HELP!! OAR Section

[aw3433]

Hi, I'm new to the thread and just recently took my OAR section (section 4) of the ASTB for the first time. I had a very low score (38) and want to improve my score drastically to be competitive in the Officer program.

I was coasting on the exam until I reached the Mechanical section of the exam and was totally floored by the questions. I had been studying for over 2 months prior to the exam using the Barons Military Flight Aptitude Test, the gouges on this website and I had seemed pretty confident going in until I took the exam. The questions seemed similar but were completely different from the book and gouges. I was not prepared for what came after. I can honestly say this was the section that destroyed me as I guessed almost all the answers in this section.

Does anyone have any advice or study material I can use so I can improve my score and on the Mechanical Section? Becoming a Naval Officer has been a dream of mine and I would appreciate any help.

 

[aw3433]

There was alot of questions that involved calculations that I was not prepared for. I can't remember the exact questions but one involved PSi and volume. There was also a question regarding 3 balloons each shaped differently and the question was which would rise quickest if all three are filled with the same contents and same mass? The answer choices were of only those 3 balloons. I thought it might have been the balloon with the larger surface area.

I can't be as specific because alot of those questions were difficult, I skipped alot and came back to the ones I couldn't answer, then guessed when I couldn't figure it out. I need more practice calculating and breaking down the physics in the Mechanical section. There was a lot of calculations involved in this part compared to the practice exam in the book and of the mechanical sections in the Gouges, there were not many questions regarding Gears, Pulleys, and Circuits. There was alot of questions involving Levers and Fulcrum calculation, Vise calculations, 2 Stroke Engines instead of 4 stroke engines.

 

[Gills]

Click on the ASTB section of this site, it has all you need for mechanical comprehension.

www.navy-officer.com

And don't feel like a dumbass (unless you are one ). I went from a 39 to a 48 on my OAR the second time that I took it.

 

[PropAddict]

"Live by the gouge, die by the gouge."

Now you've seen the questions, so you ought to have a good idea of where you are weak and need to study. Sure sounds like it anyway.

Go to your local bookstore or Half.com and buy a basic physics (Newtonian mechanics) book and a statics book. Better yet, they can likely be borrowed from your local library, Men of Honor-style.

Sounds to me like you just lack the basic knowledge base for the questions. Gouge won't help you there. You need to learn the material. Don't worry: it's easy; with a little work you can teach yourself.

 

[Leviticus]

browse this site and pay attention to Newton and Bernouli. I believe there is also some info on hydraulics systems...there should be plenty of equations for you to learn or at least to get familiar with. If you only studied Baron's book, try Peterson's and Arco. I believe the Arco is mainly tests themselves, but you can practice it.

 

[Leviticus]

it would help if I gave the link... http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/short.html

 

[ru838434]

Military.com has free practice tests for the ASVAB which are basically the same questions as the OAR section of the ASTB

 

[Spekkio]

There was alot of questions that involved calculations that I was not prepared for. I can't remember the exact questions but one involved PSi and volume. There was also a question regarding 3 balloons each shaped differently and the question was which would rise quickest if all three are filled with the same contents and same mass? The answer choices were of only those 3 balloons. I thought it might have been the balloon with the larger surface area.

I can't be as specific because alot of those questions were difficult, I skipped alot and came back to the ones I couldn't answer, then guessed when I couldn't figure it out. I need more practice calculating and breaking down the physics in the Mechanical section. There was a lot of calculations involved in this part compared to the practice exam in the book and of the mechanical sections in the Gouges, there were not many questions regarding Gears, Pulleys, and Circuits. There was alot of questions involving Levers and Fulcrum calculation, Vise calculations, 2 Stroke Engines instead of 4 stroke engines.

Ok, first thing is no freaking out. If you see a question that looks unfamiliar, it still might be testing something that you know. It's just going to require that you think for a second and apply what you know.

