2015 / 2016 ASVAB For Dummies, 4th Edition

Chapter 23

Ten Surefire Ways to Fail the ASVAB

In This Chapter

Avoiding common ASVAB-preparation mistakes

Steering clear of other people’s mistakes

Technically, you can’t fail the ASVAB — it’s not a pass/fail test but instead a tool the military uses to measure your potential for learning military duties and military occupations. But realistically, each of the branches has established minimum Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) scores to qualify for enlistment and minimum line scores to qualify for certain military jobs. If you don’t qualify to join the service branch of your choice or don’t qualify for the job you want, you haven’t technically failed, but you may have to take the test again (after some study sessions) to get into the branch of service your heart desires.

But if you avoid the mistakes outlined in this chapter, you can improve your chances of qualifying for enlistment and getting the military job of your dreams.

Choosing Not to Study at All

Many people think that they don’t need to study for the ASVAB. They assume that because they studied many of the subjects in high school, they’ll do fine even if they just wing it.

This train of thought isn’t true (and it’s kind of crazy). Why wouldn’t you study? At the very least, brushing up on vocabulary and math concepts ...