Asvab

[Magadeth]

Well I went down to the recruiters today. I took the ASVAB and scored an 87. I know there are a few Army guys here and am wondering if this is as good as the recruiters were saying it was?

The Sergeant I dealt with told me that I could probably pick any job that I want in the Army and although I went in with the idea of just going infantry, my (supposedly) high score has got me thinking that that may not be the best way to serve my country.(Special Operations Weapons Sergeant sounds cool though:cool: )

Any advice you all might have for me would be highly appreciated.

They want me to come back wednesday and spend the night in a hotel and take the physical and talk with a guidance counselor about what my mos will be. I am now thinking that this might be a little fast and that I might be better off doing a little research before I commit to a certain career path. I am not thinking twice about joining, just that I maybe should learn a bit about what I could do once I get there.
Thanks

[banzaimf]

87 is pretty high. I had a 94 and the navy wanted to have me play with nuclear reactors. too bad about not being able to tell red from green very well... makes my car audio wiring kinda funky sometimes :-)

anyways... do you want to make the Army a 20 year career? If you have any doubt, look into a field that you can do something related in the civilian world. I got a buddy that after 10 years of shooting things and blowing things up, has NO real job opportunities. I sold my soul to the navy for 4 years as a computer geek (unix) and in my first year out I got 48k. Not bad for a 22 year old that had a 1.71 gpa outta high school. Keep in mind though that for 75 percent of the people, the military is a stepping stone. Make sure that where you are stepping is going to take you where you want to go.

banzaimf

[Threewheeler]

Banzaimf,

You hit it right on the head. I'm in the Navy right now as a "computer geek". Wish me luck as I get out in about 8 months.

But, seriously Megadeth, consider if you are going to stay in or not. Knowing how to blow things up is cool enough, but not a lot of calling for it in civilian life.

Three

[PsychoMag]

I took the ASVAB before. When I took it, I scored a 95, the NAVY opened up the drawer and offered me any job I wanted. If anyone knows navy rates, I chose firecontrolman. But, my point is, the guy is telling you the truth because when I took the test, I asked my recruiter why I did so well, and alot of questions. He said that the NATIONAL AVERAGE was a 32 at that time, so they jump on intelligence.

[shartley]

Magadeth:
There is the correct answer and the Politically Correct answer.

The correct answer is that an 87 is not “stellar” and does not make you a brainchild. This however, is not saying it is bad either. But the scores needed to get “just about any job in the Army” are not as high as people would like to think. I know this will not make me the most popular person for saying this, but it is the truth. And if you take a look at the actual breakdowns of each category, it will tell you more than what a raw score of 87 will.

I will however point out that this:

But, my point is, the guy is telling you the truth because when I took the test, I asked my recruiter why I did so well, and alot of questions. He said that the NATIONAL AVERAGE was a 32 at that time,
Is not actually quite true. Because a National Average is so low does not in itself indicate that an 87 is HIGH. Think of it like this… if your class was to take a test, and the top score is 100. And everyone in the class scored a 32 but you. And you scored an 80. Are you a rocket scientist? No, you just got a B. You LOOK smarter because everyone else did so poorly. The National Test scores for students have been dropping for years and this is a major issue now. Flame me if you like, but anyone who does on this issue is simply WRONG, and needs to do a bit of research. So some may consider the 87 High, but……

So, the Politically Correct answer is: “WOW! Great Job! You scored higher than most of the guys we test here.” You have to keep in mind that the Recruiter’s job is to boost your spirits and pump you up. And evidently he did a good job at this. Their job is NOT to be totally honest with you, no matter what they or anyone else might tell you. Note: I am NOT slamming Recruiters, it is a NEEDED position. I am just being honest.

You will more than likely not be able to take the test again because you did sufficiently well to meet standards. So the real question now is NOT if 87 is a good score, but what you want to DO. I will also warn you that what you want to do is often not what you will end up doing. And the films they show for each MOS are not exactly above board when it comes to accurately depicting what the jobs really are. They can make shoveling cow manure look like the most mission critical job and most exciting and rewarding… and unfortunately this is often what they do.

And Cool Sounding names often mean very un-cool jobs. As well as anything like “Special Operations Weapons Sergeant” is not a reality, you will NOT be a Sergeant, you will be a private or a SPC at the most. Think of it like some of the Ads you see for products… “You can make up to $200,000 a year on this fantastic product!” Sure, you CAN, but will you? No. If you make $1 they held up to their end of the deal. Well, the Military is like that as well. They make if look as if you will be running something, but you will NOT.

