Army AFAST to SIFT

[BleedGreen]

I recently took the Army's new aptitude test, the SIFT, and thought I would share my experience since their is very little information available for the test on any forum or website.
The feel I got from the test was that the Army combined certain sections from the AFAST, ASTB, and AFOQT all into one test. I'll just start by going right down the list...

Simple Drawings:
This section is pretty straightforward, you are given 5 pictures and you have to decide which one is not like the other. For example; B B B b B and the "b" would be the answer. Their isn't much you can study for this section just remember to move fast. Within the two minutes allotted, I finished 76/100 questions.
Hidden Figures:
This section was almost exactly like the AFOQT hidden figures test. To prepare for this I practiced with the ARCO and Barron's study guides. The shapes and pictures are much different but it still sets a good pace for you to move through the questions. You are given 5 minutes to answer 50 questions and I only made it to 22. Not my strongest section
Army Aviation Information:
Questions from the AIT were very similar to what I found in any of the AFAST study guides but I think the best place to begin studying would be the FAA Helicopter handbook. Try and read the entire handbook if you have the time but if not, focus on the aerodynamics, flight controls, weight and balance, basic and advanced flight maneuvers chapters. That may sound like a lot of reading but I would guess 80% of the questions could be answered in those chapters. The remaining questions were in relation to Army aircraft and their purpose. This is the first section you are allowed to flag questions and go back if need be.
15 min break
Spatial Apperception:
Right after the break is the spatial apperception test. The pictures used were exactly the same as the ones used in the ASTB. I was surprised they went through the trouble of writing a whole new test and copied a section in its entirety. It must be working pretty well...I guess the Navy knows what their doing
Reading Comprehension:
There was nothing new or tricky to this section. Some of reading questions sounded pretty familiar and were again very similar to the ASTB. Practicing with the ARCO and Barron's set a good pace to finish all these questions on time.
Math Skills Test:
I know this is where I struggled the most. The questions included word problems, basic geometry with the equations given, basic algebra, and probability problems.
The word problems ranged from work/time needed, distance/travel, averaging, and the dreaded probability questions. I know I was screwing the probability ones up big time so the test kept giving more of the same probability questions. Although the equations for the geometry were given, they still required a better understanding of circles and triangles. In all, the difficulty was about the same as the ASTB, I was just a little more rusty this time around. Also, you can not go back on this section and the test will vary in length. The questions I received may very well be different from the next applicant's.
Mechanical Comprehension:
Most of the questions found here were again just like ASTB but they did throw a couple curve balls in about Newtons and joules. I feel like I did pretty well in this section and finished with a lot of time of the clock but I don't know how many questions I made it through.

In total, I probably studied 10-15 hours over 5 days and was able to score a 59 out of 80 with the minimum being 40. If I had more time to study I know I could have easily improved a few more points.

I hope this helps the few WOFT applicants that stumble across AW.
Good luck to anyone else that is planning on taking the test!

 

[HunterB]

I can second most of what was said here. Just took the SIFT last week and scored a 61.

Something to add - the mean of the test is supposed to be a 50 with a standard deviation of 10 so you can figure out your percentile rank off of that.

My quick rundown:
Simple drawings-
This is just working fast. Go as fast as you can while still being accurate. I don't know how many I got through because I was just motoring.

Hidden Figures-
This was my worst section. Got through 17. I didn't practice these enough and had a hard time on a few. Practice. But that being said I still got a decent score without getting through even 1/5 of the questions.

Spatial Appreciation-
Having taken the ASTB as well - BleedGreen nailed it. These are exactly the same. No reason not to do well.

Reading Comprehension-
I didn't use any books to practice so don't know what they're like but just imagine reading something written by an author that is trying way too hard to sound smart and you get an idea of what they're like. Don't remember this section on the ASTB so can't comment on any similarities.

Math Skills-
You're given a lot of time on this section. It was fairly easy for me other than a few problems that I made "smart guesses" on just to move on to the next question because I either didn't remember how to solve or I thought was in my best interest to save time and make a solid guess. This was a mistake on my part. You can't go back and you don't know how many questions you have so I finished with over 20 minutes remaining. Should have taken more time.

