ASTB-E/APEX 4 Experience -DEC 2013

[MikeMillerUK]

Got it thanks guys I appreciate it. Take the exam tomorrow. Any way you guys can help on 10 too on the link I have?

Your answer should come out to be 68.5% (or 11/16).
First consider all possible combinations of children possible:

B= Boy G=Girl

BBBB
BBBG
BBGG
BGGG
GGGG

The probability of each individual child being a girl or a boy is .5.

To find the probability of each of the above examples happening, think about the following:

p(x) = probability of a given scenario

There is only ONE way to get all boys, so p(BBBB) = 1 x (.5)^4 = .0625
There are FOUR ways to get 3 boys and 1 girl (due to different possible birth orders), so p(BBBG) = 4 x (.5)^4 = .25
There are SIX ways to get 2 boys and 2 girls (due to different possible birth orders), so p(BBGG) = 6 x (.5)^4 = .375
There are FOUR ways to get 1 boy and 3 girls (due to different possible birth orders), so p(BGGG) = 4 x (.5)^4 = .25
There is only ONE way to get all girls, so p(GGGG) = 1 x (.5)^4 = .0625

To make sure the math was correct, add up all of the probabilities to make sure it equals one.

2(.0625) + 2(.25) + .375 = 1

So if the question is asking for the probability that the family gets AT LEAST 2 girls, that means they could get the following results:
BBGG (.375)
BGGG (.25)
GGGG (.0625)

Simply add up the probability of each of the above scenarios happening to find your answer.
.375 + .25 + .0625 = .6875 = 68.75% = 11/16

 

[Sundevil106150]

Your answer should come out to be 68.5% (or 11/16).
First consider all possible combinations of children possible:

B= Boy G=Girl

BBBB
BBBG
BBGG
BGGG
GGGG

The probability of each individual child being a girl or a boy is .5.

To find the probability of each of the above examples happening, think about the following:

p(x) = probability of a given scenario

There is only ONE way to get all boys, so p(BBBB) = 1 x (.5)^4 = .0625
There are FOUR ways to get 3 boys and 1 girl (due to different possible birth orders), so p(BBBG) = 4 x (.5)^4 = .25
There are SIX ways to get 2 boys and 2 girls (due to different possible birth orders), so p(BBGG) = 6 x (.5)^4 = .375
There are FOUR ways to get 1 boy and 3 girls (due to different possible birth orders), so p(BGGG) = 4 x (.5)^4 = .25
There is only ONE way to get all girls, so p(GGGG) = 1 x (.5)^4 = .0625

To make sure the math was correct, add up all of the probabilities to make sure it equals one.

2(.0625) + 2(.25) + .375 = 1

So if the question is asking for the probability that the family gets AT LEAST 2 girls, that means they could get the following results:
BBGG (.375)
BGGG (.25)
GGGG (.0625)

Simply add up the probability of each of the above scenarios happening to find your answer.
.375 + .25 + .0625 = .6875 = 68.75% = 11/16

You guys are the best, much appreciated!

 

[sharkbait1]

Got it thanks guys I appreciate it. Take the exam tomorrow. Any way you guys can help on 10 too on the link I have?

Good luck Sundevil.

 

[Sundevil106150]

53 7/7/7. Thanks for your help everyone. With my GPA and wrestling background I hope it will be a strong enough package! !

 

[sharkbait1]

53 7/7/7. Thanks for your help everyone. With my GPA and wrestling background I hope it will be a strong enough package! !

Congrats man! Solid score there. In fact I'm taking it tomorrow. Looking forward to sharing.

 

[Sundevil106150]

Congrats man! Solid score there. In fact I'm taking it tomorrow. Looking forward to sharing.

Thanks man and best of luck for you tomorrow. I am sure you will do fine. If there is any advice it is to take your time on the reading section and not to stress on the APEX portion of the test. Also do as many practice problems as possible on the UAV portion of the test. I will post my gauge on here in a bit.

