Well I had been reviewing Algebra for the last month, but was just too slow to complete the math test in the allotted time: 35 questions/40 minutes. I was just over half done when the guy giving the test gave us the 2 minute warning, then I started frantically filling in the dots at random. Like that was really going to work I'm feeling pretty damn low at the moment, because I did well on the Compass Exam, and went all the way through Calculus in college. I just got stuck on more than one question and did not realize I had burned up so much time.

My question is this: Are there any realistic practice test for the Math part of this exam?
I have always done poorly on timed test of this sort, so I need to do as many practice test as I can, before I retry in 6 months. With a timer running of course.

Thanks,
Scott Warner

COMMUNITY COLLEGE Algebra One two, geometry, pre calculus I, II and III. NOW

 

exam

COMMUNITY COLLEGE Algebra One two, geometry, pre calculus I, II and III. NOW

Practice,practice ,practice if you need tutoring ,get help and when you take the exam just relax and do the elimination process or 50- 50 so you will have a good chance of passing the exam also buy a book about aptitude exam or find out from the JATC which book is good.and when you pass the exam and get in to the program,this will just be the beginning.SEt your mind to pass the exam.I took a Real Estate Brokers exam 3 times with in a week apart.Finally I passed, bec. I study hard on the 3rd try.I had to study on subjects that I was low on the second exam.Even though I had a cd with 1500 questions that spent time studying but It wasnt enough so what I am saying whatever you need to do to pass the exam and never give up.Just go go go..............

 

practice practice practice

 

Gee?

And that's what I thought I was doing? It certainly helped on the Compass test, but that was not timed. The questions on Compass test seemed a lot more like the math I had actually reviewed. Whereas not so much on the IBEW test, hence the reason I ask if there are any realistic practice test? Or if not that, any Algebra book in particular
that has practice questions that are a lot more like the questions on the IBEW exam?

Thanks,
Scott Warner

 

hey even einstein failed math. math is not something you can memorize in a month. even after years of electrical i still have to practice. at least review once a week just to stay on it.
brian is right, you need to start some knd of math class immediately, i recommend intermediate algebra before the algebra. it can get that brain hurting when trying to learn but practice, practice, practice is the key.

 

Well I had to take plenty of math to get my B.S. in Computer Science, so it's not like I don't understand the concepts when presented. That said, what I need are lot's of problems that are similar to the IBEW test questions, to practice, practice, practice, ..., so I can just go faster on this test and not spend too much time on any one/two/... problem(s). So I will ask once more, are there any realistic practice test, or specific Algebra books with lots of practice problems similar to the questions on the test?

If you blow this test, you have to wait 6 months to retake it (seems excessive),
so I really need to get it right next time and not be looking at a lot of stuff that will not even be on the test, i.e. trignometric identities, systems of equations, ...
There is a Math store here in Seattle called "Math and Stuff". I will go see if they have anything with lots of practice problems that look like whats on the IBEW test.



Thanks Everyone, and if you think of any specific algebra book that would be good review(practice) for the IBEW test, let me know?
Scott

 

now you know what the test consist of so you can study the material on the test.

before taking test.
1. dont time your self till you know the process of solving the problem.
2. memorize the order of operations.
3. do the math in long form NO CALCULATORS! (very important)
4. once you have mastered 1&2 you can start timing yourself.




when taking the test.

1. if stumped on question move on to next one.
2. always go with first instinct.
3. always eliminate the answers you know are wrong.

 

now you know what the test consist of so you can study the material on the test.

before taking test.
1. dont time your self till you know the process of solving the problem.
2. memorize the order of operations.
3. do the math in long form NO CALCULATORS! (very important)
4. once you have mastered 1&2 you can start timing yourself.




when taking the test.

1. if stumped on question move on to next one.
2. always go with first instinct.
3. always eliminate the answers you know are wrong.

test taking 101, this is what I have always tried to do.

 

get algebra for dummies, they have it. barnes&noble.

 

I cannot promise that it would help or not,but the IBEW has a math text that comes with first year books, or at least did in my area when I started. I also think I saw an ad somewhere for a math review book by the JATC. I will hunt around later and see if I can dig up more info. In the mean time if you have a friend in or thru the apprenticeship, it might help. Though I expect it is some other math book rebranded and sold,so it might not be any different.

