ASVAB Exam Review
If you're considering joining the military, you'll be required to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, commonly referred to as ASVAB. This is a series of tests designed to test basic intelligence, as well as the skills and aptitudes that a person has, in order to two things-see if a person meets the minimum qualifications to function and thrive in a military career, and to assess in what position or career field the person could best serve the military. In addition, more and more high schools across America are either requiring that their students take the ASVAB, or giving them the option to do so. Because the test is very good at highlighting skills and aptitudes, even ones a person may not be aware of, many students use the results of their ASVAB test to help them make future career choices, whether or not they plan to join the military.
There are several different versions of the ASVAB test, but they are quite similar, so we'll focus on the version that's given to high school students. This version of ASVAB is taken with pencil and paper, not on a computer. It will take about three hours to complete, and there are eight different subjects covered on the ASVAB. For General Science, you'll have 11 minutes to answer 25 questions on basic science knowledge. In the Arithmetic Reasoning part, you'll have 36 minutes to answer 30 questions testing your basic math skills-whole numbers, division, multiplication, fractions, decimals, etc. The World Knowledge portion of the ASVAB is 11 minutes long and consists of 35 questions on synonyms, which are words which have similar meanings. Next is Paragraph Comprehension, which takes 13 minutes and will have 15 questions concerning a short passage of written material, which shows your ability to interpret and understand what you read. For Mathematics Knowledge, there are 25 questions on more advanced math concepts, and you'll have 24 minutes to answer them. Next up is one of the more specific ASVAB subjects-Electronics Information, in which you'll be given 20 questions on the basics of electricity, electrical systems and electronics, and you'll have 9 minutes to answer them. Next is Auto and Shop Information, which is pretty self explanatory, and has 25 questions in 11 minutes. Last is Mechanical Comprehension, which consists of 25 questions in 19 minutes. All told, there are 200 questions on the ASVAB. Studying hard before taking the ASVAB is strongly recommended, as doing well on it can strongly affect either your military or post high school career.