Angie Papple Johnston - 2022 / 2023 ASVAB For Dummies

Percentile scores: These scores range from 1 to 99. They express how well you did in comparison with another group called the norm. On the student version’s score card, the norm is fellow students in your same grade (except for the AFQT score).On the enlistment and student score cards, the AFQT score is presented as a percentile with the score normed using the 1997 Profile of American Youth, a national probability sample of 18-to-23-year-olds who took the ASVAB in 1997. For example, if you receive a percentile score of 72, you can say you scored as well as or better than 72 out of 100 of the norm group who took the test. (And by the way, this statistic from 1997 isn’t a typo. The ASVAB is usually “re-normed” every 15 to 20 years; the last time was in 2004, and the sample group used for the norm was those folks who took the test in 1997.)

Composite scores (line scores): Composite scores are individually computed by each service branch. Each branch has its own particular system when compiling various standard scores into individual composite scores. These scores are used by the different branches to determine job qualifications. Find out much more about this topic in Chapter 2.

The ASVAB doesn’t have an overall score. When you hear someone say, “I got an 80 on my ASVAB,” that person is talking about their percentile on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) score, not an overall ASVAB score. The AFQT score determines whether you even qualify to enlist in the military, and only four of the subtests are used to compute it:

Word Knowledge (WK)

Paragraph Comprehension (PC)

Arithmetic Reasoning (AR)

Mathematics Knowledge (MK)

Each job in the military, from food service positions to specialty jobs in the medical field, requires a certain combination of line scores that can include the scores you get on the AFQT. The subtests that aren’t part of the AFQT are used only to determine the jobs you qualify for. (See Chapter 2for information on how the military uses the individual subtests.)

Figure out which areas to focus on based on your career goals. If you’re not interested in a job that requires a great score on the Mechanical Comprehension subtest, you don’t need to invest a lot of time studying for it. As you’re preparing for the ASVAB, remember to plan your study time wisely. If you don’t need to worry about the Assembling Objects subtest, don’t bother with that chapter in this book. Spend the time on Word Knowledge or Arithmetic Reasoning. Keep in mind, though, if you don’t have a desired job or aren’t sure about your options, it’s best to study this book and take the practice tests, focusing on all areas of the ASVAB. Doing well on each subtest will broaden your available job choices and make you a more desirable candidate.

The military brass (or at least its computers) determines your AFQT score through a very particular process:

1 Add the value of your Word Knowledge score to your Paragraph Comprehension score.

2 Convert the result of Step 1 to a scaled score, ranging from 20 to 62.This score is known as your Verbal Expression or VE score.

3 To get your raw AFQT score, double your VE score and then add your Arithmetic Reasoning (AR) score and your Mathematics Knowledge (MK) score to it.The basic equation looks like this:Raw AFQT Score = 2VE + AR + MK

4 Convert your raw score to a percentile score, which basically compares your results to the results of thousands of other ASVAB test-takers.For example, a score of 50 means that you scored as well as or better than 50 percent of the individuals the military is comparing you to.

AFQT scores are grouped into six main categories based on the percentile score ranges in Table 1-3. Category III and Category IV are divided into subgroups because the services sometimes use this chart for internal tracking purposes, enlistment limits, and enlistment incentives. Based on your scores, the military decides how trainable you may be to perform jobs in the service.

TABLE 1-3AFQT Scores and Trainability

The U.S. Congress has directed that the military can’t accept Category V recruits or more than 4 percent of recruits from Category IV. No more than 10 percent of new recruits may have a high school equivalency certificate rather than a diploma. The military also requires at least 60 percent of all new recruits to fall into Categories I, II, or III A. If your score falls into Category III B or anywhere in Category IV, your chances of being able to enlist are smaller (especially if other Category IV recruits beat you to it).

Depending on whether you have a high school diploma or a passing score on your state’s approved high school equivalency test (such as the GED), the military has different AFQT score requirements. Check out Table 1-4.

The minimum scores required in each branch can — and do — change frequently because the military has different needs at different times. For example, at the height of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Army accepted recruits with GEDs who scored 31 on the AFQT.

TABLE 1-4AFQT Score Requirements

Achieving the minimum required AFQT score established by an individual branch gets your foot in the door, but the higher you score, the better. For example, if you need a medical or criminal history waiver in order to enlist, the military personnel who make those decisions are more likely to take a chance on you if they think you’re a pretty smart cookie than they would be if you barely made the minimum qualifying score.