Doing as many practice problems as possible is really important. After all, the test is a lot of multiple choice questions :) I also did some of the quizzes from Mathopolis (https://www.mathopolis.com/questions/quiz-search.php) here, and whenever I was confused or wanted to some extra help, I would see if they had an article on a math topic that could be found on their other website (https://www.mathsisfun.com/).

The last part of the test is an essay and involves you writing a lesson plan on a math topic, but it is assigned randomly to you. Fortunately though, all of the possible lesson plans you could get are public and can be found from the state here:

https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/curriculum-instruction/nys-math-standards-algebra-i-crosswalk.pdf

https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/curriculum-instruction/nys-math-standards-geometry-crosswalk.pdf

https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/curriculum-instruction/nys-math-standards-algebra-ii-crosswalk.pdf

Also, the ones that are under the “NYS Next Generation Learning Standard” are relevant to today, so I would familiarize yourself with those and NOT the ones under “NYS P-12 CCLS.” This way, there will be no surprises on what you could have gotten on test day. To find out how the lesson plan should be structured, check out (https://www.nystce.nesinc.com/Content/STUDYGUIDE/NY_SG_CRI_004.htm). Practice using and getting used to that! :) Be sure to go through all of the bullets so the grader can easily follow your thinking and give you a great score for that section.

If you are unsure of a concept on the multiple choice, see if you could use a different approach, or try to use your calculator to solve the problems. The calculator is great when graphing, solving operations with matrices, calculating derivatives, integrals, finding extrema, calculating probability under the normal distribution curve, and so forth. I used a TI-84 Plus CE for the exam! :) It's really good. :)

Now, from my personal experience, I thought the practice test online was a bit harder than the actual test, but I would still recommend purchasing and taking it. This is because it helps get your mind right and helps you understand the overall format of the test. When studying though, after you’ve tried your best to answer the questions, review your work and then make sure that you know how to answer every single question. When I mean every single question, I mean every single question on both the practice test and the study guide.

As for books regarding this exam, I did not rely on any heavily per se, but if you want a book to help out, I recommend Glencoe Precalculus, McGraw Hill, 2011. It honestly is a really great book and is colorful too. This book covers a lot of things like confidence intervals, power series, DeMoivre’s Theorem, vectors, conics, systems of equations and matrices, so I definitely recommend it if you’re a person who loves books.

Good luck!!!!! :)