Hey Zack and Brad

fht · Long-term Member

Hey Zack and Brad

bradp · Senior Member

I took the SAC. I finished and missed 5 or 6 questions. It was pretty easy - most of the tricks were the same as the ones on last year's tests. First meet is Dec. 2 and I'm hoping to finish and miss less than 10.

useless · Long-term Member

Hey Sam and Brad, its been a while since I've posted here. I took the SAC back when I first started practicing and got a 206. I'm sure if I took it now it would be alot higher. My scores at practice now range from about 180 - 250 depending on the difficulty of the test. At the last meet, I was expecting to go over 200, and then they had a question that asked how many Tablespoons were in a cup. I got stuck on that one and the geometric sequence question, and it kept me from getting as far as I usually get in the test, which is around 60 these days. For some reason, I can never keep the momentum that I start into the test with. I can see that both of you are absolutely awesome now. I'm improving with every test tho, and I take a test on a daily basis, so yeah, I should be a regional contender this year.

Brad - I forgot what school you go to, and what size school that is. Could you remind me?

Sam - Have you heard how Andrew Acker and Flour Bluff are doing this year? I have a feeling that if I can beat him, then I can go to state.

And, how have y'all been doing so far this year in UIL? I've gone to 4 contests so far, and I've been able to place in every event in every meet so far. I've been improving in calc and math, and my science and comp sci scores (at least until this last meet) are in the regional placing range for 4A. I havent seen any results from either of your schools, so I am kinda curious.

Zack

bradp · Senior Member

For test-taking, if you don't want to ruin your momentum, just skip the problem. If it's too hard for you, you have a good chance of missing it anyways. You then lose 4 points and a bunch of time. I just downloaded TMSCA #6 today and took it. 16 tbsp = 1 cup. For the geo sequence, I divided 1/6 by 1/4 to get the common ratio 2/3 and multiplied 1/6 by that (it might have been negative too)

I go to Kingwood - 5A (3k people). I answered that question on texasmath.org a while ago :P . Only been to one contest so far- the channelview meet you read about. really easy NS test + adrenaline = finished in 8 minutes at most, heh. I went back and looked at a bunch of problems and then stared at the ceiling for a bit. Missed 6 ... I have to slow down on easy tests. Klein got 1-4 and I tied for 5th with someone from klein. Klein also got 1-6 on math and I got 7th :| Kingwood did dominate science though.. I'm gonna be going to klein HS for uil A on jan. 13. Competition should be really good there.

useless · Long-term Member

Sweet! I think that most american systems of measures run on a base 2 or 8 increments. Oh, and I got the geometric one on my second try on the test. I cant believe I missed it on test day... Man, I hate how just one problem can throw me off. Grr...

Do you practice with your team, or do you practice solo like me? Also, which tests do you focus on taking throughout the year? I've worked through UIL tests (cuz I dont have any TMSCA) from 94-98, and now I'm working through the 03-06 tests. What have you been using?

Zack

bradp · Senior Member

I don't really have a NS team. I'm working on getting other people to start practicing but right now I'm the only person who does NS. I should have a decent team to go to district, though. Over thanksgiving break I did all of the larry white tests and some Dr. Numsen tests. I have the archived Dr. Numsen tests for 2004-2005 and his samples from last year and this year. My UIL coordinator bought some RAM tests (don't know how many... they're like $2/test compared to 40 cents/test for Dr. Numsen) but the uil math sponsor has taken forever to copy them. I'm going to take mostly Dr. Numsen and Larry White written tests throughout the year - there's no point in spending all of my time on earlier tests since a lot of the methods are different on those.

The Dr. Numsen tests are nice because of the varying difficulties (easy, uil, medium). I also think they get harder as the year progresses, but maybe I'm just doing worse as I'm taking more of them :D The easy tests are good for practicing speed and the medium tests are good for a challenge. The only problem with them is some strange problems that are (seemingly) impossible to do.

