NEW ASTB Overview

hey. I am starting to prepare for the ASTB. What would you recommend studying so I can kill the OAR part and the ASTB. Feel free to email me at justincstenta@yahoo.com Thanks!

Um... Search around here for the gouge and recommended ASTB material...

Are you taking the whole test?

THANK YOU!!!

Ok newbies to the forum, check this out:

This is a forum with a SHITLOAD of information on it about pretty much damn near anything you could ever, EVER, EVER ask or think about.

Take the time to do a search and stop being lazy asking people to send you gouge or info or just posting a new thread asking for it. If you're coming here, its apparent that you wish to become a Naval Officer. Let's start acting like it a bit more and being proactive FIRST by searching (THOROUGHLY) for your question.

When you get to your follow-on schools, training commands, ships, bases, etc., you're going to be expected to do some legwork before asking a question. No one is going to hand it to you. If you truly do a search and can't find it, then ask and I'm sure one of more of the members will point you in the right direction or answer your question/comment.

/Rant.

This is what happens when you sit in a classroom for 13 hours during instrument ground school. Sorry, just tired of seeing the same posts over and over.

No need to apologize CUPike11. I haven't been around on this forum for long...but long enough to be tired of the same thing.

Become a nurse. Cutoff age is 40.

Seriously? Where in his/her thread did he/she even mention age? So WTF does your comment do? It provides no help to this individual who is seeking some actual help. Next time read more carefully through a post and if you wish to comment do so in an appropriate manner.

I realize you are studying a bunch but you obviously have problems with the concepts. Maybe taking a class or two at the local community college maybe beneficial or getting a tutor. Otherwise study the gouge here and review the recommended material. Make sure you take the practice tests in an actually test taking environment. Answer ever question on the test. If you have questions on a certain problem then ask and we will try to help you out. Good Luck!

I've heard that studying for the GMAT or GRE will help you out on the OAR. The level of difficulty of the questions will simply the verbal and mathematic sections of the ASTB.

Also, dig up some of the gouge around here and study the mechanical comprehension info like it's your main goal in life. I know a lot of people have trouble w/ that section, but if you go through a couple study guides and info packets the physics concepts will become second nature, or at least a little easier to comprehend.

The verbal on the GRE is ridiculous. There's no verbal on the ASTB or OAR, if you're taking just the OAR. It's simply reading paragraphs and answering questions about the paragraphs. The ARCO MFAT book will really help you on this section. GRE vocabulary is just nuts and totally not necessary for this test. The math could probably help out to get you used to speedy calculations/tricks of figuring out answers faster, though.

Hey, it's not advanced physics, just simple mathematics. They key to doing really well at a fast pace is this: do not work the problem all the way through. I believe this is a tip recommended in one of the study guides (arco, etc.). Immediately eliminate the two answers that are incorrect, then keep working until you can eliminate the third. Viola! The choice is your answer. This technique applies to about 30% of the math q's, and it works great. Be prepared to use this technique alongside rounding, and estimation. Being able to determine which method to use at the beginning of a question will come with practice.
If you're taking the complete test (or if you just want to expand your vocabulary), check out vocabulary.com. I just found said website, and I think it's got potential.
Practice.
That is all.

Practicing math on any standardized test I think helps with the ASTB.

Agree with the verbal aspect.

I think the thing that will help out most with the ASTB verbal is just reading scientific or technical articles on a regular basis. It shouldn't even be considered studying. If you enjoy aviation then you should have some interest in science or engineering, or at least mechanical stuff. Just add some extra minutes to your day to read some tech blogs or science blogs on a regular basis.

Hello, I am preparing to take the ASTB this Friday. I feel quite confident in my aptitude, and have been taking practice tests. My recruiter has informed me that I will only be needing to take the OAR sections of the ASTB, so I have been focusing there. I only have two questions:

a) I saw the bell-curve with the distribution of the ASTB scores for the past decade in the pdf file at the top of this thread, but I'd like to know what percentile the scores are. For instance, if I score a 75, am I in the top 95 percentile? top 99 perecentile? etc. and

b) am I scoring my practice tests properly?: Here's how I did it:

My recruiter told me the minimum score was a 20, so I started there, then there are three sections: Math, Reading, and Mechanical, so I assume 20 points possible for each section to get a total of 80. I took three separate practice tests.
Through three practice tests, wife timing me to ensure I don't take too long, I got 104/107 math problems or 97.1%. 0.971*20 = 19.439

I also got 80/81 reading problems correct for 98.7%. 0.987*20 = 19.753

I also got 71/96 mechanical comprehension correct for 73.9%. 0.739*20 = 14.791

So I took the given 20 and added 19.439, 19.753, and 14.791 to get 73.983, which I then rounded to 74.

Is this similar to how the test is scored? Should I be confident, given this small sample, that after some minor adjustments to my problem areas, (like fully understanding mechanical advantages of pulleys, and how circuits work in the mechanical sections) in expecting to score in that range?

The practice tests I took were timed. As I noted in the post, my wife was sitting next to me with a timer, I didn't open the book until she started the timer.

Furthermore, the three tests were in different mental situations. The first test I took, we were in the car on a road trip with friends. Both of us in the back seat, she used the timer on her iPhone as I completed the questions (music and conversation around me). The second test was after a 16-hour shift on Valentine's day (I'm a chef, it was a LONG day, both physically and mentally). I wanted to test my aptitude after having an extremely long and stressful day (Wife timed me on this one too). The final test I took a couple days ago after a full night's sleep, breakfast, and light exercise. I was hoping to simulate the situation that I will actually be in when I test (I timed myself on this one). The pressure will not get to me, I test very well. I learned at an early age, especially for aptitude tests like this and the SAT, etc., that either you know it or you don't, and have never really stressed over them. I took the SAT on a Saturday after partying on Friday night and getting only 5 hours of sleep, and got a 1280.

I know the individual scores on these tests were good. I looked at that bell-curve, I know the scores were at the extreme upper-end. My GPA is not what you would consider competitive, and I know that a good score, especially say in the 95th percentile or better, along with my other strengths, MAY be able to out-weigh my low GPA.

The point here is, I want to know if I'm scoring it SOMEWHAT near how the actual test will be scored. Are certain sections weighted more?

I absolutely did, my recruiter actually sent me the gouge in an email.

Thank-you, sir.

FYI tomorrow, yes on Presidents Day, they are running a test in preparation for the new ASTB, depending how this goes will depend when the new test takes effect, or so I am told.

Hey everyone,

In case you wanted some more gouge, I found these on some earlier posts: http://www.navygouge.com

http://www.bryanweatherup.com/gouge/. You may already have them, but for those who don't...enjoy.

Try buying Officer candidate tests for dummies book.

I apologize for not giving the image or question, but the pdf won't let me copy and paste it. Question 10 in the ASTB section of the ARCO, can someone explain it to me? It seems as if there asking for a variable that doesn't appear in the image.