 

[Sundevil106150]

Alright the gouge on here is spot on but I will say this. The books like Accepted Inc or the Dummies book help with the aviation/nautical information but it really does not help on the rest in regards to the math and mechanical section on the OAR. It will help polish your math skills and there are some questions from the book on the test but most were probability questions as I will elaborate below. Also mechanical just know theories , I only saw one or 2 problems from all 4 of the books on this section.

Reading:

As most, if not everyone, have said on this forum, this section is quite difficult. It is so think in Naval terminology and the answers are so closely worded that it becomes disorienting at times. You just get lost in the complexity of the wording. All I can say is that when I started to take my time and reread the paragraph I was getting the answers right because the questions got much harder. At first I was trying to go at a fast pace due to time put the questions were becoming easier which was not a good thing. Do not worry about the time too much, worry about the accuracy of the answer. I ran out of time but I realized it is better to have accurate correct answers than multiple wrong answers with a faster finished time. I did not finish in time for this section but my score probably improved once I started taking my time during the last 10 minutes of the section.

Math:
I studied for 3-4 months and had a tutor helping me through each problem in all the 4 ASTB books I had (Dummies, Petersons, Barons, Accepted Inc.) and to be honest if I went in blind to the test I probably would have done a little worse or the same. None of the math problems in the book relate to what is given on the test. Most are probability questions with fractions or solving equations or simplifying a complicated square root equation. Granted there are problems like these in Accepted Inc. or Dummies but they are too broad on their math. I only received 2 geometry problems (solving an angle with only 2 angles given in equation form so 2x+25 and the other angle 3x+15. There was also an extended line through the one side of the triangle where it had 4x so you had to solve for x. I just plunged in the answers to see which got me a 180 total.) the other was solving the height of a triangle with only 2 sides given. I received no logs or matrices. Had one that wanted to find the next 2 test scores needed to have a 80 average.

Mechanical:
Alright if I knew it was just theoretical I probably would have just read the mechanical sections in the study book rather than doing the problems in the book. A large majority of the problems in the study books you do not see on the test. It is almost all theoretical with maybe 2 or 3 problems you have to use math for. Like how much work is required to perform this test, or how long does this board need to be if the weight is this far from the fulcrum and weighs this much. The rest was in regards to what does this do, or if you kick a kid kicks a foot ball at its center mass will it spin end over end, spin on its axis or not spin or tumble at all. Kind of vague when they do not tell you if the person is kicking the ball from his hands or someone holding it on the ground. All I can say is to make sure you look over theories, how electronics work, gravity, etc. There is no really solving type questions just fact base.

UAV:
I studied for this section by practicing with the PDF that someone posted on here which is on like page 9 of this thread. It is really easy or was for me but when the test started I got 4 wrong because I was just getting lost in the constant bombardment of the questions. I was getting a little disoriented and that is what kind of screwed me up but even though you can take the practice test over and over again be sure to practice this section on your own so that it is almost second nature.

Aviation/Naval terminology.
If you read the pages in the Dummies book on aviation and remembered the vocab in the Accepted Inc. you are golden on this section. I finished this section in 3 minutes and it was a breeze so idk how I only go a 7 but if you studied and/or have flight experience you'll be fine. The facts that I got in regards to aviation I knew both just from looking at Wikipedia at different plans or from History channel when I was younger. One question asked which aircraft was converted to an air tanker during Desert Storm which luckily I came across 3 nights before when looking at Wikipedia about the Super Hornets. The other was asking which air craft was the first fighter with the capability of escorting bombers over very long distances and I believe that was the P-51 Mustang. I had a aviation tutor who is a pilot major at ASU that took me into high tech flight sims and took me into a class room for 3 hours 2 days a week to go over everything aviation so I could understand not just what something meant but the concept and how it is applicable so it helped immensely on the test.

