The ASVAB
ASVAB Study Guide - What to Expect and How to Prepare
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The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, was created by the Department of Defense to help in the recruitment and placement process with the U.S. armed forces. Anyone who is serious about joining the military needs to understand what this test consists of, how it is measured and used and how you can prepare for it to ensure the best score possible.
The ASVAB is a timed multi-choice test with four possible options to each question that measures an individual’s aptitude in various subjects. The ASVAB test is given at either one of the 14,000 high schools across the country who participate in the program or at Military Entrance Processing Stations also known as MEPS.
There are actually 3 versions of the ASVAB; the CAT-ASVAB (computer adaptive test), the Student ASVAB and the MET-site ASVAB. However, the test most commonly taken in the recruitment process is the CAT-ASVAB.
The CAT-ASVAB typically takes approximately an hour and a half to complete though testers are given more than 2 hours for the test. The way a computer adaptive test like the CAT-ASVAB works is by switching up the difficulty of the questions depending on whether you get a question right or not. If you get a question correct the next question will be harder whereas if you get it wrong the next question will be easier.
There are 9 categories within the ASVAB which are as follows:
Electronics Information (EI) – 9 minute limit for 20 questions
Paragraph Comprehension (PC) – 13 minute limit for 15 questions
Arithmetic Reasoning (AR) – 36 minute limit for 30 questions
General Science (GS) – 11 minute time limit for 25 questions
Auto Shop (AS) – 11 minute limit for 25 questions
Assembling Objects (AO) – 9 minute limit for 16 questions
Mechanical Comprehension (MC) – 19 minute limit for 25 questions
Mathematics Knowledge (MK) – 24 minute limit for 25 questions
Word Knowledge (WK) – 11 minute limit for 35 questions
These nine categories are scored individually but their scores can also be totaled together to reach a composite score. The scoring is on a percentile system which measures how well an individual does in comparison to others who have taken the test. As mentioned previously there are a number of ways in which these numbers are used to measure you’re skills in various fields as well as overall.
One of the most important scoring methods is the Armed Forces Qualification Test, or AFQT score. This is the number that will decide whether you passed the test and are eligible to join the military. The AFQT score is calculated using your Math Knowledge (MK) score, your Arithmetic Reasoning (AR) score and you’re your Verbal score. The verbal score is the composite of your Word Knowledge (WK) and Paragraph Comprehension (PC) scores multiplied by two.
As a mathematical equation it looks like this:
MK + AR + (VE x 2) =
The AFQT score will fall into one of 8 categories:
Category I - 93-99%
Category II- 65-92%
Category IIIA - 50-64%
Category IIIB - 31-49%
Category IVA - 21-30%
Category IVB - 16-20%
Category IVC - 10-15%
Category V - 0-9%
The percentile score is a measure of the percentage of test takers that you did better than. So those who fall into the top category scored better that 93% or more of other people. Currently there are laws in place that restrict who can join the military based on these scores.
Those who fall in the Category V group are prohibited from joining no matter what. Those who scored in the IVA, IVB and IVC categories are going to be restricted in their recruitment and must have a high school diploma.
Additionally each branch of the military has their own requirements for the minimum score that will be accepted.
Coast Guard - 36
Air Force - 36
Army - 31
Marines - 32
Navy - 35