I Bombed the AFOQT and I'm Not Sure How to Do Better For the Retake

[HelpWithAFOQT]

I've put off making this thread for months. Back in December I took the AFOQT after almost a year of waiting. I studied my ass off for it and studied the way everyone said too. I purchased the Baron's book, the Trivium Book, the online practice test from AFOQT academy as well as several PDF files of AFOQT, ATSB, SIFT practice tests. To practice I used scan tron sheets to simulate the time and real testing environment. I took two weeks off of work up through the testing date to make sure I was fully prepared and had plenty of time to study. On practice tests, I was regularly getting 90s-100s on each subsection. I went and took the test, felt I did well and three weeks later when I got my scores back, I was stunned.

My line is:

Pilot: 70

Nav: 37

Acad: 48

Verb: 70

Quant: 32

 

I'm guessing looking at my scores, I did worse on the math than I thought and I'm guessing the only thing that saved my pilot score was likely the Aviation Knowledge and Instrument comp sections. For the Pilot/Nav, the only section I felt I really struggled with was block counting and I had to guess on the last several answers due to time. Perhaps that really hurt both scores?

I've been asking around since I've gotten my scores back and have recieved little help. Usually, when I asked people who have gotten 90s across the board they just give responses like "It's not that hard bro." "There's no way you studied with those scores, you must be lazy" Only one pilot gave me a decent answer he suggested because the AFOQT is graded on a curve, my raw scores may have been good but due to COVID tons of extra people took it and that could have offset all of the scores. He told me just highlight your leadership skills.

I've applied to several guard units but TBNT from everyone. Only a few gave feedback, one told me I had a killer resume and great cover letter but poor AFOQT and TBAS scores. I know COVID has made rushing harder, that several guard units both heavies and fighters, now want everyone to send in an application before visits and if your app isn't good enough they won't even let you visit. There is a KC-135 unit I really want, but to get a visit they need an application. I want to retake the AFOQT to do better on it. But what makes me nervous is I only get one more shot at it. I'm not sure on how to do better. If I get similar or worse scores, I could for ever jeopardize my career.

I have a strategy of maybe taking the Navy's ASTB and the Army's SIFT as practice for the retake of the AFOQT? Has anyone done this? I see some post of people saying they used a tutor. Does anyone know of a good tutor they recommend, one who is affordable? I can do a Google search for AFOQT tutor but I get hundreds of options and I am not sure who to trust. Many charge $100+ an hour.

[1nfrequentF1yer]

For guard units, it's probably still possible to get picked up with those scores, but if you could do better, then obviously try and do better and retake. What's your GPA and PCSM looking like? With so many more guard/reserve applicants, the bar is also a lot higher now. Are you also interested in being a CSO?

You said on your practice tests you were scoring over 90% of the questions correct. So take a minute and reflect... Did you just have an "off" day during the test? Were the test questions far off from those on the practice test? Was the test misgraded (this is very hard to prove and to contest)? You need to understand the cause so you're not trying the same thing without a new strategy. Taking some portions of the SIFT or ASTB that overlaps with the AFOQT will certainly give you more practice, but again, you need to understand why there's a big discrepancy between your practice scores and actual scores. The Baron book is what I used for practice, and it ended up to be fairly representative of the actual test.

The AFOQT is graded on a percentile, but say, for a 32nd percentile of quantitative, that means you're in the lower third of some reference population that took the test (who makes up that reference population is pretty nebulous to us common folks). So I think it's a bit unrealistic to try and assume that your scores is due to others doing exceptionally well. But with that said, take his/her advice on highlighting other areas of your resume (flight experience... career... leadership/volunteer... passion... tell a good joke/personality?)

 

[MoonShot]

Do you have flight hours? TBAS?

Get your PCSM score and then evaluate where you’re at. 

[HelpWithAFOQT]

51 minutes ago, MoonShot said:

Do you have flight hours? TBAS?

Get your PCSM score and then evaluate where you’re at. 

I do. PCSM score is 70. I used the simulator I'm wondering if the pilot score hurts it. I know I missed 4 on the UAV section.

[HelpWithAFOQT]

1 hour ago, Kiloalpha said:

There’s conflicting info on when the AFOQT scoring algorithm resets. Specifically the question is if you’re being scored by percentile of the people who took the test that day/week or if it’s everyone who has taken the test thus far. 

Regardless, something doesn’t seem right. You took every practice section under test conditions and aced them… yet you bombed on test day? That’s impossible unless you’re just a really bad test taker (but even then, you should have seen that in the practice) or the materials weren’t good.

That's what I can't figure out. I did my research and I did everything that everyone told me to do. Yet, I still didn't do well. It honestly frustrates me.

[HelpWithAFOQT]

1 hour ago, 1nfrequentF1yer said:

For guard units, it's probably still possible to get picked up with those scores, but if you could do better, then obviously try and do better and retake. What's your GPA and PCSM looking like? With so many more guard/reserve applicants, the bar is also a lot higher now. Are you also interested in being a CSO?

