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1,001 questions about the ASTB (post your scores & ask your questions here!)
- Thread starter edato
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FormerRecruitingGuru
Making Recruiting Great Again
Check out the previous aviation threads to find your answer.
Long time lurker, first time poster. Took the OAR on Tuesday and scored a 65. Really surprised and happy with my score because I truly thought I bombed the reading. I was more nervous for this exam than anything in my life and I wanted to share some details to try to make some non-STEM majors feel more confident going in. For those wondering, I am a political science major with a 3.42 GPA hoping to be selected SWO. (This is just my experience with the OAR)
Pre-exam: Starting out, I didn't even understand what D=R*T meant. I studied and researched a lot for this exam. As many people said before me, make sure you look through countless threads on this forum because they are invaluable to your success. I ordered the Trivium book which helped a lot in the mechanical comprehension portion but the math was just ok. DO NOT get the Mometrix book, it's a waste of money. Essentially, everything you need is right in this forum. I printed out every practice exam on AR and went over each question at least 3-4 times. I don't have a background in math or engineering so I focused most of my time understanding the concepts and making sure I could do any problem the exam threw at me.
Math: Every question I had, I had seen before one way or another. I had a couple probability problems, D=RT where one person was going 8 mph and had 6 miles left in a race and another person was going 10 mph and had 8 miles left - find the time between the two finishes, one log that was logx(√2)= 1/6, one multiplying matrices, perfect numbers, and how many cones can fit inside a cylinder (they give you the formulas). Know your exponent rules and system of equations. I didn't take the full 40 minutes and it kicked me out with 6-7 minutes left. The harder the questions get, the better you are doing.
Reading: Like I said before, the reading was pretty tough. The answers can go either way so I suggest reading the passage twice through then answering. One thing I wasn't aware of was the format of the answers. The test is just a passage and then A,B,C, and D. There's no "what's the main idea..." or "the topic of this passage is..." leading into the answers. Maybe I didn't know because I really didn't focus much on this section. I forget where, but someone mentioned writing ABCD on your scrap paper and eliminating answers which actually helped and made things less confusing. Time expired for me here.
Mechanical: This goes by really quick. Only three answers to choose from, which was nice. Honestly, I don't remember specific questions but I know I had to apply Newton's Laws a couple times. Make sure you focus on understanding pressure and pistons. Know how to get the Mechanical Advantage for all simple machines and know gears in and out. Ended on a nuclear question which I think is floating around in this thread somewhere.
Overall, I really think this exam is confidence and preparation. My goal going in was around a 50 and I got a score I didn't even think I was capable of. If anybody wants to pick my brain about the exam, I'd be happy to share more. Hopefully I get to meet all of you along the way.
Pre-exam: Starting out, I didn't even understand what D=R*T meant. I studied and researched a lot for this exam. As many people said before me, make sure you look through countless threads on this forum because they are invaluable to your success. I ordered the Trivium book which helped a lot in the mechanical comprehension portion but the math was just ok. DO NOT get the Mometrix book, it's a waste of money. Essentially, everything you need is right in this forum. I printed out every practice exam on AR and went over each question at least 3-4 times. I don't have a background in math or engineering so I focused most of my time understanding the concepts and making sure I could do any problem the exam threw at me.
Math: Every question I had, I had seen before one way or another. I had a couple probability problems, D=RT where one person was going 8 mph and had 6 miles left in a race and another person was going 10 mph and had 8 miles left - find the time between the two finishes, one log that was logx(√2)= 1/6, one multiplying matrices, perfect numbers, and how many cones can fit inside a cylinder (they give you the formulas). Know your exponent rules and system of equations. I didn't take the full 40 minutes and it kicked me out with 6-7 minutes left. The harder the questions get, the better you are doing.
Reading: Like I said before, the reading was pretty tough. The answers can go either way so I suggest reading the passage twice through then answering. One thing I wasn't aware of was the format of the answers. The test is just a passage and then A,B,C, and D. There's no "what's the main idea..." or "the topic of this passage is..." leading into the answers. Maybe I didn't know because I really didn't focus much on this section. I forget where, but someone mentioned writing ABCD on your scrap paper and eliminating answers which actually helped and made things less confusing. Time expired for me here.
Mechanical: This goes by really quick. Only three answers to choose from, which was nice. Honestly, I don't remember specific questions but I know I had to apply Newton's Laws a couple times. Make sure you focus on understanding pressure and pistons. Know how to get the Mechanical Advantage for all simple machines and know gears in and out. Ended on a nuclear question which I think is floating around in this thread somewhere.
