| Author |
Message |
    
Pkforbes87
| | Posted on Sunday, February 21, 2010 - 06:37 pm: | 
|
the practice asvab is sort of an example of what you can expect on the real thing, but it's not as hard. I aced the practice but only cut a 93 on the real thing. took the nuke test at my recruiter's request - mostly for grins because i had already made up my mind not to go nuke.
started from the bottom.. left basic as an E-1, 9 months until E-2, same for E-3, 6 months later I made E-4 on my first test cycle. Will be taking the E-5 test for the third time in a couple weeks. After looking at my profile sheet, I'm estimating a 62 or higher on the test will get me another pay raise and bah increase. Shouldn't be too hard, last time I got a 74. My rate is sort of locked up at the moment, but third time's a charm right?
Anyway, advice to the OP - if you have any college under your belt, have spent time in boy scouts, rotc, boy scouts, etc; use those as bargaining tools with your recruiter. you can save yourself a year and a half of bitch work if you get E-3 out of basic written into your contract BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING. It's not always possible, but be hard to get along with. Remember that the recruiter works for you, not the other way around. Get everything you want from them.
puddle pirate  |
Joshinga
| | Posted on Sunday, February 21, 2010 - 07:44 pm: |
|
heres pics of my old ship spent alot of time on those deck plates...
|
Delta_one
| | Posted on Sunday, February 21, 2010 - 09:16 pm: |
|
Iman
Its a lot like the ACT test. Dont worry about it too much. I took mine the same week as my ACT and finals I felt fried when I walked into the room and there was only one job I couldn't get in the Air Force.
the only memorable part of the test for me was having to rotate images in your mind, and fit parts together in your head. kinda like picking jigsaw puzzle pieces that will fit together but you only have pictures of them. |
Iman501
| | Posted on Sunday, February 21, 2010 - 11:11 pm: |
|
Anyway, advice to the OP - if you have any college under your belt, have spent time in boy scouts, rotc, boy scouts, etc; use those as bargaining tools with your recruiter. you can save yourself a year and a half of bitch work if you get E-3 out of basic written into your contract BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING. It's not always possible, but be hard to get along with. Remember that the recruiter works for you, not the other way around. Get everything you want from them.
i've got eagle scout so that'll be good! as far as college and ROTC....i dont...i'm only a senior in high school still all this will be happening this coming fall hopefully! (well i take the asvab test in a week but everything besides that will hopefully happen in the fall)
and funny you mention the shapes part delta one, thats the same part my friend was telling me about the other day haha |
Pkforbes87
| | Posted on Sunday, February 21, 2010 - 11:19 pm: |
|
Pretty sure you can get E-4 written into your contract by being an Eagle Scout. If I'm correct, that would mean you get E-3 automatically out of basic, then after another mandatory 6 months and graduation from your A-school you would be promoted to E-4 without having to take the advancement exam. |
Iman501
| | Posted on Sunday, February 21, 2010 - 11:43 pm: |
|
yea mostly everything i've read says that being an eagle scout is a one up rank andvancement right off the bat... |
Ratyson
| | Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 09:38 am: |
|
From what I recall, the asvab was pretty simple. I took it in 1986.
I was a highschool dropout, but still scored in the upper 98% range.
Now the question no one has asked?
Are you 6' tall??
For the CG, you need to be at least 6' tall. That way, if the boat sinks, you can walk back to shore... HA!
Just a little ribbing from a Navy Vet.
If you are a good swimmer, and are interested in a VERY interesting way of life. Try for Rescue Swimmer School.
