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

[exNavyOffRec]

Hey all,

I need some advice as to how to proceed from where I am now. Currently I am a rising junior at a good 4 year university. For the past two years I tried to take on an engineering/applied science major and it's not something I've been able to do well in pretty much from the start, which has resulted in currently a 2.2 cumulative GPA.

They have not selected anyone for BDCP in about 2 years, and, it would be mathematically impossible to get your GPA to a point where people were selected before.

You are also not qualified at this point to apply to any aviation program, the minimum GPA to apply is 2.5, now just because you meet the minimum doesn't mean that is the GPA at which you can be selected, you need to be closer to 3.0 to be considered and have really good ASTB.

Basically you need to 4.0 your last 2 years.

 

[shutout39]

Hey all,

I need some advice as to how to proceed from where I am now....

Meesh, I have good news - the next 2 years of your life are going to suck. You have to get your GPA up, that's your biggest hurdle. I would even consider retaking 2-3 courses you did poorly in and ace those bad boys to get your GPA higher. Either of those majors will most likely not affect your selection, so pick one you wouldn't mind doing the rest of your life (I'm a Public Relations major). Start volunteering, looking for clubs to join, then try to obtain a leadership positing in. Also, when it comes time to take the ASTB, study your butt off for that, too. Get good scores, and if you don't, learn from the first test and study your weak areas. Write a good moto statement (leave out the early life crisis part!) and have it reviewed here. If you do all of that, you'll make it hard for them to turn you away.

This is all info posted around here a million times, but if you want it, it's not too late for you. Also, if serving is really the most important part for you, consider putting in packages for the CG, AF, or Marines. I was turned away from the CG and was accepted by the Navy with the exact same package. Hope that helps man, good luck.

 

[AllYourBass]

This is a very last-minute question from a long-time lurker. My ASTB is Wednesday (tomorrow) morning at 10 a.m. PST, so I'm just trying to get any last bits of helpful stuff jammed into my brain.

My main concern right now is trivia-type information in the aviation or OAR sections. I've studied every piece of gouge on this site along with the PHAK, the For Dummies book, ARCO and Peterson's, and I've been using a deck of 80 flash cards to cram all the aviation stuff in. Yet, when I browse this thread, I see other curveball questions like, "Which bomber was used in the '50s," "What classification is the Sidewinder missile," "Which of these craft would best be suited for a ground attack," and other things like that.

What I'm wondering at this point is: Does anyone have any broad recommendations for the type of aviation knowledge I might effectively study for a few hours tonight that didn't appear in any of the gouge/popular study materials? I understand that the ASTB is very much a "1,000 miles wide but one inch deep" sort of thing, so I couldn't possibly study everything that may appear, but the advice can't hurt.

Thanks!

 

[HookEmNavy]

[quote="asheldon917, post: 704684, member: 34103] Does anyone have any broad recommendations for the type of aviation knowledge I might effectively study for a few hours tonight that didn't appear in any of the gouge/popular study materials? I understand that the ASTB is very much a "1,000 miles wide but one inch deep" sort of thing, so I couldn't possibly study everything that may appear, but the advice can't hurt.

Thanks![/quote]

I'm by no means an expert on anything, but it's my understanding that questions like the ones you mentioned are there because they are indicative of a lifelong interest in military aviation. I.E. if you grew up obsessed with fighters you'd still know at test taking age that AIM-9's are Sidewinders, what planes we flew when, and what planes are suited to what jobs, etc. Maybe skim wikipedia for some high level stuff, but your time is probably best spent preparing for things you know will be on the test.

I don't want to come across sounding like I know anything for certain, but I understand the last night stress of studying and I thought you were warranted at least some kind of reply. Good Luck!

 

[AllYourBass]

I'm by no means an expert on anything, but it's my understanding that questions like the ones you mentioned are there because they are indicative of a lifelong interest in military aviation. I.E. if you grew up obsessed with fighters you'd still know at test taking age that AIM-9's are Sidewinders, what planes we flew when, and what planes are suited to what jobs, etc. Maybe skim wikipedia for some high level stuff, but your time is probably best spent preparing for things you know will be on the test.

