michael odell
Member
did anyone ever answer this question for you. Im curious as to what the correct answer/way to solve this problem is also.
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1,001 questions about the ASTB (post your scores & ask your questions here!)
- Thread starter edato
- Start date
michael odell
Member
pretty sure this might be right.
test 1- score 70% weight 10% total points 700
test 2- score 75% weight 20% total points 1500
test 3- score 80% weight 30% total points 2400
test 4- score x% weight 40%
total amount of all known weighted scores is 4600. Because test 4 will be weighted at 40% we can conclude x will be multiplied by 40 and we will need to add that amount to 4600. This gives us the equation of 40x+4600. But to find that as a percentage we need to divide by the total amount weighted between all 4 tests so 100. This gives us 40x+4600/100. Because we are looking for the final grade to be 75% we can set y equal to 75. which gives us the final equation of 40x+4600/100=75. Now we can just solve for x.
Step 1 is to remove the division on the x side so we multiply both sides by 100. Now we have 40x+4600=7500. next we subtract 4600 from both sides which gives us 40x=2900. no we divide both sides by 40 which gives us x=72.5 as the final percentage needed for test 4.
michael odell
Member
I'm no pro here but from what I've seen those scores are pretty good including that gpa. I'd say you have a good shot at Pilot. lol I'll trade you scores if that's an option haha
zmoolenaar
Member
Just picked up SNA today from the May board with a 3.6 and a 6 8 7. You should be fine unless you have a legal record, poorly written essay, and/or weak letters of recommendation.
Turbo7
New Member
Just took the test for a second time, first time was mainly to just get familiar and got 7/7/7 57. The scores were good but I have a VERY competitive class at my NROTC unit. Second time around got 8/9/8 60. Do not slack on the UAV flash cards, got 100% on the second try but the first time I missed a handful and let me say the feeling you get from the buzzer sound is reminiscent of this
. I used the Google drive posted over in study guide thread and it was a life saver. Study all the flash cards you can, study until you can't get them wrong not until you get them right. There was still questions in the aviation/nautical information portion I had never encountered but the intuition I built from genuinely understanding instead of memorizing really helped. Mechanical engineer with a 3.5 with pilot as my first choice, assignment in October/November so I'll keep you all updated. You all got this!
gilan101
Pilot Wannabe
I want to thank everyone who has posted on this forum, with their guides, tips and tricks. I could not have done as well as I did without your help. This was my first test attempt and I scored a 57 7/8/7 Not the best scores on here but not terrible. Some background: I basically skated through high school math and my major in college did not require me to become proficient outside of statistics so I really struggled with math and mechanical competency. However, I created a pretty aggressive study plan and was able to get a reasonable score, So if you are reading this and are in the same boat as I was I hope this will help.
General:
Video from faith by flight with a general overview of the test and what to expect:
The four things that helped me the most were:
Math:
As previously stated I sucked at math, The Barrons and Petersons guides were not going to cut it for me. I needed something to build up the basic mathematics building blocks. I ended up using ARCO GRE/GMAT Math review. It was very useful since it goes through pretty much any problem you could get on the OAR and shows in detail how to solve them.
Go through everything in the Kyles study kit
drive.google.com
make sure you know how to do every type of problem. If you don't understand a math or mechanical concept or problem, Khan academy is a great resource.
www.khanacademy.org
For additional practice, I used Kuta software, many types of questions to practice on.
www.kutasoftware.com
From everyone's posts you can generally expect a lot of word problems especially D=RT, Mixture, and probability. You also will encounter a number of problems involving radicals and exponents.
Reading:
Very boring and very long. Stay focused read carefully. Beware some of the answers will be "correct" however the correct answer must be derived only from information in the paragraph, your outside knowledge should be discarded. If you need some extra practice with reading comprehension you can use the 5lbs pound book of GRE problems. The questions on it will be harder than the ones actually on the OAR. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1506247598/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Mechanical:
Very different from what I was expecting, it was very conceptual in nature, instead of being more about specific machines or solving formulas. The Peterson and Barrons books will be helpful but If you were like me and need to understand the concepts better, Khan academy is one of the best resources. I also used this youtube playlist
Not all the videos in the playlist are super helpful but they helped me with the basics. Go through all of the Kyles mechanical gouge.
