I want YOUR opinion

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I want YOUR opinion

Postby chrishuff » Sun Feb 05, 2012 3:21 pm

So, I am analyzing my scores and there is a phenomenon going on. Somehow my scores in Number Sense and Calculator Applications are going up. I have set new personal records in both of those contests at Legacy. Now sure 37 seems quite low, but I don't know any of the tricks in Number Sense. And I never really practice in those two contests. My main focus is in Science, Social Studies, and Mathematics. Keep in mind that I am in 4A, and 4A schools don't typically have all the resources, teachers to learn the "core" material, and coaches as 5A schools have.

My history:

Mansfield Meet of the Minds ~ Joshua High School ~ Mansfield Timberview ~ Mansfield Legacy

Number Sense: MISSING ~ -9 ~ 16 ~ 37
Calculator Applications: 100 ~ 94 ~ 114 ~ 142
Mathematics: 98 ~ 116 ~ 94 ~ 104

My question to YOU is, should I invest some of my time to really actually study all the tricks and stuff in Number Sense, and dedicate some of my study time to Calculator Applications as well to further enhance my Mathematics score?

And I am also thinking that I actually might have a decent chance at making it past districts in Number Sense and Calculator Applications if I put the effort into it. Just look at the District 7-4A scores from 2011 in Number Sense and Calculator Applications. Not that all high except for that one guy in Number Sense (Who already graduated, I scouted out everyone who might me a threat in Mathematics for my district, and my conclusion yields only "hotshot seniors" as my greatest threat, since senior year is the time most likely someone is to advance after taking part in UIL Academics for a few years)

Tell me what you think. It's just I don't want to lose my competitiveness in Science and Social Studies. Joshua is the main threat and most of Joshua's funds are flooded into their Academic programs, hence their sports teams going entirely winless sometimes.

"Am I spreading myself too thin?"
Christopher Huff
Juan Seguin High School Alumni '12
Retired officially as of 4-21-2012 (Well, I should say its the complete end of my UIL Academics career)

Texas A&M University - Class of 2016
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Re: I want YOUR opinion

Postby DentonKnight » Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:06 pm

I finally registered again for the third time. My opinion is that it is very hard to do General Math problems quickly without being able to use a calculator or your brain well. So you basically have to do well at number sense or calculator to do well at mathematics. Pick one or the other, but don't do both if you don't have time to practice both.
2012 Lows
Competition/practice
NS: 191/191
GM: 212/150
CS: 176/152
Lit Crit: 75/60
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Re: I want YOUR opinion

Postby nsguy1350 » Sun Feb 05, 2012 7:28 pm

I agree with DentonKnight. Math is very closely related to Number Sense (that's where I get my speed and a lot of my tricks, methods, and skill overall, without really practicing at all, or very little), while being good with a calculator certainly helps. Notice that the guy #1 in NS last year was also #1 in Math for your District. I looked up all of the events for your District (besides Social Studies), and here is my opinion.

In pretty much every event, your District is fairly uncompetitive (besides that one guy, who dominated the District.) The Number Sense scores are pitiful, while the Math, Calculator, and Science (especially Math and Calculator) are very beatable. If your goal is to win District, your best opportunity are in those 3 events, unless you're a beast at Science as well. I can't talk about Social Studies.

With practice, I believe you could get to Region in Number Sense and Calculator and Math, with Science, depending on your scores, being a slight challenge.
I, along with several others, could teach you Number Sense (although this is a crash course, since you have <2 months, you're making < 50, and Number Sense tends to annihilate your scores in competition.) I think you're much better, at the moment, in Calculator, and you have an excellent chance of advancing. Practice your number crunchers, get your speed and accuracy up, along with learning your geometry and how to do some word problems, and you're in an excellent position. Math, actually, seems pretty easy without that Allen guy, so you could definitely advance with enough practice (I'd again be glad to tell you how to do every problem that I know how to do.) In combination with Number Sense and Calculator, I think your Math scores would become competitive and you'd see your scores rise more than ever. However, you need to start practicing NOW.

The reason why I think that you should do Number Sense and Calculator is because without them, you're having difficulty improving in Math (your progress over 3 months has been minimal, if any at all.) In combination with these, there is a chance that you will start to see some serious progress. You will have to work hard, however.

Unless you feel that you have been working yourself very hard over the past 3 months, and you cannot handle any more events, then do this. However, there are a few problems.
You are worried about spreading yourself too thin. If you were in a more competitive District, then yes, you would be. You can't do what I just said against Kevin Chen. However, you have a shot here.
If you take too many tests, there is a chance you will "burn out" during competition. This would mean you probably will have done Number Sense, Calculator, and Science, with Social Studies and Math being sub-par in terms of your performance. Maybe, you should consider taking a nap between competitions, and you should DEFINITELY get a good night's sleep before the competition if you do this many events. Eat a good breakfast as well, and give yourself the best opportunity you can get.

