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

R

Rellio

Active Member
ChandosT said:
I really appreciate your method on the PBM especially. I think I'm going to approach it that way. I actually just got my personal HOTAS configured for it on Saturday night. Do you recommend doing the Jantzen sim multiple times back to back or do it once at different times during the day?
Click to expand...
What I would do is start off on the middle difficulty, run it for 60 seconds, then up the difficulty by one notch and immediately start it again. Once I went through this from middle difficulty to highest difficulty I would consider that my "5-6" times. I would aim to do this at least once a day, sometimes twice a day and occasionally 3 times a day. I knew on the test the difficulty would increase the better I did, so I did this to simulate the difficulty progressively increasing. So, to answer your question, I sort of did both but mostly back-to-back.
 
C

ChandosT

Prior AME. SNA Board Applicant
Rellio said:
What I would do is start off on the middle difficulty, run it for 60 seconds, then up the difficulty by one notch and immediately start it again. Once I went through this from middle difficulty to highest difficulty I would consider that my "5-6" times. I would aim to do this at least once a day, sometimes twice a day and occasionally 3 times a day. I knew on the test the difficulty would increase the better I did, so I did this to simulate the difficulty progressively increasing. So, to answer your question, I sort of did both but mostly back-to-back.
Click to expand...
Perfect, thanks I'll give that a go. I tried the sim with the mouse and keyboard controls and it just wasn't doing it for me. My solution? Drop $200 on a stick and throttle. Mostly played with it Saturday night, but definitely going to try out your method.
 
O

OptionsDollaraire

Well-Known Member
Rellio said:
What I would do is start off on the middle difficulty, run it for 60 seconds, then up the difficulty by one notch and immediately start it again. Once I went through this from middle difficulty to highest difficulty I would consider that my "5-6" times. I would aim to do this at least once a day, sometimes twice a day and occasionally 3 times a day. I knew on the test the difficulty would increase the better I did, so I did this to simulate the difficulty progressively increasing. So, to answer your question, I sort of did both but mostly back-to-back.
Click to expand...
Did you use a HOTAS? Or just mouse and keyboard?
 
K

Kmill

New Member
Rellio said:
Figured I would do a write up on what I did to prepare, I saw others do the same and I found the advice helpful. I used a number of resources, I'll touch on what I did for each section below. I already posted my score above but I scored a 65 9/9/9. If you don't feel like reading this, the main takeaway is use kyle's guide and practice the jantzen and UAV flashcards a ton. I practiced nearly everyday for probably 3 months.

Math:
- Used Kyle's guide and other posters information to determine what topics would be covered. I tested myself on those topics and brushed up on what I needed to using Khan academy as well as the organic chemistry tutor. I also did buy the Mometrix book and the Barron's book but to be honest I think Kyle's guide is better. I also feel like I had a leg up here as I was already familiar with all these concepts due to an engineering background and just had to refresh.

Reading:
- My current job requires a ton of technical reading so I honestly hardly prepared for this portion. Big thing to remember here is not to make assumptions based off your general knowledge, only draw conclusions that are absolutely supported by the text. To be honest, felt like this was my weakest section

Mechanical Comprehension:
- The engineering background helped a lot here, I refreshed on basic physics concepts via organic chemistry tutor. I did not have to study this much as I was already pretty familiar with the concepts but if you don't have a strong physics background I'll keep repeating myself here and say check out Kyle's guide. One of the documents on his guide is a pretty thorough concept review. Know your formulas, but beyond that I recommend taking time to understand what those formulas "mean" in practical application (don't just memorize the math, understand what it means). I also practiced a lot of simple machines problems.

ANIT:
- I found this to be the easiest section. I studied with the CRAM flashcards, I read the pertinent chapters in the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical knowledge, I listened to various free pilot training youtube videos, and I also am about 3/4 of my way into earning my private pilot's license so that certainly helps. Your ground school material will be helpful if you are also a student pilot/pilot but really you can find all the information in the pilot's handbook. This section briefly touched on ship components and had 1 "historical" question about ship components.

PBM:
- Practice, practice, practice. I think what I did a little differently on some in my study approach here is the amount of time I put in. I would go through 120ish UAV flashcards almost everyday using the compass method and run through the Jantzen practice about 5-6 times almost every day. I did this for about 3 months. By the end of my preparation, I was scoring 70-80 on the Jantzen hardest difficulty on 60 second intervals for the control stick. I also practiced the UAV section much that I did not have to look at my handmade compass, but instead knew the correct parking lost based on how I rotated my hand to match the arrows.
Click to expand...
Rellio said:
Figured I would do a write up on what I did to prepare, I saw others do the same and I found the advice helpful. I used a number of resources, I'll touch on what I did for each section below. I already posted my score above but I scored a 65 9/9/9. If you don't feel like reading this, the main takeaway is use kyle's guide and practice the jantzen and UAV flashcards a ton. I practiced nearly everyday for probably 3 months.