Aviation and Nautical Information:
I felt i did very well on this section i finished in 7 min and i dont think I missed a question. The way I studied for this section was by using every scrap of gouge I could find. Any question that is known to be a potential test question got a flashcard. I ended up with just under 900 flashcards for this section. Every part of Ship, aircraft, flight procedures, nautical and aviation terminology, weather e.t.c. My favorite resources were the FAA handbook, this set of flashcards
www.cram.com
. Make sure to go over any questions you miss in the Peterson and Barrons books.
Naval Aviation Trait Facet Inventory:
You cant study for this so just put it out if mind. Just try to relax and answer them to the best of your ability and don't think too hard. Save your energy for parts of the test you actually have control over.
PBM:
You can read this article found by shanghai_tactics https://web.archive.org/web/2011072...bs/scholarly/theses/2007/Dec/07Dec_Ostoin.pdf
to get a better understanding of what the test will look like and what you will be expected to do during the test. I will be quoting from it below.
UAV:
Accuracy and speed both matter. Pace yourself and get into a rhythm to keep your tempo high. The UAV trick is a must for this section
Use this flashcard set to practice https://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/story.php?title=_36014 or https://www.cram.com/flashcards/astb-uav-testing-6997985
When practicing the UAV time yourself, make sure you put the deck onto shuffle and move quickly. I got my time down to less that 3.5 seconds per question when practicing but got much lower times 1.5-2.5 when I did the actual test.
Dichotic Listening:
This section is 1:40 long. During this section you will hear a letter or number in each ear simultaneously, when you hear a number in the target ear you will then press a trigger or button. I did not practice for this section as i did not find any good tools. RhinoHornet375 made a practice test for this but the link is currently dead. If anyone has a secondary link I will update this section. One tip is to tilt your head to the side you are supposed to be focusing on, it helped me (a little) to focus in on the correct ear.
Throttle:
This is 1 min long. I did not practice for this section. Many people recommend inverting controls for video games or getting a joystick to practice. However according to the study
"Prior to taking the PBMB, participants were asked a series of questions about their perceived eye-hand coordination skills and multitasking abilities. These responses along with the participants’ age, gender, aviation experience, amount of video games played, ability to juggle, and ability to dribble a basket ball were analyzed using a stepwise regression to predict the total number of redirects for the VTT/ATT/EP subtest. Only aviation experience was significant (p = .001)."
Steven D. Ostoin December 2007 AN ASSESMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASUREMENT BATTERY (PBMB), THE NAVY’S PSYCHOMOTOR SUPPLEMENT TO THE AVIATION SELECTION TEST BATTERY (ASTB)
Now this study did not have very high N value, and your personal scores may be better if you do practice and many people have attested to that improving their score. With that said the study seems to shows that it will not matter very much. So you may be better served investing your time in improving other topics.
Four generally accepted ways to study for this.
"Three scores are recorded for this task. The first is a total number of correct responses. A correct response is recorded when the pixel distance between the crosshair and aircraft is within a programmed range at a predetermined time check during the task. The second score recorded is an error average distance. This distance is the average distance observed between the center point of the crosshair and the center point of the aircraft over the duration of the subtest. The third score is for the total number of redirects recorded during the task. A redirect is recorded when the subject maintains the crosshair on top of the aircraft for brief amount of time causing the aircraft to change course. During the VTT, as the participant correctly targets the airplane, it starts moving faster thus progressively increasing the level of difficulty. There are three speeds with which the airplane can move and thus three levels of The VTT was designed to measure how many airplane redirects the participant can induce."
