ASTB-E/APEX 4 Experience -DEC 2013

[schemme3]

They never have, I had one CEC guy take it when I first started and was told "why did you do that" never had a CEC applicant take it again.

Thanks for telling me this. I will talk to the recruiter and have him double check to see if the OAR test I took was worthless. I will be finishing the test tomorrow though since I was already half way through it. Thanks again though it helps knowing that this test may not be important to my application

 

[Matthew Esposito]

I am in the process of getting my package together, and studying for the test. I just found out about the new version so I am extremely nervous but I will just buckle down and study any and every quality gouge out there. I guess taking the test would honestly be the best practice. I was wondering if anyone knew what types of scores I would need to be competitive with a 3.6 GPA, quality references, and very good statement?

 

[MattWSU]

I am in the process of getting my package together, and studying for the test. I just found out about the new version so I am extremely nervous but I will just buckle down and study any and every quality gouge out there. I guess taking the test would honestly be the best practice. I was wondering if anyone knew what types of scores I would need to be competitive with a 3.6 GPA, quality references, and very good statement?

9/9/9 would be golden.

 

[BusyBee604]

9/9/9 would be golden.

Ball park... 6s-7s and above "competitive"!
BzB

 

[Matthew Esposito]

Ball park... 6s-7s and above "competitive"!
BzB

Thank you! I figured that range is what I shooting to hit or exceed. I appreciate it.

 

[max mathies]

Just took the OAR at my Navy recruiters office today and got a 70. The only thing I can say is the questions just keep coming. I went in with the mentality of quick answers first then go back and work on the hard ones I might have not gotten right. Once you click on the answer you move on and can't go back. So I quickly changed tactics to spending time to get every question right I could, even when I was running low on time. Good luck everyone! I didn't do the rest of the test since Navy SEALs don't require it.

 

[nuls2835]

Just took the OAR at my Navy recruiters office today and got a 70. The only thing I can say is the questions just keep coming. I went in with the mentality of quick answers first then go back and work on the hard ones I might have not gotten right. Once you click on the answer you move on and can't go back. So I quickly changed tactics to spending time to get every question right I could, even when I was running low on time. Good luck everyone! I didn't do the rest of the test since Navy SEALs don't require it.

Great scores Max. I had to adjust to the test and apparently the number of questions you see can vary. In the Math section I only saw 12-15 questions and was well below time when the section was over. I thought either the test messed up or I ran out of time and missed half the questions. Even though I was sure I did not mess anything up, it still affected my performance on the last 2 sections. All in all, either you are ready for this test or you aren't.

 

[Mitigates]

How was the math and mechanical sections? I'm hearing more logarithm and averages questions than many of the gouges lead on, also was there any section on mechanical where you've never seen the subject? What was your experience with this. Test day in two days!

Thanks in advance!

 

[navy2014]

How was the math and mechanical sections? I'm hearing more logarithm and averages questions than many of the gouges lead on, also was there any section on mechanical where you've never seen the subject? What was your experience with this. Test day in two days!

Thanks in advance!

I don't think I had any logarithm questions because I would have literally no idea how to do it, and that doesn't ring any bells. As for the second question, the mechanical section was basically entirely concepts that I hadn't seen while studying.

 

[Mitigates]

Well you still turned out excellent scores, congratulations man!

 

[rjhl]

Hey, a big thanks for all the guidance on this forum. I know the test is variable and adaptive but I just took it and have a couple clarifications/things that might be helpful to reiterate. 74/9/8/8

For the math section, I had 3 logarithm problems, so don't ignore them in your studying. A helpful hint on here was to return your mouse cursor to the timer after you answer each problem. The timer is not shown unless you hover over it with the cursor.

For studying the mechanical, I used Barron's Flight Aptitude, the ASTB-E book, and the personal study guides and gouges on here. This proved relatively sufficient, though I have taken both classical mechanics and electricity & mag college courses.

I also went into studying without a solid knowledge of planes or nautical terms—the above resources proved to be sufficient here too. To supplement your studying however, look up pictures for things that are only described in the books (i.e. spoilers). Also, do not completely dismiss history; I was asked two flight history questions.

Finally, review what is written on here regarding the flight sim (it is accurate) but also make sure you read all the directions before you start the individual hearing portion and the emergency procedures portion. I didn't really have a handle on what I was doing and had to figure it out during the actual sim because I didn't read the directions all the way through.

Good luck!

 

[Mitigates]

Hey guys, just finished taking my ASTB. As someone who has struggled with math throughout my academic career I manged to score a 7/8/7 55 with about a week of heavy studying. Let me know if anyone wants me to expand on my experience with the sections, I tried to remember as much as I could so that I can pass it along to the AW community.

 

[EeeZy]

Hey guys, just finished taking my ASTB. As someone who has struggled with math throughout my academic career I manged to score a 7/8/7 55 with about a week of heavy studying. Let me know if anyone wants me to expand on my experience with the sections, I tried to remember as much as I could so that I can pass it along to the AW community.

How was your mechanical section?

 

[Que3n]

Hey guys,

I took the APEX 4 ASTB today. Wanted to just thank everyone who has contributed to this thread, as a civilian walking in off the street with no flight or military experience this thread was the only prep I used and I am quite happy with the results. Everyone's shared experiences so far are basically exactly how my personal experience went.

59/8/8/8

I did take just the OAR portion of the exam about one year ago while building an ultimately unsuccessful SEAL OCS package and scored a 52. I felt that the math portion of APEX 4 was more difficult than the previous versions however the mechanical seemed easier. It's been a year so take that with a grain of salt. Best of luck everyone and again thank you for the posts you have made.

 

[Mitigates]

How was your mechanical section?

What I found to be different about it compared to the Gouges, is there were less machine type problems, and more problems which required you to use theory to estimate what WOULD happen IF... ect. There were 2-3 Spring questions on mine, so make sure you go over those. Lots of pulley related questions, as well as gears rotation/mechanical advantage of gearing. Also, there was one question about static friction (ie, you have a 20lb object being pushed by 10lb of force, what does the static friction coefficient have to be below to move the object.)

Really make sure you understand why the machines are working and not so much about the equations if that makes sense. From what I can remember, I had zero electrical questions, but others have before me. The new ASTB-E study guides fixed mechanical section really helped me prepare (Make sure you get the second edition, it may not be out yet, but email Accepted Inc. prior to ordering.) The Mechanical Section in other words just makes sense if you look at the problems and analyze whats going on. Give yourself the time as I believe correct answers > # of answers scored.

Again, I haven't taken a math class in 3-4 years, maxed out at Algebra II in high school, then did a brief stats class in community college. In addition, I never took a physics class. So I really had to reteach myself the math and learn basic physics within about a week and a half. Best of luck.