ASVAB Scoring - What to Make of Your AFQT and Line Scores

ASVAB scoring is not as simple and straight forwardWhat most people refer to as their ASVAB Test
as you might think. In fact, nothing about it is simpleScores is actually the ASVAB AFQT score which is
or straight forward. It is a good idea to understandtypically represented in percentile form with the
the difference between the ASVAB AFQT and thefollowing minimum requirements for enlistment. Based
ASVAB GT before you sit down for the exam.on your score, you are put in a category. The military
The ASVAB is actually nine individual subtestslimits the number of people they take from the
covering a range of subjects. That's why they call itlower categories based on their enlistment needs.
a battery (Armed Services Vocational AptitudeCategory I 93-100% Outstanding
Battery). Each subtest is scored individually and playsCategory II 65-92% Excellent
a different role in the ASVAB process. The ASVABCategory IIIA 50-64% Above Average
AFQT ( Armed Forces Qualification Test) is notCategory IIIB 31-49% Average
another test, it's the score of four subtest includingCategory IVA 21-30% Below Average
Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), MathematicalCategory IVB 16-20% Markedly Below Average
Knowledge(MK), Word Knowledge (WK) andCategory IVC 10-15% Poor
Paragraph Comprehension (PC). The ASVAB AFQT isCategory V 0-9% Not Trainable
your most important score because it is score theyRaw scores are the number of points you get on
use to determine your enlistment qualification.each subtest. Each question is worth a different
So the take away here is that those four subjectsnumber of points based on its difficulty level. Hard
are the most important. In fact, your ASVAB AFQTquestions are worth more points than easy questions.
score determines whether or not you qualify for anyThe standard score is actually a conversion of the
type of enlistment bonus, college plan or collegeraw score based on standard distribution of scores
repayment plan.with a mean of 50.
You will also come across the terms "raw score" ,Line scores determine which military jobs you qualify
"standard score", "percentile score" and "line score".for. Various combinations of all nine subtests are
Again, these are all just scoring interpretations of theconsidered in the Line Score requirements for each
nine different subtests. Traditional tests scores arejob assignment. Every branch of the military looks at
reported as a percentile which is the number of rightline scores a little bit differently.
answers divided by the total number of questionsFor example, the ASVAG GT or General Technical is
times 100. The ASVAB calculates it differently. Thean Army line score which is calculated as the Verbal
ASVAB percentile score is a comparison of yourExpression (VE) score plus the Arithmetic Reasoning
score in relation to everyone else score. The highest(AR) score. The VE is calculated from the Word
ASVAB score in terms of percentile is 99. This meansKnowledge (WK) and Paragraph Comprehension (PC)
you did better than 99% of the other people whoscore. Yes, it is confusing but that's how it is done.
took the test.