Seniuram
Well-Known Member
SNA only
Just took the ASTB-E on 11/15 so my application still has a lot to work on however its coming together quite quickly.
See signature for scores and personal info.
Little synopsis on my test experience. And by little I mean extremely long and probably TLDR.
I studied Barrons book and all the gouge I could find of the various ASTB-E threads on here.
Math:
Got extremely hard extremely quick. Positive I got the first few questions correct however after that I felt I was making "Educated" guesses based on the fact I spent 3 minutes factoring out ((2x^2 -1)^3*(4x^2+5)^3)/4 and narrowed it down to 2 possible answers without spending another 5 minutes continuing to factor. I got a lot of problems that required long drawn out factoring. No Logs no Binary for me and sadly I actually know how to do those like the back of my hand. My advice would be to study basic high school or college algebra. Take practice tests over and over and over again........and again. What I learned from college and getting through Calculus 5 is the only way to be confident and exceed at math is practice, just like anything else. Just watching a video on khan academy or reading a book wont do it.
Reading:
Felt like I did pretty average. It went from one question being super simple and very obvious what the answer was to a shit show of jumble I couldn't understand because I didn't know half the words. For the whole exam it was back and forth between those types of questions.
Mechanical:
As a physics major I found this pretty easy. It was simple force problems. Know Newtons laws is my best advice. Also know simple mechanical systems (Pulleys, Levers etc.)
Naval/ Aviation Information:
There are a few posts that link flash card websites. Use those flashcards and legitimately write down all 400 or 500 and practice them over and over again. Know the notecards where if you were to read them on either side of the flash card you would know what's written on the other side. Don't just study them the front way if that makes sense.
Trait Facet Test:
This test will make you feel like shit but try and find some humor in it. That what I did. Some of the questions were so outrageous but you had to choose one of the 2 answers. I personally have a high sense of pride in my integrity so anything that had an integrity issue I would immediately click the other answer. On the good ones simply just answer how you normally react. If you try and answer to what you think they want you to answer, you're going to get a bad score. Or at least that's what I think because I've taken personality tests before and that's how they work.
Ex (Bad):
Pick one of two:
1) In extremely stressful situations I tend to lash out and get angry at my peers.
2) When I make mistakes I tend to blame it on others so I don't have to suffer the consequences.
Performance based measures:
Started out with the UAV directional test where it shows a red dot and a yellow arrow of which way the UAV is flying and you have to choose which parking lot is in the cardinal direction it says in your head phones based on what direction you would be seeing out of the cockpit. What I did for this is draw a compass on a piece of paper with the 4 basic Cardinal directions (N,S,E,W). Which ever way the arrow was pointing I would immediately turn the paper so that direction on the compass was facing directly away from me. Then you could choose what ever parking lot it asked for pretty quickly. I was between 2-3 seconds on every answer and got 2 wrong because I miss clicked trying to go to quick.
Joystick and Throttle: This shit was bonkers. I felt like I did horrible but I didn't feel bad because from what everyone says on this site is they believe the same thing. Its a square with a narrow rectangle on the right. Starts by doing the Dichotic listening in your headphones. It will tell you a target ear and when you hear an even or odd number in that ear you click a specific button. It was trigger and clutch for me. Both ears will be sounding off with numbers and letter but you only want to listen to the target ear. Throttle training: a small "Bird" is put in the rectangle on the left. It moves up and down and you have to put your bullseye over the bird by adjusting the throttle back and forth. Bird moves up and down unpredictably. Stick training: Now theres a bird in the larger square moving every direction and you have to put your bullseye over the bird by using the joystick. Probably a pretty shitty calibrated joystick but do your best.
After doing all 3 separately you do the throttle and joystick at the same time. The stick is inverted however the throttle is not so its like trying to pat your head and rub your belly at the same time. Then it adds in the Dichotic listening. What I tried to do was just keep a general track of my bullseyes following the general targets. As long as they were going in the same direction I felt fine. Focus on the hearing and get your easy points where you can. Last was the emergency procedures. Write them down, when they happen quick glance at your notes and get em done. Again get your easy points where you can.
Sorry if this is confusing I got bored at work and quick typed it up. Feel free to message me if you have any questions.
Happy testing. At the end of the day just have some fun with it and your scores will be fine.
