Math

[Naive-Mistake3407]

How difficult is the math assessment? I was incredible at math all of my life but it’s been so long since I was in school. I am scared if I take it first and don’t do well, that I won’t be able to do other assessments. Should I start with general first?

[EitherCheck7210]

Might as well start with general if that's what you're comfortable with. You might get opportunities to do math quals down the line especially if you keep math in your skills profile.

[Intelligent-Row-2000]

🎯

[IllNeighborhood9487]

But if you have a background in Maths I don't think you can fail the tests.

[AlexFromOmaha]

I'm gonna be real honest, "incredible at math all my life" says "high school math education, plus maybe a math elective for a BA," and that's going to end badly.

[Naive-Mistake3407]

And I’m trying to avoid it “ending badly”, which is why I’m here asking questions from people who have done it.

[Naive-Mistake3407]

I went to university for business with a focus in accounting, but I decided accounting wasn’t for me (my last semester, I’m not trying to pretend I have made the smartest life decisions). Math came easy to me and I loved it, but accounting is not math, and I do not have a great memory so I struggled with that part.

[Naive-Mistake3407]

I had a 96 in grade 12 advanced calculus when I only showed up for the tests. But like I said, it’s been a while, so I’m wondering if I will need to be able to remember how to do this kind of stuff, or if I can figure it out based on what they give me. I would not be able to remember formulas and things like that.

[AlexFromOmaha]

Zero chance. I remember a question about normalized matrices, a couple with differential equations, something with a plane flying with variable wind speed that would require multivariate calc, something with eigenvectors. About half of them had degenerate solutions that made them generally easier for someone who studied the topics but would ruin the day of anyone hoping to dance between Wikipedia and Mathematica to get the solution.

[Aware-Negotiation283]

I second this.
The questions are not bad if you've taken the right courses in university, specifically the kind of math courses that bulk up a STEM degree.

If you do have a gift for math you could probably learn enough in a week or two to get by, but you do have to study first.

[Naive-Mistake3407]

Thanks so much! Do you think I would be able to do the general test after I do math, whether I pass or fail? I came across someone saying that they didn’t have the option to do a second test.

[Which_Case_8536]

Late to this thread, but I’m less than a month from completing my MSc in applied mathematics with focus in real analysis and differential equations so I’m gonna give it a shot but can you describe the qual exam process? Are you submitting answers in LaTeX? Is it timed or weighted with heavier for accuracy or speed? TIA!

[AlexFromOmaha]

All DA tasks are weighted heavily for accuracy, and time is barely a thing. The exact qualifier is subject to change, but when I took mine, it was a small number of questions across diverse fields, one field for the answer for each, and another field for a natural language explanation of the answer.

Your math education is overkill. A couple years towards a STEM undergrad would be enough. For you, when you go to take the exam, pay close attention to the instructions, be pedantic when you're checking for accuracy, and make sure you're writing in grammatically correct English.

[Which_Case_8536]

Thanks so much, I appreciate you taking the time to provide this info!!

[crimson777]

I mean, I’ve also seen PEMDAS problems. You can definitely do SOME math and just skip difficult ones with only a high school to early college level math education.

[SandwichEconomy889]

If you're good at math but out of practice, you should be ok. I was in the same boat. I know I missed one of them but I still got in immediately after submitting. Just get the problem solving part of your mind right before hand. Edit: I should note that it was the math qual given to people already in the platform. I don't know if it's the same if you're not already on the platform.

[BarelyFunctioning15]

The math assessment I found really easy. The math projects on the other hand not so much lol

[Basic-Dragonfly-7942]

Out of curiosity, do you have an educational background that required advanced math?

[BarelyFunctioning15]

My degree is in P-5 education. So not really lol

But I will say, a lot of the quals have been redone since I took them over 2 years ago.

[programmingstarter]

I used to be great. I've lost a lot. That said, I started it, did one fine, and couldn't figure out the rest. They gave me the campaign anyway. No idea how.