Math Section Specifics or Help!!!! Please

[royaljams]

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I'm new to SDN and I'm scheduled to take the PCAT in August. I feel pretty solid about most of the sections but I've been pretty worried about the math as it's not my best subject. I've used the Kaplan and McGraw hill books to study but I've heard from several sources that they are totally lacking, and I was wondering if there is a way that I could get/buy copies of the Dr Collins math section if anyone has them? Otherwise if anyone else has any tips or suggestions I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

 

[royaljams]

Please people any suggestions would be helpful. I realize I'm new and all but please don't leave me panicking all by myself . I keep hearing all this stuff about crazy numbers and it's really intimidating me. Actually it would even be helpful if someone could clarify what they mean be "crazy" like is it a lot of long numbers, cubed roots, i's...I know you can't tell me exact stuff but it would help to just get an estimate of what to expect so I can be prepared!! I'm begging you!!!!!!!!

 

[JTrue14]

most of the math is pretty high school based. Theres only a little bit of calculus. Just go to a local bookstore ie borders etc and go look at a few of the books there. I used the Kaplan book and it was fairly accurate of what the test has. If you're really desperate, you could always pay for the Practice exam on the pearson website. It was an old exam and its probably the most "accurate" in terms of what you'll see in the real exam.

 

[diastole]

If you want to see what the math will look like, take the online Pearson's practice PCAT. I did that and realized that Kaplan's book was inadequate, that I haven't seen an imaginary number in over 20 years much less remember how to work with them and that I had better go out and find supplement materials if I hoped to score well. After panicking briefly, I went out and found supplemental materials on the Internet to refresh my memory and got a pretty good score. I think I used Math TV or something.

The reason why the math section is so hard is because most people run out of time. You mostly have to prepare yourself for the pacing of it all. If you know it is going to take too much time, skip it and move on.

I don't have access to Dr. Collins materials but I seem to recall someone having success with practicing with Schaum's guides like College Algebra or Precalculus. The person just practiced the problems over and over to build up speed.

 

[diastole]

Oh, I wouldn't call anyone who paid for the practice exams desperate. I swear by them and call it smart planning. I used to be an SAT tutor and our program shined because we had the students take so many old SATs and then explained where they went wrong. I personally think the best way to prepare is by taking exams that are as close to the real thing as possible.

 

[JTrue14]

Oh, I wouldn't call anyone who paid for the practice exams desperate. I swear by them and call it smart planning. I used to be an SAT tutor and our program shined because we had the students take so many old SATs and then explained where they went wrong. I personally think the best way to prepare is by taking exams that are as close to the real thing as possible.

yeah, I actually did that myself. A few peopletold me they would never pay 25 bucks or whatever it was for 2 exams. But yes you are very correct, i think the money is definately worth it for those two practice exams.

 

[royaljams]

Thanks soooo much. I feel a lot better now 😛. I guess after reading the June PCAT posts I got really scared because I didn't know if I was on the right path, but I've been practicing math at least 12 hours a week so hopefully I'll be okay. I'm a bit worried about calc though because I haven't had it other than some exposure through physics. I've been teaching myself some of it like limits and derivatives and such so hopefully I'll be okay. And I'm definately going to buy the Pearson practice exams, I've bought tons of others too so the more the merrier I suppose!