Math is not everyones strong point.
In fact, a lot of students struggle with this subject due to a number of factors ranging from ineffective educators, poor study plans, or even a debilitating sickness that prevented them from attending school for a while.
Unfortunately, even if you have a good reason why youre not good at math, this will give you very little consideration when you have to take the ACCUPLACER math test.
This is why a lot of incoming college students, if they discover that they have to take the ACCUPLACER as part of their admissions process for the educational institution, prepare and study as much as they can with some turning to an ACCUPLACER Math Practice Test to improve their chances of getting a high score.
Although you cant exactly fail the assessment since it doesnt follow the pass/fail format, there ARE consequences if you dont meet the minimum score needed of the college.
This will come in the form of you having to take a number of remedial classes before you are allowed to proceed.
While this may seem like an understandable compromise, you must know of the extent of the downsides: the number of classes that you have to take will depend on how bad you did, and you will have to pay for these classes as well.
As a result, you will need to do your best at the ACCUPLACER math test as well as the other ones if you want to succeed in your college life.
1. Focus on whats only in the test
One of the major reasons why students fail the exam, not just the ACCUPLACER math test, is because they studied too much or didnt study for the right subjects.
Even if it is rare, there are test-takers who think that they only need to prepare for general topics or slightly complex operations and formulas when in reality the exam contains a diverse range of subjects that must be understood and tackled carefully.
Before anything else, yes, the math section of the ACCUPLACER contains a lot of difficult questions, so you need to do everything in your power to study these main topics with their own subtests or get math homework help to review what you know:
Arithmetic (20 Total Questions)
- Basic Operations with Decimals
- Whole Number Operations
- Fractions
- Percentages
- Comparisons and Equivalents
Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra and Statistics (QAS) (20 Questions)
- Descriptive Statistics
- Exponents
- Geometry Concepts for Algebra I and Pre-Algebra
- Algebraic Expressions
- Linear Equations, Applications, and Graphs
- Rational Numbers
- Probability
- Ratio and Proportion
Advanced Algebra and Functions
- Geometry Concepts for Algebra I and II
- Factoring
- Exponential and Logarithmic Equations
- Quadratics
- Linear Equations, Applications, and Graphs
- Polynomial Equations
- Trigonometry
- Radical and Rational Equations
2. Take advantage of the fact that there is no time limit
If theres a saving grace for the math section of the ACCUPLACER, it would be the fact that it is untimed.
This means that you can take as long as you need in order to solve the equation, ignoring test-takers who are showing off by trying to blitz through the exam as fast as they can just to show off how intelligent they are.
If you are provided with the on-screen calculator, use this as your chance to double, triple, or quadruple check your answers if need be.
Remember, you now have all the time in the world to make sure that you wont need to take remedial classes compared to other college admissions tests where there is a cruel time limit.
3. The exam has an adaptive format
If you are having difficulty with the exam, or rather, if you have been picking the wrong answers too much, the test will adapt in order to give you questions that are easier so that you can get some points in.
This mechanic can help you if taken in moderation, but if a lot of questions in the ACCUPLACER math test suddenly became easy to answer, then you must have gotten a lot of questions wrong previously and it is very likely that you will get a low score in the end.
4. Practice as much as you can!
As stated in the early part of this article, a lot of students turn to practice tests so that they can improve their chances of getting a high enough score and to prepare as much as they can.
A good way to do this is to ask a teacher or relative to provide you with the study material that you need and perhaps even create a mock ACCUPLACER math test for you to solve with the correct answers and solutions prepared so that you can check your work.
Of course, if you are pressed for time, you can also choose to look up online resources as well.
These materials cover everything in the actual exam and even contain shortcuts, tips, tricks, and in-depth explanations on how to tackle the assessment effectively.
Some websites also provide practice tests, with a number of them even having a question bank or practice test for EACH subject, preparing you for everything in the math section of the ACCUPLACER since you will now have a lot of material to go over.
