and Verbal Expression (VE)
Line scores and the Marine Corps
The Marine Corps computes its three line scores for job qualification by adding scores from various ASVAB subtests, as Table 2-3 shows.
TABLE 2-3 The Marine Corps’s Line Scores
| Line Score | Standard Scores Used | Formula Used |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Maintenance (MM) | General Science (GS), Auto & Shop Information (AS), Mathematics Knowledge (MK), and Mechanical Comprehension (MC) | GS + AS + MK + MC |
| General Technical (GT) | Verbal Expression (VE) and Arithmetic Reasoning (AR) | VE + AR |
| Electronics (EL) | General Science (GS), Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), Mathematics Knowledge (MK), and Electronics Information (EI) | GS + AR + MK + EI |
Line scores and the Air Force
The U.S. Air Force uses standard scores from the ASVAB subtests to derive scaled scores in four aptitude areas called MAGE (mechanical, administrative, general, and electronics). The Air Force MAGE scores are calculated as percentiles, ranging from 0 to 99, that show your relationship to thousands of others who’ve taken the test. In other words, a percentile score of 51 indicates you scored better in this aptitude area than 50 percent of the testers who were used to establish the norm.
Table 2-4 lays out the four areas, the subtests used, and the formula used to calculate the score for each particular area. After calculating the score for a particular area, the test-scorer converts that score to a percentile.
TABLE 2-4 The U.S. Air Force’s MAGE Scores
| Line Score | Standard Scores Used | Formula Used |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanical | General Science (GS), Mechanical Comprehension (MC), and two times Auto & Shop Information (AS) | GS + MC + 2AS |
| Administrative | Numerical Operations (NO), Coding Speed (CS), and Verbal Expression (VE) | NO + CS + VE |
| General | Arithmetic Reasoning (AR) and Verbal Expression (VE) | AR + VE |
| Electronics | General Science (GS), Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), Mathematics Knowledge (MK), and Electronics Information (EI) | GS + AR + MK + EI |
SCORE! SPEAKING THE LINGO
When you sit down with your recruiter or military career counselor at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) to discuss your ASVAB scores and what you qualify for, you may think they suddenly decided to speak in a foreign language. For job-qualification purposes, remember three key terms and their definitions:
AFQT score: Calculated from the math and English subtests of the ASVAB, the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) score is used by the military to determine overall enlistment qualification. Chapter 1 explains exactly how this critical score is computed.
Line score: A line score combines various standard scores and is used by the services for job qualification purposes.
Standard score: A standard score refers to individual ASVAB subtest scores (that is, Verbal Expression, Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematics Knowledge, and so on).
Chapter 3
Getting Acquainted with Test-Taking and Study Techniques
IN THIS CHAPTER
How many times have you heard someone say (or even said yourself), “I just can’t take tests”? A lot of people feel that way, but that mind-set