Mech. Comp-
Just study your basic physics and you'll be fine. Pretty generic questions and comparable to the ASTB.


So basically going back I would have practiced the hidden figures beforehand and would have worked smarter on the math skills test.

 

[BleedGreen]

Anything different in your Army aviation information section?

 

[HunterB]

Anything different in your Army aviation information section?

Mine was similar to yours. Lots of questions about control surfaces on helicopters (what they do, how they operate), some weight and balance questions, and basic aerodynamics. Then just knowing what aircraft the Army has and what they do. Also some basic pilot stuff you learn on the first day of flight lessons (I'M SAFE checklist, etc.). FAA helicopter handbook would work well. I was able to feel confident in this section by just being a fan-boy of Army aviation and having about 5 hours of flight instruction in FW about 4 years ago.

 

[2ndGen]

Good gouge, hopefully my AFAST score yields me a first time go in May. I submitted my packet in January, expecting the March board, but that go nixed. I cheek the warrant recruiting website daily to mark sure I'm still in "b" status.

 

[BleedGreen]

They let you submit without a SIFT?
My recruiter doesn't know about the May board and will not take my word for it....kinda frustrating. Once I go to the Battalion next month I think we will get to the bottom of this.

 

[2ndGen]

Submitted before the SIFT cutoff, so far they are cool with it. If work wasn't so busy, I'd already be scheduled for it, but can't make it to the Ed center.

 

[FrankJ3259]

So I just took the SIFT this morning and I didn't do well at all. You guys were dead on with the questions, but I struggled a lot in the Math department, and it doesn't help that if you get the question right, the next question is even harder. I would also, like to say, just take your time with the test, because I feel I might have rushed through it because I was worried about time. The Topics were in the Following order

Simple Drawings: Very Easy and go as fast as you can
Hidden Figures: This was a little hard and I think I might have did poorly, but on my test, it was the same 4 or figures for the answer.
Army Aviation Knowledge: This was pretty easy, just make sure you understand how a helicopter works and the terminology.
Spacial Orientation: The figures are are pretty straight forward just like the ASTB, however when you have 2 answers that could be correct and the angels are off slightly, it can make it dificult
Reading Comprehension: Pretty straight forwards and easy
Mathematics and Mechanics: I group these two together because what I found out is they share time (40min) The only thing I don't like about this area is that it doesn't tell you home many questions are in the sections. So I spent and a lot of time in math and rushed through mechanics.

The only good thing about having to retake the test in 181 days, is that now I know whats on the test and how to better prep.

 

[Kentucky]

Thanks for the posts guy's. I benefited from them enough that I wanted to contribute and share my experience. To give a quick background of myself, I have a privates pilots license with and instrument rating and I'm a licensed aircraft mechanic that works for Lockheed martin on Blackhawks. That experience helped with aerodynamics and helicopter knowledge but nothing on the test is real in depth. A week of studying the FAA helicopter handbook will fully prepare you for the aviation section. I scored a 62 but was a nervous wreck the whole time. I was the only one in the testing room and once during a break did push-ups on the floor to clear my mind. I didn't know she was watching but the Procter thought I feel down and had a seizure for a second.

The flow of the exam is straight forward. They say you get a fifteen minute break in the middle but really you get a break in between each section, because you can take as long as you want to read the instructions. I tried to clear my mind each time because each section pushes your mental ability. The instructions are clear with the time and strategies you should use on each part.

Simple drawings- like everyone has said go fast. I knew the ones I got wrong as soon as I selected them but by then it was to late.

Hidden Figures- I think practicing with the study guides helped. The images on the test were different, but it's a skill to train your mind to pick out shapes that are hidden.