Steven D. Ostoin December 2007 AN ASSESMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASUREMENT BATTERY (PBMB), THE NAVY’S PSYCHOMOTOR SUPPLEMENT TO THE AVIATION SELECTION TEST BATTERY (ASTB)
Stick:
1 min long, same grading criteria as the throttle but now its 2 axis.
Stick and Throttle:
This is 2 min long, and has the same grading.
The test subject must attend to each task equally during the ATT/VTT because the scoring incorporates how well both airplanes are accurately targeted.
Do not completely focus on one task to get a good score on just the one you must focus on both to score well.
Stick+Throttle+Listening:
3 min long.
"The participant must attend to all three tasks equally. Scoring for the multi-task combination subtest tracks the accuracy of targeting both airplanes, the number of redirects, and the accuracy and speed of the responses to the DLT."
Steven D. Ostoin December 2007 AN ASSESMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASUREMENT BATTERY (PBMB), THE NAVY’S PSYCHOMOTOR SUPPLEMENT TO THE AVIATION SELECTION TEST BATTERY (ASTB)
Emergency:
During this section, you will be required to manipulate both the joystick and throttle while in addition solve the emergencies. You will not have to deal with the dichotic listening portion this section is 2 min long.
"The participant must continue to perform the VTT and the ATT tasks while dealing with the emergency scenario. All three tasks are considered in the final score for this subtest."
Steven D. Ostoin December 2007 AN ASSESMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASUREMENT BATTERY (PBMB), THE NAVY’S PSYCHOMOTOR SUPPLEMENT TO THE AVIATION SELECTION TEST BATTERY (ASTB)
The emergencies are
Before you start the test you will be asked to move both knobs to neutral. My recommendation is that as soon as the test starts you move both knobs to the up position. Doing this gives you a 33% chance of already solving the emergency all you have to do is press the clutch. and a 33% of having 1 knob already set. After each emergency immediately move the knobs to another of the emergency positions. You are graded on how fast you "solve" the emergency so presetting these can help to improve your speed and thus your score.
Conclusion:
General:
Video from faith by flight with a general overview of the test and what to expect:
The four things that helped me the most were:
- The Barrons flight aptitude book
Amazon.com: Military Flight Aptitude Tests (Barron's Military Flight Aptitude Tests) (9781438011042): Duran, Terry L.: Books
Amazon.com: Military Flight Aptitude Tests (Barron's Military Flight Aptitude Tests) (9781438011042): Duran, Terry L.: Bookswww.amazon.com - The Peterson Officer Guides which can be found in Kyle's ASTB study kit
Kyle's ASTB Study Kit 2019 - Google Drive
drive.google.com
- Flashcards: I use Anki
for my flashcards but any flashcard application or website will do. make cards for anything you think, might be on the test, or concepts you need to memorize e.t.c, The way I used them was anytime I was going to check something on my phone, twitter/reddit/ e.t.c I pulled out the Anki app and did flashcards instead.
Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards
apps.ankiweb.net
- Kyle's study guide. I used many different gouges but his is one of the best starting points.
Math:
As previously stated I sucked at math, The Barrons and Petersons guides were not going to cut it for me. I needed something to build up the basic mathematics building blocks. I ended up using ARCO GRE/GMAT Math review. It was very useful since it goes through pretty much any problem you could get on the OAR and shows in detail how to solve them.
ARCO GRE/GMAT Math Review 6th Edition (Gre Gmat Math Review): Frieder, David: 9780768918311: Amazon.com: Books
ARCO GRE/GMAT Math Review 6th Edition (Gre Gmat Math Review) [Frieder, David] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. ARCO GRE/GMAT Math Review 6th Edition (Gre Gmat Math Review)
www.amazon.com
Go through everything in the Kyles study kit
Kyle's ASTB Study Kit 2019 - Google Drive
drive.google.com
Khan Academy | Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice
You can learn anything. Expert-created content and resources for every course and level. Always free.
For additional practice, I used Kuta software, many types of questions to practice on.
