NS: 364 - finished with ~1 minute left and spent a minute on a certain problem (wont discuss specifics yet) that I still got wrong... figured it out after the test :\
CA: dunno score, probably low 200s. finished number punches and did maybe 17 or 18 stated/geo
MA - 326, 57/3 Dunno what happened here... never finished that many before.
SC - 280 i think - nothing to say here, test was normal
CS - bad - I'd be lucky if i broke 100... did like 15 problems that I knew in the first 10 minutes and thought 'this is gonna be a long 35 minutes' ended up answering 29. That's a lot of guessing.
NS was a nightmare. I failed beyond failure. This is the test that might make me reconsider practicing for NS this year... I really mean it.
I did 54 and missed 18. Thats right, I went slow AND i missed a crapload. I dont know why, but I can't seem to control my anxiety in NS. My teeth start chattering and my face is sweating... I cant remember what 18*6 is... and then I feel nausea and a swirling torrent of dizziness and frustration, and before I know it the test is over. It makes me so mad that I dont even reall want to talk about it. I DO A TEST A DAY FOR 6 MONTHS AND I GET A FREAKING 99 ON THE INVITATIONAL A TEST?!?!?!?! Yeah... as of now, I quit NS.
All my other events were better though. In Calc I scored a 178 on a test on which I frequently hit clear instead of the divide button, causing me to have to rework some 5 or 6 punchers that ended up costing me precious time for doing the stateds. I need to learn to do the word problems in the 26-28 and 36-38 range, because I'm tired of not answering them. Well, despite frustrations on this test, I got 3rd place, and a 178 is the best score I have recieved in competition thus far.
In Science I laid into it. The bio seemed ridiculously easy compared to normal (especially since I scored a 98 on the section that I usually struggle to get 50s in). I thought that the Chemistry section was kinda easy too, but I only scored a 82 which means that I missed a bunch of questions that I had thought certain to be other answers. Yarg. The Physics section was the only real challenge on the test, and somehow, I won the physics award with a score of a 70. So, all in all, I got a 250 and got 2nd place right behind my nemesis, Alex Petty. So, Science was good for me.
In Comp Sci, I think I had one of the highest scores around the state with a 224 (1st Place). I guess all my hard work is finally paying off here. I heard from other people that the test was difficult, but I'm not so sure. Some of the loops were vexing, but it seemed pretty straightforward.
Math was probably the easiest test that was given today. I did 49 and missed 5, and scored an all time high of a 254 and got 1st place. I know that score doesnt seem that impressive to you guys, but this was my first time to break 200, and I broke the crap out of it. I still dont believe that I was able to do that many, but apparently I did. I hope that I make a habbit of this in the future!
Oh, did I mention that our soccer team WON the Smithson Valley 2007 Ranger Soccer Tournement? We beat our hosts (Smithson Valley) in the finals 4-0 and it wasn't even really close. I can't wait to go to sleep tonight.
Hey, IT'S OK. NS is a really intense test for newbies like you Zack. You had too high of an expectations before you went. IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD, man. You pressured yourself too much. People who quit NS are bad at it, and you're NOT bad at it. Before our NS test, there were people sitting behind me talking about how negative they want their scores to be (they weren't joking, and I'm not joking here either.) If scums like them are still shamelessly and pathetically sticking themselves with ns, what reason do you have for quitting then? If everyone quits because they didn't do as well as they had wanted, ns will be only full of those scums. And do you want that to happen?
Most people severely underperform when the deal's on. All my teammates, one of whom a 3-year veteran like me, scored 100 below their average. SamS, Chris, Bobby, and Blain all did during State. It's a phase everybody experiences. Brad and I are less affected by it because we have passed it. You are just as mentally resilient as us, if not more so. You can't do 18*6, but I couldn't remember what 15^3 was even tho I memorized it so well; and it was in State, which made the frustration *10, but did I quit? I still get nervous before every test, but I do all right; if I can pass that stage, what gives you the reason not to?
Don't think about quitting, and don't you used euphemisms like "reconsider," either. If that ns test was your worst nightmare (sounds like it was), then everything will be better from now on. The slope is positive and accelerating, climb up and get out of the wrong concavity!
