Calculator Specializing

[redhawk2015]

So I have noticed that there are quite a few schools with teams that are about average in NS and Math with the occasional really good person. But they are complete beasts in Calc and are constantly going for state champ team in that.

Ex: North Shore, Veterans Memorial, PSJA (? or something like that), etc.

But I can't seem to find very many schools that are like this, but are only really good in NS or Math and average at the other two. Why is there such a high number of teams that seem to specialize in calculator?

[nsguy1350]

In my opinion, Calculator is the easiest math event to get good in. For math, you need to know Calculus, number theory, geometry, etc, although not too in-depth. Many kids don't attend schools with a curriculum that would allow them to be very good in math without much practice and independent study. 60 questions in Math. Number sense is probably the hardest math event to get good at. A lot of it is just talent, and there are SO many tricks and techniques, of which many people are unaware of, making it seem hopeless or at least extremely difficult to get good at. 80 questions in 10 minutes can be intimidating.

For Calculator, there are 70 questions, 35 of which are number crunchers, which anyone with skill with an HP can tackle quickly. 35 down, 35 to go. There are 5 study guide questions, which are easy to do if you do the study guide. 30 left. I say anyone with basic geometry knowledge, including trig, and get the first three pages of geometry fairly easily. That leaves 24. Adding in the first two pages of stated gives you 18. The majority of the test doesn't require too much thought. To get the rest of the 18, you'll have to know a few more things, but if you can get them (e.g. interest, exponential growth, several calculus, scaling, solver, matrix, etc.) then you know most of the test. Many of those are not that difficult. Of course, there are always a few difficult questions, but the vast majority of people never get to those questions, so they are pretty much irrelevant for most anyways.

All of these factors are what make me think Calculator is the easiest event to specialize in, which explains schools like North Shore and PSJA.

[101dalmatians]

NS is hard to get good at and you can't win if you don't have four nsguys or four bobby's (I assume that's a little too extreme - but you get my point)

MA is too competitive... Too many 340s and 338s - UGH - one reason I don't specialize in Math - cuz I really can't get THAT good... Every winning school has four bobby's or four 007maths

CA is competitive but it is much easier to become good at... I started CA in the first week of June and I got to a 200 in like mid. June! I'm sure that all schools have at least a few people who have a skill level of getting better at CA much better than that of mine..

SC is too much. You need to know a lot - I think - basically like Bio, Chem, Phys... You need to know AP stuff in order to place! I think in many high schools, AP for SC is done only in the last two yrs... So, basically juniors and seniors are candidates but half of them probably forgot all their Bio from the previous yrs (exaggeration - not all but not enough to ans. the qs on the test)...

HOWEVER, DULLES IS GOOD AT ALL (I would not side them for CA as very good but they are definitely one of THE BEST...)

[BlasianAsian]

Nah, I'd say number sense is easier. Just drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill and drill until you get it.

Working for me right now.

[nsguy1350]

One really hard thing about NS is that you can't erase, do scratch work, or change your answers. In anything else, if you make a mistake, just go ahead and fix it. In NS, knowing you made a mistake can mess you up pretty badly. You're also under huge time pressure, which can affect you greatly as well. And don't forget the skipping penalty!

[101dalmatians]

[sxk1693]

[darksaber21]

That's amazing.

However, totally possible it seems. To get away with some of that stuff anyway. It's not really something to brag about though, to me anyway (which is kinda ironic I guess considering I said "that's amazing" already, haha).

[nsguy1350]

They're totally exaggerating. That was at an Invitational, by the way. Successful write-overs are basically nonexistent.

[redhawk2015]

Forget whether it was an Invitational or not, I'm still curious about how you managed to twist a 90 into a 45.

[101dalmatians]

[BlasianAsian]

Does anyone do the thing where you skip over a problem you don't know and do scratchwork in that space for another problem and cross it out? I don't do it, but I was wondering if that is a legitimate strategy...?

[nsguy1350]

[sxk1693]

[BlasianAsian]

That's actually pretty smart. But I'm not sure if the 9 pt loss is worth it, unless you have no idea how to do the problem.

[sxk1693]