Free Algebra 1 Worksheets
From everyone's posts you can generally expect a lot of word problems especially D=RT, Mixture, and probability. You also will encounter a number of problems involving radicals and exponents.
Reading:
Very boring and very long. Stay focused read carefully. Beware some of the answers will be "correct" however the correct answer must be derived only from information in the paragraph, your outside knowledge should be discarded. If you need some extra practice with reading comprehension you can use the 5lbs pound book of GRE problems. The questions on it will be harder than the ones actually on the OAR. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1506247598/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Mechanical:
Very different from what I was expecting, it was very conceptual in nature, instead of being more about specific machines or solving formulas. The Peterson and Barrons books will be helpful but If you were like me and need to understand the concepts better, Khan academy is one of the best resources. I also used this youtube playlist
Aviation and Nautical Information:
I felt i did very well on this section i finished in 7 min and i dont think I missed a question. The way I studied for this section was by using every scrap of gouge I could find. Any question that is known to be a potential test question got a flashcard. I ended up with just under 900 flashcards for this section. Every part of Ship, aircraft, flight procedures, nautical and aviation terminology, weather e.t.c. My favorite resources were the FAA handbook, this set of flashcards
ASTB Aviation/Nautical Information Test (ANIT) [comprehensive] Flashcards - Cram.com
Study Flashcards On ASTB Aviation/Nautical Information Test (ANIT) [comprehensive] at Cram.com. Quickly memorize the terms, phrases and much more. Cram.com makes it easy to get the grade you want!
Naval Aviation Trait Facet Inventory:
You cant study for this so just put it out if mind. Just try to relax and answer them to the best of your ability and don't think too hard. Save your energy for parts of the test you actually have control over.
PBM:
You can read this article found by shanghai_tactics https://web.archive.org/web/2011072...bs/scholarly/theses/2007/Dec/07Dec_Ostoin.pdf
to get a better understanding of what the test will look like and what you will be expected to do during the test. I will be quoting from it below.
UAV:
Accuracy and speed both matter. Pace yourself and get into a rhythm to keep your tempo high. The UAV trick is a must for this section
Use this flashcard set to practice https://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/story.php?title=_36014 or https://www.cram.com/flashcards/astb-uav-testing-6997985
When practicing the UAV time yourself, make sure you put the deck onto shuffle and move quickly. I got my time down to less that 3.5 seconds per question when practicing but got much lower times 1.5-2.5 when I did the actual test.
Dichotic Listening:
This section is 1:40 long. During this section you will hear a letter or number in each ear simultaneously, when you hear a number in the target ear you will then press a trigger or button. I did not practice for this section as i did not find any good tools. RhinoHornet375 made a practice test for this but the link is currently dead. If anyone has a secondary link I will update this section. One tip is to tilt your head to the side you are supposed to be focusing on, it helped me (a little) to focus in on the correct ear.
Throttle:
This is 1 min long. I did not practice for this section. Many people recommend inverting controls for video games or getting a joystick to practice. However according to the study
"Prior to taking the PBMB, participants were asked a series of questions about their perceived eye-hand coordination skills and multitasking abilities. These responses along with the participants’ age, gender, aviation experience, amount of video games played, ability to juggle, and ability to dribble a basket ball were analyzed using a stepwise regression to predict the total number of redirects for the VTT/ATT/EP subtest. Only aviation experience was significant (p = .001)."
Steven D. Ostoin December 2007 AN ASSESMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASUREMENT BATTERY (PBMB), THE NAVY’S PSYCHOMOTOR SUPPLEMENT TO THE AVIATION SELECTION TEST BATTERY (ASTB)
Now this study did not have very high N value, and your personal scores may be better if you do practice and many people have attested to that improving their score. With that said the study seems to shows that it will not matter very much. So you may be better served investing your time in improving other topics.
Four generally accepted ways to study for this.