APEX:
This portion I actually had a lot of fun doing. Granted you think you are doing terrible but trust me it is not so bad. Just keep calm and like everyone says part 1 and 2 are relatively easy. Part three when they throw the throttle, joystick and listening portion at you it gets overwhelming but I just laughed my way through it and was back talking the computer like I would a video game when I am frustrated or in the zone. The problem with this is that the throttle is really touchy and to follow the target that is going up or down on the far left side of the screen you have to move the throttle forward to go up and the throttle down to move down and you know you're on target because there is a red cross hair that you control with the throttle and it will turn green when you are on target. But the joy stick is opposite control wise. You pull back (down) to go up when you are following the other target that moves ALL OVER the screen and you push forward (up) to go down. SO it is counter intuitive because in your peripherals you see the target on the left bar going up and down and you push forward on the throttle to go up but then you see the other target that is controlled by the joy stick move up a well but you have to pull down on the joy stick to go up. It does get confusing but I kind of had a blast doing it. Concentrate most on doing the best you can in keeping both targets in the green equally but more importantly get you listening portion right. Throttle clutch button for odd numbers and trigger on joy stick on even numbers. Make sure you pull the trigger hard because you might think you are clicking it but you might not be. Listening portion is easy but I became focus too much on the target at the end of the 3rd portion that they gave 2 numbers rapidly and I pushed the even trigger button too late and it said an odd number right when I pulled on the trigger for an even number so that was two wrong there and with only 15 seconds left of the damn test. The emergency procedure part is the last part and there was not a practice portion on this. Just write down the procedure remember the so fire light (FL (fuel Low) PL (power L), Clutch (reset). Use abbreviations and remember them the procedure went in order for me.

Any questions feel free to message me or you can ask for my number and I can help on the UAV portion or any other questions through face time (UAV is hard to explain it must be shown for visual reference). Best of luck to everyone!

 

[MCooper]

Alright the gouge on here is spot on but I will say this. The books like Accepted Inc or the Dummies book help with the aviation/nautical information but it really does not help on the rest in regards to the math and mechanical section on the OAR. It will help polish your math skills and there are some questions from the book on the test but most were probability questions as I will elaborate below. Also mechanical just know theories , I only saw one or 2 problems from all 4 of the books on this section.

Reading:

As most, if not everyone, have said on this forum, this section is quite difficult. It is so think in Naval terminology and the answers are so closely worded that it becomes disorienting at times. You just get lost in the complexity of the wording. All I can say is that when I started to take my time and reread the paragraph I was getting the answers right because the questions got much harder. At first I was trying to go at a fast pace due to time put the questions were becoming easier which was not a good thing. Do not worry about the time too much, worry about the accuracy of the answer. I ran out of time but I realized it is better to have accurate correct answers than multiple wrong answers with a faster finished time. I did not finish in time for this section but my score probably improved once I started taking my time during the last 10 minutes of the section.

Math:
I studied for 3-4 months and had a tutor helping me through each problem in all the 4 ASTB books I had (Dummies, Petersons, Barons, Accepted Inc.) and to be honest if I went in blind to the test I probably would have done a little worse or the same. None of the math problems in the book relate to what is given on the test. Most are probability questions with fractions or solving equations or simplifying a complicated square root equation. Granted there are problems like these in Accepted Inc. or Dummies but they are too broad on their math. I only received 2 geometry problems (solving an angle with only 2 angles given in equation form so 2x+25 and the other angle 3x+15. There was also an extended line through the one side of the triangle where it had 4x so you had to solve for x. I just plunged in the answers to see which got me a 180 total.) the other was solving the height of a triangle with only 2 sides given. I received no logs or matrices. Had one that wanted to find the next 2 test scores needed to have a 80 average.

Mechanical:
Alright if I knew it was just theoretical I probably would have just read the mechanical sections in the study book rather than doing the problems in the book. A large majority of the problems in the study books you do not see on the test. It is almost all theoretical with maybe 2 or 3 problems you have to use math for. Like how much work is required to perform this test, or how long does this board need to be if the weight is this far from the fulcrum and weighs this much. The rest was in regards to what does this do, or if you kick a kid kicks a foot ball at its center mass will it spin end over end, spin on its axis or not spin or tumble at all. Kind of vague when they do not tell you if the person is kicking the ball from his hands or someone holding it on the ground. All I can say is to make sure you look over theories, how electronics work, gravity, etc. There is no really solving type questions just fact base.