The second thing you want to do is learn your units. In any sort of physics/calculational type question, being able to do unit analysis will get you far. For example:

The psi vs. area is most likely testing your knowledge of Pascal's Law. Since the unit PSI is pounds/in^2, you might have been able to deduce that the equation is force/area. Set the two quantities equal to each other, and now you have a proportion that you can solve for the unknown quantity.

The 3 rising balloons is testing your knowledge of density in fluids (air is a fluid). You are correct that, given the same mass, the largest balloon will rise fastest.

Some other general topics that showed up when I took it a little over a year ago: pulleys (look up at www.howstuffworks.com), Bernoulli's Law, the Continuity Equation, Newton's laws of motion, torque, and the work-energy theorem. You can find out enough knowledge to pass the ASTB by doing a quick google search on these topics, finding out the general equations and getting a quick overview of what they're describing, since the test is very basic.

 

[black2003ss]

When I took the ASTB this past Friday, I realized within two questions on the mechanical reasoning that they didnt want you to do calculations. The Mechanical reasoning appeared to be just rationalization. I tried to do calcuations myself on the first one. Many of my questions would give me a diagram of like 4 gears, each labeled A,B,C, and D. It would then say, if gear B rotates clockwise, which other gear in the set rotates the same way. Other questions dealt with fulcrums, like two children on a teeter totter, one weighs 100lbs, the other 140lbs. Where on the board do you need to place the fulcrum, etc. Lots of pulley questions as well. When I realized it was ideas and principals, I cruised right through it. I scored a 7/7/7 OAR 60 first time, and unfortunately, I only studied about 30 min the night before.

 

[spec609]

From my initial speak to my OSO, who is now on leave until the 15th of March, I’m under the impression that I would have to study for the OAR portion of the ASTB, I’ve seen conflicting info concerning whether I would have to take the entire exam or just the OAR . She said upon completion, I would be put in for an Intel slot, based of my age and degree (Criminal Justice) So any ideas?

My second question is what is the best study guide for this portion of the exam, if you could just pick one? Currently I have Arco’s ASVAB 21 ed. I’m really bad at math, in college I took 3 remedial courses. My reading comp is real good, but my mech comp is not up to par either. Should I stick with this book or look elsewhere.

 

[LadyNavy]

I actually just took the ASTB OAR section yesterday. I scored a 54 and my fiance scored a 50. We used the Barrons Officer Candidate School Test Study Guide. Although there were a ridiculous number of errors in the book, the concepts and formulas were correct. I studied for two weeks and was very nervous going into the test but found out that the test was easier than the problems in the study guide. Although I told myself I would NEVER suggest anyone use the book I used because there were just SO MANY errors, I have to say, i didn't do too shabby using it as a study guide. You may want to give it a shot. At the beginning of each study section they have a couple of pages to brush up your memory on things. The mechanical brush up section was really helpful. Hope that helps!

 

[m26]

From my initial speak to my OSO, who is now on leave until the 15th of March, I’m under the impression that I would have to study for the OAR portion of the ASTB, I’ve seen conflicting info concerning whether I would have to take the entire exam or just the OAR . She said upon completion, I would be put in for an Intel slot, based of my age and degree (Criminal Justice) So any ideas?

The OAR is for Naval Officers. The rest is flyer-specific, I'm fairly certain.

I don't understand what that second part means.

 

[red_ryder]

Officer Aptitude Rating (OAR): This score is affected by performance on the first three subtests, Math Skills, Reading Comprehension, and Mechanical Comprehension.

I think you may not have to take all the sections if you're not a 13XX designator. At a minimum, the ones listed above.

 

[spec609]

Thanks all, I'll check out Barrons

 

[red_ryder]

Nope, Barron's is worthless, I've heard. At least use the arco book (in the bookstore, because that was pretty worthless too except for spacial app test(plus it's online for free somewhere)). Most of my practice came from the "marine gouge" on here somewhere, plus some online glossaries for general nautical and aviation info. And I got a great score, so do that.