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The
ASVAB
She soon
returned, and we finished filling out the comprehensive paperwork. "Who
here has to take the ASVAB?"
I raised
my hand, as did 20 others. She handed out small, white tubes to everyone
and ordered the ASVAB people to form a line. "Take the tube from
the wrapper and hold it with the little hole on top facing me."
The tubes
were for a breathalyzer test. She affixed the little hole atop the device,
and we were instructed to breath into it. "Don't you be blowing hard.
Blow like this."
Everyone
in my line passed, and we were herded down the hall to the test room.
It was filled with computers, and we were each assigned a station. Waiting
for us were terminals, two sheets of paper, and a pencil. We were instructed
how to use the computers. There were 5 buttons across the keyboard home
row labeled A B C D E and the spacebar was labeled "ENTER" There
was also a red help button at the top. The test, we were told, lasts 3
hours, and we can leave when we complete it.
They weren't
kidding. The test was long and grueling. I'm preparing to graduate from
LSU, and I've taken some mean tests. This ranks among the worst. It was
divided into around a dozen categories of various length, type, and difficulty.
The sample
questions for each section were great:
2 + 2 =
A) 1 B)
2 C) 3 D) 4 E) 5
or
Bees make:
A) Honey
B) Toast C) Ice Cream D) Bananas E) Dogs
Then, the
test began and real questions slammed onto the screen. Some of them were
pretty easy, but many were quite difficult (I don't remember any questions,
but there are lots of books that do).
It took me
just over two hours to take the test, and I was stressed to the limit
when it was completed. My back hurt, my eyes hurt, my head hurt, and my
adrenaline was flowing. It was a long, rough test.
That said,
I scored a 99.
Here
is my advice to all prospective test takers:
Pace
yourself. Zip
through the easy questions, because they are a time blessing. When you
get to the hard ones, you will be amazed at how fast time flies. I spent
13 minutes on a single math word problem. Good pacing saved me, and
I finished under time.
You
have scratch paper. Use it. A pencil is the only weapon in your
arsenal. It may not amount to much, but if it helps you on only a single
math problem, it has boosted your score, and improved the range of jobs
available to you.
The guy
next to me didn't pick up his pencil once. Maybe he was a genius, but
maybe he just gave up before he tried. Most of the seemingly difficult
math problems can be figured out with a little playing around. It is
amazing how much more accessible a word problem is when you jot down
the meaningful information on a piece of paper minus the words.
What
is easier to comprehend: "A truck and it's load is 250 pounds
heavier than the legal weight limit. It is stopped on highway 10. The
driver is ordered to remove 50% of the load and weigh the truck. The
truck alone weighs 2234 pounds. The legal weight limit is 3000 pounds.
How heavy was the truck and load when it was stopped."
or: "3000
pounds is limit. Truck is 250 pounds more than that." 3000 +
250 = 3250. C.
Yes, some
of the word problems' wording was that bad. Be ready for it.
The
answer is written on the screen. Work backwards.
Example:
5 is _______ of 20. A) 5% B) 15% C) 25% D) 30% E) 40%
If you
don't know how to work backwards to acquire percentages, use what is
given.
5% of
20 is 1. No good.
15% of 20 is 3. No good.
25% of 20 is 5. BINGO! C!
If you don't know, use the process of elimination and move on.
If
you're an optimist, you'll realize that on every problem, you've got
a 20% chance of guessing the correct answer. Even better, every answer
you eliminate from contention improves your odds.
For example,
I don't know what a camshaft is, and I'm not going to learn it by thinking
real hard or praying. All I can do is guess and move on. 20% chance,
right?
No... it's
better than that. I'm pretty sure camshafts don't have anything to do
with E) Windshield Wipers or A) Breakpads. I now have a 33% chance of
getting the right answer. It's not much, but it's something.
Check
your work before pressing ENTER. I missed a very simple compound
interest problem because I didn't check my answer. I compounded twice.
I should have done it 3 times. My carelessness cost me.
Ignore
your neighbors. If I guy gets up 30 minutes before you, he didn't
try hard enough. I was one of the last to finish and did well.
Use
your pencil and paper on the "Matching" section. Like
an idiot, I spent forever trying to complete the little puzzle pieces
and connect-the-parts section using only the screen and my brain. When
I finished, I looked down and saw a paper and pencil. I could have drawn
the darn things and finished in half the time with half the stress.
Brush
up on basic math and algebra. You don't need calculus experience
to complete the test. But being able to calculate 8+2*3+4 and (4+5)x
= 80 is necessary. And know the order of operations. All of this information
is easily accessible on the Internet.
Know
your multiplication and division tables. If
you are sharp with your "times tables" you'll do very well
on the speed component. There are 80 questions, and none are more difficult
than "8 x 9 =" or "72 / 8 = " These are easy points
to boost your score.
Keep it together. This
is mental combat. There will be problems you can't do. There may be
whole sections you can't do. But don't give up without a fight. This
is a general knowledge test. There will be entire sections where you
excel. Remember that.
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