Army Aviation- Know the roles of the types of army helicopters, UH60, CH47, AH64 and OH58. Know where the army trains there pilots (Ft Rucker). Then study the FAA helicopter flying handbook. Understand how the main rotor works including blade rotation. Understand basic aerodynamics and flight characteristics. I would try and absorb as much as you can out of the flying handbook, but if your in a crunch focus on how the helicopter maintains lift and mechanically maneuvers through the air. Know the difference between angle of attack and angle of incidence and how the curvature of the rotor blade creates low pressure causing lift. This is the only section my experience helped.

Spacial orientation- Study the guides and you can't go wrong. If you can play a little on flight simulator or any other flying video game.

Reading. Math and Mech Comp- These sections are no different than the ASVAB. I just took the ASVAB so I was prepared for them already.

I mostly studied on my breaks at work and a couple nights at home. If you study it's not that bad. I felt a lot of pressure to do good because a six month wait to retake will put a big damper in your plans if your trying to make a warrant officer board by a certain date.

 

[Preston Williamson]

I wanted to say thanks to both Bleedgreen and HunterB for your posts. The information both of you put up proved to be very beneficial in taking the SIFT yesterday. I did well in scoring a 78. There are a couple points I would like to add for those expecting to take the test in the future.

Simple Drawings
Little can be added to Bleedgreen's explanation of this section. It is about as straight up as they come. One strange tip that may help in this section is a method used in speed-reading. A book I purchased a couple years back called How to Read Better and Faster contained a method to train your eyes to not just fixate on a word or several words at a time but on an entire line of text at once. I used this method to be able to see all five drawings at once and pick the oddball. It’s a small thing but I did well in this section by getting through 96 of the 100 questions.

Hidden Figures
Bleedgreen again hit the nail on the head. Barron's, ARCO's, and Military Flight Aptitude Tests for Dummies' AFOQT practice tests were the best method of study I found for this section. The SIFT's hidden figure shapes proved to be more difficult than what I ran across in the practice tests. The shapes found in the ASTB practice tests were more distinct than those found in the SIFT. I believe I got through 28/50 questions.

Army Aviation Information
Refer above to Bleedgreen. I used his advice and was able to answer all questions with relative confidence without any prior flight training experience.

Spatial Apperception
This section had a striking resemblance to the ASTB practice tests found in the above study guides. The SIFT threw in a couple curveballs though. An example of one of these curveballs was a question that had two aircraft that both appeared to be oriented correctly but one was off by 30 or so degrees from the correct answer. With proper practice this section should not cause too many headaches. I had time to go back through 2/3 of my questions and double check my answers.

Reading Comprehension
20 questions, each question had a separate paragraph. Read carefully, some answers seem right at first inspection but there may be a couple swapped up words entirely changing the meaning of the answer. I had time to reread several questions more than once and double check all of my answers.

Math and Mechanical Comprehension
These are two different sections but I lumped them together because as an Engineering major I get loads of practice in these subjects. Arco’s and Barron’s served excellently to refresh my memory on concepts running through both tests. Some math problems were tedious and annoying taking several minutes to complete while other problems could be completed in seconds with prior understanding of a fundamental concept. Previous posters covered the basics on both of these tests. I stumbled across questions in both sections that were not discussed in the study guides. For example in the math section a question was asked on function equations and a mechanics question was asked on safety of riders on a roller coaster. Outside of being an engineering guy there is no way I can think of to prepare for these few random questions. Prepare for the bulk and make an educated guess on those you can’t figure out.

I studied for short intense intervals over a three week time period leading up to the test. I would estimate I spent 2o hours studying. Make use of the study guides and practice frequently. I have not looked at it personally but I have seen a new study guide on amazon called SIFT Study Guide: Test Prep and Practice Test Questions for the Army SIFT Exam. I hope some part of this post will help at least one person. Good luck on the test, stay relaxed and let the hard work pay off for you. I hope to be serving beside y’all in the near future.

 

[BleedGreen]

I wanted to say thanks to both Bleedgreen and HunterB for your posts. The information both of you put up proved to be very beneficial in taking the SIFT yesterday. I did well in scoring a 78. There are a couple points I would like to add for those expecting to take the test in the future.