Math:
- Used Kyle's guide and other posters information to determine what topics would be covered. I tested myself on those topics and brushed up on what I needed to using Khan academy as well as the organic chemistry tutor. I also did buy the Mometrix book and the Barron's book but to be honest I think Kyle's guide is better. I also feel like I had a leg up here as I was already familiar with all these concepts due to an engineering background and just had to refresh.

Reading:
- My current job requires a ton of technical reading so I honestly hardly prepared for this portion. Big thing to remember here is not to make assumptions based off your general knowledge, only draw conclusions that are absolutely supported by the text. To be honest, felt like this was my weakest section

Mechanical Comprehension:
- The engineering background helped a lot here, I refreshed on basic physics concepts via organic chemistry tutor. I did not have to study this much as I was already pretty familiar with the concepts but if you don't have a strong physics background I'll keep repeating myself here and say check out Kyle's guide. One of the documents on his guide is a pretty thorough concept review. Know your formulas, but beyond that I recommend taking time to understand what those formulas "mean" in practical application (don't just memorize the math, understand what it means). I also practiced a lot of simple machines problems.

ANIT:
- I found this to be the easiest section. I studied with the CRAM flashcards, I read the pertinent chapters in the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical knowledge, I listened to various free pilot training youtube videos, and I also am about 3/4 of my way into earning my private pilot's license so that certainly helps. Your ground school material will be helpful if you are also a student pilot/pilot but really you can find all the information in the pilot's handbook. This section briefly touched on ship components and had 1 "historical" question about ship components.

PBM:
- Practice, practice, practice. I think what I did a little differently on some in my study approach here is the amount of time I put in. I would go through 120ish UAV flashcards almost everyday using the compass method and run through the Jantzen practice about 5-6 times almost every day. I did this for about 3 months. By the end of my preparation, I was scoring 70-80 on the Jantzen hardest difficulty on 60 second intervals for the control stick. I also practiced the UAV section so much that I did not have to look at my handmade compass, but instead knew the correct parking lost based on how I rotated my hand to match the arrows.
Click to expand...
Where can I find Kyles guide?
 
O

OptionsDollaraire

Well-Known Member
Rellio said:
What I would do is start off on the middle difficulty, run it for 60 seconds, then up the difficulty by one notch and immediately start it again. Once I went through this from middle difficulty to highest difficulty I would consider that my "5-6" times. I would aim to do this at least once a day, sometimes twice a day and occasionally 3 times a day. I knew on the test the difficulty would increase the better I did, so I did this to simulate the difficulty progressively increasing. So, to answer your question, I sort of did both but mostly back-to-back.
Click to expand...
Am I reading correctly that you got the scores down to 70-80 for both joystick and throttle at the same time?
 
D

Dboom85

Banned
WhiteLotus5125 said:
3 months only got me from 44 5/6/5 to 50 6/8/7 ? I would've liked triple 7's or 8's at the very least but I'm happy with where I'm at right now. Especially given that fact that I'm in school, have two young children, and work 10 hour shifts every day.
Click to expand...
That sounds like you didn’t study the whole 3 months like Rellio did, for all good reasons, but still not the same price he paid. I think the key for anyone to get a good score is just throwing actual time at it, and I don’t mean studying with checking your phone every 5 minutes, I mean locking in laser focused on the parts you struggle with the most and brushing up on the items you’re most comfortable with.
 
C

ChandosT

Prior AME. SNA Board Applicant
WhiteLotus5125 said:
3 months only got me from 44 5/6/5 to 50 6/8/7 ? I would've liked triple 7's or 8's at the very least but I'm happy with where I'm at right now. Especially given that fact that I'm in school, have two young children, and work 10 hour shifts every day.
Click to expand...
I felt the kids, school, and 10 hour shift in my fuckin bones
 
WhiteLotus5125

WhiteLotus5125

Well-Known Member
Dboom85 said:
That sounds like you didn’t study the whole 3 months like Rellio did, for all good reasons, but still not the same price he paid. I think the key for anyone to get a good score is just throwing actual time at it, and I don’t mean studying with checking your phone every 5 minutes, I mean locking in laser focused on the parts you struggle with the most and brushing up on the items you’re most comfortable with.
Click to expand...
Yeah, and more power to him, but I also didn't have spare time like that to just solely focus on studying ASTB material for hours a day every day for 3 months. Am I envious of his results and the trip 9's? Of course I am, anyone would be. That's pretty much an automatic Pro-Rec-Y if you don't have red flags. But I don't resent anything from my own journey. Of course getting better overall scores was the goal... but, worst case scenario, improving my PFAR is all I really wanted to get out of my retest... since that's all the board really cares about from ASTB scores. And improving my PFAR is exactly what happened. I put in every second of extra time I had though. Went through 3 seperate hard copy study guides. Took practice tests, went back and studied what I didnt know off the top of my head. Grinded Jantzens sim. Flashcards. The whole nine. And now I went from meh to actually competitive.

Could I have done way better if I had different life circumstances? More than likely. But I'm happy with where I'm at.
 
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