I was a SAR swimmer in the Navy. It will definitly show you who you are. |
Pso
| | Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 12:10 pm: |
|
If you do get mess duty (Navy term for KP) try to get assigned to the Chiefs mess granted the senior chef will take the tips. My experience was that cleaning up only consited of busing the tables , swabing the deck, but we did not need to make mid rats, set-up steam lines early morning etc. Took test in '64 so cannot talk about that. Promotions to E-4 and up in Navy were fleet wide exams. Be carefull about using miltray strings. My father helped me out in not getting transfered three weeks before Christmas, once I got to new duty station my shot record was lost so I needed to get it seemed like many, many shots all in one day, then getting the blood out of my white shirts was a very difficult chore. |
Spacemonkey
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 08:42 am: |
|
"Do not ! I repeat ! Do not admit to ever trying or using any drugs, ever ! Tell them you've never even met anyone who has. It would serve you well to say you don't drink as well if asked. One day maybe 15 years from now while up for promotion that joint you said you tried once may be the only difference between you and the other guy. Your SRB will follow you like a well trained dog. Sorry, that's a Service Record Book. I wish I had joined the CG and became a Rescue Swimmer. Good luck, the next few years will be the best of your life, enjoy them."}
Promotions don't work like that in the Coast Guard. All we have to do is take an end of course test for the next paygrad, then a service wide exam. they take the score from the service wide and factor in your evals/time in and put you on a list. Then they promote from that list. There's on board at all. The only time you go up for a board is if you apply for warrant officer. |
Delta_one
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 09:01 am: |
|
pick the job you want and when you go to MEPS do not let them sign you in as open job classI had too many friends that ended up with a job they hated because they wouldn't wait for what they wanted. they can put you on a wait list for any job you qualify for. and if you are on the list you will get the job before any guy registered as open ever will. so when they say "you never know maybe you will get x job signing now as general" they are feeding you a line, the odds are maybe 0.5%} |
Theshue
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 10:05 am: |
|
boot camp and the coast guard
everyone goes through boot camp as an E-1. most everyone graduates as an E-2, automatically. the people that don't graduate as E-2, are like you and have eagle scouts or other such things and graduate as E-3, automatically. oh yeah 2 months in cape may NJ. woohoo.
coast guard sets entry up differently then the other services, you don't have to pick your rate (MOS, "job") with the recruiter. the intended path is boot camp, see what rates your interested in as an E-2 and E-3. get on a school list as soon as possible. go to school become "rated" graduate school as an E-4. the caveat to this is if you do well on the asvab there are certain things your recruiter can do for you, guaranteed "A" school, guaranteed district etc... my recommendation is slightly biased, but if you score well enough on the asvab for it go aviation. on the recommendation someone made about rescue swimmers, or AST, the wash out rate of swimmer airmen and guys that actually make it swimmer "A" school is about 75%, and is quite possibly the slowest advancing rate in the coast guard.
one thing you need to make sure of is to get all your ducks in a row. the coast guard was at it's largest about 2 years ago, and i think we made it up to about 44,000 personnel, on a side note this is less people then the New York City police department. right now they are in trim back mode, which also means that they are scrutinizing recruits a lot more than in the recent past.
if you have any questions feel free to PM me.
oh yeah took the asvab in '95 so a little more recent then these old timers in here.
matt |
Iman501
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 03:38 pm: |
|
you guys have been a big help! i've learned a bunch about the litle stuff already from just you guys! between that and having a asvab study guide PM'ed to me i wana say thanks!
I still have a lot of research to do as far as picking out what job i'm interested in, but i will get into a school as soon as i can!
being a rescue swimmer would be pretty sweet, but that could just be the movie "the guardian" making it seem cool like i said i need to do my homework on jobs! I'd prefer to do something that i could carry over into the real world if i decide not to make the CG a career |
Ratyson
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 03:43 pm: |
|
Good thinking.
The only thing that would be close to a civilian version of the rescue swimmer, would be to work as a paramedic on a med-flight team. |
Southern Marine
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 05:24 pm: |
|
If you did okay on the practice test and you have a study guide you should be okay. Just don't stress it, relax. The test isn't that hard.
As for lying, DON'T, they can and do find out. Especially on the drugs. I had a friend who lied and when they did his security clearance, he was discharged.
And for pete's sake, use common sense when answering questions to a recruiter and your screening process through MEPS. By the way, retired Marine here, and recruited for 3 of those years, so I know of what I speak.
I don't know how many times I had a kid tell me he had allergies (sometimes a death blow), when they have never been diagnosed by a Doctor. A kid would tell me he had allergies, and my first question would be, "Did a doctor diagnose you and prescribe you over the counter medicine for it?" "No", then son you don't have allergies. I had one kid that was screened when he was supposed to ship and they sent him back. He needed a drug waiver because they said he sniffed gas to get high. Come to find out, they told him;
"You can get high from gas fumes, have you ever sniffed gas?" He answered yes that he had sniffed gas.
This boy was raised deep in the country. I sat down and talked to him and asked him;
"Did you ever do it to get high?"
"No sir, you can't help but smell it when you are filling up a vehicle and putting it in a lawnmower, or get it on you, so yeah I sniffed it."
"But did you do it to intentionally get high?"
"No sir".
Then son, you should have told them NO, that you did not sniff gas to get high.
"Well, I was being honest and they asked if I had ever sniffed gas. I didn't want to get in trouble". I re-iterated that if he had just told him that he had smelled gas before, but never sniffed it to get high, he would have shipped to boot camp and we wouldn't need a waiver. Luckily I got him processed without the waiver.
