1,001 questions about the ASTB (post your scores & ask your questions here!)

[MowinThaAir]

So are they halfway through the fiscal year? This is just what my officer recruiter said to me, just relaying on here

Yeah mine said the same thing, strange

The fiscal year began in June, but the board that happened in May started filling spots for this fiscal year “early” if you want to think about it that way.

 

[Nohopenaldo]

The fiscal year began in June, but the board that happened in May started filling spots for this fiscal year “early” if you want to think about it that way.

That makes sense. I’ll just listen to my OSO. What made my grade weak was my poor performance in math which has a high weight on everything. I got 45 5/7/5. He told me not to repeat it and to submit, If im ok with SNFO to put it as second and I’ll probably get picked for one or the other

 

[exNavyOffRec]

So are they halfway through the fiscal year? This is just what my officer recruiter said to me, just relaying on here

Yes, there are people picked months ago that are FY 26 accessions, in March they normally start putting people in the next FY. Hard goals for officer recruiting can come out anywhere from Oct - Jan then they adjust, but that is usually minor. OCS candidates need to be in OCS with enough time to graduate prior to Oct 1, if you back that up they need to selected at latest by early June, that is way before the goals come out. What this means is NRC estimates what the goals will be and they are good at that most of the time.

My recruiter said the same, new fiscal year

Here is a visual if this helps. You can see the boards and selections for FY 26 started in June this year, the full schedule shows FY 27 picks starting in early May 2026

 

[Nohopenaldo]

Appreciate

Yes, there are people picked months ago that are FY 26 accessions, in March they normally start putting people in the next FY. Hard goals for officer recruiting can come out anywhere from Oct - Jan then they adjust, but that is usually minor. OCS candidates need to be in OCS with enough time to graduate prior to Oct 1, if you back that up they need to selected at latest by early June, that is way before the goals come out. What this means is NRC estimates what the goals will be and they are good at that most of the time.

Here is a visual if this helps. You can see the boards and selections for FY 26 started in June this year, the full schedule shows FY 27 picks starting in early May 2026

Got it and thanks, idk why both of our recruiters said the same “wrong information” but may the odds be in our favors

Yes, there are people picked months ago that are FY 26 accessions, in March they normally start putting people in the next FY. Hard goals for officer recruiting can come out anywhere from Oct - Jan then they adjust, but that is usually minor. OCS candidates need to be in OCS with enough time to graduate prior to Oct 1, if you back that up they need to selected at latest by early June, that is way before the goals come out. What this means is NRC estimates what the goals will be and they are good at that most of the time.

Here is a visual if this helps. You can see the boards and selections for FY 26 started in June this year, the full schedule shows FY 27 picks starting in early May 2

Since july was cancelled wouldnt that make sept the “first one” of the FY thought?

 

[JDillon]

Yes, there are people picked months ago that are FY 26 accessions, in March they normally start putting people in the next FY. Hard goals for officer recruiting can come out anywhere from Oct - Jan then they adjust, but that is usually minor. OCS candidates need to be in OCS with enough time to graduate prior to Oct 1, if you back that up they need to selected at latest by early June, that is way before the goals come out. What this means is NRC estimates what the goals will be and they are good at that most of the time.

Here is a visual if this helps. You can see the boards and selections for FY 26 started in June this year, the full schedule shows FY 27 picks starting in early May 2026
View attachment 42953

So basically, the FY Quota (1/6) was the July Board. Got Cancelled. Recruiter said that no one knows why but said it might be because they are filled from fy25. That’s how she referred to me that the new FY26 starts now in September which technically is 2/6. I believe that is why she said to me that because the last one got cancelled this would be the new start of FY26. However it is not so black and white because there are other applicants that are basically getting picked from the old FY that are going to move up to this year. Is that kind of correct?

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Appreciate

Got it and thanks, idk why both of our recruiters said the same “wrong information” but may the odds be in our favors

Since july was cancelled wouldnt that make sept the “first one” of the FY thought?

They are either trying to say that to keep you motivated or they are trying to apply enlisted recruiting to officer recruiting. What rank is your OR?

No, they also over-select to account for those that drop, if you go back to the boards 3-4 months ago people were getting OCS dates in Sept/Oct.

 

[Nohopenaldo]

They are either trying to say that to keep you motivated or they are trying to apply enlisted recruiting to officer recruiting. What rank is your OR?

No, they also over-select to account for those that drop, if you go back to the boards 3-4 months ago people were getting OCS dates in Sept/Oct.

Sorry, im not familiar with the terminology of “rank is your OR”, could you elaborate? Im more than happy to retake it, if anything he was surprised i passed it on the first try as the last 7 people that took it failed it (according to him). I kinda believe him as im from an area of that doesn’t really have good education, especially when it comes to bilingual applicants. I’ll studying incase im not selected, im sure i can get 7/7/7 or greater now that i know how the test is done.

He said im the second person he puts for SNA/NFO.

