Good luck Tcoley! I'm sure you will do much better
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ASTB-E/APEX 4 Experience -DEC 2013
- Thread starter Notorious Nate
- Start date
Frankenstein
Member
Hey all,
I took the ASTB yesterday and scored 7/8/6 56, and I needed 5/6/6 to pick up a guaranteed flight contract, so super happy. I'll put up my experience, but I don't remember everything, I'll try my best.
MATH
no logs, no matrices. 1 fraction multiplication. ex: a=1/4 and b = 2/9, ab=?. There was one that really stuck out that was pretty hard and I don't think I got it right. it was about simplifying some complex equation. ex: [((x-2)^2)(x+3)^1/2)-x-7]^-1 That is NOT the exact problem, but it was kinda like that. one question was a dt problem that went like "Sam was running 8mph and has 10 miles left while Max was running 10mph and has 17 miles left, how much faster does Sam finish before Max?" Again, not the exact problem, but similar. 1 linear problem solving for x. A couple about probability. like "Jim rolls two dice, what is the probability that he rolls an 8 on the first try?" Or there was a more complicated one where it went "Ben threw 3 darts at a calendar with 31 days, what is the probability he hits 3 different days?" I don't remember much more than that, but just be prepared for anything. I didn't really study for math and it came pretty easy since I have a math background (studying mechanical engineering), so if you struggle, definitely do some practice.
READING COMPREHENSION
I suck at reading comprehension, I'm pretty sure that dropped my OAR score big time. You can kind of tell when you get one wrong cause it'll go from some military run on sentences that hardly make sense to "Jack and Jill ran up a hill" What did they run up? (not really haha it was more complex, but it still made me feel stupid). Don't see how you can prepare for this besides if you've read books your entire life and are really really good at comprehending and remembering exactly what's in a text. For the ACT I scored 21 on the reading part while I scored 30 on everything else. If you're better than say 24, you'll probably be fine on this section. (Don't really know though, kinda pulled that outta my butt).
MECHANICAL COMPREHENSION
No electrical stuff, pretty straight forward. There were a couple poorly written questions, but whatever. Make sure you understand Kinematics or can apply all of Newton's rules. Questions like "a feather and a brick are dropped at the same time in a vacuum, which hits first?" (same time) pretty simple. Or "a ball is thrown down off a building at 30m/s and a ball is thrown up at exactly the same speed off the same building, which ball hits the ground with more kinetic energy?" (same) or "Car A accelerates to 30mph while car B accelerates to 60mph, how much more energy did Car B use?" (2x) There was one pulley question where it was like "there's no slipping, how fast does pulley 2 go?" and 2 was attached to pulley 1 so I said same as 1. If you took physics, you'll be A ok. If not, look up some of the basic principles of physics and grasp the concepts.
AVIATION/NAUTICAL KNOWLEDGE
This one was the one that worried me the most because I actually studied for it. Definitely a few questions I did not anticipate. ex "Which aircraft was designed to target the hard to hear russian subs?" not sure If I got it right but one choice was S-something so I picked that. There was another where it was first jet to do some type of mission, but I forgot, pretty sure I got that wrong. A few I did expect like which controls control roll? or pitch? When flying behind a large aircraft, where should you land? (above and beyond) one question about the Air Force which I probably got wrong. It was something about how they take off like CTOL or VTOL and a couple more. I picked CTOL cause that's conventional take off and landing? not sure. A couple questions about parts of a ship like "this would measure the width of a boat?" (beam) or "front most part of a ship?" (forecastle) "vertical wall of a ship?"(bulkhead) so know your parts of a ship.
THE REST
For the UAV, I got my answers to an average of 3 seconds and got 1 wrong. They give you about 25 I'd say and it's nonstop, one after the other, no break, so it gets hectic. The rest you heard about:Challenging, but doable. Don't get screwed up by the directions, I could see how someone could easily mess it up. Like for listening, make sure you know which is your target ear and ONLY listen to that target ear. When they put both the 2d plane and the 1d plane at the same time I looked at the 2d plane and tracked it and used my peripheral to track the 1d. Throw in the listening and it's not incredibly difficult, just do your best. Emergency procedures, don't forget about pressing the clutch button after you adjust, I forgot to the first procedure and it went to red and stayed there for a few seconds then reset, meaning I died. So don't do that.
Overall It was challenging, but just stay focused and study what you know you need to study to optimize your score and you'll be good.
