The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test, commonly abbreviated as ASVAB, is a test used by the US military to assess candidates’ basic skills and knowledge. Overall, test scores determine whether or not you are accepted into the military and what areas you may excel in. The ASVAB results are reported as standard scores, which means that the numbers are based on how the general population performs on the same test. If you get a score of 50 or higher, you’ve done as well as or better than the national average. You have scored below average if your score is less than 50.
The ASVAB is available in a variety of formats. Each of these is utilized in a unique manner. In high schools, the institutional version of the test is used, and the ASVAB results are used to assist school counselors in guiding students to appropriate career paths. The computerized version of the test is the full examination, and it is used by the military to determine a person’s military fitness as well as the best training for them. A short version of the test can help determine whether or not a person is ready to take the full ASVAB, and retesting after enlistment can help determine eligibility for different types of training.
The test is divided into nine sections, including object assembly, mechanical comprehension, and electronics knowledge. Each section is given a score that compares you to the rest of the population of people between the ages of 18 and 23. Many of these scores are used solely to assess aptitude, and they will tell the military which jobs you are most likely to succeed in. The higher your score, the better your chances of succeeding in a related field.
The Armed Forces Qualification Test, or AFQT, is created by combining four ASVAB results to create its own score. Mathematics knowledge, arithmetic reasoning, word knowledge, and paragraph comprehension are the tests used for the AFQT. An AFQT score of 50, like the individual ASVAB results, indicates that you scored at least half as well as the national average. A higher score indicates that you outperformed that percentage of people.
Individual scores are useful for various areas of aptitude when interpreting your ASVAB results, but the overall AFQT determines whether or not you can join the military at all. You are ineligible to enlist if your score is one to nine. Anything above that means you can enlist, but there may be restrictions on which branches of the military and jobs you can apply for. You are in the top group if you score 93 or higher, and you may be offered recruitment incentives such as bonuses and job choice in exchange for enlisting.