*EDIT* my officer recruiter is a Chief petty officer.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

So basically, the FY Quota (1/6) was the July Board. Got Cancelled. Recruiter said that no one knows why but said it might be because they are filled from fy25. That’s how she referred to me that the new FY26 starts now in September which technically is 2/6. I believe that is why she said to me that because the last one got cancelled this would be the new start of FY26. However it is not so black and white because there are other applicants that are basically getting picked from the old FY that are going to move up to this year. Is that kind of correct?

The best thing is to ignore the 1/6, 2/6, etc as it just confuses everyone, basically if NRC knows they have 60 of a designator to fill each year and will have 6 boards they will divide that to pick 10 each board. The number of officers they need for each designator generally doesn't change much each year, so that number might change slightly, but they remain fairly similar year to year to year. What can change things is how many are picked for ISEL or URL ISPP, the extent of that effect is known only to NRC, and that could be a reason why they do cancel some boards or it could be a combination of other factors.

April is about when they start filling the next FY, but it has started to be filled as early as January on occasion.

Don't think of it as a person picked in one FY or another since that doesn't matter at all for OCS programs, it is not when a person is picked it is when they commission. I had a candidate selected in a Sept board, went to OCS in late July and commissioned in Oct which means he covered 3 FY's but the only one that mattered was the one he commissioned in.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Sorry, im not familiar with the terminology of “rank is your OR”, could you elaborate? Im more than happy to retake it, if anything he was surprised i passed it on the first try as the last 7 people that took it failed it (according to him). I kinda believe him as im from an area of that doesn’t really have good education, especially when it comes to bilingual applicants. I’ll studying incase im not selected, im sure i can get 7/7/7 or greater now that i know how the test is done.

He said im the second person he puts for SNA/NFO.

*EDIT* my officer recruiter is a Chief petty officer.

I would go with your existing score for one board, only put SNFO if you will truly be happy with that.

He might be one that was doing enlisted recruiting and is now working with officer candidates, our enlisted recruiters would say similar things all the time. The other thing is enlisted recruiters will say things to keep them on the hook, like "it is really hard to get the rate you just picked" or "your ASVAB score of XX is the best I have seen" no matter what the score.

 

[JDillon]

The best thing is to ignore the 1/6, 2/6, etc as it just confuses everyone, basically if NRC knows they have 60 of a designator to fill each year and will have 6 boards they will divide that to pick 10 each board. The number of officers they need for each designator generally doesn't change much each year, so that number might change slightly, but they remain fairly similar year to year to year. What can change things is how many are picked for ISEL or URL ISPP, the extent of that effect is known only to NRC, and that could be a reason why they do cancel some boards or it could be a combination of other factors.

April is about when they start filling the next FY, but it has started to be filled as early as January on occasion.

Don't think of it as a person picked in one FY or another since that doesn't matter at all for OCS programs, it is not when a person is picked it is when they commission. I had a candidate selected in a Sept board, went to OCS in late July and commissioned in Oct which means he covered 3 FY's but the only one that mattered was the one he commissioned in.

I’m sorry to ask if this is somewhere on this website, how many SNA’s get selected each year? Or is it too dynamic to gauge. I saw you put 60 as an example

 

[Nohopenaldo]

I would go with your existing score for one board, only put SNFO if you will truly be happy with that.

He might be one that was doing enlisted recruiting and is now working with officer candidates, our enlisted recruiters would say similar things all the time. The other thing is enlisted recruiters will say things to keep them on the hook, like "it is really hard to get the rate you just picked" or "your ASVAB score of XX is the best I have seen" no matter what the score.

My packet started with an O-3 but he left after making O-4. He said for my first try its not a bad score. He only manages officers for the whole island of Puerto Rico, we dont have officers doing recruiting here. Would there be any difference from SNA/SNFO to SNFO only? Wouldnt they select me for SNFO IF i was selected in either case?

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I’m sorry to ask if this is somewhere on this website, how many SNA’s get selected each year? Or is it too dynamic to gauge. I saw you put 60 as an example

I used to have that data showing year to year the consistency but not anymore. The 60 number was just used at random as 6 divided into it easy.

My packet started with an O-3 but he left after making O-4. He said for my first try its not a bad score. He only manages officers for the whole island of Puerto Rico, we dont have officers doing recruiting here. Would there be any difference from SNA/SNFO to SNFO only? Wouldnt they select me for SNFO IF i was selected in either case?

It is important to only put down what you really want to do, if that is SNFO then put that, if it is SNA than put that, if you just want to be in any flying aircraft and don't care if you will be at the controls or sitting in the back then put both and see what happens. There are many posts on this site where people put SNA/SNFO then get picked for SNFO and put a post that says they really wanted SNA so how can they switch.

 

[Nohopenaldo]

I used to have that data showing year to year the consistency but not anymore. The 60 number was just used at random as 6 divided into it easy.

It is important to only put down what you really want to do, if that is SNFO then put that, if it is SNA than put that, if you just want to be in any flying aircraft and don't care if you will be at the controls or sitting in the back then put both and see what happens. There are many posts on this site where people put SNA/SNFO then get picked for SNFO and put a post that says they really wanted SNA so how can they switch.

SNA is my #1 pick, but I wouldn’t mind at all being an SNFO. Which is why i would put both.