UAV:
I studied for this section by practicing with the PDF that someone posted on here which is on like page 9 of this thread. It is really easy or was for me but when the test started I got 4 wrong because I was just getting lost in the constant bombardment of the questions. I was getting a little disoriented and that is what kind of screwed me up but even though you can take the practice test over and over again be sure to practice this section on your own so that it is almost second nature.

Aviation/Naval terminology.
If you read the pages in the Dummies book on aviation and remembered the vocab in the Accepted Inc. you are golden on this section. I finished this section in 3 minutes and it was a breeze so idk how I only go a 7 but if you studied and/or have flight experience you'll be fine. The facts that I got in regards to aviation I knew both just from looking at Wikipedia at different plans or from History channel when I was younger. One question asked which aircraft was converted to an air tanker during Desert Storm which luckily I came across 3 nights before when looking at Wikipedia about the Super Hornets. The other was asking which air craft was the first fighter with the capability of escorting bombers over very long distances and I believe that was the P-51 Mustang. I had a aviation tutor who is a pilot major at ASU that took me into high tech flight sims and took me into a class room for 3 hours 2 days a week to go over everything aviation so I could understand not just what something meant but the concept and how it is applicable so it helped immensely on the test.

APEX:
This portion I actually had a lot of fun doing. Granted you think you are doing terrible but trust me it is not so bad. Just keep calm and like everyone says part 1 and 2 are relatively easy. Part three when they throw the throttle, joystick and listening portion at you it gets overwhelming but I just laughed my way through it and was back talking the computer like I would a video game when I am frustrated or in the zone. The problem with this is that the throttle is really touchy and to follow the target that is going up or down on the far left side of the screen you have to move the throttle forward to go up and the throttle down to move down and you know you're on target because there is a red cross hair that you control with the throttle and it will turn green when you are on target. But the joy stick is opposite control wise. You pull back (down) to go up when you are following the other target that moves ALL OVER the screen and you push forward (up) to go down. SO it is counter intuitive because in your peripherals you see the target on the left bar going up and down and you push forward on the throttle to go up but then you see the other target that is controlled by the joy stick move up a well but you have to pull down on the joy stick to go up. It does get confusing but I kind of had a blast doing it. Concentrate most on doing the best you can in keeping both targets in the green equally but more importantly get you listening portion right. Throttle clutch button for odd numbers and trigger on joy stick on even numbers. Make sure you pull the trigger hard because you might think you are clicking it but you might not be. Listening portion is easy but I became focus too much on the target at the end of the 3rd portion that they gave 2 numbers rapidly and I pushed the even trigger button too late and it said an odd number right when I pulled on the trigger for an even number so that was two wrong there and with only 15 seconds left of the damn test. The emergency procedure part is the last part and there was not a practice portion on this. Just write down the procedure remember the so fire light (FL (fuel Low) PL (power L), Clutch (reset). Use abbreviations and remember them the procedure went in order for me.

Any questions feel free to message me or you can ask for my number and I can help on the UAV portion or any other questions through face time (UAV is hard to explain it must be shown for visual reference). Best of luck to everyone!

Congrats on the score Sundevil!

Funny that you mention those specific study guides (Peterson's, Barons, etc). I met with my recruiter today and those are the exact books that he suggested I buy. So I went right over to the Exchange and bought one, ordered the other three from Amazon. I know the new version of the test hasn't been around for a while so I wonder if there are any "legit" guides out there. Been scanning AW and have come across some great information but the one thing that seems constant in people's rebuke of the test is that the guides (specially the math portion) don't exactly relate to what's on the test. Naturally, being "the slow guy" when it comes to math, I wonder if this is a concern. I guess there's only one way to find out.

Plan on taking the test in NOV (and I've been casually studying old material from college since mid-June) so that should be plenty of time. I'll have my current job until NOV so hopefully it all works out. Good luck to you and all others,

 

[Sundevil106150]

Congrats on the score Sundevil!