 

OK
Thanks

 

if ya got a bs in cs, why start all over----in wage, and at the bottom

 

Well, because even if I could find another computer job, I can't see myself sitting on my ass in a cubical for the next 15~ years. And American Programmers seems to be an endangered species given the number of H1B visas the government hands out to foreign nationals every year. Programmers in the US have never had a Union to look out for their interest in Congress, but the corporations certainly lobby for more H1B visas to be issued every year, claiming they can't find enough programmers in the US (Bull).
Not that I would want to work for Microsoft, but when I go to any of our local neighborhood pubs here in Seattle, more than half the people I meet that work at Microsoft are in this Country on H1B visas (from England, India mostly, China, Russia, ...). The really screwed up thing is having to train your foreign replacement before your given the pink slip.
The other thing about software is that it can be produced anywhere on the planet, and of course these other places have considerably lower labor/living cost.
It's not that there are not any programming jobs, but I see a future where there are fewer & fewer opportunities for US born programmers. The only safe jobs in this country are the ones where you have to be physically present: nurse, teacher, electrician, plumber,.. I was a telecommunications technician before I went to college, and I did Electrical work while in college. I figure I may as well pursue something I had done before and had an interest in.

 

warnerms, i understand your dilemma, foreigners suc big phucking balls. but you do not have to work for a union to get a good wage or good benefits. you know you could possibly get a job for an electrical contractor in the office using an auto cad prgram do you have experience with acad. hell it does not matter you got a bs in cs.

 

Well I don't blame it so much on the Foreigners, as I do on our Congress/Senate Men/Woman selling us all out so their rich corporate buddies can be that much richer. And of course it's their same corporate buddies that decided to outsource software development, our manufacturing capability, so they could, err, cut expenses and give themselves big fat bonuses at the end of the year. The disparity between the highest paid employee within a Company and it's lowest paid employee is rather astonishing for many large American Corporations. Yes the rich do get much richer, and the Middle Class working stiffs are just pawns in the Global games of the Rich. The arrogance of these type of people was certainly well illustrated with Public bail out of AIG, and subsequent multimillion dollar bonuses being paid out from the bailout funds.

I have used TurboCad, which is sort of AutoCads poor cousin.

 

Math isn't something you memorize. It is something you must understand. If you don't know the whys and wherefores, you will never pass a math test.

 

Gee, if I managed to get through Trig, Linear Algebra, Combinatorics, Calculus I, II, III you'd think I would have understood something. And there were a few exams involved. Go figure!

 

By a certain point in a man's lifetime, you either know this stuff or you don't. I'm not really sure that stuffing a bunch of things in your head from a review book, regurgitating it on a test, and promptly forgetting most of it, does much good for anyone. Sells books, I suppose.

When I hear people report, "I would not have passed if it were not for XYZ book/review program", I get slightly worried. Makes me wonder if they know anything still or not. Some people do really well at self-study. Some people remember long enough to take a test. It's the second group that worries me.

 

i agree with brian and landsparky on this one. if you(warnerm) have a bs in computer science and can not even pass a simple algebra test, i think your bs IS BS. a simple review would have brought you up to speed. i love math, its easier for me. but, anyway how old are you? they did not have internet when you went to college?! after passing all that calculus, you cant even do algebra, that does not make sense. my uncle is a senior anylst programmer that has not seen math in years, and when i start spitting off electrical equations, he like"put it on paper, let me see what you talking about" i show him, he gets a little confused for a minute and then my 60 yr OL man jumps in on it, no no no, its like this and they work it in seconds. oh my OL man is a CPA,retired, but still. If math runs in you, it never dies.

 

I got in at 38 another in my class was 45. I will be an old man when I retire again. Most of the folks I am working with will retire in there late 50s, I will have to got to 62.

 

I got in at 38 another in my class was 45. I will be an old man when I retire again. Most of the folks I am working with will retire in there late 50s, I will have to got to 62.

I am going to 71 as an early out; MAYBE, if the heart is still working maybe later.