I see young folks think they have it rough at home with Mom and Dad’s rules and having to follow orders, and they join the Military thinking they will be free of this…. Yup, that is true. Free of the old simple rules, and now they have MUCH more. I am not saying this is the case with you, but I HATE seeing people get into things that they think are one way, and end up being another. If you go into this knowing exactly what you will be getting into, with NO rose colored glasses, you will be much happier and find it fulfilling. However, I have seen far too many end up being bitter, and who felt “ripped off” and “taken advantage of”.

I think most know that I consider honesty very high in my list of attributes, and I respect people with opposing views but who are honest, more that those with the same views but who are not. And I think noone can question my patriotism and love of our Armed Forces….. that is why I am giving it to you up front. You are now entering into the Used Car Salesman phase of the process. They will more than likely already know what car they want to sell you. They know what MOSs they need to fill, and sorry to say, those are what they WILL fill.

I know this is not much help. But hopefully it will keep you from being “sold” into a car you don’t want to drive for the next few years. I am proud that you are going through this process, and I thank you for it. I also know that during this time, there are few who will actually look out after YOUR best interests. That is why I am giving the heads-up. I hope you understand, as well as others that may be reading this.

I AM NOT BASHING THE ARMY OR ARMED SERVICES. And I will encourage MY Son to do his time for our country as well, when he is of age.

Thank you.

[Restola]

i scored a 95 for the army too. above a certain point (50) it no longer matters how high you score except for a few jobs. for example i didnt qualify for a satalite tracking station job, or something like that. your individual scores on the different pieces matter too. but i was only planning on the reserves so they still couldnt offer me crap (ie im not at bootcamp right now)

also my understanding was that the asvab was an average. like the ACT you scored only based on how other people in the past have scored. it would be weird if the average joe in the past scored a 50, and now the average joe scores a 32. kinda scary.

also what the guy above me said is very accurate. i rode home from the MEPS with a recruiter and another kid. it was this kid's second time taking the test. first time he got a 16, this time a 36. the recruiter was pumping him so much on how now he is going to get in and have so many jobs to choose from.

i liked my recruiter, and still do. but they feed you so much absolute BS. if you havent yet talked to a counsler about a job then find out right now exactly why you want to join the military. if its money (my main concern besides serving in general) then pick a number and do not join if they cant reach it. i didnt have a number, and i was seconds from joining to get paid a total of $260/m a $2000 bonus and $5000 for college (only while im in school, then $160) to fix generators, and i would have had to miss an entire year of college, not just one semester like i planned. they wake you up at 3:30 in the morning, you sit around for hours, your sences are down. find out and DO NOT give in to pressure. sure your recruiter will be pissed when you dont sign up, my recruiters boss hung up on me, i called my parents got a ride home and never went back. but if you dont know what you want, chances are they will get you to do something you dont want.

also another fun-fact they dont tell you about. when they give you the dates you are going to be back by it is BS. my friend shipped 8/16/01. he sat in "receiving" at fort knox until two weeks ago. that is three weeks of doing nothing but waking up at dawn and doing excersises, then sitting in a chair until its time to sleep. yes that also pushes his timetable back by three weeks, and he cant go to AIT until the spring, putting him back a year in college and he only gets paid the bare minimum until he goes through AIT, no extra benifits.

its a load of BS, if they had told me what was going on before i went out to the MEPS twice at 4 am maybe i wouldnt be sitting here. but i aint joining the army, even though the airforce is probably the same thats where ill most likely be after college, as an officer.

a few last things. the best quote i ever heard describing the MEPS was "hurry up and wait." be prepared for a lot of waiting. you will be up from at least 4am until until 3pm, and only be standing for about 15 minutes, wear boxers, drink a lot of water if you get stagefright (lots of people seem to have to go again for the urine test. they really line you up and a big dude in camo at the end watching you says piss and you piss. a one-time different experience). and dont sleep with any of the girls that hang around the hotel. you will also be waking up very early with probably no sleep. you will have a chance to eat dinner and talk to a bunch of new people at the hotel though. that was my favorite part.:)

[Eagle]

Basically what your score means is that you are smart enough to do high tech stuff, as opposed to just shooting a gun

[cphilip]

You got a High B. But I give you a C for forum choice. Take it to Friendly.

And good luck to you. Make us proud.