-- Edited by bradp at 17:25, 2006-12-06

-- Edited by bradp at 17:26, 2006-12-06

bradp · Senior Member

Got the RAM trick book and tests today... The tests look fairly easy: invitational - low district level.

-- Edited by bradp at 21:23, 2006-12-07

useless · Long-term Member

I've never seen a RAM test before. I've seen their workbooks, though, and I'm not that impressed. I do think that his tricks are generally right on the money, but I dont like the way everything is presented. I also dont like the way that he has divided up all his tricks into some 4 or 5 workbooks. He should consolidate it all into one an sell it all in one book like they do in the ELEMENTS OF NUMBER SENSE. He does offer some different approaches to problems that get you thinking, but they generally dont work on all cases of a given problem.

Zack

fht · Long-term Member

Whew, I finally got a break this weekend! Sorry about suddenly popping up and vanishing again. And sorry that this is probably gonna happen again.

Brad, you're in great shape, I'm glad you aren't in 4A. My SAC score is mediocre because after all, it was the first NS test I seriously took since State.

Zack, Andrew Acker is still on the time, and possibly the strongest on their team. I don't know what's going to become of 4A this year, after all the exciting teams were gone. I think you can make state. 208 is decent, and you still got half a year aheadaya... so don't worry and keep up the good work.

As for me, I need to start working. NS is like riding a bike, you can do it no matter how long you've stopped, but the fancy moves and stuff would still require recollection and practice. I got We the People, College App, AcaDec, and 5 AP to juggle with. But I'll be back, that's fo sho.

Ergo, greetings to both of you.

Best Wishes

useless · Long-term Member

Hey, I completely understand. I've been incredibly busy as well. I'm in 6 AP classes, I'm doing 5 UIL events, FPS individuals, TCEA Computer Programming contests, and this year AMC. I'm also the captain of the Dripping Springs Varsity soccer team, an NHS member, and lately I've been working on college aps to pretty much any Ivy League school you can think of.

So yeah... Definately busy. What exactly is We the People and Academic Decathlon? I've heard of both, but I dont know exactly what you do in either.

Hey Sam, what is your schedule for UIL invitationals this year? I'm going to a crapload this year, and we might cross paths.

Zack

fht · Long-term Member

I think it's ridiculous how the majority of our school is Hispanic, and WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A SOCCER TEAM. (Everybody is probably too lazy to even try making one) I'm still trying to run to keep myself healthy. I'm losing shape like crazy since crosscountry season's finished. I hadn't run for 9 days, and on Saturday I could barely finish 5 miles.

Good luck to all the Ivy League applications. It sounds like you are not doing any early decisions, though. I want to but won't apply to as many schools. Yale and Harvard are probably all I'm going to do for Ivy League because they don't have the crappy financial aid policy to international student(Yes, I've been here for 4 years and I'm still an alien)that so many other colleges do... I just think it's unfair.

I'll explain to you what Acadec and We the People are if you tell me what FPS and TCEA are like and how you sign up to take AMC (can I individually? is it too late?)

My invitational schedule sucks this year as always. Our school only has enough money to get us into two events. Gregory-Portland on 1-13, and Tuloso-Midway at late Feb. I have been trying to get my coach to talk our principal into letting us go to TMSCA final. But guess what, she doesn't even wanna go because IT'S SPRING BREAK WEEKEND. Doesn't that just piss you off? Our academic is going to suck worse after I'm gone. People have started idly complaining about giving too much money and resources to the football team last year cuz Calhoun has been horrible in football for almost half a century. And this year, the frog turned to a prince, WE WON THE BIDISTRICT CHAMP (first time in 45 years). I'm happy for them playas and all but that does paint a gloomy future to the academics.

I really hope that our paths might actually cross before Regional.