Glad to hear that everything else went all right, which proves you were indeed quickly recovering.
I'll see you online tonight, I hope. And I'll tell you about Acker and Flour Bluff; Yes FB was there, so was Victoria and some other 5A schools.
I wouldn't let one test ruin six months of practicing. just forget about it for uil b or whatever tmsca you're taking next. What are you using for calculator?. Good job on CS - you probably tripled my score.
btw, are you still gonna go to dulles on feb 3? If not, I understand since we can't be on a team and it's a really long drive. I'm going with two other people
Eh... I'm starting to get over it. Its just kind of frustrating to not see my practice manifested in one of the only two UIL practice tournements given a year. It also makes me feel uncomfortable about district and region, especially since I'll have to score a 220+ score to advance to state. I ordered the 2005-2006 Dr. Numsen tests yesterday (my last order apparently got lost in the mail, which sucks extra hard since I sent in a money order, and those things require pre-payment which means I'm out 105 bucks) and I hope that my upcoming NS testing rampages will pay off in upcoming competitions.
I use a HP 32SII / Ti 83+ combo on the calc test, to answer your question Brad. I usually work the numerical problems all the way through, and then go back and work as many stateds as I can handle. The problem I've been having lately is having enough time to work as many stateds as I know how to. It takes me 15-20 minutes to finish the crunchers, which is definately too slow for my taste. I am getting faster, though. Three practices a week has increased my avg score from 110s to 170s in little to no time at all. If I can jetison that score to 210 or so come regionals, I should be able to advance to state.
I'm still not sure why I scored so highly on the CS test. There were two loop questions that kept me working up until the judge called time, which for me was very unnerving. I usually finish the CS test with some 15 minutes to spare to check over the test and guesstimate my potential score range. Well, despite not getting to do all that, a 224 is definately my best score to date on any invitational CS test. The guys on my team were saying that the test was more difficult than usual. What do you guys think?
I will try to make it to Dulles the best I can. The meet official, Mr. Trinh, said that I could bring a team, but I'm not sure that my teammates are gonna want to go to a meet that might mean coming home empty handed, especially since my teammates are all Juniors, and if I remember correctly, Klien, you, and a bunch of other hardcore mathletes are juniors as well. They'd stand more of a chance in the senior division with me, based off of the results from previous meets. With all that aside, I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to make it to Dulles. I need as much competition as I can get. Besides, I believe that Dulles will offer Comp Sci as well, which might garner some attention from Cody and Devon.
Thanks again for being so supportive, guys. I've been kinda self-destructive in NS lately. Its good to hear kind words after such a bad performance. So thanks.
Missed two easy approximations on NS, added an unnecessary negative sign to one problem, and got burned by a question i didn't figure out for the 364
Calc... missed 4 crunchers and quite a few stated that i attempted for a 204 - Much better than using my TI 83 with a gazillion parentheses but I can do better
CS... 29/7 for a 118 - better than I thought I did. the test was kinda hard but I also haven't practiced at all.
Found out that there is a good chance that my school is pairing up with another nearby school to go to TMSCA State :D
hmm... I got beaten by 4 points for 11th grade top gun. :( 1174 to Jim Zhang's 1178.
Hmm, TMSCA state, I need to start calling TMSCA about whether I can come alone or something.
Zack, call TMSCA and try to incorporate me into your team or something. I need to go to that meet, for Pete's sake.
BTW Zack, the prophesies each of us made have not been wrong once. You wish for my teacher's healthy return yesterday, and voila. The teacher's return ended my brief teaching career. I kinda like the lifestyle I had, and I liked teaching regardless of the students' quality. We only had a 10o'clock late-in because of the ice, and they did a horrible job spreading the news out; so, uninformed, I went to school, had to go back, and got only one hour of extra sleep, which only left my body thinking it's the weekend and craving for more....
Anyway, life will soon get back to normal. I'll leave Friday morning for Harlingen for Acadec, afterward I guess everything will be all rt.
