<p>how hard was it? what subjects/topics does it cover? such as, basic algebra/geometry, pre calc, etc? </p>
<p>does it really matter for the engineering students? on the side note, it proclaims that engineering students should study </p>
<p>thank you</p>
<p>There are four parts. First part is just super basic arithmetic, super easy. Second part is basic algebra. Third part in my opinion was the hardest, had some algebra ii and maybe geometry. Fourth part involves trigonometry which I did better than the third part. There’s a practice exam online if you wanna try, but it’s a little old.</p>
<p>If you’re an engineering student, you shouldn’t find the exam that hard. It does matter that you do well though. It determines which math class you will be in. The engineering school assumes that you will place into at least Calc I (you can only place higher with an AP exam which will override your placement exam score). If you don’t place into Calc I though, you will be at least a semester behind. This happened to someone at my orientation who ended up taking the placement exam again. I don’t know what happened to him. So while you don’t have to study hard, do be sure that you know your stuff.</p>
<p>so if you already placed out of the required math classes by taking AP Calc and scoring high enough, your score on the math placement exam shouldn’t matter right?</p>
<p>It’s really easy…not really anything you have to study for. you’ll do fine :)</p>
<p>mgoblue1120…that was the case a couple of years ago…the AP Calc score overrode the test placement (but you still have to take the math placement). If you did that well on your AP exam, you shouldn’t have any problem with the placement exam either. </p>
<p>If you don’t have prior placement, make sure and take the exam before orientation–and you won’t know your score until then. Read up on the different math courses and how the placement works. It always seems like there are a million questions (in both the student AND the parent sessions) about math placement, and the info is all online. From several people we know, if it says you should do a lower level math than YOU think you should, you probably ought to go with the lower-level course. The more advanced math courses are not for the faint-of-heart freshmen!</p>
<p>Its really not that bad… if i can take it and place into Math 140 (calc 1 for engineers) which im pretty sure is highest placement for test, im sure the rest of you will have no problem. Keep in mind that im a terrible test taker and only gor a 630 on math SAT…</p>
<p>Can you retake it if you’re unhappy with your score the first time?</p>
<p>yes. I don’t remember how soon you can retake it, or how frequently. You won’t know the score until you get on campus for registration, though. Really, it’s not that bad…if you got over a 600 on SAT, you’ll probably be more than fine.</p>
<p>Thanks! I haven’t taken it yet but I hope I’ll do well. 780 and 800 on my math 1 and 2 SAT2s, but 770 on my SAT math section. That’s been awhile and I’m not that great with precalc or calc, so hopefully it’ll be okay!</p>
<p>When you take it, come back and let us know what you think. With those SAT scores, I suspect you will find it extremely easy.</p>
<p>I’m also preparing for the MPE… does anyone have any study tips?</p>
<p>D2 went through the practice questions. For those that she did not get right, she had her local math geek (aka sister) explain how to do the problem and then she made up a similar type of problem to figure out. If you’ve done well through precalculus, you’ll be fine. If algebra/geometry isn’t your thing, then you really need to spend some more time with those. But actually, the idea is to place you in the correct math class…you don’t want to get in over your head if math isn’t a strong suit.</p>
<p>lol I got a 590 on my math sat which is below average at umd and got into math140. you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Goodday…how was Math 140 for you? I’ve heard mixed results from people on it.,</p>
<p>I didn’t take it, my advisor advised against it because I’m not interested in the sciences or math as a major. I did take 220 though and it was ridiculously easy, but only because I took ap calc ab & bc in high school.</p>
<p>You sound like D2. She placed into Math 140 with the math placement exam, and her advisor suggested she take it (as she was considering future classes than might require it). She lasted one session, and promptly dropped it…WAY too intense. She’s just now finishing 220 and had the same experiences as you (without AP calc in high school). When the 220 professor said, “This is NOT the engineering student weed-out math course”, it was music to her ears!!! (haha, she’s now also not considering any of the future classes that required Math 140!)</p>
<p>Well if she considered classes that required math140 it would be a problem because you can’t get credit for both 220 or 140 lol you’d “lose” money if she decided to take 140, so I wouldn’t consider it either unless I really really wanted a major that required it.</p>
<p>I am a post-bacc going to UMD to take science classes in preparation for med school applications. My math skills were pretty poor so I studied my tale off for a month and a half and then tested into math 140 after taking the MPE once. Compared to the practice test on-line, there are many problems where you must type in the answer as opposed to multiple choice questions. There are also many trig. equations on the trig. section. These are not on the test. </p>
<p>Of course, if I had to take math 140 I would probably have a very hard time. I don’t have to, however, just Chem, Bio, and physics classes that require the same score on the MPE. I suspect that quickly raising your math skill-level like I did would be a disaster for most MPE-takers.</p>
<p>I just finished the placement test, and I hope I did good on it, iA. I finished HS with pre-calc., but the last part was still quite difficult! Does anyone know how part IV factors into the decision process? I need to take MATH140 b/c my major is CS.</p>