So I went today to take the ASSET Placement Test at the college I am trying to get accepted into this fall. Basically this is going to help them determine what skills I am strong in and what I need help with. The test consisted of 4 parts; Writing Skills, Reading Skills, and Numerical Skills. You have 25 minutes to complete each section of the test.
Going into the test I felt good. I wasn’t nervous a bit. I walked in about 10 minutes before the testing was to begin. Those already present came to attention when I walked in…. all eyes turned to me. It made me a little uncomfortable, but I quickly realized, they thought I was the instructor. This brought a smile to my face as I took my seat. I hadn’t given it much thought before, but I was the oldest one in the room. I mean, I’m old enough to be most of these kids dad. A few minutes go by and then the instructor comes in… I think I was older than her! Then the feeling starts to creep in… What the hell am I doing? Thankfully the testing quickly began and the though was pushed out of my mindfor now.
Writing and Reading portions came first. A nice boost to my confidence. I may have blown them both, but I think I did fairly well, breezed through them even. I went back through my answers to make sure I didn’t miss something.
Numerical skills were up next. A nice dose of back to reality! Math has never been my strongest game, but I had no idea just how bad I was. I decided to skip the ones I couldn’t get the answer promptly and come back to them. Before long I had skipped half of the answers. I finally answered all of the questions, but to be honest some of them I had to employ the WAG technique.
Elementary Algebra was the final portion of the test. We were instructed that this portion was optional, but to give it a try anyway. If we blow it, not to worry, we would just be placed in a pre-Algebra class to boost our skills. I always liked Algebra way back when, so I decided to give it a try. I dove in and pretty soon it started coming back to me. I made through the first five questions. I started feeling pretty good until I realized I only had 10 minutes to go and 20 more problems to solve. I closed the book, turned in my answers and left with one pounding headache.
