ASTB and ARCO study book

[PeacoatMan]

For all of you that have taken the ASTB, how accurate is the "ARCO: Military Flight Aptitude Book" in terms of study material for the ASTB? Is there anything you felt like it did not emphasize enough? What would you recommend studying more? Does anyone have any ASTB gouge?

Any other tips on the ASTB are greatly appreciated.

Take it light,
Joey



Edited by - Peacoatman on 03/27/2001 16:55:03

 

[PeacoatMan]

I would appreciate any tips you guys can give me for the ASTB ... I am taking it 13 April.

Give me some words of wisdom!
Joey

 

[vicki]

Joey,

Those study books are pretty good and you will begin to see a pattern (ie. the same questions or type of questions are asked over and over again). Thus, practice is the key. This is especially true for the spacial apperception portion of the test. The questions are not at all difficult, especially if you have a few flight hours, but you have to do 30-something of them in 10 minutes. I did pretty well on this part (with no flight hours) by learning the basic concepts and then practicing them over and over again until I could do them in my sleep. Let me know if you have any specific questions I can answer. I hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Tahoe]

quote:
I would appreciate any tips you guys can give me for the ASTB ... I am taking it 13 April.

Give me some words of wisdom!
Joey




Joey,

The ARCO book is okay for everything except the Math/Mechanical...the book REALLY sucks for it. The Marines have a study guide (at least here in Minneapolis) that is Great for the Math. It's almost exactly like the test. If you can get your hands on it you should have no trouble. I told them I was interested in the Marines and they gave me the study guide thinking I'd test with them...but I suddenly had a change of heart and tested with the Navy instead

-Dave

 

[Dave Shutter]

On the MVT portion of the test, interestingly enough, the most help I got from a study quide on the Math part (with which I needed the most help) was one I came across by accident while looking at B&N for the flight aptitude test book: Arco's, How To Solve Algebra Word Problems. The first time I took the test (didn't really study, just wanted to see the test) It seemed that word problems made up about half of the whole MVT.

Y'know, two planes leave in different directions traveling at different headings..., two ships are cruising at so and and so speeds for x amount of time..., water is flooding a space so and so large at such a rate... All that stuff you laughed at in school and said you'll never need to know. Well, that useless info may come in handy in this field.

If your a math or engineering major this discussion may sound silly, but if your not then word problems probably kick your ass. This book covers all the different word problems with formulas and tons of practice problems. I strongle recommend it if you have trouble in this area. Helped me.

D

 

[PeacoatMan]

I really appreciate everyone's comments!

I think I need to work mostly on math and mechanical comprehension ... I will definitely check out the Algebra Book, Dave -- I am a German/History major (imagine that!) If you guys know of any other study material or have any other comments, ie what may have caught you off guard, pass it on!

Thanks again!
Joey

 

[Dave Shutter]

WARNING:ALL ASTB INFO FROM THIS INDIVIDUAL IS NULL AND VOID!!!

When I first took the MechComp part of the test I had never previously seen any type of enginnering or electrical diagrams, fulcrum or lever problems, or plumbing diagrams. There's pulley problems too. I did terrible so I studied extra hard for the mechanical part on my re-test. I spent about three whole days doing lever/fulcrum equation practice problems and when I tested, the chief took away my scrap paper after the math part. I said I'd need it for the mechanical part and he laughed, he was right! It was a joke even for me. I noticed a huge difference in the difficulty of the questions. I think they made the test easier, but then again who knows?

Anyway, my advice having done poorly on the test, but passing later on and qualifying for SNA (but not SNFO?!), is to focus on the stuff you know your weak on, but also go through the study quides well (both Officer and Avaition books) because there's probably going to be stuff that you've simply never seen before.

D



Edited by - Dave Shutter on 04/19/2001 03:45:59

 

[PeacoatMan]

For all who care:

I took the ASTB last week ... I got a 7 on the MVT, 6 on the MCT, and my other scores my recruiter would not tell me. I passed all sections, EXCEPT he told me I was one point short on the biographical section to be considered for pilot. DAMN IT! Well, I am determined to be a U.S. Naval Aviator and will take it again next month.

Thanks for everyone's input; I will let you know the results of round 2.

Joey

 

[Dawgfan]

quote:
I passed all sections, EXCEPT he told me I was one point short on the biographical section to be considered for pilot. DAMN IT! Well, I am determined to be a U.S. Naval Aviator and will take it again next month.


Just remember, you would rather study physics than take pictures of flowers, and you have driven aggressively at least once in the past 6 months.



Edited by - Dawgfan on 04/17/2001 17:01:54

 

[Musiqlover]

When I told the ASTB test, my recruiter told me to be in the mindset of a bad ass. Imagine that you have nine lives, and are adventurous! They want guys who are willing to take risks, and who have guts. As you take the biographical part of the test, be in that frame of mind and you will do fine!


Sincerely,


Paul

 

[PeacoatMan]

Thanks for the input ... I have a friend at the academy who said they're looking for bad asses, responsible bad asses. He advised to answer negative to the driving question and that of the like. That creates a little bit of a dilemma. For you SNA-qualifiers, what type of insight can you give those prepping for the ASTB?

Take it light,
Joey

 

[Dave Shutter]

I was told the same thing about the BIO test, to be agressive, fearless, ready to kill, but also to have a healthy respect for authority and the law. Remember, they're looking for system's operators, expensive plane pilots and more expensive ship drivers, not recruiting for the WWF. Example:

Have you ever killed a deer: T (agressive!)

Have you ever driven over a 100 mph: F (agressive, BUT ILLEGAL!!!)

...and so on, anyway it's what I was told and I did okay on the BIO.

OR SO I WAS TOLD!!!

D

Edited by - Dave Shutter on 04/19/2001 02:46:25

 

[Tripp]

quote:Have you ever killed a deer: T (agressive!)

Have you ever driven over a 100 mph: F (agressive, BUT ILLEGAL!!!)
Now, I'm confused about the BIO test...is it a scantron-type test or is it a face-to-face interview? Because I haven't "bagged" a deer (I'm a friggin' Eagle Scout, but have never been hunting in my life) and I HAVE driven over 100 MPH (on a racetrack, quite a few times). So me answering truthfully could be interpreted incorrectly by whoever grades these.

Loaded questions suck.

Edited by - Tripp on 04/18/2001 01:19:54

 

[Dave Shutter]

The ASTB is scantron from start to finish, answer A thru D or T/F. I've had those types of BIO tests for other jobs, and as a civil aviation pilot I imagine you'll get lots of them as well Tripp. BTW, be on the look out for the same 3 or 5 questions to repeat several times, only worded differently.

...why you askin' Tripp, all the PRK talk gotcha thinking???

D

 

[Tripp]

Just kickin' around some ideas. Auburn is supposed to raise tuition considerably for next fall, & I've been forced to evaluate my status in the Flight program here.