I don't want to come across sounding like I know anything for certain, but I understand the last night stress of studying and I thought you were warranted at least some kind of reply. Good Luck!

That makes plenty of sense I think I'd best stick to the flash cards and avoid trying to cram a ton of information in that might only theoretically wind up on the test. Thanks!

 

[Rev]

That makes plenty of sense I think I'd best stick to the flash cards and avoid trying to cram a ton of information in that might only theoretically wind up on the test. Thanks!

I think this is what you should stick with. The pool of information they pull from is almost limitless its essentially impossible to "study" everything.

Best advice? Get some sleep. If you've been studying up till now, cramming will be of minimal benefit to you. Get some quality shut eye and you'll be better prepared than anything else you could tonight.

Good luck!

 

[deadweather]

I think this is what you should stick with. The pool of information they pull from is almost limitless its essentially impossible to "study" everything.

Best advice? Get some sleep. If you've been studying up till now, cramming will be of minimal benefit to you. Get some quality shut eye and you'll be better prepared than anything else you could tonight.

Good luck!

Agreed... My best ASTB prep was getting a good nights rest. Then do a practice test or two before you go to get your mind up and running again.

 

[AllYourBass]

Thanks for the advice. I got a 6/7/7/55 this morning, so I'll chat with my recruiter about those numbers.

 

[Grantspec]

Thanks for the advice. I got a 6/7/7/55 this morning, so I'll chat with my recruiter about those numbers.

This seems like an above average score! Congrats... I am taking the computer version next friday. Was there any questions that stood out to you that you wish you would have studied more?

 

[AllYourBass]

This seems like an above average score! Congrats... I am taking the computer version next friday. Was there any questions that stood out to you that you wish you would have studied more?

I hope the following advice aids you. I've lingered for hours a day on Airwarriors ever since I learned about this place and everybody has been extremely helpful, so I've got to pay it forward however I can! First off, the gouge on this site is fantastic. Use it all. If you have been studying for awhile and you've reviewed it all already, good on you. If not, and you're working with limited time, then start with atrickpay's guide and the Marine Supplement and then work in ARCO/Peterson's.

I scored a 6/7/7 55, but I don't feel like I missed very many on the ASTB. Death by a thousand papercuts. Here's why I think I didn't score a 9/9/9 80:

• Math: I know I missed a couple math problems. Make sure you're intimately comfortable with algebra, and get some of that basic geometry in there too (e.g., area/volume formulas for different shapes, and understand angles/degrees in triangles). Use atrickpay's guide as a good basis for the kind of math you'll need, and make sure you can do those problems blindfolded using only your penis. I wish I paid more attention to work problems (e.g., It takes 5 workers 10 hours to complete something. How long will it take if they add a worker each hour?)
• Reading Comprehension: I didn't study at all for this because I was confident I'd be able to derive meaning from a paragraph. After all, I'm a journalism major—my non-tech degree had to shine somewhere, right? Don't be as confident as I was. I probably scored close to perfectly in this section, but every point counts. Make sure to select items that the paragraph specifically mentions/implies and NOT information that you already knew before reading the paragraph. Overconfidence here can kill.
• Spatial Apperception: Speaking as someone who scored perfectly on all the practice tests with ease, this section was balls hard and made the practice tests look like coloring books. The blurry images are even harder to make out than the practice test versions, and the angles are usually way more steep. I don't know if anyone will agree with me here, but I even feel like some of the answers were misleading (e.g., I was shown a left-banked jet heading toward land, but my only relevant options were a right-banked jet heading toward land and a left-banked jet heading toward water. Maybe I missed something, but I think this happened once or twice). Be careful. The yawed views can also be very confusing. If I were you, I'd spend some time with the free Google Earth Flight Simulator in cockpit view.
• Mechanical Comprehension: I took physical science in 9th grade and that was the end of any relevant instruction for me related to this section, so I had to learn all this stuff from scratch (pulleys/gears/force/mechanical advantage/etc.). That said, I think I mostly blew it away thanks to the Marine Supplement/ARCO/Peterson's/atrickpay's gouge.
• Aviation/Nautical: This one is probably one of my greater casualties. I knew a lot of information on here, but other stuff eluded me, like the minimum required load factor by the FAA and some other stuff. Get very familiar with atrickpay's gouge on this one, but really, use any gouge you can find. You just need to know so much. Know as much about aviation as you can possibly stomach, including flight instruments, runway numbering (36 = 360 deg. = north), etc. It's helpful to know some stuff about Naval aircraft historically and presently. Know what each aircraft designation means (e.g., F = Fighter, A = Attack, etc.). Also, know all your aviation/nautical lights (i.e., those on runways/taxiways and what they mean, those on boats, etc.). Know the TITS out of weather and density altitude and all that technical stuff that makes planes not fall out of the sky.
• Aviation Supplement (OAR): Nothing new, just a combination of all the stuff above. I had a couple spatial apperception problems and a lot of aviation information. Some of them were even repeats from the first aviation test. I also had some trivia stuff that threw me for a loop. Know which bomber they used in the '50s. Know when the Navy was founded. Know important people in aviation. Most of this is in atrickpay's gouge.