Best Wishes

useless · Long-term Member

Ah man, that sounds like the way our school was last year about academics. I'm so glad that I was able to convince a dedicated math teacher to take the posistion as UIL coordinator. From the begining of the year, I got on her to get us signed up for TMSCA and the AMC test. You can still have a teacher or sponsor sign you up by going to the AMC website. Its actually a pretty easy process. They mail your school the tests, and you take em. It doesnt cost that much, and your school should enjoy the luxery of not having to go anywhere far away to compete. So yeah, AMC just pretty much rocks.

FPS or Future Problem Solving, as it is commonly refered to is a competition in which either a 4 man team or an individual must research a given topic in the weeks before competition. On the day of the contest, they give you this future scene which has something to do with the topic you researched. Generally, the future scene is a story in which something considering the topic has gone horribly awry in the future. Now, based off the future scene, teams must generate 16 different challenges that people in the future scene might face. The most important challenge is chosen, and then the team must generate 16 solutions to that problem. The teams must then choose the best solution, and write a letter to the people in the FC explaining why that particular solution is best. Its really fun, and I've been doing it since 4th grade. Last year, our team made it to Internationals, which was awesome! We got to meet kids from pretty much every nation you can think of. The Austrailian teams were my favorite, tho. Our team got 13th outta 68 senior teams, which is pretty good, but I think that our booklet wasn't scored fairly. Anyways, I'm doing it as an individual this year because my team pretty much graduated last year. I hope I can make it to Internationals again this year. It'll be on Jun 3rd, and this year I'll be able to enjoy more of Colorado since I wont have to take the SAT in the middle of it again.

TCEA is a computer programming contest which has an Area and State level of competition which has Hands-on problems that work like the Regional and State level Hands On Competition. There's a website to that too, and I think its www.tcea.org . I havent competed in this competition yet, but I've convinced our CS sponsor to do it this year.

Haha, I can't believe that your school doesnt have a soccer team. I know that Gregory-Portland does. I'm surprised that y'all dont. Its a good sport, and a good way to stay in shape, although I doubt that not being able to run 5 miles as fast as you could back during CC means that youre out of shape.

As far as the Ivy League applications go, I found out today that I was waitlisted for MIT which means that basically they are gonna wait until March to tell me that I didnt get in. I kinda wish that they woulda just rejected me outright, so that I wouldnt have that small glimmer of hope which will be inevitably extinquished in a few months. I'm gonna apply to about 10 more schools. I'm bound to impress one. And if not, I've got Vassar and UT to fall back on. Not too shabby if you ask me. I definately agree with you about the International Aid programs. Thats more than unfair. I'd be so angry if I were in your shoes...

I dont understand why your sponsor has a problem with spring break weekend. Just ask to see if you can get a different sponsor to bring yall to the contest. TMSCA state is a very important meet for those on the math and science team that wouldnt make it to UIL State, especially for guys like me who are really competitive, but mess up at regionals, and dont quite make it to state. The scholarships are a nice touch as well. They award people 15 pts for 1st, 14 pts for 2nd, all the way down to 1 point for 15th place in every event, every grade level, every classifacation. The top 5 individual seniors at the end of the day walk away with 500 - 1000 bucks. Sweet!

Tuloso-Midway is a definate possibility for me and my posse. On the 13th, I dont think that oir school is going that far out, but we've gone to a Midway meet before as a school, so hey, ya never know.

Yeah, I heard about the Calhoun football team on the local news beating some team that was supposed to beat them. I wondered what you thought about that. Haha, I hope that your school doesnt divert too much of the revenue into the worng places...

Zack

fht · Long-term Member

ok, I'll certainly remember that for the AMC. FPS sounds AWESOME, especially that fact that it's international. It also made me feel that I'm at the most ignorant spot of the world, because I bet nobody in our school has even heard about it. In fact to give you a sense of how pathetic people in Port Lavaca are---my counselor (who's been on the job for what 10 20 years?) doesn't know about CommonApp. I don't care who you are, that's pathetic right there.