- RhinoHornet375 PBM program which (link dead as of writing this)
- RYW7's PBM Matlab Program
- Inverted FPS games.
- Flight sims.
- the HOTAS used during test
Amazon.com: Saitek PS28 X52 Flight Control System: Electronics
Amazon.com: Saitek PS28 X52 Flight Control System: Electronicswww.amazon.com - A high quality HOTAS joystick throttle combo.
Amazon.com: Thrustmaster 2960778 T.16000M FCS HOTAS Controller: Computers & Accessories
Amazon.com: Thrustmaster 2960778 T.16000M FCS HOTAS Controller: Computers & Accessorieswww.amazon.com - A Inexpensive but usable option
Amazon.com: Thrustmaster USB Joystick for PC: Electronics
Amazon.com: Thrustmaster USB Joystick for PC: Electronicswww.amazon.com
"Three scores are recorded for this task. The first is a total number of correct responses. A correct response is recorded when the pixel distance between the crosshair and aircraft is within a programmed range at a predetermined time check during the task. The second score recorded is an error average distance. This distance is the average distance observed between the center point of the crosshair and the center point of the aircraft over the duration of the subtest. The third score is for the total number of redirects recorded during the task. A redirect is recorded when the subject maintains the crosshair on top of the aircraft for brief amount of time causing the aircraft to change course. During the VTT, as the participant correctly targets the airplane, it starts moving faster thus progressively increasing the level of difficulty. There are three speeds with which the airplane can move and thus three levels of The VTT was designed to measure how many airplane redirects the participant can induce."
Steven D. Ostoin December 2007 AN ASSESMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASUREMENT BATTERY (PBMB), THE NAVY’S PSYCHOMOTOR SUPPLEMENT TO THE AVIATION SELECTION TEST BATTERY (ASTB)
Stick:
1 min long, same grading criteria as the throttle but now its 2 axis.
Stick and Throttle:
This is 2 min long, and has the same grading.
The test subject must attend to each task equally during the ATT/VTT because the scoring incorporates how well both airplanes are accurately targeted.
Do not completely focus on one task to get a good score on just the one you must focus on both to score well.
Stick+Throttle+Listening:
3 min long.
"The participant must attend to all three tasks equally. Scoring for the multi-task combination subtest tracks the accuracy of targeting both airplanes, the number of redirects, and the accuracy and speed of the responses to the DLT."
Steven D. Ostoin December 2007 AN ASSESMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASUREMENT BATTERY (PBMB), THE NAVY’S PSYCHOMOTOR SUPPLEMENT TO THE AVIATION SELECTION TEST BATTERY (ASTB)
Emergency:
During this section, you will be required to manipulate both the joystick and throttle while in addition solve the emergencies. You will not have to deal with the dichotic listening portion this section is 2 min long.
"The participant must continue to perform the VTT and the ATT tasks while dealing with the emergency scenario. All three tasks are considered in the final score for this subtest."
Steven D. Ostoin December 2007 AN ASSESMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASUREMENT BATTERY (PBMB), THE NAVY’S PSYCHOMOTOR SUPPLEMENT TO THE AVIATION SELECTION TEST BATTERY (ASTB)
The emergencies are
- Fire = Both Down, then press the clutch.
- Power = Both Up, then press the clutch.
- Propeller = One up One Neutral, then press the clutch.
Before you start the test you will be asked to move both knobs to neutral. My recommendation is that as soon as the test starts you move both knobs to the up position. Doing this gives you a 33% chance of already solving the emergency all you have to do is press the clutch. and a 33% of having 1 knob already set. After each emergency immediately move the knobs to another of the emergency positions. You are graded on how fast you "solve" the emergency so presetting these can help to improve your speed and thus your score.
Conclusion:
- Do all the practice tests available. Do your best to simulate the test environment, sit for the whole thing, time your self, and grade everything afterword.
- Get a good night's sleep.
- Bring water and a light snack.
