Hello all,
Background on me: I'm 28 years old. I've been in the Marine Corps for nearly 9 years (E6) in the Air Traffic Control field to include being an instructor for the school house (Current duty assignment). I'm about to be finished with my degree and submitting an ECP package with my aviation guarantee and I have a 3.69 GPA. I've been on this site for weeks soaking up the information, and recently took my ASTB. So on to my scores.
40, 4/5/5. Yes, I realize those are pretty low ball. I was a little surprised on some of them myself, especially since with APEX, it moved me on to the next sections for math and critical reading with a decent chunk of time left. I've talked to several individuals that have received a guarantee already with similar scores or only one number better and I have been told the Marine Corps is desperate for pilots and that as long as you have a 4/5/4 you would be good. I have read the threads that talk about the Marine Corps is a pass or fail and I have yet to see anything about an OAR score. I have read that the scores need are a 4/6/6 and you can get a 1 point waiver for 1 of those categories. Bottom-line, I personally only want SNA, not NFO.
So why am I writing this? 1) for some feedback. I realize I'll be told by many to study some more, retake the test and be more competitive. Trust me, that is on my mind. Balancing school, teaching all day, wife in school, and a 4 year old, I sacrificed all free time to study for this first one. I don't like going into anything blind. 2) I want to help other to be successful when they take the test.
ASTB done on the computer via APEX. It is adaptive meaning; if you answer correctly, you get a slightly harder question, incorrectly, you would get an equal or slightly easier question. Now my examiner told me the amount of questions and time for each, but said it might not take as long if the system feels you're good in that section, it will proceed to the next. I will explain how I think that could be misleading a little further.
Math portion:
Know cube roots of numbers, I had at least 3. I had some questions with probability, solving for variables, fractions of course. Now the ones that took some critical thinking on my part was they would give you a series of numbers and ask which was next. Such as 3,7,11,14,19,... I personally just looked to see what the pattern was and solved it that way. I'm sure there is some other way to solve that, but the answer I got was there. I'm hoping I was right. By they way I would say the answer is 23. I think I answered only 17ish questions and had 11 minutes out of the 40 left. I studied the most on math, since I have done middle/high school math in years. I had to re-learn a lot, thanks Khan Academy and the Peterson Flight Aptitude book. I had the Marine Gouge as well. They do give you formulas, but it's only for perimeters and area, and volume of shapes. the rest is on you. I just had the formulas opened and on the side of the screen before I started to not waste time thinking it might be there during the test. I opened it, saw what it gave me, and left it there.
Critical Reading:
I thought this was my strong suit, even on practice tests I was doing very well. The test were all passages that related to the Navy only; when I was taking it that is what I was thinking to myself. For this keep doing what you have been doing with study material and free online tests. This section also stopped early and moved me onto mechanical comprehension.
Mechanical Comprehension:
I had struggled here as well when studying, and I would suggest studying physics and electrical. I haven't done physics in a year and a half, and there is no formulas and that I believe hurt me. I ran out of time actually. I didn't pay attention to how many questions I had answered or anything, my big error. Suggestion: look at the top right of the screen, that is where it will be.
Nautical and Aviation part:
Study Navy terms, ship terms, aircraft, history of aircraft from the beginning.
Spatial Aperception:
So this is different than what any book has. It is not the cockpit view with the 5 choices of what the aircraft is doing with the sea and the coast. It is a map with an arrow showing the heading of a UAV traveling and you're looking through the camera mounted underneath and then they will call out what direction a parking lot is in relation to you, and you have to click the right one. You are scored on how long it takes you to make a choice, and whether it is correct. I missed 3 in the section and that was due to a speed error on my part. Here is what I did, and it will help you be successful. I folded a scratch paper in half and drew a compass rose. I then would place my finger in the direction the UAV was traveling, oriented the paper to what North would look like and then whatever heading they called out, look on the compass rose and matched it with the answer choice.
The Biographical part:
Consists of 99 question, no time limit, and you will most likely have to make decisions that no choice aligns with yourself. Choose the least sucky of the 2.
The stick and throttle part:
First they will test your skills in listening. For example, they will say right, meaning right ear and to click the joystick after you hear an even number. They will call out letters and numbers in a sequence, but they will do it in both ears at the same time, and you must decipher it. Then say left and say click the throttle once you hear an odd number. Not as bad as you might think. Next is tracking a plane using the throttle, slightly more difficult as it makes some pretty rapid and drastic changes. After that, track a plane with a joystick. By far the hardest and worst for me, as the plane made a ton of drastic changes. Do your best. Last part, is combining all of those and going through 3 emergency situations. Before you start that part, they show you the steps to resolve the situation, maybe writing them down will help you be successful since they don't have the checklist again during the scenario.
You won't get scores till you complete the survey at the end. it's 109 questions.
I get this is long. I hope it helps future test takers. I only want everyone to be successful. Like others have stated, read through the threads on this site, get study material, and study, study, study. Everything has some benefit, so don't dismiss anything because you think it won't be on there.