Funny that you mention those specific study guides (Peterson's, Barons, etc). I met with my recruiter today and those are the exact books that he suggested I buy. So I went right over to the Exchange and bought one, ordered the other three from Amazon. I know the new version of the test hasn't been around for a while so I wonder if there are any "legit" guides out there. Been scanning AW and have come across some great information but the one thing that seems constant in people's rebuke of the test is that the guides (specially the math portion) don't exactly relate to what's on the test. Naturally, being "the slow guy" when it comes to math, I wonder if this is a concern. I guess there's only one way to find out.

Plan on taking the test in NOV (and I've been casually studying old material from college since mid-June) so that should be plenty of time. I'll have my current job until NOV so hopefully it all works out. Good luck to you and all others,

Do not get me wrong the books do help. But I didn't really get percentage problems except for the scores needed to have an 80 average on the test and 2 geometry problems. The rest were probability and solving complex equations that were very long and had multiple square roots but with a small number in between the square root. So like 3(number in middle of square root like a 2 or 3 and the Number that is being rooted). Go to purple math or someone posted a link and do the problems on there. Still study logs and matrices though and the painters problem that is on here because multiple people got that problem. The books really does sharpen your math skills and will help (in regards to the Dummies and even Barrons) on the mechanical by explaining the theories thoroughly and how concepts work. Still do the problems though. If you read through all the books and do all the problems in addition to practicing the UAV PDF on here and reading through the forum you will be fine. Just be calm and relax and know if you have to take it a second time you will knock it out of the park because you know what to expect. Good luck to you, let us know how you do.

 

[sharkbait1]

Thanks man and best of luck for you tomorrow. I am sure you will do fine. If there is any advice it is to take your time on the reading section and not to stress on the APEX portion of the test. Also do as many practice problems as possible on the UAV portion of the test. I will post my gauge on here in a bit.

Hey all - took last week and scored 52 6/7/6. I do have to thank many of the people on here for their help and study guides.

Even though I was shooting for higher scores, my recruiter says the scores are good and wants me to go ahead with the application for SNA. So I'm feeling pretty good.

Out and about now but I'll post my experience on here after the break.

 

[RhinoDino]

First time poster, long time lurker of AW here. I took the Exam today and unfortunately was unable to complete it due to the throttle not working (I should be going back next week to finish). However I just wanted to say thank you to all who have contributed to this thread. I received a 59 on the OAR portion of the exam and a big reason why I feel I got that score is because of the information in this thread. I wanted to score higher, but the recruiter seems to be pleased with the result so far. If anyone has any questions, please ask and I'll do what I can to help.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

First time poster, long time lurker of AW here. I took the Exam today and unfortunately was unable to complete it due to the throttle not working (I should be going back next week to finish). However I just wanted to say thank you to all who have contributed to this thread. I received a 59 on the OAR portion of the exam and a big reason why I feel I got that score is because of the information in this thread. I wanted to score higher, but the recruiter seems to be pleased with the result so far. If anyone has any questions, please ask and I'll do what I can to help.

the throttle stopped working? in that case don't you just hit the "E" button 3 times to eject.

 

[Yanick]

Took the test today and my score was 64 9/9/9. Thanks everyone for posting there experiences/gouge. It helped me a lot.
Like everyone's been saying the math and reading sections are harder then expected but mechanical/aviation was simple straight from the study guide.
For people having trouble with the UAV section it is identical to the AF TBAS UAV section. Here are some flash cards that my help-http://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/cardshow.php?title=_36014&quesnum=1

 

[MCooper]

Do not get me wrong the books do help. But I didn't really get percentage problems except for the scores needed to have an 80 average on the test and 2 geometry problems. The rest were probability and solving complex equations that were very long and had multiple square roots but with a small number in between the square root. So like 3(number in middle of square root like a 2 or 3 and the Number that is being rooted). Go to purple math or someone posted a link and do the problems on there. Still study logs and matrices though and the painters problem that is on here because multiple people got that problem. The books really does sharpen your math skills and will help (in regards to the Dummies and even Barrons) on the mechanical by explaining the theories thoroughly and how concepts work. Still do the problems though. If you read through all the books and do all the problems in addition to practicing the UAV PDF on here and reading through the forum you will be fine. Just be calm and relax and know if you have to take it a second time you will knock it out of the park because you know what to expect. Good luck to you, let us know how you do.

