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

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
I need some advice. I tried to go the officer route and didn’t get picked up so now I’m going enlisted. I have a degree in physics. I just took my practice asvab and made a 54. I barely studied, but will definitely study a lot before I take the official. My recruiter said I can pretty much do whatever I want with the score I should make. I want to do something involving physics or electrical engineering. I have looked into machinist mate, electrician tech, and even the nuclear field. I really want to go nuclear if I’m able to, but not sure of all the pro and cons of it. What job do you think is best and why?

Do you want to go enlisted or do you want to be an officer?
 
just because you tried one designator doesn't mean you cannot try others. The question is do you want to be an officer, not did you try to be an officer.
At the moment no. I’m thinking of doing 4-6 years and getting out, so jobs that can switch over to civilian life are important. If I get in and decide to do a career, then I would try to switch to the officer route.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
At the moment no. I’m thinking of doing 4-6 years and getting out, so jobs that can switch over to civilian life are important. If I get in and decide to do a career, then I would try to switch to the officer route.

Then what do you want to do for a regular job? It is fairly common for a person that goes nuke enlisted to re-enlist to end up doing 8 years, now you would need to greatly increase your ASVAB score to get nuke.
 

mjb927

New Member
Can anyone clarify for me whether runways are numbers based on magnetic north or true north?

FAA handbook says Magnetic North but the test prep books say True/Grid North.

for the test, what answer are they looking for?
 

maowczykowski1

Active Member
on a two day cram. My test is Tuesday. Does anyone know how much geometry is on the test? other than the basic formulas like the radius of a circle, the circumference of a circle, area of a square and cube, and 1/2bh triangle questions?
 

jpham89

ProRec Y SNFO
Contributor
Can anyone clarify for me whether runways are numbers based on magnetic north or true north?

FAA handbook says Magnetic North but the test prep books say True/Grid North.

for the test, what answer are they looking for?

Pilot here: it's based on magnetic north. The test book is incorrect.
 

jpn1997

New Member
I took the test today for my second time.

First attempt: 48 - 5/5/5 (12/19/2019)
Second attempt: 53 - 7/8/7 (2/25/2020)

Initially, I thought I was screwed, but my second score came to my surprise.

Because I got most of my degree done online, I really had to put a lot of effort into studying for this test. I studied full-time for about 4 months prior to my first attempt. After my failure, I took a few weeks off to relax before getting back into the game. During that time I also programmed my three practice simulators.

I had a hard time sleeping last night because I was so anxious, but at the same time super excited and eager to just get this test done once and for all. I got about 6 hours of sleep. I woke up and just ate a Cliff energy bar to tide myself over for the next 5 hours. I also ate a Snickers and drank some gatorade to give myself an energy boost shortly before I started. Do not eat too much, that got me my first test attempt. I ate pancakes and I was stuffed, big mistake! Just have a simple snack to tide you over.

What really helped was Kyle's ASTB Study Kit 2019, so take full advantage of it: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AvPi5oH_h_13TGajDvflDWkftwXO8LS6

Math:
Exponents, expressions, proportions, DRT problems, mixture problems, working-together problems, geometry, probabilities, and more.

If you're skeptical about your math abilities, no shame. Start fresh by watching all of MathAntics's videos on Youtube. You should also visit their website and run through their entire playlist. Then you need to really work on becoming fluent with algebraic word problems. Algebra is about solving for an unknown property. Every word problem involves an unknown property to solve for by writing an equation that represents the situation. Another Youtuber that was very helpful was The Organic Chemistry Tutor.

Watching Youtube videos, I learned more in one day than a semester back in High School.

I mean it, focus on the word problems. Especially DRT! Know the three DRT formulas.

What really helped me on the DRT word problems was writing down the most applicable DRT formula given the situation. For example, for problems involving when two planes will converge from a certain distance. I knew I needed to find how many hours. So the applicable formula was D=RT.

Reading:
Just read and understand what the passage is saying. Go over each answer choice one by one and rule them out! Look for details in the answer choices that conflict with the passage.

Most of the readings were Navy policy and history. You don't need to be a lawyer to understand what the passage is saying.

