"The Math Diagnostic Test"... or "How to Do Math and Not Freak Out": an epic by me.

Colleges & Universities Case Western Reserve University
1

<p>Hello, all.</p>

<p>I am having a math emergency.</p>

<p>Allow me to explain: I took the Math Diagnostic test in June for Case. Looking back, I assume that I skipped so many questions – ones that I knew how to solve but that were multistep problems I didn’t want to waste too much time on – those kinds of questions that all the SAT booklets tell you to skip and come back to later once you’ve gathered all your points from future questions. I need to write everything out on scrap paper and not having a calculator was like my death sentence! I’m one of those people who spends 30 minutes triple checking her answer after finishing a problem. Yes, THAT person.</p>

<p>Needless to say, I was placed into the dreaded MATH 120 course, and I am desperate to escape its nefarious clutches.</p>

<p>I really don’t want to redo pre-calc this year, and as a physics major, being in elementary math holds me back from beginning in PHYS 121, which was my goal for this year. I do plan on taking the second trial placement exam the first week of school in order to hopefully move into Math 121, but I am truly wondering from everyone who got placed into Math 121 or higher… for all the math slowpokes, what are your secrets?! :slight_smile:
(Additionally, from people who have taken this second placement exam on the first week of school: how long do they give you to do that one? It isn’t, dare I say it, any harder than the original exam??? The agony!!)</p>

2

<p>What Math did you take in High School? up to Pre-calc? Up to Calc?</p>

<p>Case themselves says this:</p>

<p>Students interested in self-study should feel free to explore and use any available resources. The CWRU Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics has identified aleks.com as a possible option. The fee-based service generates a study plan based on an individual assessment, and students move through the program by demonstrating mastery of each topic.</p>

<p>So that sounds like a great way to practice.</p>