Thank you guys for all of your help, you guys definitely helped me out on what to study for especially the aviation/nautical knowledge, so thanks. I'm completely ecstatic about my score cause it means I'll get the contract. So this is my way of giving back. Hope it helps.
I took the ASTB yesterday and scored 7/8/6 56, and I needed 5/6/6 to pick up a guaranteed flight contract, so super happy. I'll put up my experience, but I don't remember everything, I'll try my best.
MATH
no logs, no matrices. 1 fraction multiplication. ex: a=1/4 and b = 2/9, ab=?. There was one that really stuck out that was pretty hard and I don't think I got it right. it was about simplifying some complex equation. ex: [((x-2)^2)(x+3)^1/2)-x-7]^-1 That is NOT the exact problem, but it was kinda like that. one question was a dt problem that went like "Sam was running 8mph and has 10 miles left while Max was running 10mph and has 17 miles left, how much faster does Sam finish before Max?" Again, not the exact problem, but similar. 1 linear problem solving for x. A couple about probability. like "Jim rolls two dice, what is the probability that he rolls an 8 on the first try?" Or there was a more complicated one where it went "Ben threw 3 darts at a calendar with 31 days, what is the probability he hits 3 different days?" I don't remember much more than that, but just be prepared for anything. I didn't really study for math and it came pretty easy since I have a math background (studying mechanical engineering), so if you struggle, definitely do some practice.
READING COMPREHENSION
I suck at reading comprehension, I'm pretty sure that dropped my OAR score big time. You can kind of tell when you get one wrong cause it'll go from some military run on sentences that hardly make sense to "Jack and Jill ran up a hill" What did they run up? (not really haha it was more complex, but it still made me feel stupid). Don't see how you can prepare for this besides if you've read books your entire life and are really really good at comprehending and remembering exactly what's in a text. For the ACT I scored 21 on the reading part while I scored 30 on everything else. If you're better than say 24, you'll probably be fine on this section. (Don't really know though, kinda pulled that outta my butt).
MECHANICAL COMPREHENSION
No electrical stuff, pretty straight forward. There were a couple poorly written questions, but whatever. Make sure you understand Kinematics or can apply all of Newton's rules. Questions like "a feather and a brick are dropped at the same time in a vacuum, which hits first?" (same time) pretty simple. Or "a ball is thrown down off a building at 30m/s and a ball is thrown up at exactly the same speed off the same building, which ball hits the ground with more kinetic energy?" (same) or "Car A accelerates to 30mph while car B accelerates to 60mph, how much more energy did Car B use?" (2x) There was one pulley question where it was like "there's no slipping, how fast does pulley 2 go?" and 2 was attached to pulley 1 so I said same as 1. If you took physics, you'll be A ok. If not, look up some of the basic principles of physics and grasp the concepts.
AVIATION/NAUTICAL KNOWLEDGE
This one was the one that worried me the most because I actually studied for it. Definitely a few questions I did not anticipate. ex "Which aircraft was designed to target the hard to hear russian subs?" not sure If I got it right but one choice was S-something so I picked that. There was another where it was first jet to do some type of mission, but I forgot, pretty sure I got that wrong. A few I did expect like which controls control roll? or pitch? When flying behind a large aircraft, where should you land? (above and beyond) one question about the Air Force which I probably got wrong. It was something about how they take off like CTOL or VTOL and a couple more. I picked CTOL cause that's conventional take off and landing? not sure. A couple questions about parts of a ship like "this would measure the width of a boat?" (beam) or "front most part of a ship?" (forecastle) "vertical wall of a ship?"(bulkhead) so know your parts of a ship.
THE REST
For the UAV, I got my answers to an average of 3 seconds and got 1 wrong. They give you about 25 I'd say and it's nonstop, one after the other, no break, so it gets hectic. The rest you heard about:Challenging, but doable. Don't get screwed up by the directions, I could see how someone could easily mess it up. Like for listening, make sure you know which is your target ear and ONLY listen to that target ear. When they put both the 2d plane and the 1d plane at the same time I looked at the 2d plane and tracked it and used my peripheral to track the 1d. Throw in the listening and it's not incredibly difficult, just do your best. Emergency procedures, don't forget about pressing the clutch button after you adjust, I forgot to the first procedure and it went to red and stayed there for a few seconds then reset, meaning I died. So don't do that.
Overall It was challenging, but just stay focused and study what you know you need to study to optimize your score and you'll be good.
Thank you guys for all of your help, you guys definitely helped me out on what to study for especially the aviation/nautical knowledge, so thanks. I'm completely ecstatic about my score cause it means I'll get the contract. So this is my way of giving back. Hope it helps.
speedroller
Rangers
Good deal there, ill be taking by ASTB here soon too.
