NCDAP math placement — how to avoid remedial courses at a North Carolina community college?
I'm starting at a North Carolina community college in the fall and I need to take the NCDAP for math and English placement. My goal is to place directly into college-level courses and skip the remedial sequence entirely. I graduated high school 4 years ago and haven't done much algebra since, so I'm starting rusty. First practice test had me at 61% on the math portion.
Arithmetic and pre-algebra are fine — I'm around 78% on those. It's intermediate algebra and coordinate geometry where I fall apart, somewhere around 49%. That's the range that determines whether you place into MAT 143 directly or start lower. I've got about 4 weeks before my placement appointment.
I'm using Khan Academy for algebra review, about 90 minutes a day. Is that the right approach or should I be doing more NCDAP-specific practice? I've heard the math section has a strict time limit and I'm a slow worker under pressure. Also — does the English placement test require the same level of prep or is it more about natural reading ability?
Coordinate geometry is really just a few core concepts — slope, midpoint, distance formula, graphing linear equations. Drill those 4 things specifically and you can go from 49% to 70%+ on that section in about a week.
Khan Academy is exactly the right tool for algebra gaps. I was in your same position and went from 58% to 81% on the math placement over 3 weeks by focusing on linear equations, systems, and quadratics in that order.
English placement is mostly reading comprehension and grammar. If you're a regular reader you'll probably be fine without much dedicated prep. I spent maybe 3 hours reviewing comma rules and placed into college-level English without issue.
The time limit on NCDAP math is real — you get roughly 45 seconds per question on average. Practice doing problems quickly, not just correctly. Speed under pressure is a completely separate skill from knowing the material.