This OAR cheat sheet squeezes the Navy's Officer Aptitude Rating — the academic half of the ASTB-E — into a printable rundown of the Math, Reading, and Mechanical facts that score points. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free OAR toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
OAR exam at a glance
- Subtests: 3 — Math Skills (MST), Reading Comprehension (RCT), Mechanical Comprehension (MCT)
- Score scale: Scaled t-score 20–80 (mean 50, SD 10); most candidates land 40–60
- Target score: No universal cutoff — programs set their own minimum, often 35–50+
- Format: Computer-adaptive (APEX); each subtest separately timed
- Time: Roughly 1.5–2 hours across the three subtests
- Cost: No fee — scheduled through your Navy recruiter or NROTC unit
- Retakes: Up to 3 lifetime; 31-day wait to the 2nd, 91-day to the 3rd; highest scores kept
What’s on the OAR cheat sheet
- Math Skills Test (MST) — arithmetic, fractions, percentages, ratios, algebra, geometry, and word problems — worked by hand, since no calculator is allowed (~30 items on the fixed form).
- Reading Comprehension Test (RCT) — main idea, supporting detail, inference, and vocabulary in context — with the golden rule to answer only from the passage (~27 items).
- Mechanical Comprehension Test (MCT) — simple machines and mechanical advantage, Newton's laws, work and energy, and fluid pressure — the highest-yield section to study (~30 items).
How to use it in your final week
- Front-load Mechanical Comprehension — it's the subtest most candidates have never formally studied, so focused review here moves your t-score the most.
- Drill no-calculator arithmetic, fractions, and percentages until they're automatic; the Math Skills Test rewards clean, fast work by hand.
- Do at least one full timed run so each separately-timed subtest feels routine — you can't bank leftover minutes from one section to the next.
- Re-read the sheet the morning of the exam for a final pass on the lever classes, F = ma, and the core area and percent-change formulas.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your OAR practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
OAR cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the OAR cheat sheet downloads as a PDF with no sign-up and no email required. It's the review layer of Career Employer's free OAR toolkit, which also includes the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
The OAR is not pass/fail — it reports a scaled t-score from 20 to 80 with 50 as the average, so most candidates land between 40 and 60. There is no universal cutoff; each officer program sets its own competitive minimum, and many non-aviation pipelines look for at least a 35 to 50, so confirm your target with a recruiter.
It condenses all three ASTB-E academic subtests onto one quick reference: Math Skills (arithmetic through algebra and geometry, no calculator), Reading Comprehension (main idea, inference, vocabulary in context), and Mechanical Comprehension (simple machines, Newton's laws, energy, and fluids).
It is built from the U.S. Navy's ASTB-E materials and current OAR scoring conventions, and we review it against official Navy sources so the t-score scale, subtest content, and retake rules stay accurate.
Skim it the morning of your exam for a last pass on the math formulas and mechanical principles, then trust your timed practice. Bookmark this page so you can reopen the PDF in your final week before you sit the ASTB-E.
References
- 1.U.S. Navy / Naval Operational Medicine Institute. “Aviation Selection Test Battery (ASTB) Overview.” U.S. Navy, 2026. ↑
- 2.MyNavyHR. “MILPERSMAN 1542-010 — Aviation Selection Test Battery.” U.S. Navy, 2026. ↑
- 3.Naval Education and Training Command. “Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC).” U.S. Navy, 2026. ↑
- 4.Pearson VUE. “ASTB-E Test Scheduling & APEX.” PearsonVUE.com, 2026. ↑
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