Mechanical:
A lot of random questions involving air density, air pressure, voltage, mechanical advantage of levers, and too much for me to recall.

Some questions involved fluid flow and volume. For example, at which point of the narrowed funnel does water flow the fastest? How airplanes fly with pressure differentiation, what point of the trajectory has the greatest velocity, etc...

Some harder problems asked me how much an object of weight on Earth would weigh on Mars given the planet's "acceleration of mass m/s^2 yatayatayata." I had to guess. Don't spend more than 10 seconds determining if you can solve it or not. If you know for sure you can't solve it, just guess it and move on.

Make sure you understand how to determine the MA of all simple machines. To name a few that were most important:
First-Class Lever: L1 * F1 = L2 * F2
Second & Third-Class Lever: Middle Force * Middle Length / End Length = Lift/Push Force
Hydraulic Jack: Output Radius / Input Radius #It can also be diameter since they're proportional.
Pulley MA: Count ropes supporting the moveable pulley.

Drill them into your head!

Momentrix OAR really helped with my mechanical knowledge.

If you have an engineering degree and/or background, you're at a tremendous advantage.

ANIT:
Bunch of typical aviation and Navy stuff. "How did aircraft carriers evolve to support the F-14?" I'm assuming larger jet-blast deflectors, but that wasn't a choice, so I selected more powerful catapults. Some other answer choices I recall that made me laugh were "more powerful aircraft, larger flight decks." Another interesting question "what aircraft was retrofitted to be a tanker during Operation Iraqi Freedom? - Super Hornet?". Definitely not the Harrier, the Tomcat, or the "Avenger?" Other questions I recall were "Famous dive bomber - Dauntless," "If all VASI lights red - too low," airport tower signal lights, angle of attack, flight deck crew colors, and much more. The only nautical question I got was "What happens to the freeboard if you add more weight to the ship?"

Read the gouges, visit a museum, practice flashcards, and much more. These really helped: https://www.cram.com/flashcards/tes...l-information-test-anit-comprehensive-4718163

BI-RV:
From what my recruiter told me, they recently did a software update to the test in Pensacola. They changed this section so now you just have to click the text to proceed to the next paired statement. That being said, break your habit of double-clicking!!! This was explicitly warned in the test section's instructions.

Some questions were "I occasionally run stop signs when in a hurry," "I get mad easily...," "my car occasionally runs out of gas," and a lot more! Just try not to contradict yourself. Be patient and read before you answer. Pilots should follow checklists to save themselves and the plane. If not sure, just select the least destructive scenario.

PBMB:
I wasn't prepared for the PBMB my first attempt, which is what killed my score. I have no doubt my simulators improved my stamina and gave me some serious practice.

See my past posts for the simulators I published for the tracking portions, dichotic listening test, and UAV test.

Although my recruiter laughed, I brought my own pair of headphones just in case of even the slightest chance of their headphones not working properly.

UAV Test:
I only missed one and that was because I heard someone laugh hysterically in the background which caught my attention off-guard. Take advantage of my UAV simulator. Create a strategy to answer each orientation in your head, rather than using the paper method. Make sure that you don't get them backwards like most people do. The red nose points to your heading, not the yellow tail!!! Run through my practice simulator repeatedly until your hand is sore! If you can train yourself to do them all in your head, you can get a score like this:

View attachment 24626

Dichotic Listening Test:
On the dichotic listening test, clear your ears by swallowing, take a breath, and relax. Focus your attention in the active target ear. Do not press any trigger until you hear both characters have played in both the left and right ears. This is due to latency by a few milliseconds between the audio being played in one ear before the other. At one point I was quick to depress a trigger on the joystick, but quickly realized that number I responded to was from the non-target ear. Don't rush yourself!

What really helped me was to mentally repeat the characters that I heard in the target ear as they were playing.

Needless to say, take advantage of my dichotic listening simulator!

Tracking & Emergency Scenarios Test:
I cannot stress this enough, GET IN THE HABIT OF Y-AXIS LOOK INVERSION! If you play any FPS games like COD or Halo, set your look to inverted and deal with it! The Navy uses the Saitek X52 joystick. If this test means that much to you, I would even consider investing in one. I for one got the Logitech X56 HOTAS because I enjoy playing flight simulators as well.