AcaDec is a contest of 10 subjects: an essay, speech&impromptu, an interview, math, music, economics, social studies, literature, art, and a superquiz the subject of which changes every year, most likely science(2004 oceanology; 05 astronomy; 06 renaissance reform with a science of anatomy; and this year climatology). Every year also has a theme upon which one of the essay and impromptu choices, music, economics, social studies, literature, and art are all based. For 04-06 it has been the Western, the classical era, Renaissance, and this year it's CHINA! So it's implied that I better kick some behinds this year. You have a CD with an array of music that you must listen to and analyze, a book to read(for the classical era year we must read oedipus rex and antigone; last year renaissance Shakespears' Much ado about nothing&Anthony and Cleopatra; this year The Good Earth). Every subject has at most 1000 pts. And except the essay, sp&imp, and interview, everything else is multiple choice test based on the reading material provided and your independent research.

Oops, I gotta go, I shall resume my lecture later. I haven't even gotten to the "fun" part yet.

What's your Y! messenger ID?

Best Wishes

useless · Long-term Member

Aca Deca sounds like a real mental marathon... I dont think that I would be able to keep all 10 contests straight. How have you done in Aca deca? Is there a state or national tournement that you have been to?

Haha, not too many people have heard of FPS. Its alot bigger in smaller mideastern states like Kentucky (they won Internationals last year). I don't even really consider it much of a contest, because a good majority of the grade comes off of creativity, which can easily be conjured the day of the contest. I do have to admit that it is a real blast, though.

Out of curiousity, how far away are you from Houston? I might be able to meet you at an invitational and we can enter as an independant team if you want to go to any extra meets. Our Tyrannosaurs team got 2nd place overall at the first Oconner meet, so the prospect really inst that crazy.

My AIM sn is rainingducks37. I'm on at nights usually. whats yours?

Zack

Date: Dec 12, 2006

Go to the UIL A meet @ Klein Jan. 13. I will secede from my school and our trio will dominate

bradp · Senior Member

that post was by me

useless · Long-term Member

Haha, that would be hilarious. I say we should do it on some random TMSCA meet, not a UIL invite (Since our schools will probably be going anyway). I've been wanting to create a NS super team for quite some time now just for the hell of it. If we did get together, I would probably expect a Team score of around 800 or so, (200 from me, and and avg of 300 from you guys), which should be enough to topple most teams other than Klien, Oconner, and a few other exceptions.

I'm thinking that we'd do some considerable pawnage in the other events as well, like math and Comp Sci. How good are yall at calc, Sci, and CS anyway? I dont think I've asked in a while. My calc and science scores have come up significantly, so we might have a team in those events as well. Sweet!!

Speaking of CS, who's going to the Jersey Village contest on the 6th of Jan? Theres a Hands on meet there, and I'm bringing a team. I know y'all live somewhere near by, so I expect to see one of you there! :>

Haha, if either of you seriously wants to put a team together, I'd be happy to join in on the fun. I live in Central Texas, and I have a willing driving distance of about 3.5 hrs which gets most of Houston and south dallas as well as San Antonio, and as far south as Corpus Cristi. There is a crapload of meets coming up between Jan 13 and Mar 3, so you never know.

Zack

fht · Long-term Member

My AIM is samfht89 and my Y! is sam_haotianfang, usually I'm on every night for some time.

That was a heckuva good idea! I'd love to be on some elite team or something. and I need to start practicing!

My distance to Houston might be a bit disappointing: we are 28 miles aways from Victoria on a bearing of about 120 degrees. If you have a Texas map, find SanAntone and Houston and then look for a point on the coast that with the two cities forms an isoscelete(the spellg looks dubious) triangle, about 140 miles or so from Austin downtown.

