The key to success on the ASVAB is knowing what to expect. One
of the easiest things you can do to improve your performance on
the ASVAB is to understand the test format before you take the
test.
General Test-Taking
Strategies
- Always answer every question: There is no
guessing penalty on the ASVAB. This means that it is absolutely
in your interest to guess on every question. Even if you make a
blind guess, you still have a 25% chance of picking the correct
answer.
- Take Charge of Each Subtest: Although you
are not allowed to work on other subtests while taking a
particular section, you are allowed to skip around within each
subtest of the ASVAB. High scorers know this. They move through
each subtest efficiently. They don't dwell on any one question,
even a hard one, until they've tried every question at least
once.
- Use Your Scrap Paper: No matter what
version of the test you take, you will be given scrap paper to
work on. Please use it, especially on those math sections. You
will get exactly no credit for doing the math in your head. The
rule here is a good one to apply to the rest of your military
career: It's better to be safe than sorry.
- Take Advantage of the Multiple-Choice
Format: As noted, every ASVAB question comes with four
answer choices, so you have a 25 percent chance of getting the
correct answer by guessing blindly. If you know that one of the
four answer choices cannot be right and eliminate it
accordingly, you now have a 33 percent chance of getting the
right answer, and so on.
You should also know that there are different levels of
incorrectness among the wrong answer choices. Some wrong answer
choices will be easy to eliminate, whereas others are
deliberately put into the test because they're tempting
distractions.
Learn Paragraph Comprehension Strategies for the
ASVAB.
Learn Math Strategies for the ASVAB.
