I have contacts. I read through the NAMI and the visual requirements state 20/40 uncorrected. After speaking with an active military pilot, he mentioned to tell my recruiter to put me down for SNA. Basically, I’m trying to clarify whether or not I can apply for SNA with contacts, since I have been told both that I can and cannot. Thank you in advance, and good luck to everybody applying and testing!

What is your eyesight? As long as you are at most 20/40 in both eyes uncorrected you are fine. You just need to pass depth perception at MEPs as TF7325 stated. As YeRok said, there isn't a "LASIK" waiver per say, it is a waiver for corneal refractive eye surgery (PRK/LASIK). If you choose to get LASIK and as long as you meet the general guidelines and your procedure goes well you shouldn't have any issues getting a waiver or so I have been told. You will just have to wait six long months. Good luck to you.

 

[PhlyHigh94]

This thread has been a life saver for a lot of us and I do not want to belabor the awesome information that a lot of people put up on this thread. So I will only include some observations that I have made while taking the test that I have not seen posted thus far:

OAR portion: You are penalized much harder for incorrect answers than if you don't answer at all. I timed out on all three portions and still got a 57. Remember, this entire test is about accuracy FIRST, then Speed.

Dichotic Listening: The pace is quite slow and makes this portion very easy. Lean to the target ear and HERE IS WHY! You may have a lot of perceived pressure of the test and you may have spurts where you just blank out [especially during the combined PBM portion]. Leaning will remind you what ear you are listening too. Also, repeat EVERYTHING in the target ear. This will help you because if you do not repeat you may second guess what you heard, repeating the target ear gives you a SECOND CHANCE!


PBM: Regarding the multi-tasked portions of this event, focus on the additional tasks. For example, during the 2d/vertical/ dichotic, focus on dichotic FIRST, then find out which will be your second priority (I surprisingly had an easier time tracking 2D peripherally rather than the vertical plane and you will find out quickly which plane you take to better). Remember, being an aviator is about your ability to shift focus quickly and trying to do all of them at once is extremely difficult (however, some of you are flat out gifted!) Prioritize the evolution and shift your focus quickly. Crush it!

Lastly, thank you all to those that have contributed to this thread. Your contributions have been invaluable and afforded me [and many others] the opportunity do well on the test and pay any experience forward.

What I did for the dichotic listening was whenever I had the target ear, I would remove the over-the-ear headphone from the other ear completely so I could only listen to the numbers in the target ear. I think that helped quite a bit. And then I would switch left, right.

 

[benderMI]

Anyone else take both the AFOQT and ASTB? I was really surprised with my mediocre ASTB scores when compared to the AFOQT and TBAS. My only tidbit of advice for those taking the ASTB is to study test specific gouge. I used a broad approach and mostly used to Barron's book and it showed in my scores.

ASTB: 49 5/7/6
AFOQT: 97 Pilot, 99 Nav
PCSM: 84