Tcoley
New Member
Good luck Tcoley! I'm sure you will do much better
Tcoley
New Member
Ok so I did basically the same, going to go for the 3rd try in September! Anyone in Tampa, FL area want to help me out!? I have a math tutor, but anyone else have some tips or materials/ really knows their stuff? As far as UAV, I know I messed up a bit on some; and it's the stick and throttle well I did the best that I could....listening was good. Anyways I have 3 months to really knock it home; because I'm not happy my scores didn't really move at all! If your in Tampa and are an astb old salt; please get in touch; or heck anyone in this lovely forum? THanks very much! I have all the guides etc.
THanks very much! I have all the guides etc.I recommend sitting down at a cafe and timing yourself with the math problems. The problems are designed so you can stop calculating about half way through the problem.Ok so I did basically the same, going to go for the 3rd try in September! Anyone in Tampa, FL area want to help me out!? I have a math tutor, but anyone else have some tips or materials/ really knows their stuff? As far as UAV, I know I messed up a bit on some; and it's the stick and throttle well I did the best that I could....listening was good. Anyways I have 3 months to really knock it home; because I'm not happy my scores didn't really move at all! If your in Tampa and are an astb old salt; please get in touch; or heck anyone in this lovely forum?
My $0.02
Hey Leetwo,
How are you doing on the actual practice tests? Make sure you practice in the same type of setting. Best of luck to you! I take the ASTB-E in August/ September so my only advice is from the ASTB.
I took the ASTB-E in April and ended up with these scores: OAR 64, AQR 8, PFAR 6, FOFAR 8.
I studied by taking timed practice tests from Barron's and Accepted. What I found was the math problems were designed to be solved in about two to three calculations -- you don't have to solve the problem through. I ended up getting a summation problem where I needed to integrate to solve the problem and this wasn't included in either Barron's or Accepted -- food for thought.
Lore
We should work on your sense of humor, brother.
Took the test yesterday. Scored 57 6/6/7.
Based on what I have seen here, that is a decent score, though not great. I was pleased with it for not having studied nearly as much as I should have. I am glad it is over.
Math was a little less varied for me than I anticipated. There were more fractional based questions than anything else.
Reading had some very complex passages for me, most of them military oriented. I can only assume this meant I was doing well there. Reading sections tend to be my strongest point so I will say I did a good job.
Mechanical portion seemed easier or at least a little more theoretical than I imagined it would be. I can't really gauge how well I did there though.
Aviation/Nautical section was much more technical, and therefore difficult, than I studied for. Maybe this was because I guessed correctly on a couple of the earlier questions? Not sure. One question was "What does V(sub x) mean (in flight)?" I forget what the options were but I just guessed. I have no flight experience.
The spatial portion with the hospital tent and parking lots was not difficult, though there were times when I got a little confused and rattled off a couple wrong answers in a row. I don't know if it is better to go for speed and best instinct or correctness and take an extra second or two. I did not generally get them as fast as some people here have said, though I did alright. For someone who is directionally challenged or who has a hard time envisioning viewpoints, this portion will probably be hell.
For the stick and throttle portion, I was a little thrown off for a couple reasons, at least initially. They had me calibrate the stick by pointing the reticle to the four corners of the screen. However, to go to the upper left of the screen, the stick had to be pushed forward and left. To go to the bottom of the screen the stick had to be pulled toward me. Obviously I was not expecting this and sort of matched my movements to that. From there on (in the practice and test portions) the stick was inverted as it normally would be. That took me aback and I needed to readjust my movements, which hindered me a bit. The throttle takes some getting used to also since there is not a lot of middle ground. (There is but you sort of have to find a sweet spot) For the most part it feels like there are 3 thrust levels Full ahead, full reverse and neutral (stopped). So, you spend a lot of time zooming back and forth on the thrust tracking screen.
I will say that it was nice that they saved the emergency procedures until the end because I felt comfortable with the stick and throttle by that point and feel like I did fairly well.
All in all it was a good experience. Wish I could have been a little more focused though. I know that I would do measurably better if I took it a second time. Since I am not certain if I will actually end up going to OCS, I am satisfied with my score as it stands. I am applying for SNA/SNFO only. Now on to MEPS.
Based on what I have seen here, that is a decent score, though not great. I was pleased with it for not having studied nearly as much as I should have. I am glad it is over.
Math was a little less varied for me than I anticipated. There were more fractional based questions than anything else.
