How to Prepare for Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Career Exploration Program (ASVAB CEP) ?
Getting your child ready to enter the career field and college of their choice is a step towards success. The ASVAB CEP (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Career Exploration Program) will help you and your child set up an action plan.
High schoolers in grades 10-12 and first- and second-year college students can participate in the ASVAB CEP. It’s vital to understand that participation is voluntary and can help your child discover their strengths and weaknesses.
In this guide, you will find more information about the ASVAB CEP, how to prepare for it, the content of the assessments, and how to pass it.
Table of Contents
What Is the ASVAB CEP?
The ASVAB CEP is an aptitude test designed to examine your child’s strengths and weaknesses. Your child will have no obligation to join the military once they finish the assessment. In fact, they can simply take the ASVAB CEP to build an action plan for future college majors and careers.
There is no real way to pass or fail the ASVAB. It just shows your child how well developed they are in some areas and how they may need to improve in other areas.
Additionally, your child can take a step forward in building their own future. Knowing their best skills and how they can apply their skills may help them make an excellent choice for their future career.
What Is the Format of the ASVAB CEP?
The ASVAB CEP is conducted as a computer-based or paper and pencil test. The computer-based test can generate questions based on the difficulty level of the previous question. There are a total of 145 items that your child will have around 1.5 hours to complete.
The pencil and paper test will allow you to take the test traditionally, progressing at the pace of everyone else. There will be 200 items that will take three hours to complete.
How Is the ASVAB CEP Test Scored?
Since there will be ten different categories, your child will receive ten different scores. Your child can use those scores to see where they excel and where they do not so they can start planning a path for their future. Even if they plan to join the military in the near future, the results can open up the path to even more career and college choices.
Help your child understand that it will be completely normal to receive high marks in some subjects but do poorly in others. This will just be able to show what strengths your child has and how they can apply them to a career. These scores will also not have to be shared with the colleges they want to apply to.
What Is in the Assessments?
There are ten subtests within the ASVAB CEP test. These subtests are:
- General science
- Arithmetic reasoning
- Word knowledge
- Paragraph comprehension
- Mathematics knowledge
- Electronics information
- Auto information
- Shop information
- Mechanical comprehension
- Assembling objects
These subsets evaluate which skills your child is best in. The main evaluation involves math, science and technology, verbal skills, reading, writing, and more.
These may seem like a lot to worry about, but it mainly involves skills that your child likely already knows and questions about real-life situations. After your child finishes taking the test, you can talk about the results with them and help them plan a path for their future.
See if you can help them in the areas they are struggling with or help them get better at what they are already good at.
ASVAB CEP Sample Questions
Here are some sample questions that you can expect in the test:
- If a gallon of milk has one quart left of it, how much has already been used?
- What does Zr represent on the periodic table?
- What is a synonym for growing?
- What is an antonym for light?
- What rhymes with lake?
- According to the information provided in the paragraph, what is the most important lesson to take out of it?
- What does x equal if 30 + x = 52?
- How does a car generator work?
- When do you implement the emergency light signals on your car?
- How often should you replace your oil in the car?
- Which of the following images shows the shapes that the first image represents?
- Sort the strongest wavelengths from the weakest wavelengths out of these listed choices.
- Which word does not belong with the others?
- What is the best way to describe what is going on in this image?
- What will be your yearly salary if you make $300 a week?
- How many possible combinations can you make out of these numbers?
- How many hours does it take for a car to travel 100 miles if it is driving at an average speed of 45 miles an hour?
- What is the opposite of light?
- Why can’t you hear sound in space?
- What is 50% of 250?
- Give the definition of what it means to obtain.
- Where does the coolant in your car flow?
- What foot do you normally use to drive?
- What mechanism does this image show?
- Which system in your body controls your digestion?
- How many bones do you have in your body?
- What body system makes up ligaments, tendons, and bones?
- What system in your body does the brain belong to?
- What system controls the kidneys, bladder, and urethra?
- What system of your body protects you from disease?
- How does a nerve cell work?
- What is the main function of the lungs?
- What is a basic unit of heredity?
- What type of scientist studies space and planets?
- A human being has how many chromosomes?
- What do you put into your car’s cooling system?
- How do you conduct a three-point turn?
- How do you turn your car all the way off?
Preparing For The Test
A good way of preparing for the ASVAB CEP is to become familiar with the subtests of the assessment. Get some good practice materials and study guides at Test Prep Online to look over with your child so they can have a better understanding of what to expect for test day.
You should also first find out whether you will be taking the assessment on the computer or with pen and paper. The time they will have to complete the test and the questions they will be answering may vary depending on the format.
Make sure that you get plenty of rest the night before the test. It will do no good if your child starts the day completely exhausted from lack of sleep. They can also experience fatigue from too much studying.
How Do I Pass the ASVAB CEP?
There is no real way to pass or fail the ASVAB CEP. The fact is that it is an assessment of your child’s strongest and weakest skills. It is all a matter of getting your child prepared and helping to alleviate their stress.
In reality, this is just a way of evaluating your child’s greatest assets and weakest points and there will be no real-life consequences based on the results of their test.
The best you can do is help your child prepare for the contents of the test through study guides and practice questions on Test Prep Online before discussing and helping them make sense of the results. Use the results to help them create a plan for their future.
Conclusion
With more clarity on the skills they excel in, your child will be able to better plan out their future career and educational path. Help them prepare and familiarize themselves with the test format and sample questions so they can be more confident about test day.
With your guidance and encouragement, your child will be able to excel in the test and find out more about their strengths and weaknesses.
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Sarah is an accomplished educator, researcher and author in the field of testing and assessment. She has worked with various educational institutions and organisations to develop innovative evaluation methods and enhance student learning. Sarah has published numerous articles and books on assessment and learning. Her passion for promoting equity and fairness in the education system fuels her commitment to sharing insights and best practices with educators and policymakers around the world.
