I graduated from college nearly 25 years ago. Wondering if I’d be considered college-ready now, I arranged at a community college to take the Accuplacer, the test used to place students into remedial classes. I went in cold, no prep, years away from my last math class, the way many community college students do. Scoring below the college’s cutoff, I tested into remedial math. Would you?
The Accuplacer is adaptive, and the difficulty of questions depends on how well, or how poorly, you do. You may get stuck in simple arithmetic or zip through to the advanced algebra and functions section. We can't replicate real test conditions, so try these practice questions from the newly revised test just for fun — yes, math can be fun. (Four-function calculators are allowed for questions 4 through 9.) EMILY HANFORD
Carole works at a bookstore and a restaurant. In a 28-day period, Carole worked 1/4 of the days at the bookstore and did not work 1/14 of the days. On the remaining days, Carole worked at the restaurant. How many days did Carole work at the restaurant during the 28-day period?
Paolo paid $28 for a hat that was originally priced at $35. By what percent was the hat discounted?
Which of the following fractions is greater than 2/5 and less than 3/5?
Cutoff scores for remediation vary by college. But if you can't do arithmetic like the above, you’ll likely land in a remedial class.
The table below gives the population of the five largest countries in the European Union in the year 2014. Which of the following is closest to the mean population of these countries?
| Country | Approximate Population (millions) |
|---|---|
| France | 65.9 |
| Germany | 80.8 |
| Italy | 60.8 |
| Spain | 46.5 |
| United Kingdom | 64.3 |
Water runs from a pump at a rate of 1.5 gallons per minute. At this rate, how long would it take to fill a tub with a 150-gallon capacity?
The table below shows a survey of 50 registered voters in a city. Each voter was asked whether they planned to vote “yes” or “no” on two different issues. If a voter who plans to vote “yes” on issue P is randomly selected, what is the probability that that voter also plans to vote “yes” on issue Q?
| Plans to vote “yes” on issue Q |
Plans to vote “no” on issue Q |
Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans to vote “yes” on issue P |
8 | 12 | 20 |
| Plans to vote “no” on issue P |
14 | 16 | 30 |
| TOTAL | 22 | 28 | 50 |
If you do well in the quantitative reasoning, algebra and statistics section (represented by the above three questions) and plan to major in, say, English, you might be able to bypass remedial math. If you plan on a science or math major, you'll need to impress with advanced algebra and functions...
Function g is defined by g(x) = 3(x + 8). What is the value of g(12)?
Which of the following expressions is equivalent to 3x2 + 6x - 24?
A biologist puts an initial population of 500 bacteria into a growth plate. The population is expected to double every four hours. Which of the following equations gives the expected number of bacteria, n, after x days?
Did you get these right? You’re STEM ready.