[Magadeth]

Thank you all for your exellent and informative replys. I definately did get the 'used car salesmen' feel from them and think I want to do as much research as I can about what specific mos's really entail. Today I am trying to get in touch with my recruiter to get a little more time before I go in for the meps. I had told him I would go tomorow but think it would be best if I take it a little slower.

Could you all recomend some good mos's and say why?

I really apreciate your insight, keep the comments coming!:)

[TimEmag00134]

Megadeath, congrats on making a nice score (mine was only an 86, the administrative score brought it down) and for choosing the military for a job. No matter what service you go into, make sure you do some research on what job you are getting. Try to make sure that there is some sort of civilian equivalent so that if you decide to get out after your first hitch you can (more) easily transition back into the civilian job sector. I myself am in the Air Force and I am in a job that does not transition that easily into the civilian world. All of the services offer good jobs and can make great careers.


God Bless America

[Major Ho]

Originally posted by banzaimf
87 is pretty high. I had a 94 and the navy wanted to have me play with nuclear reactors. too bad about not being able to tell red from green very well... makes my car audio wiring kinda funky sometimes :-)
banzaimf
Ha Ha Ha! You to banzaimf? I got a 93 on the test but I took it the afternoon before going to MEPS. So my recruiter was all cheery and yadda yadda yadda. The LAST test of MEPS just happened to be vision for me. Boy did I fail the lil colored spot test. Then to make sure I was really disfunctional they put me on some light machine thing. (Mind you that the traffic light order to me is Red, Yellow and WHITE. Yes the green traffic light looks white to me :D )The light machine was very similar. White light, Red light I think and Green light. Uh Oh... :confused:
Pfft...Chaplains assistant my butt!

[pbtaz]

Alot of it actually depends on what you scored on which part. Saying you received an 90 or 80 or 70% really doesn't mean anything. There are actually several different portions on the test and each one weighs differently for each job. So someone who got a low combined score could still qualify for a high tech job, as long as the scores were in the proper areas. Also, if you go into the army that is, the only thing that will matter is you GT (General Technical) Score. The higher that is the better. I don't know what the max is for sure. I got a 121 (when I took it as a Sophmore in HS) and my wife got a 126.

Also, they can usually get a waiver for most jobs if your score is too low. Of course this might have all changed now that there is a patriotic rush to join up. You need to ask the MEPS people about that.

One last piece of advice. If you want to know what an actual job does you need to talk to the people who do it. Get on the web and pick a few different army posts. Look up the same type of job you would be interested in (ie: MP=Military Police Company, Clerical=AG office, etc.) I would suggest talking to either SPC's or SGT's. They have been in long enough to know the real deal and have not been in so long they have forgotten what it's like to be in the trenches (especially the SPC's since they would still be in the trenches). If you need help there are plenty of us Army types out there (especially on this forum) who can stear you to the right people. I did the same thing when I was switching from enlisted to officer. I called up five different officers for each job I was curious about to get there opinion. And don't listen to anyone who has nothing but bad things to say, or by the same token, nothing but good things. If someone is too opinionated about there job you won't get the real deal.

The military can be what you make out of it. Take the time to choose something that you will enjoy.

[Magadeth]

I'm going to meps sunday at 6:00. I will spend the night in a hotel curteousy of the U.S.A. and then I guess they wake us up at 4:30 and we go in for meps.

Here are my scores.
GT-128
GM-119
EL-124
CL-122
MM-122
SC-127
CO-121
FA-121
OF-122
ST-126

I'm not to sure what all that means, but I am an outdoors kind of guy. I would like to be in an elite unit like the rangers and don't want to spend time behind a desk.

I would like some last minute advice on the best way to get fast promotion through mos. (I figure a cook probably is not promoted as fast as other jobs)

Are there any tech jobs that are a good lead in to special forces? I know it wont be easy, but that is my goal.

Thanks again to all who have responded to this.

[andrew51]

im not in the military yet (to young) but it is my ambition. because of this i know alot about it and i got some info for ya. If you want to go infantry ask your recruiter about getting set up with rangers course in yer program-this will put you through rangers school. if you make it you stay in a rangers battalion till u reach class E5 i think and then your eligable to go to OCT which is training to become one of the elusive and little know about Delta operator of the US army. i personally want to become an Airforce CCT(combat controler-one of the most highly trained and deadly US special forces) operator but am exploring all options.

[andrew51]

one other piece of info. go to www.specialoperations.com and join there forum board-you can learn ALOT.

[Magadeth]

:eek: :D :cool: :crazy: