How much trouble did the math give you?

deleted437652 · Jan 2, 2012

I'm not even talking about the "harder" stuff like calc. I'm talking about the more simple stuff of multiplaying or dividing with weirder numbers. I'm going through my review book, and they had a solution as 27*(4.5 * 10^-10)^4 or something along those lines. This would be easy with a calculator obviously, but since we don't have that luxury, I'm feeling a little nervous. If this actually did show up in the chemistry section, and I was pressed for time, I feel like I would end up guessing even if I had the right set up until that point.

Was this just a crappy review question, or do questions like that actually show up on the exam?

edit: seems to have been answered in another thread. I guess I'm not alone in feeling this way.

kcwang · Jan 5, 2012

There are some tricky questions, and knowing shortcut would definitely help. I took a look at your question, I don't think it is a crappy question (would be nice if you provide the multiple choices answers too). I am going to assume one of the answer in multiple choices are significant lower than the other choices like 0.

Reason: You got a small number divided by a super large number.

You dont even need to "Solve" some of the questions, it is more like looking at the whole problem and making an educational guess like the one you just provided. If it takes you more than a minuate to solve it, skip it.

deleted437652 · Jan 6, 2012

kcwang said:
There are some tricky questions, and knowing shortcut would definitely help. I took a look at your question, I don't think it is a crappy question (would be nice if you provide the multiple choices answers too). I am going to assume one of the answer in multiple choices are significant lower than the other choices like 0.

Reason: You got a small number divided by a super large number.

You dont even need to "Solve" some of the questions, it is more like looking at the whole problem and making an educational guess like the one you just provided. If it takes you more than a minuate to solve it, skip it.

I believe with this particular question it was just a blank question with no multiple choice. Good advice though. I just hate the idea of knowing a question and how to solve it, but not being able to because I'm rushed for time and can't do the math quickly enough. Thanks

Nelcovp · Jan 11, 2012

BobbyK said:
I believe with this particular question it was just a blank question with no multiple choice. Good advice though. I just hate the idea of knowing a question and how to solve it, but not being able to because I'm rushed for time and can't do the math quickly enough. Thanks

Welcome to the QA section of the PCAT. At your leisure, you will get most correct on a practice exam and only get half correct if you are rushing. I peronsally think the QA section is designed so you don't finish along with making you bat chyt crazy.

NickW9682 · Jan 12, 2012

QA F-ing killed me...i finished less than 20 of the problems. I got a 74 composite but a 13 on QA. I only studied for a couple days but when I retake this summer I will definitely be focusing on the math and putting in at least a solid month of prep.

Aestatis · Jan 13, 2012

One general trick to help get answers a few quicker is to try and find a match to the first digit or term you see instead of writing all the math out. This won't work for every problem, but let's say you had to multiply two numbers at the end of working a problem like 22 and 19. The first number you will write down is the last digit (8), so instead of continuing to multiply, quickly look up and see what answers end in 8, and if there's only one that should be it - assuming you were supposed to multiply 22 and 19 and not some other numbers!

If you're really quick with basic arithmetic this may not save time, but I find it helps me save a few seconds - and every second counts.

kcwang · Jan 13, 2012

Here is some tips for QA section I typed up last year. IMO, the only way to get a good score on QA is to practice a lot. Good Luck!

"Here is some math tips I think it will help when tackling QA section.

(Mentioned before, but very improtant) When you are taking the pcat QA, skip any problem with diagram and long sentences. Only go back to do them when you are finished with the rest.

When doing calculation questions, look through answers for a second to cross out any obvious wrong answer. Sometimes you dont even need to do the calculation because the answer is so obvious among the choices.

Always Simplify.

If you see a number more than 4 digits long, simplify it. For example, 14,369 -> 14000, sometimes even 2 digits, 58 ->60. This will make your life easier. This is especially a must if you see answer choices differ significantly. (ex: a. 1 b. 150 c. 500 d. 4503)

Simplify more
i^8 --> (i^2)^4

Know tricks,

log 1 = 0, log abc = log a + log b + log c etc..

If a problem takes more than 30 seconds to solve, skip it, you're probably doing it wrong (or not fast enough). They love to throw random stuff to throw you off (Practice lot of questions makes you immune to this).

Then there are the technicals, where you really need to know your stuff, like the relationship between position, velocity, acceleration, graphs of sin and cos, derivative of e^x etc..

I will stop right here for now. First time when I took QA, I got 88. Realized it is more about test taking skill and strategy, went back and got 99. "

JayhawkPharm3r · Jan 13, 2012

kcwang said:
Here is some tips for QA section I typed up last year. IMO, the only way to get a good score on QA is to practice a lot. Good Luck!

"Here is some math tips I think it will help when tackling QA section.

(Mentioned before, but very improtant) When you are taking the pcat QA, skip any problem with diagram and long sentences. Only go back to do them when you are finished with the rest.

When doing calculation questions, look through answers for a second to cross out any obvious wrong answer. Sometimes you dont even need to do the calculation because the answer is so obvious among the choices.

Always Simplify.

If you see a number more than 4 digits long, simplify it. For example, 14,369 -> 14000, sometimes even 2 digits, 58 ->60. This will make your life easier. This is especially a must if you see answer choices differ significantly. (ex: a. 1 b. 150 c. 500 d. 4503)

Simplify more
i^8 --> (i^2)^4

Know tricks,

log 1 = 0, log abc = log a + log b + log c etc..

If a problem takes more than 30 seconds to solve, skip it, you're probably doing it wrong (or not fast enough). They love to throw random stuff to throw you off (Practice lot of questions makes you immune to this).

Then there are the technicals, where you really need to know your stuff, like the relationship between position, velocity, acceleration, graphs of sin and cos, derivative of e^x etc..

I will stop right here for now. First time when I took QA, I got 88. Realized it is more about test taking skill and strategy, went back and got 99. "

I agree with that 100%. The first time I took the PCAT, in QA I got an abysmal 38. The second time, I studied and got a 95. To find success in the QA section, you should know as many simplification techniques as possible. Then, it's just a matter of how fast you can work the problem and get to the answer (or an answer close enough that will allow you to select the correct answer on the screen).

On my first PCAT, I left over 1/3 of the quantitative blank. On the second PCAT, I was only rushed on the last 3 problems. I probably did over 30+ timed practice tests leading up to test day along with making and reviewing a mountain of flash cards.

NickW9682 · Jan 13, 2012

JayhawkPharm3r said:
I agree with that 100%. The first time I took the PCAT, in QA I got an abysmal 38. The second time, I studied and got a 95. To find success in the QA section, you should know as many simplification techniques as possible. Then, it's just a matter of how fast you can work the problem and get to the answer (or an answer close enough that will allow you to select the correct answer on the screen).

On my first PCAT, I left over 1/3 of the quantitative blank. On the second PCAT, I was only rushed on the last 3 problems. I probably did over 30+ timed practice tests leading up to test day along with making and reviewing a mountain of flash cards.

Did you use a particular study guide?

JayhawkPharm3r · Jan 13, 2012

NickW9682 said:
Did you use a particular study guide?

Kaplan Book and old notes from classes. Don't neglect your old notes from classes. You took calculus for a reason! 😀

NickW9682 · Jan 13, 2012

JayhawkPharm3r said:
Kaplan Book and old notes from classes. Don't neglect your old notes from classes. You took calculus for a reason! 😀

Haha yes I did take calc but that was in 2001! Definitely need to do some serious review

kcwang · Jan 13, 2012

Correct me if I'm wrong. I didn't recalled any cal question on the QA section. Maybe there was a limit question, but I would focus on other topics first if you are pressed for time.

hsb1104 · Jan 13, 2012

There were definitely calc questions. Derivation and integration comes up a lot

kcwang · Jan 13, 2012

ic, I just remember writing bunch of numbers. Just thought of another tip for the QA section: I ran out of space on the "scratch paper" notepad, and the proctor didnt noticed me waving at her the whole time. Defintely try take consideration of how much room they give you for scratch paper.

And to correct on my previous post. Calc is included according to the pearson website.

http://www.pearsonassessments.com/hai/Images/dotCom/pcatweb.info/PCAT_CIB.pdf
for PCAT 2011 -2012 (according to their pdf)
Basic Math 15%
Algebra 20%
Probability and Stats 20%
PreCalc 22%
Calculus 22%

??? 1%

luongo321 · Jan 13, 2012

kcwang said:
ic, I just remember writing bunch of numbers. Just thought of another tip for the QA section: I ran out of space on the "scratch paper" notepad, and the proctor didnt noticed me waving at her the whole time. Defintely try take consideration of how much room they give you for scratch paper.

And to correct on my previous post. Calc is included according to the pearson website.

http://www.pearsonassessments.com/hai/Images/dotCom/pcatweb.info/PCAT_CIB.pdf
for PCAT 2011 -2012 (according to their pdf)
Basic Math 15%
Algebra 20%
Probability and Stats 20%
PreCalc 22%
Calculus 22%

??? 1%

Is it scratch paper that they give you? How much? (pen or paper?) (Not a white erase board? I just remember reading that in their exam info.)

Also, is the integration really tough? Should I know integration by parts and the subsititution rule?

Aestatis · Jan 13, 2012

luongo321 said:
Is it scratch paper that they give you? How much? (pen or paper?) (Not a white erase board? I just remember reading that in their exam info.)

Also, is the integration really tough? Should I know integration by parts and the subsititution rule?

When I took it, the scratch paper was really several laminated sheets bound with a spiral. The pens seemed to be permanent marker and not dry erase - you can't erase by hand. I thought there was plenty - the sheets were the size of a large painting pad for artists. Then again, I write really small.

The integration problem difficulties seem variable from what I've seen on practice tests. Some are easy to eyeball, others you need to use integration by parts and possibly substitution. You don't seem to need to know about trig identities at least.

kcwang · Jan 15, 2012

Ya it is "really several laminated sheets bound with a spiral", no eraser were given.

I wrote super big, which is why I ran out of the room. I dont remember any integration problem, but I believe it should be simple integration that takes less than 1 min to solve.

If you forgot how to integrate, there is always the "cheat" where you take derivative of the answer.

Luminitsa · Jan 15, 2012

QA killed me. I didn't get half of them completed before I realized I was almost out of time. I just went through and selected random letters so that I didn't leave anything blank and finished with about 3 seconds to spare. I got an 83 composite but like 40-something on QA. It wasn't that the problems were horrible, I just didn't get through them quickly enough. If I had practiced more, I would have done better. You just have to get your speed up.

kcwang · Jan 15, 2012

First time when I took it, I did the question in order, and did not skip any time consuming problem. I end up with ~10 question unanswered at the end. Do not be afraid of skipping questions, they have a review menu on the computer screen where you can go straghit to "mark" and unanswered questions.

How much trouble did the math give you?

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