Overall, I really think this exam is confidence and preparation. My goal going in was around a 50 and I got a score I didn't even think I was capable of. If anybody wants to pick my brain about the exam, I'd be happy to share more. Hopefully I get to meet all of you along the way.
Briannacaoili
Naval Reactors Engineer, OAR Tutor
In the figure above, the number of complete turns the vise handle must make to fully close the jaws is
14
16
18
20
They give the answer as 18, but wouldn't this be 16?
I know this post is old, but I found it while looking up this question and think it is important to point out that there is a typo in this question. According to the solution explanation for this question, it is supposed to read 2 1/4 inches for the gap width, which would correspond to the answer 18.
So, as the questions reads with 2", the answer would be 16 turns.
cmundey
Well-Known Member
First post here, and it's kinda lengthy..sorry in advance! I graduated with B.A. in Mathematics with a 3.5 GPA. I previously applied for NUPOC but could not pass the technical interviews (its been a few years since I studied calc and physics...) Went on the NVIP trip to Norfolk and absolutely loved the environment of being on both a surface ship and a sub. It was a feeling I had never felt before, like an overwhelming sense that I did not belong anywhere else other than the Navy. However, the more I read into the Nuclear community the more apprehensive I became about moving forward with my application. I eventually decided against Nuke and my recruiter was nice enough to help me find a different officer program, and introduced me to another recruiter who works with non-nuclear programs. I definitely feel like SUPPO aligns with my interests and personal work experience, so I selected Supply as my new program.
I took my OAR two weeks ago and was disheartened when I got a 48. I really thought I was doing decent throughout the three sections but I think the mechanics section caught me by surprise, which was the section I tried to study the most for. Granted, I only studied for maybe two weeks before I took the exam so I definitely could have prepared more. Well, I just have to say thank you to everyone on here that posted their experience and study material as it definitely helped me in those two weeks. Most of the material I found on here was either on the exam or similar.
Math: I had mostly basic order of operations, d=rt, Pythagorean theorem, and conversion problems. I saw an arc length question using what I thought was s=r*theta. The conversion problems were mainly something like: a plane travels at 9000 mph, how many ft/s did it travel? Looking back at my scratch paper I can't tell what type of specific questions I was asked because my writing was all over the place lol. I think the biggest issue was being able to multiply and divide by hand quickly. I also had a circumference/area equation, was given the circumference and needed to find the area of a circle.
Reading: Not much to say here...very straight forward. I honestly did not think this was nearly as boring or difficult as most people say, but it is definitely easy to get distracted. I did take the advice of someone on here to write down A-D and cross off answers I eliminated to stay focused. Personally, I did not read the answers first before reading the passage. I tried it on a few passages but it only confused me more.
Mechanics: Like most people have said, this section went by pretty quickly for me. Relatively simple questions with very little math. In fact, I did not write anything on my scratch paper during this section other than a tension problem. Most of my questions were about levers and tension, specifically what forces were required to balance lever arms. Surprisingly I did not see any pulley questions, and maybe one simple electrical question.
I walked out of the testing room and went to my previous recruiter's office. When I told him my score he was understandably on the fence about it. However, as I was talking to him, my new recruiter yelled out "Congratulations! You qualify for Supply!" I told him I was upset about my score and that I could probably do better if I retook it, but he expressed he was happy with my score and that it was not worth the risk of retaking it since the most recent score is used. He then showed me the minimum score for Supply was a 40 to qualify and the average score of selected applicants was a 50.
I'm definitely worried about my package but we're aiming to submit for boards in May. Getting selected would be a surprise, honestly, and the thought of going to OCS gets my adrenaline pumping! I'm nervous but ready to turn that energy into giving my all at OCS and beyond.
Thanks to everyone who contributed on here and good luck to all!
I took my OAR two weeks ago and was disheartened when I got a 48. I really thought I was doing decent throughout the three sections but I think the mechanics section caught me by surprise, which was the section I tried to study the most for. Granted, I only studied for maybe two weeks before I took the exam so I definitely could have prepared more. Well, I just have to say thank you to everyone on here that posted their experience and study material as it definitely helped me in those two weeks. Most of the material I found on here was either on the exam or similar.
Math: I had mostly basic order of operations, d=rt, Pythagorean theorem, and conversion problems. I saw an arc length question using what I thought was s=r*theta. The conversion problems were mainly something like: a plane travels at 9000 mph, how many ft/s did it travel? Looking back at my scratch paper I can't tell what type of specific questions I was asked because my writing was all over the place lol. I think the biggest issue was being able to multiply and divide by hand quickly. I also had a circumference/area equation, was given the circumference and needed to find the area of a circle.
