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ASTB study guide

DIVO

Active Member
Thanks for these posts! It's helpful to refer hopefuls to air warriors to prepare for the new ASTB.
 

ea6bflyr

Working Class Bum
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Hello! I am new to air warriors and I am looking to take the ASTB on January 17 2014....but I heard that they changed the test. Not a full make over but some tweaks. I was wondering, would this study guide still benefit me? And is there any other material you guys be willing to recommend? Thank you so much! Any feedback would be much appreciated!
Yes. The feedback so far is that the study gouge is still germane to the new tests. Take a look at the other posts in ASTB subsection for more details.
 

sailorsash05

Navy OCS
I took the ASTB OAR section today in a ROTC building located in Florida. I arrived early and excited. I had to wait on another test taker to arrive and then we could begin the test. We were both glad we came early because the apex 4 system was having several difficulties. So our supervisor was very glad we arrived 20 minutes early to sort out all the problems. The test began after we created a new account- know your SSN.

First subtest was math. I had prepared for mostly word problems but in fact there were very few on my test. There was an interest, average, monetary question. There was a question about knowing the conversion of a foot into a mile. There were a few questions about circles but I never saw any area or perimeter questions. I felt only slightly nervous about the math section since I am in no shape amazing in math.

The second subtest was reading which paragraphs were more military based questions. The test is adaptive- so I could tell when I got the previous question wrong because the question afterwards was typically shorter and less military topic based.

The third was Mechanical. Which felt was like the hardest test for me. I was scoring 100% on the practice tests and when the screen showed sample questions which I knew, I felt like this test should have been the easiest. But the questions were not from anything I had studied and it surprised me. There were no levers, no MA, no bouyancy, no electricty questions, no stroke engines, no tool knowledge. But there were questions about mass, velocity, water tanks fill how many houses on a hill, blowing on a piece of paper will make it go what direction, pendulums, rifle is shot and what happens to the bullet when it reaches a certain point, potential vs kinetic energy on a roller coaster....(These questions I felt like I answered correctly but am uncertain of how I actually did on them)
There were questions that I had which were not neccesarily HARD but I was unprepared for this section greatly. (I do not remember all the questions nor all the difficult questions, sorry) And I believe this is because the new test added in some new things which I had never thought to look at or to study since I had not seen them in my study aids. (online forums, youtube videos, petersons, barrons)

My overall score was a 43. Its low to be competitive. My recruiter told me it should be at least 48-50 to submit my packet. So I will wait for some new gouges, or other new study aids and probably will get a tutor while I am back at school. I think It worked against my advantage to study old form materials but thats my personal opinion on my test. Things I had focused on to be prepared for (3 + weeks of study) proved to be not on the test and a waste of time. The new test does have some new and different material from the old versions.

Background on me: Russian major/Criminology minor. I have not taken Algebra/Calculus in highschool nor college. I have not taken a physics course in college or highschool. (I wonder if having that knowledge would have helped) 3.3 current gpa and I will graduate in the summer of 2014. I do not consider myself a good test taker but I do not believe that I am a "below average" sitting duck with a score like 43. So I look forward to the retake and wont settle for this current score. My advice: Keep your mood up regardless of a weak score- you must learn to never give up and to try again.

Hope this was helpful- its very detailed and I apologize for its length.
 
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sailorsash05

Navy OCS
Rules of thumb: 1. prepare for the unexpected 2. apex timer is not made visible on the screen so it wont create anxiety but you can click on it to see it when needed. I usually had 4 minutes of time left over in each section (gave me a few minutes for a breather). 3. Maintain the attitude that you will succeed & that you will see the test all the way through. Even upon a low score, you must not allow it to discourage you.

Best of luck to you! Hope to hear your results. I am certain you will do well.
 

ea6bflyr

Working Class Bum
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Hey everyone. First time posting. I was searching amazon for some study material pertaining specifically to the new ASTB-E and found this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0989818888/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item

I have no idea if it is any good I just figured I'd share the info with my fellow wannabe's. It seems to be less than a month old.
Interesting to see if there is really any "new" material or if the resources we have listed on AW are comparable. For those that have purchased the book, please provide feedback for other users as to if this book was worth the money and/or if it was helpful.
 

Rhodri Vista

New Member
I have been taking practice tests on this website I found. Have any of you taken it? I noticed that when I was taking it, there was a lot of stuff I was studying that wasn't even on the test BUT there were some questions identical to whats on the study guide (3 or 4 math questions). So I'm planning on taking the whole practice test then base my studying on that as well as the questions I found on the study guide in this thread.

Heres the link for the practice test:
http://www.nelnetsolutions.com/dod/DODHubPage.aspx?sponsor=12894&HubPage=15150

If you guys have other practice tests websites please send them my way! Thanks!!!
 

zarevich

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone. First time posting. I was searching amazon for some study material pertaining specifically to the new ASTB-E and found this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0989818888/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item

I have no idea if it is any good I just figured I'd share the info with my fellow wannabe's. It seems to be less than a month old.
Great info, i also ordered both books, and also have the test in 2 weeks at Yokosuka Naval Base. I hope these books are what the description says.
Thanks again!
 

sailorsash05

Navy OCS
I have been taking practice tests on this website I found. Have any of you taken it? I noticed that when I was taking it, there was a lot of stuff I was studying that wasn't even on the test BUT there were some questions identical to whats on the study guide (3 or 4 math questions). So I'm planning on taking the whole practice test then base my studying on that as well as the questions I found on the study guide in this thread.

Heres the link for the practice test:
http://www.nelnetsolutions.com/dod/DODHubPage.aspx?sponsor=12894&HubPage=15150

If you guys have other practice tests websites please send them my way! Thanks!!!

I used that exact link and it came up short for me and my version of the exam. In other words you can try using that study guide alone, it could work for you. But in my experience I need a new aid to get me through the test.
 

Rhodri Vista

New Member
I used that exact link and it came up short for me and my version of the exam. In other words you can try using that study guide alone, it could work for you. But in my experience I need a new aid to get me through the test.

Did any of the questions from that practice test/ study guide show up exactly on the test itself? Because I have been looking at several other practice test/ study guides and it seems like they are reoccurring on there...I was wondering when you took the test if you saw a question IDENTICAL to the ones you saw as you were studying.
 

sailorsash05

Navy OCS
The thing about the new test is that it varies. My test had no word problems while I have seen others mention that their test was mostly only word problems. The few word problems I had on my test I had never seen before on any previous aids that I had studied from. The concept of how to solve the problem was probably similiar but otherwise it was NEVER word for word identical.

For example, the exam -in the link you posted, there is an average question in the math section. Its the question that Jane has so many test scores and whats the next score needed to get an 82 average? Now on my test I had a question similiar to this. But it wasnt about Jane and it wasnt about scores. Once I recognized that it was an average type question I understood that the point of the question was to add them all up and divide the total by how many you had.

Everything on the test is adaptive. So if you are doing very well, you may get questions about logarithms or matrices. Or for some of us testers we mostly only received a lot of basic algebra questions. PEMDAS was important. PROBABILITY too.

Study with what materials you can, extra knowledge never hurts. But just DONT go into the exam expecting that just because you saw the same question in multiple study aids that it will be on the test or that it will be on the test word for word. I think thats what I had previously thought about the mechanical section- and it proved me very wrong very quickly. You will of course get a different exam than me so your questions and experience will be different. So its like flipping a coin and seeing which side you get. Keep you studies general and not too narrowed and you will be fine.
 
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