Best of luck!

 

[Grantspec]

Thanks for the information! I have a binder full of information that I have compiled from this website and have read and studied the PHAK.

Would that be a bomber that the NAVY used or US Military in general? I think the navy used A-3 in the late 1950s as a carrier based strategic bomber is this correct? Anyone know what the correct answer is for that one?

I have a mechanical engineering degree but my GPA is 3.01 (not stellar) so I am really hoping to get a strong ASTB score.

 

[AllYourBass]

Thanks for the information! I have a binder full of information that I have compiled from this website and have read and studied the PHAK.

Would that be a bomber that the NAVY used or US Military in general? I think the navy used A-3 in the late 1950s as a carrier based strategic bomber is this correct? Anyone know what the correct answer is for that one?

I have a mechanical engineering degree but my GPA is 3.01 (not stellar) so I am really hoping to get a strong ASTB score.

Haha, I've got a similar binder. It starts with the PHAK and includes every piece of gouge. That binder has been with me to breakfast, lunch, dinner, work, my bed, my girlfriend's bed, and many toilets.

The choices all started with B-. I'm assuming the answer was B-52, but admittedly I don't think I chose that at the time.

As for GPA—at the very least I feel good that my GPA is going to be around a 3.85 when I graduate, but it's a journalism degree. So a high GPA in journalism might be the same thing as an average GPA in a tech degree.

 

[armykunin]

This is actually my first post but I have gotten so much info from this website. I take my ASTB OAR on Monday. I have a Master's degree in intelligence and am currently teaching for the Army Korean Cryptologic Linguist course as an instructor. I was prior army and am wanting to get back in. Anyways, I found this website for how to read a micrometer. Thought it might come in handy for others in the future.

http://www.linnbenton.edu/auto/day/mike/read.html

 

[AllYourBass]

This is actually my first post but I have gotten so much info from this website. I take my ASTB OAR on Monday. I have a Master's degree in intelligence and am currently teaching for the Army Korean Cryptologic Linguist course as an instructor. I was prior army and am wanting to get back in. Anyways, I found this website for how to read a micrometer. Thought it might come in handy for others in the future.

http://www.linnbenton.edu/auto/day/mike/read.html

Ah yes, that was helpful. There's a line in the atrickpay gouge that says "Know how to read a micrometer," and that's the first site I found...and hey, now I can read a micrometer. Good luck, and let us know how you did!

 

[armykunin]

Thanks again for all the help I recieved on this site. I took the OAR yesterday and got a 61. The chief at the site was very impressed and called my recruiter immediately. I took version 5 and I think I did really well on both the reading and math. The MC part was very difficult and had a lot of questions I didn't see in any of the gouges. I had also studied the OCS for dummies, Peterson's, and ARCO books. There were some questions regarding pressure in engines, slope length to height regarding MA, a couple pully questions, and a bunch of other stuff. I think there were some common sense questions in there but overall it was very difficult compared to the other two sections in my opinion.