Wait just a minute... We're allowed to pool teams, Brad? Or are y'all just sharing a ride with another school to go to TMSCA state? Cuz if we're allowed to pool teams then I'll snatch up Sam without a moment's delay. All of DS's team scores would go up a crapload. haha. If its just for the ride, Sam might need to start communicating with some nearby TMSCA schools like Flour Bluff (Yuck) or something. Sam, you could get your school to become a TMSCA member (Its the least they can do after making you teach for them) and then you could get a ride to TMSCA state. I doubt anyone else would mind if you took the liberty of getting a driver and a sponsor to go with you. This might just work! Good luck this weekend at Acadeca. I hope you pawn in every category you're competing in. Wish me luck too. I have two district games, one today and another tomorrow as well as O'conner this weekend. I'm gonna make up for the invite A disaster on the TMSCA #7 NS test. I also hope that I do well in the other categories as well, so that I may have a chance at winning another 4 ft trophy. haha. I've been meaning to apologize for not being online the past few days. We JUST now got our power back, and we're readjusting. I'll get you pix and more Saturday night or Sunday night depending on when you get back.
Brad - A 1174 is an amazing top gun score. Keep it up! I hope that those kind of scores will get you into state. Especially in NS. Maybe I'll get to see you there!
Should have been more clear: we're getting a ride there with them.
I would have been happier with a top gun score of say... 1179 :P
good luck with TMSCA #7... I'm not doing TMSCA #7 but after that weekend I'm hitting 4 consecutive weekends: #8 @ klein oak, #9 @ dulles, uil B @ livingston, #10 @ atascocita
also, my uil academic coordinator gave me his own copy of elements of number sense by jim cummings.. It's a pretty comprehensive guide.
LOL, thank you very much, i'm not interested in riding with FB. It'd be, as you so rightly put, yucky. I can ride out to Luling or something (in case you don't know it's like the I-10's intersection with the straightline connecting DS and here)... There must be a solution. I ain't drivin almost a 100 miles south just to get a ride with the FB people. Also remember, I'm trying my best to not ask the principal for a favor so I can get my "teaching scholarship" at the end of the year.
You had lost power? Were you hypothermic? We left our house alone without turning on the AC or anything, and the indoor temp dropped to the mid50s, Brrr, not good. Hope all those soccer games will warm you up. and I'm wishing you victories. Bon chance!
I'll get back at about 1 or 2 Sunday morning. It's a 6-hour drive to the border. I'll bring home at least the gold in math... I'll do well; after all, it's China we are talking about.
Sam!!! You're good luck holds once again! We won a hard fought game against New Braunfuls 2-1. I Hope this luck lasts into tomorrow's game, and into the weekend for UIL.
Can you believe that we had 3 snow days this week? Today was the last one (weird because we had a soccer game despite the fact that our school didnt meet today). We go to school this week for only one day! Wild!
The only downturn to all of this is the fact that I am now horribly behind on my homework. I don't even remember what all was due this week, and I am screwed in at least 12 dimensions. But its all good. Applications are in, and I am beginning to not care about things like that. Yay!
Anyway, I know that we'll be able to get you to the state competition somehow, Sam, that is as long as your school becomes a member of TMSCA first. Did we ever decide if that was possible? I cant remember. Anyway, good luck again at Acadeca. I expect at least 10 individual metals from you at the end of this.
Oh, and Brad, I still think that scores of 364, 204, 326, 280, and 118 is godly in everyway. Had you been just one question better in CS, you would've beat Zhang. So yeah, take that! Also, keep us updated on all the meets you go to Brad! And, if you can, try to take down the scores of the top 6 scores in all the categories you can find, and email them to TDP at Texasmath. Oh, I'm glad to hear you got a copy of the Elements of NS. Its the best book I've found to date, however, I havent looked at it in a very long time. Yarg. Good luck at your upcoming meets, and I look forward to meeting you at Dulles.
Ack! Its freaking 1:11 in the morning and I have English HMK to finish!
I will ask the meet directors at klein oak and dulles for a packet w/ my tests and the results (those are the two I'm going to w/o my school). Klein HS UIL A results still aren't up on texasmath.org, someone should be able to get them to him soon. btw CS isn't factored into top gun :P (and that's definitely to my benefit, but not to yours :\)
