Nearly 1 in 4 fails military exam -basic math, science, reading, physical

[JTsyo]

Do officer candidates have to take the exam too?

 

[Ackmed]

I know a couple of Tech Sgts currently serving who can't read a map. HTF do you get to be a Sargent without being able to read a map?

Hmm, you can't even spell Sergeant right. It is not spelled how they say it in the movies. So...

 

[BeauJangles]

Do officer candidates have to take the exam too?

Think so. Definitely for the Army. The Navy, Air Force, and Marines (I think) have a separate exam you also must take.

 

[DrPizza]

If the score on the ASVAB is a percentile score, and the minimum passing score is a 30, then BY DEFINITION (assuming a normal distribution, which is probably questionable), 70% pass, 30% fail. Duh!

 

[Train]

Yea, because I'm sure the spread's that close where a 5% difference in test scoring makes a 60% difference in population scoring. Tell me another one :^S

It was an example to prove a point, which you seem hell bent on not getting.

31% of the population will ALWAYS fail a percentile based test when "passing" means beating a 31, regardless of how well they did.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

If the score on the ASVAB is a percentile score, and the minimum passing score is a 30, then BY DEFINITION (assuming a normal distribution, which is probably questionable), 70% pass, 30% fail. Duh!

It is normalized on a regular basis. That only 25ish % fail is good, because it means they are doing slightly better than those on whom the test was normalized last time.

31% of the population will ALWAYS fail a percentile based test when "passing" means beating a 31, regardless of how well they did.

not if the test graded on a percentile basis vis a vis the previous group to take it.

This would allow for everyone to pass OR everyone to fail; if they were all significantly better or worse than the previous group.

 

[BeauJangles]

If the score on the ASVAB is a percentile score, and the minimum passing score is a 30, then BY DEFINITION (assuming a normal distribution, which is probably questionable), 70% pass, 30% fail. Duh!

Then that simply raises the point that 30% of the people cannot pass the ASVAB as currently constituted and that, in itself, is scary. It's fine if 30% of the people who want to join the military fail it, but I wish that the bar at which 30% fail would be significantly higher.

 

[DrPizza]

Then that simply raises the point that 30% of the people cannot pass the ASVAB as currently constituted and that, in itself, is scary. It's fine if 30% of the people who want to join the military fail it, but I wish that the bar at which 30% fail would be significantly higher.

I don't think you understand percentiles, do you. Let me try to explain. "We decided that the lowest 30% of the scores fail." Therefore, the lowest 30% of the scores fail. That gives absolutely no indication of what those scores are. The 30% percentile might possibly be answering 65% of the questions correctly - we have no way of knowing.

You could administer a test to ONLY people who have qualified for Mensa. And, with that test, you could decide that everyone below the 30% percentile fails. It says nothing about the level of difficulty of the test - only that it's been predetermined that the lowest 30% of the scores fail.

 

[Red Dawn]

Aren't 1 in 3 people between the age of 18 and 24 obese and too fat to serve?

 

[BoberFett]

That is exactly why I joined right out of High School. My parents did not have the cash to pay for college. I didn't get enough scholarships to pay for it. So I joined the Army National Guard and they paid all of my tuition plus a couple hundred extra a month for both my degrees (BS in Mech Eng and BS in Aerospace Eng.).

My ASVAB score was 99% I think. My recruiter was a little surprised when I told him I wanted to enlisted as a 13-B cannon crewman. I picked it out of convenience since their unit was close to campus. There was a mix of slack jawed rednecks and smart college kids in my unit which maid for some interesting interpersonal dynamics.

Plus it was really fun shooting a 155mm cannon, M2 Machine gun, Mk-19 grenade launcher, M-60 and other various weapons on the weekends. :biggrin:

LOL, I had a 99 on the ASVAB as well and went 13F. What the hell, it looked like fun on the LaserDisc they showed me.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Of course! Why would you derive anything else?

epic...

 

[foghorn67]

1 in 4? That's almost as much as 1 in 5.

 

[TridenT]

1 in 4? That's almost as much as 1 in 5.

And that's almost as much as 1 in 5,000. We're only 3 zeroes off and any zeroes after the comma don't really matter!

Shit. That's barely anything.

 

[Tsavo]

1 in 4? That's almost as much as 1 in 5.

It's also shockingly similar to 2 in 8!

 

[alkemyst]

With the ASVAB you have a %ile score that simply ranks you to the masses and a total points that is usually only known by the recruiter (at least in my day).

Scoring 100%ile <> doing 'that good' all the time.

 

[AeroEngy]

LOL, I had a 99 on the ASVAB as well and went 13F. What the hell, it looked like fun on the LaserDisc they showed me.

Pic of me pondering where my life went wrong while in MOP4.
Have you ever tried to do Thermo or compressible fluid mechanics homework inside a Howitzer ... its difficult to concentrate.

Especially when this guy is looking a porn mags right next to you.

 

[pcgeek11]

I still don't get why people cant wrap their heads around this 1.999 with infinite 9s equals 2. There is no debate, no argument, and nothing you can say that would make it not. Its 1.999... ways to write the same thing.

This is a two - 2

This is not a two - 1.999999999999999999 ...

It is basic math not Calc. K

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I'm calling bullshit
I SOMEHOW made a 95 or something high like that on the ASVAB
I know some of my dumb shit friends who made 85+

Edit:
It's not EVERY branch it's just the largest
The U.S. Army I still call bullshit

I dont. I scored 98. I know people who tried and scored under 30. More than 10 people I personally know scored under 20. About 5 of them joined the Navy. One I know ended up as a cook even after 4 years of ROTC.

Its pretty sad how ridiculously easy that test is.

 

[JJChicken]

After reading: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2129558

I wouldn't be suprised.

 

[Itchrelief]

This is a two - 2

This is not a two - 1.999999999999999999 ...

It is basic math not Calc. K

This is a 1: 1. This is not a 1: 10 - 9.

Sometimes you should just admit you were wrong and move on. Trying to argue the point just makes you look obstinate.

 

[DrPizza]

This is a 1: 1. This is not a 1: 10 - 9.

Sometimes you should just admit you were wrong and move on. Trying to argue the point just makes you look obstinate.

"Obstinate?"
I generally end up pondering whether they're an idiot or a troll. Never thought of obstinate. But, I think I'm closer. After the number of times it's been discussed here, to state otherwise places someone in one of my two categories. (Sometimes both.)

 

[RearAdmiral]

I used to say integers like in-teg(beg)-ers.

 

[bfdd]

Wow... this is rather surprising to me because I scored 98th percentile and I'm a high school drop out.

 

[Chaotic42]

Well I will give you 1.(indef)9 is very close to 4, but ... in general math it isn't.

This book is worth reading if you're actually interested in this subject. Its title makes it sound more simplistic than it is.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

This book is worth reading if you're actually interested in this subject. Its title makes it sound more simplistic than it is.

I learned long ago that when elementary is written in conjunction with math that bad things happen to my GPA.