Simple Drawings
Little can be added to Bleedgreen's explanation of this section. It is about as straight up as they come. One strange tip that may help in this section is a method used in speed-reading. A book I purchased a couple years back called How to Read Better and Faster contained a method to train your eyes to not just fixate on a word or several words at a time but on an entire line of text at once. I used this method to be able to see all five drawings at once and pick the oddball. It’s a small thing but I did well in this section by getting through 96 of the 100 questions.

Hidden Figures
Bleedgreen again hit the nail on the head. Barron's, ARCO's, and Military Flight Aptitude Tests for Dummies' AFOQT practice tests were the best method of study I found for this section. The SIFT's hidden figure shapes proved to be more difficult than what I ran across in the practice tests. The shapes found in the ASTB practice tests were more distinct than those found in the SIFT. I believe I got through 28/50 questions.

Army Aviation Information
Refer above to Bleedgreen. I used his advice and was able to answer all questions with relative confidence without any prior flight training experience.

Spatial Apperception
This section had a striking resemblance to the ASTB practice tests found in the above study guides. The SIFT threw in a couple curveballs though. An example of one of these curveballs was a question that had two aircraft that both appeared to be oriented correctly but one was off by 30 or so degrees from the correct answer. With proper practice this section should not cause too many headaches. I had time to go back through 2/3 of my questions and double check my answers.

Reading Comprehension
20 questions, each question had a separate paragraph. Read carefully, some answers seem right at first inspection but there may be a couple swapped up words entirely changing the meaning of the answer. I had time to reread several questions more than once and double check all of my answers.

Math and Mechanical Comprehension
These are two different sections but I lumped them together because as an Engineering major I get loads of practice in these subjects. Arco’s and Barron’s served excellently to refresh my memory on concepts running through both tests. Some math problems were tedious and annoying taking several minutes to complete while other problems could be completed in seconds with prior understanding of a fundamental concept. Previous posters covered the basics on both of these tests. I stumbled across questions in both sections that were not discussed in the study guides. For example in the math section a question was asked on function equations and a mechanics question was asked on safety of riders on a roller coaster. Outside of being an engineering guy there is no way I can think of to prepare for these few random questions. Prepare for the bulk and make an educated guess on those you can’t figure out.

I studied for short intense intervals over a three week time period leading up to the test. I would estimate I spent 2o hours studying. Make use of the study guides and practice frequently. I have not looked at it personally but I have seen a new study guide on amazon called SIFT Study Guide: Test Prep and Practice Test Questions for the Army SIFT Exam. I hope some part of this post will help at least one person. Good luck on the test, stay relaxed and let the hard work pay off for you. I hope to be serving beside y’all in the near future.

Nice Job, that's an awesome score! Good luck to you in selecting an aviation slot out of ROTC.

 

[Ka1ax]

Currently preparing for the SIFT and thought I'd point out another resource, the Army Fundamentals of Flight manual:
http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/fm3_04x203.pdf

It's free and published online. As far as understanding aerodynamic concepts, the SIFT book found on Amazon overcomplicates things a bit. The FAA Helicopter Handbook, also available online here, is the best at explaining aerodynamics, but is a bit more dense. http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aircraft/media/faa-h-8083-21A.pdf

Barron's guide is probably the most concise and easy to understand, and the SIFT book is the most thorough.

 

[rotarwingcrew]

Are we trying to revive a dead thread? Anyway, took the SIFT today and scored a 71. Thought I was doing poorly on the math and the hidden figures portion, just take your time and go for accuracy. Seemed to work for me.
SIFT-71
AFQT-93
GT-128

 

[GoodOlMcKee]

Hello-

So I was a lurker for a long time, searching the internet for tips and reviews of the SIFT exam. Last week I took and passed the exam with a score of 52. I am definitely disappointed with how I scored, but I passed so I am happy. I thought I would leave my thoughts and answer any questions if any of you have any.

As everyone has written the SIFT is broken down into 7 categories and I will address each individually and also how I studied.

SIMPLE DRAWINGS: This was by far the easiest section. It is a *find the one that doesn't belong* test.
As simple as (++++x+), obviously the x does't belong. There are 100 of these and you have 2 minutes to complete as many, as accurately as possible. I ended up buying two study guides and timing myself as I would have been timed in the exam to re-create the pressure of the examination atmosphere.

HIDDEN FIGURES: I unfortunately only got to 16 out of 50 before time ran out. There is a square picture with a bunch of intersecting lines in a random pattern and you are required to pick out 1 of 5 given shapes in the picture. The given shapes will ALWAYS appear in the same angle and size as given. One big difference I found between the study guide and the test was that the test pictures were significantly smaller than the study guide pictures. This made for a more difficult time finding the shapes.
A tip for finding the shape in the picture is to squint your eyes as if you are glaring sarcastically at someone. This will help bring the shapes out for whatever reason.

ARMY AVIATION KNOWLEDGE: This was by far the easiest section for me while testing. Being familiar with the following will only better your chances of acing this section.
Types of drag
Bernoulli's Principle / Venturi Flow
Newton's Laws
Beginning maneuvers / Advanced maneuvers
Angles of approach for landing & angles for take off
Altitude requirements for different maneuvers
Airframes and their missions
Difference between AOA and AOI and what controls both
Different rotor configurations
What the cyclic/anti-torque pedals/collective/throttle, do
What sliding vs skidding is
What and where the CG is
What does translating tendency mean?
Read the FAA flight handbook and aviation sections in your study guides and pay attention to the details.

I made tons of flash cards for this sections and it definitely helped.


SPATIAL APPERCEPTION: This section was a breeze as well. You simply have an image consisting of land, water and sky. You must figure out which way the plane is angled. The test will give you 5 choices from an external vantage point of the aircraft. (TIP) Which ever point is highest in the picture, that is the side the aircraft is pitching towards. I usually use my hand and try to recreate the angle at which the plane would be angled. (If this is tough for you, it may help).
I studied 2 guides for this portion. While the study guides sometimes gave subtle differences between to answers making it tricky, the actual test gave dramatic angles, making it easy to identify the correct choice.

READING COMPREHENSION: Make sure you are able to focus during this section. I have a tough time blocking out external noise and so when this section came up, the tester next to me was having computer issues and everyone was going berserk. It was quite frustrating. Pretty simple, read a paragraph and choose the sentence that best describes the idea of the paragraph.

MATH KNOWLEDGE: This section was actually pretty difficult for me for one reason. Fractions. Know your fractions and everything ABOUT fractions. This section is adaptive and so it makes the test more difficult for you if you answer correctly. I was answering questions about fractions and obvioulsy getting them right because it kept giving me harder and harder fraction questions.
Know the following and you should do well
Basic equations for Squares, rectangle, triangle, parallelograms and circles including: Area, circumference, and volume.
Fractions (I.e cross multiplication, common denominators, improper fractions, how to change decimals to fractions and reverse)
Quadratic equation
Pythagorean theorem
How to divide and multiply
How to add and subtract
Order of Operations (PEMDAS)
I studied this for at least one hour a day for a month before the test and it really helped.

MECHANICAL COMPREHENSION: This section was surprisingly easy for me. Maybe that's because I was doing poorly and didn't realize it, however I thought I did well. The test was as expected, just like the study guides.
Know the following and you will do fine:
Inclined planes
Acceleration equation
Velocity equation
Bernoulli's principle / Venturi Flow
What a fulcrum is and why its placement is important
Work equation
Pulleys
Electrical components and their symbols
Difference between AC and DC
Displacement equation
Weight and gravity's effect on objects.

The study guides I used were the following:

FAA Flight Handbook
Accepted, INC. SIFT Study Guide
SIFT Study Guide: SIFT Test Study Guide and Exam Prep for the Army Selection Instrument for Flight Training Test.


I went into the SIFT with a 91 AFQT and a 123 GT score. I ended up scoring a 52 on the SIFT.

Thanks for reading and I hope that I have been of assistance.