- The one thing I wish I would have brought was earplugs. I was placed in a closet and loud conversations right outside the door along with people rearranging furniture was distracting and made it harder to focus.
- Try to relax, even if you feel like you are not doing well stay focused and power through the test. Each rating is a combination of multiple factors so just do your best.
TraidsAndRaids
New Member
Took the test a while ago scored a 49 with 5/6/6. Applying for NFO and SWO. My LORs are from a 0-6, 0-5 (both Air Force Active), and two professors. Can anyone way in on how competitive my package will be?
What is your GPA? A high GPA with a STEM major might help get you in, otherwise I recommend a retest. I believe someone said that you want 6/6/6 for 50% chance, and some 7s for above 50%. It is situational though....
Terrypolanco2
Active Member
Hey everyone. I want to thank you guys for all the information you guys have posted. I took my ASTB today and i scored a 46 6/8/7. I have no aviation background or pilot experience. Id be happy to share my experience. I really wished I had performed better on the OAR, and I think the math is what got me. I am a computer science major with a 2.9 GPA. I only had 2 weeks to study and I mostly covered all the Aviation I could. My OR says these scores are good but personally I think otherwise.
My first question is, is there anyone on here that got picked up for SNA and can post their scores?
Secondly, is it worth dual processing? I want to be an officer but both recruiters are trying to get me to dual process and im being very hesitant.
My first question is, is there anyone on here that got picked up for SNA and can post their scores?
Secondly, is it worth dual processing? I want to be an officer but both recruiters are trying to get me to dual process and im being very hesitant.
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
If I am reading it right your PFAR is an 8, if that is the case that is a very good score, the board doesn't care about OAR or flight experience.
Don't dual process if you want to be an officer.
Hey! was it your first time taking it? Congrats by the way!
Terrypolanco2
Active Member
Thank you! Yes it was my first time. I believe I can muster up a convincing essay and I have been volunteering at my church for around 3 years.
maowczykowski1
Active Member
I got selected with a 45 5-8-6 2.6 gpa. If everything else looks good in you application too, you should be fine
Hi All,
I am currently preparing to take the ASTB exam for the first time. I have studied pretty rigorously over the last couple months as I have been furloughed due to quarantine.
For the last part of my study prep I would like to take as many practice exams as possible. I would like to know if anyone could link some resources to or list some areas where I can find additional practice exams. Below is a list of some of the exams I have already taken:
Trivium Test Prep Book Test (ASTB Study Guide 2020-2021) - purchased on Amazon
Peterson's Master Military Flight Aptitude Tests (9th edition) - see link https://www.nelnetsolutions.com/pdf/free/mastermilitaryflight.pdf
Sample questions, not full exam - https://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmotc/nami/Documents/ASTB_SampleQuestions_13May14.pdf
I was also looking to purchase this course to gain access to their tests: https://www.ugoprep.com/astb-prep-2...7HIxfcuUW3hVRirw50WFd2nTa7EKwv-hoC9jYQAvD_BwE
Is anyone familiar with UGO Prep?
Please let me know
I am currently preparing to take the ASTB exam for the first time. I have studied pretty rigorously over the last couple months as I have been furloughed due to quarantine.
For the last part of my study prep I would like to take as many practice exams as possible. I would like to know if anyone could link some resources to or list some areas where I can find additional practice exams. Below is a list of some of the exams I have already taken:
Trivium Test Prep Book Test (ASTB Study Guide 2020-2021) - purchased on Amazon
Peterson's Master Military Flight Aptitude Tests (9th edition) - see link https://www.nelnetsolutions.com/pdf/free/mastermilitaryflight.pdf
Sample questions, not full exam - https://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmotc/nami/Documents/ASTB_SampleQuestions_13May14.pdf
I was also looking to purchase this course to gain access to their tests: https://www.ugoprep.com/astb-prep-2...7HIxfcuUW3hVRirw50WFd2nTa7EKwv-hoC9jYQAvD_BwE
Is anyone familiar with UGO Prep?
Please let me know