Value of ASVAB Practice Questions

Many ASVAB candidates ask the question: how can I score high on the day of my exam? Scoring high is important, after all, given the limited number of places available in the military and the high demand for those places.

Studying material matters, of course. Unless you know the topic in some detail, you will never really make an impact.

But it’s ASVAB test practice questions that make all the difference – turning what would have been an average score into something very much higher.

Many candidates become disillusioned when they take ASVAB exam questions. To begin with, they score low. Perhaps this has been your experience, too. But that’s to be expected.

After all, you are only just beginning to prepare for the ASVAB exam.

Hoping to score high, after just a few weeks of study, is simply not going to happen. That said, there is enormous value in taking practice questions as earlier as possible, in what is known as a diagnostic test.

What is a Diagnostic Test?

Diagnostic tests are used to establish your strengths and weaknesses.

For instance: this could be a 75-question test taken early in your studies. The point of the test is simple – to identify where your strengths lie, how well you are scoring across the various knowledge domains of the ASVAB exam, and – most importantly – where you need to focus your study.

Diagnostic test results give you a blueprint to work from.

If you scored low on Mathematics Knowledge, you now realise the disproportionate extra effort you must invest. Perhaps you scored lower on some subjects which previously you believed to be strengths.

Similarly, you may have scored higher than expected on subjects you believed you were weak on. This is where the true value of the diagnostic test comes in, and it demonstrates how important ASVAB test practice questions are toward your long-term study goals.

Learn from Mistakes

One of the greatest advantages of ASVAB test questions is the ability to learn from mistakes. If you are taking practice questions and not learning from mistakes, you are making a grave mistake.

Learning from mistakes doesn’t mean just reading the explained answer, either.

You must understand the explained answer.

If you don’t understand it, you can learn nothing from it – and trying to memorize an answer you don’t understand just won’t cut it. Instead, you must make a conscious effort to improve; to make a note of topics you don’t understand and to come back to them later.

This process is all about plugging gaps. There is a limited number of questions that can come up on the ASVAB exam. The more gaps you plug, the more of these questions you cover. You increase the probability of scoring high by covering as much ground as possible. It isn’t as effective to study material from books, because you never really know how much you have learned until you take practice exams.

That said, both are complementary toward one another.

Create Your Own Questions

This may sound bizarre but creating your own ASVAB test practice questions can have enormous value.

By creating questions in your own words, you think about the topic to a greater extent. More thinking = more understanding. You are breaking the subject down to create effective questions that focus on the facts that matter. This is what facilitates the learning process – and the pressing need to convert short-term memories into long-term memories; the kind of memories that will sustain you on the day of your ASVAB exam.

Creating questions is not everyone’s cup of tea, that’s for sure. Another way to achieve the same effect is by creating flashcards. If you think about it, flashcards are effectively acting as questions / answers. On one side of the flashcard is a topic or subject. On the opposite side, the explanation. The former acts as the question, the latter acting as the explained answer. The purpose of flashcards isn’t to simply read both sides, but to test your knowledge. Before you flick that flashcard over to learn the explanation, try to think through the explanation yourself. That way, you begin to learn whether you really understand the topic.

If you just casually read both sides of the flashcard, you’ll never know what you didn’t know.

Note: never copy text direct from books. Always write explanations in your own words. This facilitates the learning process because you must think more about the subject to come up with an explanation!

Take Home Message

ASVAB test practice questions are by far the best way to prepare for the exam.

As we have learned:

• Take diagnostic tests. These tests offer you the opportunity to learn about strengths and weaknesses. This allows you to put together an effective, long-term study plan that meets these challenges.
• Never passively read answer explanations. Always try to understand the explanation. Never memorize it, either. If you don’t understand the explanation, make a note of the topic, and come back to it later.
• Learn from mistakes. Don’t get stressed if you make many mistakes on ASVAB test practice questions. Instead, see it as an opportunity to improve and to plug gaps in your knowledge.
• Create your own questions. Test your understanding of topics by creating your own questions and answers. You can also create neat, short, effective ASVAB flashcards that effectively act in the same way.

By taking these tips and tricks on board your study, you will see an improvement in the weeks and months to come. It’s all about consistent study – and consistency is borne out of discipline. Once you are disciplined in your study and vow to improve week-on-week, you will reap the rewards in ways that other candidates will not.

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