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How to Prepare for ACCUPLACER Placement Test

The ACCUPLACER test is widely used to test college students’ abilities and knowledge gained through high school. Though you can not fail the test, ranking lower might get you stuck in remedial classes instead of classes that you want to take.

Acing the ACCUPLACER test starts with familiarizing yourself with the ACCUPLACER test, understanding what it will test you on, and practicing the types of questions you will encounter. 

This article will cover these topics, dive into multiple sample questions, and direct you to the best ACCUPLACER practice materials and tests out there to help you prepare.

Let’s get started. 

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What Is the ACCUPLACER Test?

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The ACCUPLACER test is a college placement test given to students by the College Board. The College Board, a non-profit organization, administers the ACCUPLACER test to help students get into college. It aims to identify each student’s strengths and weaknesses in various subjects. 

Every year, 8.5 million people take the ACCUPLACER exam for placement and entrance purposes through more than 1,500 institutions that use it as part of enrollment. 

The ACCUPLACER test is a computer-based test that examines students’ abilities in:

  • Math
  • Reading
  • Writing

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How Is the ACCUPLACER Test Scored?

It doesn’t have a precise pass or fail grade, but the scores are used for ranking and recommendations for appropriate future courses. 

  • Scores between 200 and 220 are usually thought of as low. 
  • Scores ranging from 221 to 250 are considered average.
  • Scores above 250 to 270 are considered above average.
  • Scores higher than 270 are thought of as high.

If you want to take the ACCUPLACER placement test, we recommend you start practicing as soon as possible and ensure a great academic future for yourself. 

The following sections of our article will tell you everything about the testing components of the ACCUPLACER test and the testing questions. Later, we will direct you to the best online practice library to help you prepare for the ACCUPLACER test. 

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What Kind of Questions Are There on the ACCUPLACER Test?

The ACCUPLACER test questions, except for the WritePlacer essay, are multiple-choice questions, where you need to select the correct answer from the given options. 

The test is computer-administered and adaptive, so the following question changes based on the skill levels you portray in the previous and current questions. With it, there isn’t a determined set of questions that you need to answer. Instead, the difficulty of the questions depends on how well you answered the ones given earlier in the test. 

Since the test is not time restricted, the best strategy is to give each question a thorough think-through and not rush your way to finishing it. If you answer correctly, the next question will be harder, thus requiring you to spend more time on it. 

Since the questions’ complexity depends on your abilities during testing, you will be required to answer a minimum of 12 questions and a maximum of 40. 

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What Is Tested on the ACCUPLACER Test?

The ACCUPLACER test has three main components:

  • Maths
  • English Reading
  • English Writing

The Math component is further divided into three sections: 

  • Arithmetics
  • Elementary Algebra
  • College-level math

The English Reading component has two sub-categories:

  • Sentence skills
  • Reading comprehension

The English Writing test is given in the form of an essay. 

The rest of the article will further explain these components in more detail. We will also provide some sample questions so you know what to expect on the testing day. 

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ACCUPLACER Math Tests

The three portions of the ACCUPLACER Math test are Arithmetic, Elementary Algebra, and College-Level Math. Below is a list of the subjects discussed in each of these parts. 

To raise your marks in these areas, use the ACCUPLACER math practice exams crafted by TestPrep-Online.

ACCUPLACER Arithmetic Practice Questions

The ACCUPLACER Arithmetic test portion concentrates on the four fundamental operations and your conceptual understanding of mathematics, including how well you can apply these ideas in a real-world setting. You must answer decimal and percentage-related questions to show that you comprehend these operations.

There are three types of questions that you should expect to encounter:

  • Whole numbers operations
  • Operation with decimals, fractions, and percentages
  • Problem solving and application of math 

To increase your chances of acing this part of the ACCUPLACER test, head over to TestPrep-Online and their practice materials for Arithmetics

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ACCUPLACER Elementary Algebra Practice Questions

The ACCUPLACER Elementary Algebra exam will test your understanding of algebraic operations and problem-solving strategies. 

These are the topics covered with the Algebra ACCUPLACER questions:

  • Integers and rational numbers: Computing with integers and rational numbers, number ordering and absolute values
  • Algebraic expressions with monomials and polynomials, positive rational roots and exponents, and algebraic fractions.
  • Equations, inequalities, and word problems: linear equations and inequalities; geometric reasoning, graphing, translation of written phrases into algebraic expressions.

If you want to better your chances of answering the Allegra questions on the ACCUPLACER test, use the help of TestPrep-Online and their practice materials for the ACCUPLACER Elementary Algebra test.