Reading: Not much to say here...very straight forward. I honestly did not think this was nearly as boring or difficult as most people say, but it is definitely easy to get distracted. I did take the advice of someone on here to write down A-D and cross off answers I eliminated to stay focused. Personally, I did not read the answers first before reading the passage. I tried it on a few passages but it only confused me more.
Mechanics: Like most people have said, this section went by pretty quickly for me. Relatively simple questions with very little math. In fact, I did not write anything on my scratch paper during this section other than a tension problem. Most of my questions were about levers and tension, specifically what forces were required to balance lever arms. Surprisingly I did not see any pulley questions, and maybe one simple electrical question.
I walked out of the testing room and went to my previous recruiter's office. When I told him my score he was understandably on the fence about it. However, as I was talking to him, my new recruiter yelled out "Congratulations! You qualify for Supply!" I told him I was upset about my score and that I could probably do better if I retook it, but he expressed he was happy with my score and that it was not worth the risk of retaking it since the most recent score is used. He then showed me the minimum score for Supply was a 40 to qualify and the average score of selected applicants was a 50.
I'm definitely worried about my package but we're aiming to submit for boards in May. Getting selected would be a surprise, honestly, and the thought of going to OCS gets my adrenaline pumping! I'm nervous but ready to turn that energy into giving my all at OCS and beyond.
Thanks to everyone who contributed on here and good luck to all!
Hello everyone, I recently took the ASTB and I scored a 31 on the OAR portion of the test, a 2 on the AQR, and 4s for the PFAR and FOFAR. I am truly bummed about my scores as I studied for a month on everything else. I feel better about knowing what the test is truly like but nervous about math as it completely shot my confidence progressing through the test. I know its imperative to apply myself and look for the information on this website myself. Moving forward does anyone have any practice test on math aspects about ratios and probabilities. I got asked alot about tossing die and knowing what the fraction probability was. Thanks again gents. PA
To answer the question about the weighted average question. The answer is 79. I just worked it out. What you do is: first multiply the marks by the wieght. When you add everything together, you should get 580+2X. Then you treat it like any other average problem. However, you want to add the wieght together to get your divisor! You want to set up (580+2x)/9 = 82 then solve for x.
Hello everyone,
I am scheduled to take the ASTB exam on March, 8th. I am panicking over the mechanical comprehension, as I've taken 0 classes on physic or mechanical subject. (I'm International Studies Major, focused on languages over the years) I looked over the thread and found many great study materials, but it covers really specified terms and concept that I have no background in.
I am good at solving math problems, but it is really difficult for me to learn the details of physics and simple mechanics. Is there any study guild for a dummy like me? I can just memorize all the conceptual stuff, and not to deal with how to solve the complex equations with different variables units? (I learned Newton's law, projectile motion, and work( energy) so far, but the equations and the practice problems, when given I just can't relate or apply the knowledge.)
Thanks
I am scheduled to take the ASTB exam on March, 8th. I am panicking over the mechanical comprehension, as I've taken 0 classes on physic or mechanical subject. (I'm International Studies Major, focused on languages over the years) I looked over the thread and found many great study materials, but it covers really specified terms and concept that I have no background in.
I am good at solving math problems, but it is really difficult for me to learn the details of physics and simple mechanics. Is there any study guild for a dummy like me? I can just memorize all the conceptual stuff, and not to deal with how to solve the complex equations with different variables units? (I learned Newton's law, projectile motion, and work( energy) so far, but the equations and the practice problems, when given I just can't relate or apply the knowledge.)
Thanks
I would use the study guides from this site to find out what areas you're weakest at, and then use sites like Khan Academy to dive deeper into the subject you're unfamiliar with.
No prob! It helped me study too! Feel free to ask more questions of you want, and we can try to figure it out together or so. One thing that I did was look up how to do these questions and found out that you divide by the sum of the weights for these questions. Good luck!
Thank you for the answer - I had deleted the post because I figured it out very shortly after sorry about that.
Bruce_Almighty
Well-Known Member
Scores like that have been consistent for PROREC. I recommend giving it a shot with those scores. My situation was my second test scores did not meet minimums. I tested a third time to meet and exceed some of the areas. Don't risk a lower score if you feel like you have the scores, which you do for a SNA slot. Give the board a shot with those scores. You have time and a favorable selections window. Good luck.
Bruce_Almighty
Well-Known Member
I'd suggest going back a few pages to October/ November there are gouges for Math. Few of them are outlines as well as math guide of similar questions. I believe its called 114 math problems. There are gouges full dating to august as well. Just go back through this thread and you'll find them.