For the Emergency Scenarios Test, memorize the emergency scenarios in your head. Repeat them even in your free time until they are drilled into your head!

View attachment 24622

FIRE:
-Fuel: LOW
-Power: LOW
-Press the clutch!

ENGINE:
-Fuel: HIGH
-Power: HIGH
-Press the clutch!

PROPELLOR:
-Fuel: NEUTRAL
-Power: HIGH
-Press the clutch!

After you've tested on all three emergency scenarios, the gauges will disappear and you will have about 30 seconds to continue the multi-tracking. During that time just hang in there and give it your best shot to maximize your score! It's like the final round in the game. Immediately after, you will receive your final ASTB score.

A frequently asked question is what positions do the colors on the gauges represent. RED - HIGH, GREEN - NEUTRAL, YELLOW - LOW. See attached "EST-Examinees-attempt-to-track.png"

Look at "EST-Examinees-attempt-to-track.png" and just imagine yourself crosshair tracking two flies simultaneously with a flight sim joystick.

If you're computer savvy, take advantage of the tracking visualizer I made and use JoyToKey with a flight simulator joystick and bind it to your mouse cursor. Remember to make the Y-axis inverted (Up goes down and down goes up).

Lastly, don't die by the gouge! Read the test instructions beforehand to ensure no discrepancies from what you studied.

How often you practice shows how badly you want this career. Just don't schedule to take the ASTB until you're 100% comfortable with all of the material on this forum. Make the effort and research!

Can you attach the links to your simulations once more? I can't seem to find them anymore. Thanks!
 

combs90

New Member
OAR 42
Undergrad GPA 2.4
Masters GPA 3.4
29 years old
4 LOR from municipal managers and professors

SWO only.
Should I retake the OAR?
 

DakotaB

New Member
Initial attempt today 48 4/5/6.
Obviously not passing but I am pleased with it albeit frustrated that I was so close to the scores I needed. I took it with essentially zero studying because I wanted to see what it was like so I could focus my studies. Just thought I’d throw out my thoughts and experiences. In all, it wasn’t bad. Get your math and mechanical comprehension concepts down. The reading comprehension is DRY. I had a hard time focusing while reading through these. Know your Naval history and general aviation knowledge, you can memorize these things and they should be easy points. Get good at the compass trick, I played with the practice quiz for probably 10 minutes and only missed 2 on the actual test portion. I don’t know what to tell you about the throttle and joystick part. It feels like an absolute cluster but just do your best. The dichotic listening felt easy for me, as many have said just tilt your head a little to the side they are asking for and ignore everything until you hear a number. If you have any questions just ask, I will be studying hard this next month before I take it again towards the end of April. Good luck to all!
 

Chris9191

New Member
Any good recommendations for the math sections? I can see that being my hardest section. I am wanting to take it to I can see where my weaknesses are. I’ve been in the navy for 10 years as a MH-60R crewman so I feel like I have a good grasp when it comes to the aviation section.
 

DudeRyan22

Active Member
April board deadline was moved to 10 April with a convene date of 25 May. Focus on your goals and do what you have to get that waist line down wouldn't want to waste those great scores!
Where did you hear about the board date getting moved? I have my application submitted. Ready to get moving forward lol
 

E6BFlightComp

Active Member
Any good recommendations for the math sections? I can see that being my hardest section. I am wanting to take it to I can see where my weaknesses are. I’ve been in the navy for 10 years as a MH-60R crewman so I feel like I have a good grasp when it comes to the aviation section.
The study gouge on here is the closest you'll find to the actual test questions. Barron's and Petersons both had really dumbed down questions that were like the beginning questions on the test, but since its adaptive, these were kindergarten compared to what comes later. Your AQR score and FOFAR score are most affected by the Math section, so its definitely important to understand all the concepts.

From the sounds of it you should be fine with most of the aviation knowledge, since it affects PFAR score the most, but I went in with the same mentality and some studying and still only scored an 8, so there is always more to learn.

Best of Luck!
 

E6BFlightComp

Active Member
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