scoring on the calculator test

[smeag]

What do I have to do to get at least a 200? Can I answer the numerical problems on the first 5 pages and then some stated and geometry?
Please can someone write a quick reply on how the test is graded, and what questions to answer to get at least a 200?

[nsguy1350]

If you're fast enough (which you should be if you're trying to break 200), do all of the number crunchers first (with good accuracy, and less then 11 or 12 minutes is OK, and your goal should be 8-9 min, I personally average maybe 10-10:30 or so.) Then, you will have approximately 20 minutes to do the stated/geoms, and the first couple of pages shouldn't take you very long. After that, do the problems you know you can do (if you're good at linear regressions, scalings, matrices, calculus, solver problems... go to your strengths), then try to do the topics you are weaker on. The good thing about calculator is that the test is very structured, and you know that every test has certain problems in certian places (a matrix on like 58 or something, a scaling on 46, lin.reg. on 47 I believe, etc.), so you can study on how to do those problems. If your accuracy is good enough, and your speed is enough to get you to do all that you can, you should be breaking 200 (I've gotten close, with 3 199 tests, but never 200 or more :(. Other people like Fabens are much better than me at calculator, and can help you more on this.)

The rules for scoring the test are:
5 points for each correct answer
-2 points for each incorrect/skipped answer, up to the last problem attempted
This is equivalent to 5 * the last problem attempted, minus 7 * everything missed/skipped up to that problem.
You also lose 2 pts off of an otherwise correct answer, if you put the wrong amount of significant digits. This gives a total of 3 (for example, if the problem was 6.755 - 5.744 and I put 1.011, I'd get +3, instead of the +5 I'd get if I said 1.01.)

I say do all of the number crunchers, unless your accuracy is really bad. You should do all of them though, and it can only increase your score, unless you are missing too many of them.

[smeag]

But if I do all the number cruncher problems, won't I lose points on the questions I don't do and skipped?

[nsguy1350]

Yes, but if you're accurate enough, you'll gain enough points to make a gain (with speed, so it won't take too much time, and doing the last 2 pages of NCs can net you ... 40 points if all are correct)