What level of math is needed to know in order to score a 99 on the ASVAB?

Question

What the title says^

Answer 1

There is no overall "ASVAB Score." When you hear someone saying "I got an 80 on my ASVAB," they are talking about their AFQT (Armed Forces Qualifying Test) score, not an "overall" ASVAB Score.

The AFQT is important. It determines whether or not you can join the military. The AFQT score is not derived from all portions of the ASVAB. Indeed, the AFQT score is determined from only four areas of the ASVAB: Word Knowledge (WK), Paragraph Comprehension (PC), Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), and Mathematics Knowledge (MK).. The score is computed as follows:

The first step is to determine your Verbal Expression (VE) Score. This is done by adding the value of your ASVAB Word Knowledge (WK) Score to the values of your Paragraph Comprehension (PC) Score. This result is then compared to a chart which gives you your scaled VE Score.

The formula to derive the AFQT "raw Score" is 2VE + AR (Arithmetic Reasoning) + MK (Mathematics Knowledge).

It's important to understand here that the AFQT score is not computed with the AR "Line Score" and the MK "Line Score" that you see on your ASVAB scores sheet. The AR and MK scores shown on the score sheet is "number correct." However, the score used to compute AFQT score is the "weighted score," which takes into consideration the difficulty level of the question.

This formula results in the AFQT "raw score," which is then converted into a percentile score.

In 1980, a study, known as the "Profile of American Youth," was conducted by the Department of Defense in cooperation with the Department of Labor. DOD administered the ASVAB to a total of 11,914 individuals, ranging in age from 16 to 23, from July to October 1980. The purpose of the Profile of American Youth was to obtain data on the vocational aptitudes of current youth and to establish current national norms for the ASVAB.

The person's AFQT score is a percentile score, based on the population of test-takers in the above study. The percentiles are based upon a 99 point scale with 99 being the highest.
So, if an individual has an AFQT score of 50, then his/her AFQT "raw score" is better than 50 percent of the individuals who took the test in the above mentioned study.


AFQT Categories

For enlistment purposes, AFQT Scores are divided into the following categories:

Category I - 93-100

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

In the early 90s, Congress passed a law stating that no Category V recruits could be accepted for enlistment in any of the military services, and no more than 20 percent of accessions could be in Category IV. Additionally, Congress required that any Category IV accessions had to be high school diploma graduates (no GEDs).

Understanding the ASVAB and how the military uses the results can be a bit tricky.

The ASVAB is the Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Test. Test results determine (1) whether or not one qualifies for military service, and (2) if so, what jobs they qualify for.


What is the ASVAB?

The Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery is a series of tests developed by the Department of Defense in the 1960s. Until recently, the battery consists of 10 individual tests of the following subjects: Word Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematics Knowledge, General Science, Auto & Shop Information, Mechanical Comprehension, Electronics Information, Numerical Operations, and Coding Speed.

In December 2002, DOD eliminated Numerical Operations and Coding Speed from the ASVAB, and added a new section titled "Assembling Objects."

There are currently three versions of the ASVAB. Results from any one of them can be used for military recruiting purposes.

High School Version. The "High School Version" is officially called "Form 18/19." It's a paper-based ASVAB commonly given to juniors and seniors in high school through a cooperative program between the Department of Defense and the Department of Education. The test is offered at more than 13,000 high schools and post secondary schools in the United States. The primary purpose of this test is not for enlistment in the military (although the test scores can be used for military enlistment). The primary purpose of this test is to help school counselors and students discover where a student's basic aptitude lies. Approximately 900,000 students take Form 18/19 ASVAB each year.

Paper ASVAB for Recruiting. The paper version of the ASVAB used for military recruiting is officially known as "Forms 20-22." This version is given by the Armed Forces for enlistment purposes only. While the questions on the high school version and the recruiting version are different, they are equal in difficulty. Few people take the paper recruiting version of the ASVAB these days because most folks interested in joining the military take the computerized version of the ASVAB at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS).

CAT-ASVAB. The third version of the test is the CAT-ASVAB, which is a computerized version of the Forms 20-22 ASVAB. As each question is answered on the computer screen, the computer automatically selects the next question. Most people find that they score better on the CAT-ASVAB than they do on the paper-versions. This is because, for overall ASVAB score calculation (not individual line scores), the mathematics knowledge (MK) and arithmetic reasoning (AR) questions on the ASVAB are "weighted," with harder questions worth more points than easier questions. On the CAT-ASVAB, when one gets an answer right, the computer automatically selects a more difficult question (worth more points). If one gets a question wrong, the computer selects an easier question for the next question.

The ASVAB is not an IQ test. It does not measure intelligence. The battery of tests were designed specifically to measure an individual's aptitude to be trained in specific jobs

The ASVAB Test

The ASVAB contains nine separately timed sub-tests:

General Science (GS) - 25 questions with an 11 minute time-limit.
Arithmetic Reasoning (AR) - 16 questions with a 36 minute time-limit.
Word Knowledge (WK) - 35 questions with an 11 minute time-limit.
Paragraph Comprehension (PC) - 15 questions with a 13 minute time-limit.
Auto & Shop (AS) - 25 questions with an 11 minute time-limit.
Mathematics Knowledge (MK) - 25 questions with a 24 minute time-limit.
Mechanical Comprehension (MC) - 25 questions with a 19 minute time-limit.
Electronics Information (EI) - 20 questions with a 9 minute time-limit.
Assembling Objects (AS) - 16 questions with a 9 minute time-limit.
See our ASVAB Sample Questions page for samples of questions you'll find on each area of the ASVAB.


Pre-Qualification Tests

Recruiters now have access to a special computer program that gives a mini-ASVAB test in their office. This computerized test only asks questions in the four ASVAB sub-test areas which are used to determine the overall ASVAB Score (AFQT Score). Most people find that this "mini-test" gives a pretty good indication of how well they will score on the actual ASVAB Test.

The AFQT score is used solely to determine whether or not a person is eligible to join a particular branch of the military. The AFQT score is not used to determine whether or not someone is qualified to be trained in a specific military job. Military job qualification is determined based on "Composite Scores," which are made up of individual ASVAB sub-test scores.

Answer 2

The asvab has changed dramatically since I joined in 1990. But the deal is, what job do you want? This is what my recruiter did for me. I wanted to be an Aircraft Mechanic and nothing else. He told me to absolutely bomb out on the Admin section to take away any reservations of them putting me in an office job. But I had to make sure I did the absolute best on EVERYTHING else. I did and got out of there with a 96 and the rest is history. Talk to your recruiter, maybe he can give you some pointers on what you need to do.

Answer 3

pre algebra, and a little bit of geometry!

Answer 4

http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup/a/asvababcs.htm

Go there, it should give you more info.