Reading had some very complex passages for me, most of them military oriented. I can only assume this meant I was doing well there. Reading sections tend to be my strongest point so I will say I did a good job.
Mechanical portion seemed easier or at least a little more theoretical than I imagined it would be. I can't really gauge how well I did there though.
Aviation/Nautical section was much more technical, and therefore difficult, than I studied for. Maybe this was because I guessed correctly on a couple of the earlier questions? Not sure. One question was "What does V(sub x) mean (in flight)?" I forget what the options were but I just guessed. I have no flight experience.
The spatial portion with the hospital tent and parking lots was not difficult, though there were times when I got a little confused and rattled off a couple wrong answers in a row. I don't know if it is better to go for speed and best instinct or correctness and take an extra second or two. I did not generally get them as fast as some people here have said, though I did alright. For someone who is directionally challenged or who has a hard time envisioning viewpoints, this portion will probably be hell.
For the stick and throttle portion, I was a little thrown off for a couple reasons, at least initially. They had me calibrate the stick by pointing the reticle to the four corners of the screen. However, to go to the upper left of the screen, the stick had to be pushed forward and left. To go to the bottom of the screen the stick had to be pulled toward me. Obviously I was not expecting this and sort of matched my movements to that. From there on (in the practice and test portions) the stick was inverted as it normally would be. That took me aback and I needed to readjust my movements, which hindered me a bit. The throttle takes some getting used to also since there is not a lot of middle ground. (There is but you sort of have to find a sweet spot) For the most part it feels like there are 3 thrust levels Full ahead, full reverse and neutral (stopped). So, you spend a lot of time zooming back and forth on the thrust tracking screen.
I will say that it was nice that they saved the emergency procedures until the end because I felt comfortable with the stick and throttle by that point and feel like I did fairly well.
All in all it was a good experience. Wish I could have been a little more focused though. I know that I would do measurably better if I took it a second time. Since I am not certain if I will actually end up going to OCS, I am satisfied with my score as it stands. I am applying for SNA/SNFO only. Now on to MEPS.
I took the test a couple of months ago, before my 1/C cruise with HSC-85 (totally awesome BTW), and I totally bombed it!
53 6/5/6 and I have no idea what happened. I'll be going into my senior year of Mechanical Engineering and have a ~3.2 GPA. Last year I came out with with 3.571 and a 3.689, for Fall and Spring, respectively. I guess I'm mentioning that to show that I've been working my ass off in school. I studied for about a week before the test. I've never really done well on standardized tests and I felt absolutely horrible after I walked out, couldn't even look my LT in the face.
Anyway, everything on here seems to be on par with what the actual test is like. Last year at my unit, 3 MIDN got picked up SNA with trip 5's. Which might mean that it'll be MUCH more competitive this time around. I'm thinking of retaking it mid-Aug, I don't want to leave my career to chance. Any advice would be appreciated.
53 6/5/6 and I have no idea what happened. I'll be going into my senior year of Mechanical Engineering and have a ~3.2 GPA. Last year I came out with with 3.571 and a 3.689, for Fall and Spring, respectively. I guess I'm mentioning that to show that I've been working my ass off in school. I studied for about a week before the test. I've never really done well on standardized tests and I felt absolutely horrible after I walked out, couldn't even look my LT in the face.
Anyway, everything on here seems to be on par with what the actual test is like. Last year at my unit, 3 MIDN got picked up SNA with trip 5's. Which might mean that it'll be MUCH more competitive this time around. I'm thinking of retaking it mid-Aug, I don't want to leave my career to chance. Any advice would be appreciated.
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
speedroller
Rangers
Thats harsh.Do you like subs? you could "fly through the water"
Keep that GPA up for your final year, and that will be fine. The OAR is OK, but as you are aware, the ASTBs are a problem for SNA/SNFO.
Agree on the retake. Go to the Final Select Pergatory thread, then seek out the applicants with trip'-7s+ in their test scores section (have even seen a couple of 9 9 9s). Pop them by PM asking what & how they studied, and any special tips/gouge. Fellow applicants are usually very cooperative in answering questions/offering advice. "If you wanna be a winner, hang with the winners"!
As you've probably heard, the last board selection rate was unusually low, and a number of applicants with higher ASTBs than yours, were ProRec-N. Soooo... it behooves you to strive for >7s on a retest, as we don't know if the next SNA/SNFO selection rate will trend up toward previous levels. Good luck as you continue forward.
*Your AW nickname seems to indicate a possible fellow SF 49er fan, Yea?
BzB