Thanks for the tips. Have found some great info on different threads so I'll definitely make good use of it.

 

[Tosh Taylor]

Well I just took the ASTB yesterday. I'm currently in college as a Pilot major, hold Commercial Multi, CFI, CFII, AGI with 415 hours and counting. Decided in January to give my life-long dream a shot. After scheduling my ASTB for July, I received an email about flight instructing Naval Academy Midshipmen for their Powered Flight Program (Naval Academy version of IFS, basically). After immediately dropping everything to head out there in search of Letters at the end of the summer (ended up getting two, one from a VERY well known officer), I returned in time to have a grand total of two days to study so I can make sure I am up for the next board and not miss school. I hammered out math one day, then mechanical / reading the next, ignoring the Aviation section due to my background (same questions I've already had before).

Math:
This really wasn't so bad. I think I had one or two word problems, and the rest were algebra for the most part. If you get them correct, as mentioned, they get tougher. Near the end of the test was finding X when it was underneath two cube roots set equal to each-other. It took me a few seconds to think about it, but even that wasn't too bad. I did not have any matrices or logarithms, however I did study them because I know they could come up. The entire math section took be about 15-20 minutes.

Reading:
When studying, I used the Accepted book. After doing about 10 problems and getting the correct answer in the book, I thought it would be just like that on the test... it wasn't. As mentioned hundreds of times by now, you get one right they get harder... and this was no different. It's pretty confusing when it gets to some of the higher-level Navy stuff, and I missed one, knew it when I saw an easier question, then clicked the wrong answer when trying to answer quickly, and a downward spiral started from there. BE PATIENT, I had to just sit back and take a breather, then resumed. Sometimes, that's the best way. I finished with about 5 minutes left.

Mechanical:
I was expecting this section to be really tough, but surprisingly it was the opposite for me at least. I think I had one mechanical advantage question involving which horse did more work in relation to the slope of an incline. There were a few questions regarding aerodynamics, but I think this section took me about 7 minutes in total. There are GREAT study guides on this site to review for it.

Aviation / Navy section:
Aviation questions were just as everyone has said. A couple about aerodynamics and then a bunch of questions about the Navy such as the first attack aircraft used on the carrier, and what torpedo bomber was introduced just before the Battle of Midway and had a 20 year career I think? What do the guys in the green hats do on the flight deck. Again, the study guides to a great job of covering most of it.

Aptitude Test:
This was... interesting. I heard about it and thought it would be different than what it was. Just try to do your best. You will be following one aircraft up and down with the throttle, and another aircraft up/down left/right with the stick. Later, a stream of letters and numbers will run through both ears, and you'll be told to listen to the left or right ear, and press the trigger for even numbers, or the clutch button on the throttle for odd. After that, you'll be tracking the aircraft and they will give you the following emergency procedures:
Engine Failure- Fuel Full, Prop Full, Clutch Button
Engine Fire- Fuel off, Prop Out, Clutch Button
Prop failure or something of that nature- Fuel Full, prop half, clutch button
I had them all memorized, but when it came to the actual application of moving the switches I went off of what was 100% and 0% when I calibrated the controls in the beginning. The actual gauges are very gauge as well, because the top of each is red, the bottom orange, middle green. I think my score was lowered on this section because of this, as I got the message saying I failed the procedure when I know I did it right according to the mechanical 100% settings... Oh well.

Final score was 7/8/8 60, which I am very happy with for only 2 days of studying. The goal you should be shooting for (according to my recruiter) is 7/7/7 58 for SNA, and 7/7/7 55 for NFO to be competitive in the selections.

Good luck!