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ACCUPLACER College-Level Math Questions

The College Level Math test assesses your capacity to resolve issues involving topics from college-level mathematics. There are five categories of questions in ACCUPLACER College-Level Math:

  • Algebraic operations: simplifying rational algebraic expressions, expanding polynomials, factoring, manipulating roots and exponents
  • Solutions of equations and inequalities: linear, quadratic, and exponential equations and inequalities, equation systems, and other algebraic equations
  • Coordinate geometry: plane geometry, sets of points in the plane, straight lines and conics, the coordinate plane, and graphs
  • Applications and other algebra topics: complex numbers, determinants, series and sequences, fractions, permutations and combinations, and word problems
  • Functions and trigonometry: exponents and logarithms, trigonometric functions, periodicity, amplitude, and other properties, sine and cosine, graphs

If you want to practice the College-level Math questions of the ACCUPLACER test, use the practice materials on TestPrep-Online

ACCUPLACER English Reading and Writing Tests

The English reading and writing tests of the ACCUPLACER test your knowledge of the English language. The Reading section is divided into two different areas- Reading comprehension and Sentence skills. Each of these sections can have up to 20 questions. 

The third part of the test is the Writing test, also called WritePlacer Essay. It is a single assignment that examines your abilities to express yourself, your thoughts, and your English language knowledge through a written assignment on a given topic. 

Further in the article, we will explain the topics you might encounter on the ACCUPLACER English reading and writing tests. 

If you want to practice these sub-tests of the ACCUPLACER assessment, use the help of TestPrep-Online and their ACCUPLACER English pack

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ACCUPLACER Sentence Skills Questions

The Sentence skills part of the Engish ACCUPLACER will measure your understanding and usage of grammar and sentence structures. The sub-test contains two types of questions. 

  • In one type, you will be asked to identify the proper grammatic structure or the grammatic structure with errors. 
  • In the other type, you will be asked to rephrase a given sentence in a way that portrays the main idea but through a different sentence structure. 

Head to TestPrep-Online to familiarize yourself with the ACCUPLACER sentence skills questions and practice this sub-test.

ACCUPLACER Reading Comprehension Questions

The second sub-test of the ACCUPLACER English test is the Reading comprehension, where you need to show five types of skills.

  • Identifying the main idea 
  • Recognize the difference between the main idea and supporting one
  • Critical thinking 
  • Comprehension of complex written material
  • Relation identification between two sentences

If you want to better your Reading comprehension abilities for the ACCUPLACER test, you can get the English language pack from TestPrep-Online

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ACCUPLACER WritePlacer Essay

At the end of the ACCUPLACER test, you must also demonstrate your ability to communicate clearly and efficiently through writing. You will have an hour to finish a 300 to 600 words essay. The essay given on the ACCUPLACER WritePlacer will be scored based on your abilities to:

  • Organize your thoughts
  • Express your ideas 
  • Organize the writing in a logical manner
  • Support your opinions with facts

Five criteria will give you points on the WritePlacer Essay: 

  • Focus – The clarity in presenting your idea 
  • Organization – The logical structure of your essay
  • Development – How well you develop and elaborate on your idea
  • Sentence structure -How effective is your writing when expressing your thoughts
  • Mechanical punctuality – Writing that is free of punctuation, spelling, and structural mistakes

 If you want to increase your essay writing abilities, TestPrep-Online has some thorough guides that can help you.

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Why Should You Prepare for the ACCUPLACER Test?

The ACCUPLACER test will measure your knowledge of Maths and the English language. The results will be used to rank you in comparison to other students and to indicate the courses that you should take. 

If you prepare yourself before the test, you will refresh your memory of the material and familiarize yourself with the testing questions. 

Furthermore, you will save money for extra remedial courses and classes; you will attain your place in the best courses, and you might even get into advanced education programs. 

What Does TestPrep-Online Offer?

With decades of experience and will millions of practice materials, TestPrep-Online is the biggest online library for practice test materials. 

With their ACCUPLACER Premium pack, you can learn everything you need for the ACCUPLACER test. The Premium pack includes:

  • 150 Math questions divided into three ACCUPLACER tests
  • Almost 400 additional math exercises
  • 120 English questions in three different ACCUPLACER tests
  • Around 360 other English exercises
  • Six ACCUPLACER study guides 
  • Three ACCUPLACER essay guides

If you decide that there is only one aspect of the ACCUPLACER testing material that you need help with, you can also get the ACCUPLACER English pack or the ACCUPLACER Math pack

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Conclusion

Numerous post-graduate institutions use the ACCUPLACER test to rank college-level students on their knowledge and abilities gained through high school. 

Acing the ACCUPLACER test and ranging higher will ensure that you enroll in the courses you want to take and will save you time, money, and energy to visit remedial classes.

TestPrep-Online has one of the most comprehensive practice tests for the ACCUPLACER. With their help, you can refresh your memory and learn new information while you practice the questions’ structure and use helpful study guides to aid the practice process. 

​​Written by Victoria Todorovska

Victoria (or Viki) is a Freelance Writer, Psychologist, and Gestalt Therapy Consultant. With years of experience in higher education as well as counseling others, she is well-placed to offer expert advice on guiding others up the career ladder. 

 

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