Now, I don't like to just "get out of District." I looked at your Region scores (looked for what school the Josh Allen guy was in, and what Region Cromwell was in). To get to State (I know this sounds ridiculous as a suggestion, but it's true), your best chance is in Number Sense. Last year, the cutoffs to beat the #3 in NS, MA, CA, and SC respectively were:
95, 213, 207,159. With enough practice, assuming you reach Region in all 4, the easiest to get would be 95 in Number Sense. Science with a 159 would be next, and Math and Calculator would be a decent challenge. I'll leave it to you to assess these possibilities. One thing though: Imagine yourself, going to State in Number Sense!!!!! That would be something you would've laughed at, before you came to this realization and thought about posting this as a possibility.

This is my opinion, and I say, the time to start is NOW! You're going to have to make your decision as quickly as possible.
2013 District 1/Region:
NS - 319/355
MA - 340/332
CA - 294/287
SC - 344/292
CS - 212/124 (fail)
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Re: I want YOUR opinion

Postby chrishuff » Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:19 pm

Thanks for the advice. You are completely right about the thought of making it to State in Number Sense, after all, its just memorizing shortcuts, although in large quantities.
Almost all the day's in my March schedule are already reserved for UIL Academics purposes, most notably my entire Spring Break. I would say I have "enough" time, but yeah as you said, I have less than two months and never made above a 50 ever in Number Sense. I only have the Aledo HS meet left before districts.


This is my last year to advance, and you make Number Sense sound quite tasty to me. I shall begin studying immediately.

I didn't say this earlier, but my school's Math team is having a "Last Chance Practice Session" the day before District competition. Basically the plan is to take the District 2 2011 test (Which none of us had ever seen), eat pizza, and then go over each and every question. I will give studying Mathematics less of a priority because its not that I don't know how to do a majority of the stuff, its time and my very low efficiency that gets me.

I shall warn you, my only skills in Number Sense are working Math the usual way, except in my head and without using paper. So a problem such as 186 * 25 I would multiply the 5 to the 186 number, and then work on the 2 and do the same while "praying" that I don't lose track of the numbers as I work the problem. What I am trying to say is I work out the problem as if I only had "pencil and paper" [Well I should say pen for Number Sense].
Christopher Huff
Juan Seguin High School Alumni '12
Retired officially as of 4-21-2012 (Well, I should say its the complete end of my UIL Academics career)

Texas A&M University - Class of 2016
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Re: I want YOUR opinion

Postby DentonKnight » Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:51 pm

Yeah, your best shot is in number sense. You would probably need ~130 to get 3rd at region. At the Invitational A I got a 266 in NS, Yuhui Pang (the guy who got 1st Ns in our region last year) got a 231, the next guy in our 4a region was about 120.
2012 Lows
Competition/practice
NS: 191/191
GM: 212/150
CS: 176/152
Lit Crit: 75/60
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Re: I want YOUR opinion

Postby nsguy1350 » Sun Feb 05, 2012 10:06 pm

Alright, well, if you want to make it in NS, you will DEFINITELY need to work on those techniques. There are many techniques that you will have to learn, but most are pretty easy. Immediately, go to www.math-magic.com, and read as much as you can, and I mean every trick, even elementary (the site has 3 sections, and all of the tricks pertain to the high school contest). Ask any questions you have here!
2013 District 1/Region:
NS - 319/355
MA - 340/332
CA - 294/287
SC - 344/292
CS - 212/124 (fail)
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Re: I want YOUR opinion

Postby BlasianAsian » Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:01 pm

For me, since I'm hoping that I can get into TAMS, meaning that I only have 2 years, I'm gonna expend all of my energy and pour my heart out into Number Sense. I'm studying the Pre-Cal txtbook to get ready for general math, because all those sin, cosine, tangent, identity functions and curly looking graphs are killing me. All the number sense based problems in general math are fine to me. The problem lies in the calculus based ones. So, no choice but to study that. I think I'm going ok for calculator, though for me, I have no idea how to improve, since half of the word problems somehow relate to physics (I'm only in bio, lol), a quarter are calculus and above, and the other quarter I can do. I'll just get my butt off the couch during summer and (hopefully) pick up the case from there.
Num Sense: -320
Calculator: -140
Math: -120
Science: -69696969696969
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Re: I want YOUR opinion

Postby nsguy1350 » Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:07 pm

Man, it's always either you're a senior, so you only have 1 year, or you're going to TAMS, so you only have 2 years. I think only one person here will be staying with me the whole time! :(
Good luck! But it will # to see all you guys go...
2013 District 1/Region:
NS - 319/355
MA - 340/332
CA - 294/287
SC - 344/292
CS - 212/124 (fail)
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Re: I want YOUR opinion

Postby BlasianAsian » Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:20 pm

Lol. If I fail getting in, you're probably gonna see my here for the next 3 years.
Num Sense: -320
Calculator: -140
Math: -120
Science: -69696969696969
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