You said on your practice tests you were scoring over 90% of the questions correct. So take a minute and reflect... Did you just have an "off" day during the test? Were the test questions far off from those on the practice test? Was the test misgraded (this is very hard to prove and to contest)? You need to understand the cause so you're not trying the same thing without a new strategy. Taking some portions of the SIFT or ASTB that overlaps with the AFOQT will certainly give you more practice, but again, you need to understand why there's a big discrepancy between your practice scores and actual scores. The Baron book is what I used for practice, and it ended up to be fairly representative of the actual test.

The AFOQT is graded on a percentile, but say, for a 32nd percentile of quantitative, that means you're in the lower third of some reference population that took the test (who makes up that reference population is pretty nebulous to us common folks). So I think it's a bit unrealistic to try and assume that your scores is due to others doing exceptionally well. But with that said, take his/her advice on highlighting other areas of your resume (flight experience... career... leadership/volunteer... passion... tell a good joke/personality?)

 

I know it's possible to get picked up, I've seen post from guys talking about how they got picked up with worse scores but most of them did in the 2000s before the big rush/covid started. Now even heavy units are getting 200+ apps and many I've tried rushing say they don't allow individual visits and they usually only select the 50 or so top apps to visit and narrow down the interviews from there. So it's more competitive.

I'm only semi interested in CSO. If I get too old and can't get picked up as a pilot, I'll try for it. I would like to do a retake of the AFOQT first.I've been baffled for months on what to do. I am eligable for a retake in a few weeks. But I want to wait until I am sure I am going to ace it this time.

As for the day of the test, I felt fine. I got plenty of sleep, at a light breakfast, arrived extra early, I didn't cram at all. It looked like the Baron's book and the questions seemed similar.

GPA is 3.52 for undergrad, Master's is about 3.8 or so. PCSM is 70 (I wonder how much my pilot score affects it). I know I missed 4 questions on the UAV portion of the TBAS. I think my reaction time was a little slow too.

So for now it's figuring out what to do.

[MoonShot]

I’d definitely retake it. Now you know what to expect and I’d bet will go in feeling confident. Hit the books again if you feel like you’ve had enough time off from it. I’m in the middle of rushing too and every unit asks about scores. Like you said, with so many applicants you gotta have good scores to get a foot in. 
I’d also get your PPL if you don’t have it already.

[1nfrequentF1yer]

32 minutes ago, HelpWithAFOQT said:

I know it's possible to get picked up, I've seen post from guys talking about how they got picked up with worse scores but most of them did in the 2000s before the big rush/covid started. Now even heavy units are getting 200+ apps and many I've tried rushing say they don't allow individual visits and they usually only select the 50 or so top apps to visit and narrow down the interviews from there. So it's more competitive.

I'm only semi interested in CSO. If I get too old and can't get picked up as a pilot, I'll try for it. I would like to do a retake of the AFOQT first.I've been baffled for months on what to do. I am eligable for a retake in a few weeks. But I want to wait until I am sure I am going to ace it this time.

As for the day of the test, I felt fine. I got plenty of sleep, at a light breakfast, arrived extra early, I didn't cram at all. It looked like the Baron's book and the questions seemed similar.

GPA is 3.52 for undergrad, Master's is about 3.8 or so. PCSM is 70 (I wonder how much my pilot score affects it). I know I missed 4 questions on the UAV portion of the TBAS. I think my reaction time was a little slow too.

So for now it's figuring out what to do.

Your PCSM score is some combination of AFOQT pilot score, your flight hours, and TBAS performance. So a PCSM of 70 with 0 hours and a PCSM of 70 with 200 hours is a pretty different story. I'm not sure which camp you fall into here. GPA looks pretty good otherwise. Having taken the test once, if you know what you struggled on, then hammer those areas more. But if you don't know or didn't think you struggled on anything, then I don't really know what anyone of us here can tell ya besides trying again. Feel free to drop me a PM if you feel like there's anything I can legitimately do to help you do better next time.

[UPTapplicant96]

@HelpWithAFOQTMy original scores were as follows, and like you I thought I was well prepared the first time, turns out I was not:

PCSM: 75

P: 87

N: 48

AA: 36

V:  17

Q: 24

With these scores, I have gotten interviews at both Fighter and Heavy units in 2020-2021. So keep applying.

AFOQT/TBAS Retake: (Yes, retake the TBAS, you run a risk of scoring lower, but you also have a chance to do better, it shows that you will take a risk to be more competitive)

I studied my ass off for 2 months 1-1.5 hours a night before I retook the TBAS and AFOQT.

I chose to retake the TBAS first, when I did, my PCSM improved by 6 points.

2 months later I retook AFQOT and pushed both my pilot and PCSM into the 90s.

Don't be discouraged, I thought I studied well enough the first time....the second go around I knew what to expect, I studied my weak areas, and got it done..

Weak on the math?....buy this book and know how to answer every single question before you retake the test:

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=rrP1DwAAQBAJ&gl=us

The table reading is 40 free points, don't retake the AFOQT until you can get all 40 table reading points accomplished in the allotted time and make sure your answers are correct when you practice.

Want to do better on the TBAS? All I can say is be 100% on the directional orientation flashcards. 

Nice job on the Verbal. PM me if you have any questions, good luck.