So I finally took the ASTB today (I know, I know....I waited a while, but hey, I'm gonna be a partial 5th year). All in all, it was about as hard (or easy) as I expected. Don't put too much stock in the ARCO tests....there were a few similar problems in the mechanical apperception section, but the math and reading comp sections were different. I found the reading comp particularly time consuming, because all of the answers seemed bad....so it came down to finding the best of all of them. The spacial app section was slightly more difficult than the ARCO examples, just because they seemed to concentrate on the problems where the aircraft was neither parallel nor perpendicular to the beach (so diagonally headed to shore or out to sea). The biggest skills I found that helped me on this section was being able to figure out whether the a/c was headed diagonally back to shore (or alternately out to sea) to the left, or rather to the right. Also, you need to be able to determine if the a/c is in a shallow or larger bank. Having lots of civilian flight time made this second nature, but for someone who is just trying to learn it from the ARCO books, I could see this being difficult. Lastly, the aviation and (in particular) nautical section was unbelievably easy. I don't think I missed a single question, and I had 10 minutes to review this section when all was said and done. If you review basic info from the AIM (I wouldn't even worry about the FAR except right of way rules) and have had a NROTC nav class (or have any experience with basic shipboard knowledge) it should be cake. The supplemental section happened to mostly be reading comp and mechanical app for me, and this was pretty straighforward.
Overall, don't get hung up on one problem. You will probably have at least a couple extra minutes on each section if you push through, and (for me at least) in most cases the answer came to me once I had subconsciously thought about it for a while. On the math problems, don't overthink things. They may sound difficult at first, but they are all very simple when it comes down to it. The mechanical app section is very easy if you are a mech. e. like me, though I can't speak for any non-engineers out there.
My scores were:
8/9/8/59
Oh yeah....Version 3
Its not rocket science, so anyone out there who is worried, don't be.
Overall, don't get hung up on one problem. You will probably have at least a couple extra minutes on each section if you push through, and (for me at least) in most cases the answer came to me once I had subconsciously thought about it for a while. On the math problems, don't overthink things. They may sound difficult at first, but they are all very simple when it comes down to it. The mechanical app section is very easy if you are a mech. e. like me, though I can't speak for any non-engineers out there.
My scores were:
8/9/8/59
Oh yeah....Version 3
Its not rocket science, so anyone out there who is worried, don't be.