So, for anyone out there who wants to talk to a Recruiter and gets screened, use some common sense. Remember, if you tell the recruiter one thing, you had better be telling the screener the same thing, that or you had better talk to your Recruiter and give him a heads up.
In today's military, this is no joke, "almost anything" is waiverable, just as long as you are truthful.
Oh, if you are going in the Coast Guard, I hope you met their height requirement of at least 6 ft. ................. You have to be able to wade to shore when that boat flips. ......lol love that one |
Iman501
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 05:41 pm: |
|
yup i think the test will be alright, even though i'm not excited about the math part lol.
i wont have to lie to anybody seeing as i've never so much as smoked a cigarette, (or smelled...i mean sniffed gas).
Oh, if you are going in the Coast Guard, I hope you met their height requirement of at least 6 ft. ................. You have to be able to wade to shore when that boat flips. ......lol love that one
thast like what the second or third time thast been said now? haha} |
Ourdee
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 06:26 pm: |
|
Integrity, integrity, integrity. Truth scares some people, but, it is what sets you free. Always man up and tell the truth. If you make your choices knowing that personally you have to tell the truth, you will make better choices. My son can get away with a lot as long as he tells me the truth. (don't tell him that)
You may want to start running in the mornings so it will be easy when you get to training. 1/4 mile first week and up it a 1/4 mile a week. That was my weak spot. but they got me up to speed, I even did a mile and a half in under 10 minutes once with combat boots and running in formation. You will have a blast and learn a lot. |
Skinstains
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 06:45 pm: |
|
I should clarify, you can only deny any drug use if there is no official record of you doing it. Like an arrest. |
Iman501
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 11:22 pm: |
|
You may want to start running in the mornings so it will be easy when you get to training. 1/4 mile first week and up it a 1/4 mile a week. That was my weak spot. but they got me up to speed, I even did a mile and a half in under 10 minutes once with combat boots and running in formation. You will have a blast and learn a lot.
i'm not big on cold weather, and due to that i'm not in shape very much during the winters  and waking up early isnt my fav thing ever (even though i'll have to get used to that!)
during the summer i lifeguard, so i usually would go to work early every day i worked last summer and swim laps for 30 min, which was an amazing workout! and i live a couple houses down from a big state park (jubillee state park in illinois) and they have a bunch of trails that i would do a lot of biking on with my buddy kevin. i plan on doing basically the same thing this summer! |
Geforce
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 11:22 pm: |
|
The overall score you receive on the ASVAB means absolutely nothing. The LINE SCORES are what is used for placement and preference in the military...
For example... The maximum line score is a scale of 0-130 points.
My GT score or general technical score is 114. That's good. 120 is even better.
At that time I could select ANY job I wanted in the Army because the cut off for most of the upper level crap is 110.
There was a push a few years ago to raise the GT scores of active duty Soldiers who had the time by taking classes on post and retesting. I never had to do it.
Now... DO NOT do what I did...
College at the time, stayed up all night chasing split tails and drinking. Next morning I am trying to sober up in the car ride to Houston to take the test. Make sure you get plenty of sleep and eat a good meal. It can help.
I can assure you I would have done much better had I taken my own advice a few years ago.
The most important thing to remember in your quest to be a Coastie is to TAKE ADVANTAGE of the FREE college money you get every year. Right now I am taking two online courses in Business Management through TUI and I love it. Best thing that ever came my way hands down.
Good luck and don't sweat the ASVAB average score... if all your LINE SCORES are above 110... you should be in great shape for almost any job you want.
If you have questions, send me a PM. |
Iman501
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 11:30 pm: |
|
TAKE ADVANTAGE of the FREE college money you get every year
that is one of the most appealing perks to me! seeing as my mom just graduated with her teaching degree last december my family has all those college bills to pay off on top of the normal bills....so more or less my parents cant really afford to pay for my college right now. I could be lame and just stick around peoria and keep my part time job at the movie theatre and go to ICC for a fairly reasonable price....but what fun is that?! |
Tazmania720
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 11:35 pm: |
|
Former recruiter here and I am still active Navy. Check your messages and let me know if you need any help. |
Iman501
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 11:48 pm: |
|
PM returned Tazmania |
Iman501
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 03:31 pm: |
|
alright guys, so i took the asvab today....i got an average score according to the recruiter (a 62), he said i qualify for basically anything in the NG, but seeing as i want to do the CG i'm a little leary. the min score to join the CG is only like 38, but i know they are still really picky about who they let in.....any advice?....i'm going to go talk to my dads friend this week sometime and see what he says |
|