Continuing on AcaDec briefly, each team consists of 9 members even classified into 3 categories by their GPA: Honor(A), Scholastic(B), and Varsity(C). Quite euphemistic, huh? And the team with the most OVERALL points advance. That's what sucks about our school, hardly anybody else work for it like me. Ergo even though it's a national contest organized by USAD and, in Texas, its substrate TAD, our team is stuck in regional level because of team overall performance. I don't and won't get to all 10 subjects. I usually do well in Sp&Imp, Essay, Interview, Music, Science, and, shame on me if I don't, math. Literature sometimes clicks but sometimes doesn't. I mean, all those schools in the region have AcaDec as a regular class. We don't! I personally start reading the materials beginning in December. The contest is usually the 3rd Fri. and Sat. of Jan. but my speech is usually not done until within 5 days of the competition, while I'm sure all the other schools have everything ready for so long that by contest time they must have been bored to death by their speech. So my performance, granting how well prepared all my Honor competitors are, has been personally satisfactory. But this year eveything is about China, so people expect me to kick some @$$. Overall, besides math I did learn a lot of things from it, which is why I'm lovin' it.

I never paid much attention to SC, CA, and CS. What I learned from the curriculum usually get me into regionals. But heck, this is our last year, I may very well just go for them.

I gotta go again, I'm sabotaging my project doing time for my guitar class. Guitar's a lot harder than piano, I found.

I'll get on with the AMC thing, and see what comes of it. All'd be easier after messenger contacts are established. Meanwhile, the bell rang.

Best Wishes

-- Edited by fht at 15:12, 2006-12-13

bradp · Senior Member

Math - I'm getting better at this. I answered 43 questions on a RAM test Dec 2(the test was around invitational difficulty) which is much better than the 30ish questions I was doing last year. I'm hoping to finish 50 questions on UIL A/B and 45 on District. Anything over a 200 @ district will probably go to regionals since our district is much easier this year.

Calc - Scored about 150 on the one practice test I've taken. I'm gonna try to improve here.. My goal is to be proficient w/ RPN before district

CS - took the class last year... I haven't learned anything new since then and I've forgotten a lot, but I learned a lot of the material outside of the class so I should be able to relearn it.

Sci - Currently in physics 1 & chemistry 1. I can answer about 15 bio, 16-17 chem and 12-13 physics. I will make a 300 one day. This is the only math/sci event in which our school has a solid team.

Besides the A and B invitationals, I'm looking to go to a Houston area TMSCA #12 / UIL E (Why is #12 E and State D? ???) and (at least) one of the following : #7 @ elkins, #8 @ klein oak, #9 @ dulles

-- Edited by bradp at 18:10, 2006-12-13

-- Edited by bradp at 18:11, 2006-12-13

useless · Long-term Member

I looked up Aca Deca, Sam, and I must say that I am impressed with the competition. It seems alot more like what I thought HS academic competition would be like when I was in MS. I like that it requires students to be proficient in pretty much every area of academia. The math competition looks like a slightly harder version of the Math IIC SAT test just from the outline anyway. What kind of things do the the Science and Music tests quiz y'all over?

Oh, and I've been looking up tournements that we could possibly go to and the dates they would be on.

Jan 20th - O'conner (TMSCA) Its a 3 hr drive for Sam, 2hr drive for me, and 3.5 for Brad. Yarg this one is more than a stretch. There are closer meets, but they all use Set A materials, and I know that yall are both going to a meet on the 13th.

Jan 27th - I think my school is going to Round Rock HS. So, I cant suggest a meet for this day.

Feb 3rd - Dulles, at Sugerland. This meet is gonna be insane. Klien will be there, and if we go, well, you get the picture.

Feb 10 - Invite B. My school is going somewhere local like Wimberley or something, so yeah.

Feb 17 - Needville looks close to both of yall and only 3hrs away from me, so I think this is a workable meet.

Feb 24 - Either Tuloso-Midway or A&M Consolidated. Both of these should be good, and close to you.

Mar 3 - Nothing close to you guys. I might go to one far away, but I dunno.

And past that, well, you already know. Do yall have any other suggestions? I think these are as close as I could find to both of your locations.

Brad - Where did you hear about the Elkins and Klien Oak invites? I cant find it on the UIL website. Those meets sound really competitive, and I would like to try to make those if possible.

Zack