Conflicting Stories for the ASTB

[lee44]

Hello All,
My name is Lee. I am new to this website, but I have been reading post on here since October. A little about me, I am preparing to take the ASTB sometime in February (haven't gotten an exact date yet) and I am going for Surface Warfare Officer. After doing my own research, I have heard conflicting stories about the ASTB, I was just wondering if someone could clarify this for me.

First, is the ASTB like the ACT in the sense they don't strike you for how many question you got wrong, they look for how many you go correct? So would it be smart to just guess on questions I may not know the answer too?

Secondly, did they really change the forms? If so, what are the forms now and how many are there?

If the answer to these questions are already posted, could you please tell me what post?

Thanks for all your time and help! I wish everyone well on the exam!


Lee

 

[RiceA]

1) When I took the ASTB last year, I was instucted to answer everything, but not to get hung up on a single question. Just get to it on the back side. If you don't answer the question;however, it will be wrong.

2) The ASTB is all electronic now, from my understanding. No more paper copies will be administered. As a caveat, my OSO informed me that the transition will reset your 3 lifetime attempts to nil, allowing you three more attempts to take the ASTB-E.

A quick search of the forums brought me this little gem here,
a little bit more depth and these forums can make you an expert on the ASTB in under an hour. Guaranteed or your money back.

http://www.airwarriors.com/communit...being-released-please-read.41246/#post-761688

 

[MikeMillerUK]

Hello All,
My name is Lee. I am new to this website, but I have been reading post on here since October. A little about me, I am preparing to take the ASTB sometime in February (haven't gotten an exact date yet) and I am going for Surface Warfare Officer. After doing my own research, I have heard conflicting stories about the ASTB, I was just wondering if someone could clarify this for me.

First, is the ASTB like the ACT in the sense they don't strike you for how many question you got wrong, they look for how many you go correct? So would it be smart to just guess on questions I may not know the answer too?

Secondly, did they really change the forms? If so, what are the forms now and how many are there?

If the answer to these questions are already posted, could you please tell me what post?

Thanks for all your time and help! I wish everyone well on the exam!


Lee

The new (online) ASTB-E is an adaptive test, which means that questions change based on how you answer. Say you get the first couple of easy questions correct, now the test is going to give harder ones. Every time you get a question right, it gives harder questions to figure out where your "ceiling" is. There is no set amount of questions, the test will keep going until it figures out where your "ceiling" is or until time in that section runs out. Just as an example, I finished the math section with about 12-15 minutes to spare, and I know several other people who had to answer many more questions than I did all the way until time ran out. Neither scenario predicts a better or worse score, so don't get too hung up on that, just answer to the best of your ability and make educated guesses. So, to answer your question regarding guessing: correct answers help your score, incorrect answers hurt your score, no harm in guessing. Leaving it blank (I assume) is going to have the same effect as picking the wrong answer. Sorry for the long-winded response! Also, check out the "1,001 questions about the ASTB" thread. Lots of good info and study material. Just do some more searching

 

[lee44]

you guys are awesome! Thank so much for the info!