Just took the ASTB-E on 11/15 so my application still has a lot to work on however its coming together quite quickly.
See signature for scores and personal info.
Little synopsis on my test experience. And by little I mean extremely long and probably TLDR.
I studied Barrons book and all the gouge I could find of the various ASTB-E threads on here.
Math:
Got extremely hard extremely quick. Positive I got the first few questions correct however after that I felt I was making "Educated" guesses based on the fact I spent 3 minutes factoring out ((2x^2 -1)^3*(4x^2+5)^3)/4 and narrowed it down to 2 possible answers without spending another 5 minutes continuing to factor. I got a lot of problems that required long drawn out factoring. No Logs no Binary for me and sadly I actually know how to do those like the back of my hand. My advice would be to study basic high school or college algebra. Take practice tests over and over and over again........and again. What I learned from college and getting through Calculus 5 is the only way to be confident and exceed at math is practice, just like anything else. Just watching a video on khan academy or reading a book wont do it.
Reading:
Felt like I did pretty average. It went from one question being super simple and very obvious what the answer was to a shit show of jumble I couldn't understand because I didn't know half the words. For the whole exam it was back and forth between those types of questions.
Mechanical:
As a physics major I found this pretty easy. It was simple force problems. Know Newtons laws is my best advice. Also know simple mechanical systems (Pulleys, Levers etc.)
Naval/ Aviation Information:
There are a few posts that link flash card websites. Use those flashcards and legitimately write down all 400 or 500 and practice them over and over again. Know the notecards where if you were to read them on either side of the flash card you would know what's written on the other side. Don't just study them the front way if that makes sense.
Trait Facet Test:
This test will make you feel like shit but try and find some humor in it. That what I did. Some of the questions were so outrageous but you had to choose one of the 2 answers. I personally have a high sense of pride in my integrity so anything that had an integrity issue I would immediately click the other answer. On the good ones simply just answer how you normally react. If you try and answer to what you think they want you to answer, you're going to get a bad score. Or at least that's what I think because I've taken personality tests before and that's how they work.
Ex (Bad):
Pick one of two:
1) In extremely stressful situations I tend to lash out and get angry at my peers.
2) When I make mistakes I tend to blame it on others so I don't have to suffer the consequences.
Performance based measures:
Started out with the UAV directional test where it shows a red dot and a yellow arrow of which way the UAV is flying and you have to choose which parking lot is in the cardinal direction it says in your head phones based on what direction you would be seeing out of the cockpit. What I did for this is draw a compass on a piece of paper with the 4 basic Cardinal directions (N,S,E,W). Which ever way the arrow was pointing I would immediately turn the paper so that direction on the compass was facing directly away from me. Then you could choose what ever parking lot it asked for pretty quickly. I was between 2-3 seconds on every answer and got 2 wrong because I miss clicked trying to go to quick.
Joystick and Throttle: This shit was bonkers. I felt like I did horrible but I didn't feel bad because from what everyone says on this site is they believe the same thing. Its a square with a narrow rectangle on the right. Starts by doing the Dichotic listening in your headphones. It will tell you a target ear and when you hear an even or odd number in that ear you click a specific button. It was trigger and clutch for me. Both ears will be sounding off with numbers and letter but you only want to listen to the target ear. Throttle training: a small "Bird" is put in the rectangle on the left. It moves up and down and you have to put your bullseye over the bird by adjusting the throttle back and forth. Bird moves up and down unpredictably. Stick training: Now theres a bird in the larger square moving every direction and you have to put your bullseye over the bird by using the joystick. Probably a pretty shitty calibrated joystick but do your best.
After doing all 3 separately you do the throttle and joystick at the same time. The stick is inverted however the throttle is not so its like trying to pat your head and rub your belly at the same time. Then it adds in the Dichotic listening. What I tried to do was just keep a general track of my bullseyes following the general targets. As long as they were going in the same direction I felt fine. Focus on the hearing and get your easy points where you can. Last was the emergency procedures. Write them down, when they happen quick glance at your notes and get em done. Again get your easy points where you can.
Sorry if this is confusing I got bored at work and quick typed it up. Feel free to message me if you have any questions.
Happy testing. At the end of the day just have some fun with it and your scores will be fine.