This anxiety will be dispelled by the conclusion of this study guide, as we equip you with a defined exam strategy coupled with the resources you need to confidently pass your ASVAB General Science exam. For the moment, though, we will take some time out to discuss methods you can employ to study effectively in the first place. With our resources to hand, you need to identify a location where you can be assured of peace and quiet – one that’s available at specific times. I say specific because you should formulate a study timetable with the full knowledge of being able to attend to those times throughout your study.

It’s vital you remain both consistent and dedicated to these studies, taking motivation from the value these subjects confer to your career as a military professional. Each study session should be fifty minutes in duration – taking a ten minute break thereafter to freshen up. Preferably this time would be spent absorbing fresh air, as this can work wonders to reset your mind to initiate the next study session. The environment in which you work is just as important. Your study space should be free of clutter, all the while being free from distractions. Electronic distractions such as social media, mobile phones, and television, all serve to undermine your study efforts. Eliminate them as much as possible.

With this concerted study strategy to hand, you can now focus on how to study exam materials. As you progress through this study guide, always bear in mind a structured approach to study. What this means is that you know how to study something with efficiency, as efficiency saves both time and effort. ASVAB Test Study recommends taking notes – ones that are originally written, succinct, and insightful. It’s vital your notes are originally written as it’s originality that serves to convert short-term memories into long-term memories, and it’s the latter type you will rely on to pass your ASVAB General Science exam.

If you were to, on the other hand, directly copy and paste large slabs of text, this would become a huge problem in the long-term. You might, for example, not fully understand the material at hand and, as a result, may become complacent and copy text believing you understand it when, in fact, you do not. The more you think about these scientific concepts the better, and re-writing concepts in your own words is a core strategy of achieving this. Each point becomes considerably more valuable when you write it into your own words, but also bear in mind these notes are intended for the future – when you will revise them in the weeks and months ahead. Keeping your notes succinct, therefore, is an absolute must.

One of the other strategies about studying the ASVAB General Science course is the method of study itself. How do you begin to study a large swathe of text? Do you just start from the beginning and continue thereon? Studies show that the best approach is to become familiar with the science topic before you actually sit down and study it in any depth. This means glancing at the headings and sub-headings, getting your mind acquainted with what the main topic is about. This will prepare your mind for what’s ahead, and means the subject will come as less of a surprise and more about familiarity. This will, in turn, help you to learn the material with greater efficiency.

Numerous times throughout this discussion, we highlighted the need to remain organized, structured, and prepared. In this section, we look at strategies you can adopt in the formation of your study timetable. Given the vastness of science, you will need to structure your study timetable in a fair and balanced way – giving equal time to each subject. One of the major problem candidate’s face when they don’t organize a timetable is not assigning equal time to every subject. Instead, candidates assign more time to the subjects they prefer, maybe because they find the subject easier. This can have a catastrophic long-term impact, particularly if you think of its effect on your average exam result.

Choose one particular topic per study session. On Monday, for example, you could focus on Biology while on Tuesday you could focus on Chemistry. Inevitably you will find some topics more difficult than others, and the best mechanism to overcome this problem is simply to assign a greater number of hours per study session for that topic. With challenging topics, always try to consider the very fundamentals, in other words, don’t attempt to grasp the full meaning on first reading. Skim the material and take from it the main points. Once these points have become embedded in your mind, now is the chance to add a further layer of understanding, progressively building up your knowledge over a period of weeks.

There are two final strategies you need to build into your study plan – the need to revise and the need to partake regularly in self-assessment. The importance of revision cannot be underestimated. If you study one particular science topic on Monday, but fail to return to it until three weeks later, you will inevitably forget the vast majority of this material. Instead, you need to progressively convert short-term memory stores into long-term memory stores. This is achieved by using the notes we described earlier, as these succinct notes should trigger off the main points of what you studied. Revise any notes within 24 hours of writing, them, and again within 72 hours. Then, revise your notes on a weekly basis thereafter, ensuring the material you study is time well spent in the long run.