getting quick at math

[jaf004]

This might be a dumb question, but it has been a problem of mine for the past month. Does anyone have any tips of getting quicker in the QR section (other than practice)? I have been through chad's videos, but some of his quizzes have taken me a ridiculous amount of time. I have thought about looking through problems and making flash cards so that I can train my mind to immediately recognize how to go about the problem, but this seems like a big time sink that might not work. I have math destroyer and I am going to start it right when I finish chad's. But I don't really think it will improve my speed to the extent that I need to. It might help with visual recognition, but on some of the age, probability, combination/permutation problems I have been taking 2 minutes. I haven't even gotten to the trig video yet so I hope those aren't as time consuming. Thanks

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[portlandstateofmind]

The trig problems were the worst for me. The QR was the only section where I ran out of time and it was my lowest score. I didn't really stick to my game plan which was to quickly guess and mark the questions I had no chance of figuring out and spending time on the questions I could figure out with more time which always seem to be at the end of the test.

 

[jaf004]

The trig problems were the worst for me. The QR was the only section where I ran out of time and it was my lowest score. I didn't really stick to my game plan which was to quickly guess and mark the questions I had no chance of figuring out and spending time on the questions I could figure out with more time which always seem to be at the end of the test.

So your telling me I should skip to the end because the test is usually backloaded with easier problems?

 

[portlandstateofmind]

In all of the practice exams and the actual DAT the end of the QR seemed to have more ratio, percentage, arithmetic, probability, and date calculations. All of which I have a pretty good chance of figuring out with enough time or possibly by evaluating the answers. The middle of the test seemed to have more Trig problems, most of which I could waste a lot of time and not get any closer to a correct answer. So in my practice exams I started just evaluating quickly if there was a possibility of figuring out the right answer and just guessing one that seemed appropriate to use the time for problems I might get right. Another preDent I know is an engineer and he ran out of time on the QR too so it's not so much a knowledge test as a quickness test. Some of the problems I could never figure out with a week to try, and some I could with 1-2 minutes. I ended up getting rushed through questions at the end that I may have gotten right if I hadn't wasted time with unsolvable trig problems.

 

[spartan25]

1

 

[AAM2013]

The first time I took the DAT I ran out of time on QR, got a 17. The second go around, I studied Chad's methods and applied them to the Math Destroyer problems. I did half the practice tests and made sure that I used Chad's shortcuts when reviewing the solutions, as opposed to the ones provided by Destroyer.

I practiced without a calculator. But during test day I found my computer had really good onscreen calculators - I didnt have to use my mouse to click, I could use the keyboard. I would definitely test your computer during the optional tutorial to make sure it works. But having practiced without, and then being able to use the onscreen calculator for big calculations saved me some time. Strategy wise, every question is worth the same amount of "points". So I would definitely make an educated guess, and mark on questions that you think are taking you too long. Don't be tempted to spend too much time on any one problem.

I stuck to these strategies and my score jumped from a 17 to a 21 on my retake.

 

[jaf004]

The first time I took the DAT I ran out of time on QR, got a 17. The second go around, I studied Chad's methods and applied them to the Math Destroyer problems. I did half the practice tests and made sure that I used Chad's shortcuts when reviewing the solutions, as opposed to the ones provided by Destroyer.

I practiced without a calculator. But during test day I found my computer had really good onscreen calculators - I didnt have to use my mouse to click, I could use the keyboard. I would definitely test your computer during the optional tutorial to make sure it works. But having practiced without, and then being able to use the onscreen calculator for big calculations saved me some time. Strategy wise, every question is worth the same amount of "points". So I would definitely make an educated guess, and mark on questions that you think are taking you too long. Don't be tempted to spend too much time on any one problem.

I stuck to these strategies and my score jumped from a 17 to a 21 on my retake.

Thanks so much, similarly I got a 16 on my first DAT QR, and I just trying to get it up to a 20. I appreciate your input, and that is how I will go about the destroyer tests

 

[jaf004]

In all of the practice exams and the actual DAT the end of the QR seemed to have more ratio, percentage, arithmetic, probability, and date calculations. All of which I have a pretty good chance of figuring out with enough time or possibly by evaluating the answers. The middle of the test seemed to have more Trig problems, most of which I could waste a lot of time and not get any closer to a correct answer. So in my practice exams I started just evaluating quickly if there was a possibility of figuring out the right answer and just guessing one that seemed appropriate to use the time for problems I might get right. Another preDent I know is an engineer and he ran out of time on the QR too so it's not so much a knowledge test as a quickness test. Some of the problems I could never figure out with a week to try, and some I could with 1-2 minutes. I ended up getting rushed through questions at the end that I may have gotten right if I hadn't wasted time with unsolvable trig problems.

having heard a lot of people mention this, I will definitely keep it in mind on the dat. I guess I will try to get really fast as some of the common math and just try to knock them out first! Thanks!

 

[SXCoronado]

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[jaf004]

I got a 24 on QR, but I'm not that amazing at math. Just gotta be fast. The best trick I ever learned from Chad's videos is to convert a number into increments of 10%, it really helps if you need 14% of 267, for example: 26.7 = 10%, etc etc. Good luck!

thanks, I like chad's math so I think I am just going to keep retaking his quizzes until I have it all down solid

 

[SXCoronado]

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