OVERVIEW:
Scoring:
https://www.usnavy.vt.edu/documents/astboverview.pdf
This is a collection of all the info and advice I used to help me score a 46 5/7/6 on the ASTB. I’ve been a vulture here for the last 2 years and I can’t say enough how much this thread has helped prepare me. Many of these were pulled straight from other posts so I echoed them here. Approach this test with confidence and resolve. Before studying for and taking the test, be honest with yourself and your own academic shortcomings. Sharpen your strong areas and strengthen your weak areas. Be intentional with your time! For me, I broke down my study time into biggest need to least need: Math, Mech, UAV, ANIT, READ, Dichotic Listening, (Stick/Throttle, NAFTI ← can’t really study for.)
MATH:
- logarithms (adding, subtracting, change of base formula)
- matrices (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing)
- equations with fractional exponents and radicals (including multiplication with different indexes and radicals in the denominator)
- perfect numbers (6, 28, 496, 8128)
- system of equations
- work problems: https://www.purplemath.com/modules/workprob.htm
- Lots of multi-step word problems inc.: Fractions, percents, ratios, etc..
Before the exam even started, you have an untimed section where you fill in all your personal info, I took that time to make an exponent and squares chart on my scratch paper so I could have those readily at hand. Time yourself and try to solve each question in 2-2.5 min. If you’re stumped, use the answer choices to plug back into the problem.
YouTube Help:
The Organic Chemistry Tutor:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEWpbFLzoYGPfuWUMFPSaoA
Fort Bend Tutoring:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FortBendTutoring
READING:
You’re gonna wanna build stamina for this one, especially for those of you who aren’t ‘readers’. Choose the statement that can ONLY be deduced from the paragraph, nothing more. Don't overthink it. READ THIS ALOUD 2-3x. Other choices may be true, but only one can be directly taken from the paragraph. Other than that, pretty straightforward, and I averaged about 2.5 minutes or so each question. Success depends on being able to choose the best answer and you will often be given answers that are similar. Practice on dry, NONFICTION documents, wherever you can find them. Khan Academy has a small course on reading comprehension.
https://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/story.php?title=astb-reading_1
Skim the answers to get a general idea of which part of the passage to pay attention to. If you can’t rule out any answers based on the passage, eliminate everything with vernacular like “always”, “never”, etc.
MECHANICAL COMPREHENSION:
The Mechanical Section in other words just makes sense if you look at the problems and analyze what's going on. Give yourself the time as I believe correct answers > # of answers scored.
know how to convert between Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin.
G.O.W. Gasoline- 6lbs, Oil- 7.5 lbs, Water- 8.35 lbs
Formula for work
https://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/story.php?title=astb-mechanical-comprehension-test
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, if something with a mass of 150 lbs moves 10 feet, something 4x its mass has to move 1/4th of the distance. The way they have it set up is correct I just think it's easier to think about the questions intuitively.
ANIT:
https://www.cram.com/flashcards/astb-aviation-history-6921638
Airspace: A, B, C, D, E
Aircrafts for Amateurs:
https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/intro.htm
https://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/story.php?title=astb-aviation-nautical-information-test
Gleim pilots guide
NAVAL AVIATION TRAIT FACET INVENTORY: Most boring section of the test. Just answer the questions, be honest.
No wrong answers.
UAV:
Flashcards:
https://www.cram.com/flashcards/astb-uav-testing-6997985
Concentrate on getting a correct answer instead of speed. (Stay within 1-3 sec)
KNOW THESE COLD! Study 1-32 to sharpen up the concept then ONLY study 33-64 to study the practical application (this is what the test looks like)
- A trick I did was orient Left/Right. So if the UAV was going SouthEast, I knew that South was RIGHT, East was LEFT, North was LEFT-LEFT, and West was RIGHT-RIGHT.
- I studied
these flashcards RELIGIOUSLY. But I only printed out the satellite image ones to study. I didn't bother with the paper compass ones, because the test is more similar to the satellite image (2nd half of the flashcards). When I got to this section, I only did 2 practice rounds (each practice round I believe was like 5 questions, you can do unlimited practicing here though, so if you need it take your time). But I was really confident, and I didn't miss a single problem, got everything correct in 1-2 seconds without the compass trick. If you are going for pilot, you should really know how to do this fast as I believe it's one of the more weighted ones.
PBM:
I wrote the direction and area of the throttles in large letters. On each scenario, I included the task, control, percentage and direction of control for the percentage. Writing down in large letters almost filling up the page helped tremendously.
Dichotic Listening:
Emergency Procedures:
RED MEANS HIGH & YELLOW MEANS LOW. There are two dials on the throttle, one on top (E dial) and one on the front (I dial), that control fuel and power. Then there is the clutch button (I button) in the center of the front dial (I dial). All the way left is 0% and all the way right is 100% for both dials. You experience a total of 3 emergencies during this task, and when one occurs you are told through the headphones “Warning, the Fire/Engine/Propeller light is on!” telling you exactly which emergency to deal with.
Deal with it quickly, which is really easy if you have the instructions written down, then get back to tracking. If you can manage, deal with the emergency with one hand while continuing to track both targets. I had the engine emergency first, then the fire emergency. I figured I would get the propeller emergency next, and prepared in advance for it, but instead got another fire emergency. This just goes to show that you will get a random mix of emergencies.
- FIRE: “Fire down” (Fuel and power to low) For the fire emergency both dials need to be 0%, then you hit the clutch button.
- ENGINE: “Power up” (Fuel up and power up) For the engine emergency, both dials need to be set to 100%, then you hit the clutch button.
- PROPELLER: “Prop one up” (Fuel or power down and one neutral) For the propeller emergency, one dial (I want to say fuel) is set to 50% and the other is set to 100%, then you hit the clutch button.
It made operating emergencies fast for me personally when I recited it to myself... OUT LOUD!
Practice Test:
https://www.triviumtestprep.com/astb-practice-test
Media to Watch/Listen to:
- “Carrier”: PBS (11 parts) docu-series
- “Angle of Attack”
- Fighter Pilot Podcast
I received from other people and took to heart: -Bring water and trail mix. You're going to be nervous and that uses energy that your brain needs.
-Do some pushups between sections to work off any nervous energy.
-Don't be phased if you run out of time. The scoring algorithm for the test is proprietary so we can only guess what matters more: speed, accuracy, or difficulty of the question?
-Before I took the test, I was expecting to do well. During the test, I had no idea how I was performing. After the test, I was stunned that I did as well as I did. Moral of the story is do your best, keep trying, and trust yourself even if you're not sure how it's going overall.
-The more you do to prepare and familiarize yourself with what you'll encounter, the easier it will be to walk into the test with the attitude you need -- "I'm going to own this."
-Barron's was okay. It was easier than what I actually saw on the test but was a good introduction to what was coming. I would recommend it.
-All the other books people recommended to get were actually kind of bad. The study guides posted around here made by members of the Airwarriors forum were infinitely more valuable than any book I bought.
A helpful hint on here was to return your mouse cursor to the timer after you answer each problem. The timer is not shown unless you hover over it with the cursor.
The Mechanical Section in other words just makes sense if you look at the problems and analyze what's going on. Give yourself the time as I believe correct answers > # of answers scored.
The material on this thread will get you 60% there. Being a good test taker and building test taking skills will get you another 30%. But the last bit takes a lot of effort to know everything that could possibly be on the test.
Start on page 200 and work your way up to the most current page.
AIRWARRIORS POSTS
#4,530
#4,525
CHOPS_avn #4509 AWESOME POST
Best of luck everyone! Thanks for the help