 

I got one in high school, one just finish her second year as a history major. She is thinking of Law school. I will probably have to work a few more years for that.

 

I got one in high school, one just finish her second year as a history major. She is thinking of Law school. I will probably have to work a few more years for that.

One a Junior in HS
One starting second year as an engineering student
One in last year as a history major.
One in grad school for political science.

 

well warnerms all i can say to you is, good luck. if you want to learn the electrical trade, then so be it, do it. but you may want to think about maybe doing a two certification at a technical school, then one year in construction business management, take a journeyman test, then become a project manager. this would be the best solution for your age and back.

good luck. dont let these guys get you down. if you dream a dream, get at it and show em whats up. then in three to five years, you could be one of their bosses.

 

Pretty much. They're taking 250 for this year, will take another ??? the next time they start a class, etc. I dunno how low they go on the list before they scrap the rest of the applicants and re-open the whole test again, but based on the apprentice I had yesterday it's pretty darn phucking low.

 

so its probably a year between classes. Cause when i was a 1st year in Feb 02( I started school 1st)(then work in June 02) They started another class that sept if i remember correctly.(again that class didn't start work right away). I mean if I pass the test, then i take the interview. I don't care how long i have to wait I will get back in and do things the right way. I'm older and wiser than i was back in 02.

 

Not me I'm just wiser, haven't aged a bit.

 

Well I had been reviewing Algebra for the last month, but was just too slow to complete the math test in the allotted time: 35 questions/40 minutes. I was just over half done when the guy giving the test gave us the 2 minute warning, then I started frantically filling in the dots at random. Like that was really going to work I'm feeling pretty damn low at the moment, because I did well on the Compass Exam, and went all the way through Calculus in college. I just got stuck on more than one question and did not realize I had burned up so much time.

My question is this: Are there any realistic practice test for the Math part of this exam?

I hope you realized that 2 minutes being in a frenzy is what failed you the test.

I just took my test today, and the Math part was hard!
They had the nerve to only give us 40 minutes for it too.
I couldn't believe it.
I only got thru halfway before he stated 2 minutes were left.
I took my time on each one though.

The reading portion was so easy it didnt make sense.
Most of the people finished it with time to spare, yet we had 15 mins longer than the math part?
WTF?


I dont think i have ever felt time pass by so quickly.

 

well when we took the local 3 nyc test. the guy said to answer every ?, That u don't get penalized by a wrong guess etc.

 

http://www.njatc.org/training/apprenticeship/sample/sample_test.html

Straight from the source.... under reminders for applicants, the total answered corrected gets weighted against the total number of questions, so if you guess at least you have a shot...

 

Also there was no time Limit on this test!

 

Multiple choice. Remember in school the answer sheet with all the circles you had to fill in with a pencil. The reading part was four, one page essays on random topics which you read and answered 8 or 10 questions from. Easy. I had time when I was done to go back and do almost that whole test again to double-check my answers.

What I remember with the math is sequences- a few 2nd order sequences, finding a function to match either a column of X and Y values or just a graph, nearly half of it was just giving you small and large equations with a variable and asking you to solve for a given value, A few were scenarios- Jack his this many eggs which spoil at this rate and theres twice as many carrots with 3 times as many grams of salt- blah blah and you have to either choose the equivalent equation or solve. I thought it was easy but for solving for variables and balancing equations because that is formulaic even if theres no formula and Im 28 and havent done similr problems in a decade so I just plain forgot the MO. That was maybe 5 Q's?

 

Cool thanks for the info man.... I should slam this out of the park, going back to school (after 8 years) for Computer science taking a summer algebra/trig class as we speak :thumbsup:

 

There are math practice courses online. Google the bolded part of this post to find them. Go through them until you can ace all of them FAST. No use being able to do these things slow, if the tests are fast.
Lucky

 

Anyone feel like they bombed the math section n aced the reading...to find out they passed anyway..????

 

What score did you need to receive to get an interview?

 

I was stressing the math section the whole time, but I know I couldn't of missed more than one on the reading. A 4th term apprentice buddy told me they look for a 70% between the 2 tests..if that's the case I should be fine..hopefully