Harder questions are randomly intermingled with easier questions. This means you can find yourself spending too much time trying to figure out the answer to a question that’s too hard for you and may miss answering some easier questions at the end of the subtest, thereby lowering your overall score.
The paper answer sheets are scored by using an optical mark scanning machine. The machine has a conniption when it comes across an incompletely filled-in answer circle or a stray pencil mark and will often stubbornly refuse to give you credit, even if you answered correctly.
Getting your scores may seem like it takes forever. The timeline varies; however, your recruiter will have access to your score no later than 72 hours (3 days) after you finish the test (not counting days MEPS personnel don’t work, such as weekend days or holidays).
Tackling Multiple-Choice Questions
Both the computerized and paper versions of the ASVAB are multiple-choice tests. You choose the correct (or most correct) answer from among the four available choices. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you approach the choices:
Read the directions carefully. Most ASVAB test proctors agree — the majority of the time when there’s an issue with an applicant’s scores, misreading directions is a prime offender. Each subtest is preceded by a paragraph or two describing what the subtest covers and instructions on how to answer the questions.
Make sure you understand the question. If you don’t understand the question, you’re naturally not going to be able to make the best decision when selecting an answer. Understanding the question requires attention to three particular points:Take special care to read the questions correctly. Most questions ask something like, “Which of the following equals 2 × 3?” But sometimes, a question may ask, “Which of the following does not equal 2 × 3?” You can easily skip right over the word not when you’re reading, assume that the answer is 6, and get the question wrong. On the math subtests, be especially careful to read the symbols. When you’re in a hurry, the + sign and the ÷ sign can look very similar. Blowing right by a negative sign or another symbol is just as easy.Make sure you understand the terms being used. When a math problem asks you to find the product of two numbers, be sure you know what finding the product means (you have to multiply the two numbers). If you add the two numbers, you arrive at the wrong answer. If you’re having a tough time remembering what equals what in math terminology, check out Chapter 6.
Take time to review all the answer options. On all the subtests, you select the correct answer from only four possible answer options. On the ASVAB, you’re supposed to choose the answer that is most correct. (Now and then you do the opposite and choose the answer that’s least correct.) Sometimes several answers are reasonably correct for the question at hand, but only one of them is the best answer. If you don’t stop to read and review all the answers, you may not choose the one that’s most correct. Or if you review all the answer options, you may realize that you misread the question. Often, a person reads a question, decides on the answer, glances at the answer options, chooses the option that agrees with their answer, marks it on the answer sheet, and then moves on. Although this approach usually works, it can sometimes lead you astray.
If you’re taking a paper test, mark the answer carefully. A machine scores the paper-based ASVAB answer sheets. You have to mark the answer clearly so the machine knows which answer you’ve selected. This means carefully filling in the space that represents the correct letter. You’ve done this a million times in school, but it’s worth repeating: Don’t use a check mark, don’t circle the answer, and don’t let your mark wander into the next space. If you must erase, make sure all evidence of your prior choice is gone; otherwise, the grading machine may credit you with the wrong choice or disregard your correct answer and give you no credit at all. Incorrectly marking the answer sheet (answering Question 11 on the line for Question 12, Question 12 on the line for Question 13 — you get the idea) is a very real possibility. Be especially careful if you skip a question that you’re going to return to later.Incorrectly marking the answers can cause a real headache. If you fail to get a qualifying score, the minimum amount of time you must wait before retaking the ASVAB is one month. Even then, your journey to military glory through ASVAB torment may not be over. If within six months of a previous test, your retest AFQT score increases by 20 points or more, you’ll be required by MEPCOM regulation to take an additional ASVAB test, called a confirmation test. (Confirmation tests can be taken only at MEPS facilities, by the way.) If you’re not careful, you’ll be taking three ASVABs when all you really needed to take was one. Sound fun? Chapter 1 discusses how and when you can retake the ASVAB.
When You Don’t Know an Answer: Guessing Smart
On the ASVAB, guessing is sometimes okay. Guessing can help you on the paper-and-pencil version because of how the test is scored. Here’s how the point system breaks down:
If you choose the correct answer, you get one point (or more, depending on how the question is weighted).
If you don’t answer a question, you get nada.
If you guess on a question and get the question wrong, you get nada — no worrying about losing points or getting any sort of penalty!
The ASVAB’s computer system rarely has to penalize a test-taker. On average, the computerized test takes about two hours to complete, and most people have enough time to finish (or at least come very close to finishing) the test.
Don’t eliminate an answer based on how frequently that answer comes up. For example, if Choice (B) has been the correct answer for the last five questions, don’t assume that it must be the wrong answer for the question you’re on just because that would make it six in a row.
An answer that has always, all, everyone, never, none, or no one is usually incorrect.
The longer the answer, the more likely that it’s the correct answer. The test-makers have to get all those qualifiers in there so you can’t find an example to contradict the correct answer. If you see phrases like “in many cases” or “frequently,” that’s often a clue that the test-makers are trying to make the answer most correct.
If two choices are very similar in meaning, neither of them is probably the correct choice. On the other hand, if two answer options contradict each other, one of them is usually correct.