I know one member here is taking the BMST soon and found the following info useful. For the benefit for others that may be taking the BMST at the same time or later in the future here's what I suggested he study. There has already been good info posted earlier in this thread by Justin so consider this just a supplement.
The material is really all high school level math, trig, physics, and chemistry. The two exceptions I had on my test were:
- there was one biology type question (still high school level, though)
- I don't recall PNP and NPN transistors being covered in high school (had 2 questions about those)
There is a 3 hour time limit for 90 questions. They should have sent you a BMST study guide. A majority is math but there is also a break down of subject matter on the study guide as well as a sample question for each question type (not sure where that biology question would fit in). The sample questions are very representative of the
type AND difficulty of the questions on the test.
If you're unfamiliar with simple circuits, it would be good to review/learn how to compute the current, voltage, and resistance of a circuit. You should definitely know how to handle resistors in series and in parallel.
Your basic physics should also be reviewed. Similar to the mechanical concepts on the POSS.
In the math section, when determining the next number in the series, only use addition or subtraction, not multiplication or division; this isn't mentioned in the study guide, but will be included in the directions on the actual test. The trigonometry was kind of interesting. Aside from converting back and forth between radians and degrees, you should also be comfortable taking the sin or cos of an angle without a calculator. You will be given a trig table, so you could learn how to use that or you could get comfortable estimating. They will give you problems like solve for x:
x = 20cos(61.18°)
The answer choices will be given with 3 or 4 decimal places, but there is no reason for you to waste time calculating to that accuracy. If you recall that cos 60 = 0.5 then you should know that x will be in the ballpark of 10, but less than 10.
Lastly, a quick review of nuclear science would be good. A skim through the DOE Fundamental Handbook for Nuclear Physics and Reactor Theory (volume 1) would be good. The handbook definitely provides more material than you need, but what you do need will be in there. Some topics to look at are:
- difference between alpha, beta, and gamma radiation
- how to shield each of the above radiations
- neutron interactions (ie, scattering, absorption, etc)
- radioactive decay
Depending on your level of familiarity with the above topics, it may seem like a lot to study, but check out the subject matter break down in the study guide and just prepare accordingly. Make sure to answer all questions because unanswered questions are considered incorrect answers. If you grab a good ASVAB book, the math, mechanical, science, and spatial relation sections on the ASVAB will help you prepare for the BMST. The DOE Handbook will cover your nuclear science. If you google "doe fundamentals handbook nuclear" it should be the first link.
The test is not really hard. I finished the exam in about 1.5 hours. I took the next 45 min going back over all my answers. The only ones I guessed on were about PNP and NPN transistors bc I've never seen that stuff before in school and I didn't bother to study it in the ASVAB book I used.
*edited for clarity bc I'm anal with small details like that