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What's your background? Do you think finishing calc I and stats right before you take the exam would help?
To those people that find the math section easy
- Thread starter jackal head
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the calc probs were the easiest on the exam. you know each problem can be done in less than 1 min so the calc was all simple integration and differentiation. If you know that, know the trig, e, ln, etc. identities for diff. and integ. you are almost all set. maybe you will have a first derivative test problem but doubtful there will be any related rates or 2nd derivative stuff unless they are really simple ones. Also, might have position function stuff, also very basic.
know the basic stats stuff too, like dice, deck of cards, coins etc, you can learn that in 1 hour.
the key to the math is knowing how to do the non-calc probs fast, like two people painting a house at different speeds, how long to finish it? etc. If you do a few hundred of these, you will basically know any sort of problem they can ask and how to approach it without wasting time
And know point slope formula.
So the short answer is Calculus will help, but the calc problems will be much easier than most of those you will have to do in your Calc class
know the basic stats stuff too, like dice, deck of cards, coins etc, you can learn that in 1 hour.
the key to the math is knowing how to do the non-calc probs fast, like two people painting a house at different speeds, how long to finish it? etc. If you do a few hundred of these, you will basically know any sort of problem they can ask and how to approach it without wasting time
And know point slope formula.
So the short answer is Calculus will help, but the calc problems will be much easier than most of those you will have to do in your Calc class
I did well on the math section because I was a math major. The only reason I didn't get 99 was because I have never taken a stat course in my life (hs or college). You need to have your algebra down cold. Know how to manipulate powers and logarithms. The calc was pretty easy. Just know how to differentiate the main types of functions. They aren't going to murder you on integration because it will take too much time. A u substitution or integration by parts question will most likely be pretty rare on the test unless they are super easy. Don't forget implicit differentiation. Its really not that hard but a fav of standardized test makers.
mostly it is practice and speed... i say... just know how to intergrate, nothing too hard to intergrate, and what ever all the previous posters said. It is majority of it is speed. i did take calculus 2 in high school, so it was a breeze. I finished that part with enough time to go back and check a majority of my answers. my math percentile is always above 93. well... good luck
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Honestly, there was only a few calc problems both times I took the test. Very, very basic calc problems.
That statistics questions are very elementary as well. All you really need to know for stats is probability, mean, median and mode, interpreting statistical graphs and the concept of standard deviation. Nothing too tricky.
For calc, you need to know how to take integrals, derivatives, and go back and fourth, plugging in numbers for x. You must understand what 1st, 2nd and 3rd derivative etc. actually means in order to know how to solve some of the problems. Basic limit questions as well. I found the calc and statists questions that I encountered to be very simple and straightforward.
The tricky problems are those ones from high school material that you should know but some how can't remember.
All in all, the best way to approach the whole exam is to read on the pearson website what you should take before taking the PCAT and go back and review the basics concepts learned in each of those classes.
That statistics questions are very elementary as well. All you really need to know for stats is probability, mean, median and mode, interpreting statistical graphs and the concept of standard deviation. Nothing too tricky.
For calc, you need to know how to take integrals, derivatives, and go back and fourth, plugging in numbers for x. You must understand what 1st, 2nd and 3rd derivative etc. actually means in order to know how to solve some of the problems. Basic limit questions as well. I found the calc and statists questions that I encountered to be very simple and straightforward.
The tricky problems are those ones from high school material that you should know but some how can't remember.
All in all, the best way to approach the whole exam is to read on the pearson website what you should take before taking the PCAT and go back and review the basics concepts learned in each of those classes.
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Honestly, there was only a few calc problems both times I took the test. Very, very basic calc problems.
That statistics questions are very elementary as well. All you really need to know for stats is probability, mean, median and mode, interpreting statistical graphs and the concept of standard deviation. Nothing too tricky.
For calc, you need to know how to take integrals, derivatives, and go back and fourth, plugging in numbers for x. You must understand what 1st, 2nd and 3rd derivative etc. actually means in order to know how to solve some of the problems. Basic limit questions as well. I found the calc and statistics questions that I encountered to be very simple and straightforward.
The tricky problems are those ones from high school material that you should know but some how can't remember.
All in all, the best way to approach the whole exam is to read on the pearson website what you should take before taking the PCAT and go back and review the basics concepts learned in each of those classes.
That statistics questions are very elementary as well. All you really need to know for stats is probability, mean, median and mode, interpreting statistical graphs and the concept of standard deviation. Nothing too tricky.
For calc, you need to know how to take integrals, derivatives, and go back and fourth, plugging in numbers for x. You must understand what 1st, 2nd and 3rd derivative etc. actually means in order to know how to solve some of the problems. Basic limit questions as well. I found the calc and statistics questions that I encountered to be very simple and straightforward.
The tricky problems are those ones from high school material that you should know but some how can't remember.
All in all, the best way to approach the whole exam is to read on the pearson website what you should take before taking the PCAT and go back and review the basics concepts learned in each of those classes.
i thought the math on jan/09's PCAT was insanely difficult... the questions were so random, i didnt even know how to start solving them, i was just staring at them, so i almost ran out of time, and had to guess 1 or 2 in the end... i can probably do better if it was the first section on the test, but Nooooo it had to be the last one after mass amount of reading... but even with all that i got a 80 on the math sections lol...
the key is remembering how to do the tricky ones...
the key is remembering how to do the tricky ones...
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I would think that Calc I and Statistics would help you out for the exam. The "straight forward" math problems where you are simply told to calculate blah blah blah aren't too bad in either area.
The word problems that are out of 9th and 10th grade Algebra/Trig were the most difficult for me. I hadn't seen the material in ages and while I studied the concepts, they were still pretty fuzzy. Therefore, I would focus on those areas to get a better PCAT score.
The word problems that are out of 9th and 10th grade Algebra/Trig were the most difficult for me. I hadn't seen the material in ages and while I studied the concepts, they were still pretty fuzzy. Therefore, I would focus on those areas to get a better PCAT score.
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hi there,
I was just curious to know. In my Jan PCAT 2010 I got like 5 wrong out of 48 in the math section. So do you think I will be able to get more than 95 percentile in math section or what????
Thanks in advance..
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