I just started at Florida Atlantic University and the math placement test (ALEKS PPL) was significantly harder than I'd prepared for. I ended up placing into MAC 1105 (College Algebra) when I was hoping to land in Pre-Calculus or MAC 1114. Not a disaster but it adds a semester to my math sequence.
I have a retake window in about 5 weeks and I want to take it seriously this time. ALEKS gives you a prep module after your initial placement and I've been working through it daily — about 45 minutes to an hour every morning. I'm around 62% mastery in the learning module right now and I need to hit roughly 75% to have a realistic shot at placing into Pre-Calc.
My weakest areas are rational expressions, polynomial operations, and function notation. Those showed up heavily on the initial test and I wasn't solid on any of them. I've been supplementing ALEKS with Khan Academy for those specific topics because the explanations click better for me. Has anyone at FAU successfully moved up a level on a retake? How much prep time did it realistically take?
I moved from MAC 1105 placement to Pre-Calc on my retake. I spent 4 weeks on the ALEKS prep module seriously — about 60-90 minutes a day — and went from 58% to 81% mastery before sitting again. It's definitely worth the time if you put it in consistently.
Rational expressions are worth a dedicated study block. They're not conceptually hard but they have a lot of moving parts and the ALEKS questions are unforgiving if your algebra mechanics aren't clean. Khan Academy's rational expressions unit is genuinely good for this specific gap.
Don't underestimate function notation and composition questions — they're all over the Pre-Calc cutoff level. I missed 4 in a row on function composition because I kept confusing f(g(x)) with g(f(x)) under pressure. Just being aware of that pattern helped me a lot second time around.
Placing into MAC 1105 isn't the end of the world, but I get the frustration. When I retook the ALEKS PPL the thing that actually moved my score wasn't grinding more practice problems. It was slowing down on the ones I got wrong and figuring out WHY the wrong answer was wrong. Like, was I messing up a sign? Forgetting to distribute? Half my "mistakes" were the same two or three habits showing up over and over, and once I named them they basically disappeared.
So my tip is don't just check the answer key and move on. Sit with the miss for a minute. The same trick helped a buddy of mine who was prepping for the free fau accounting competency stuff, he said treating wrong answers like clues instead of failures changed everything. Retakes reset your placement, so you've got nothing to lose. Give it two solid weeks of that and I bet you jump a level.
Honestly I almost quit after my first ALEKS retake because I scored even lower and was convinced I just wasn't a math person. What actually turned it around for me was doing targeted topic practice instead of full retakes over and over — ALEKS tells you exactly what modules you're weak on, so I drilled those for like two weeks straight and went from a 42 to a 61. It's not a fast process but it works if you stay consistent.
Also don't sleep on other placement-style resources while you're prepping. I was studying for a totally different test and stumbled on free fau accounting competency practice stuff that helped me think about problem-solving more carefully in general. You've already got the right mindset by retaking it — most people just accept the placement and pay for it later with their schedule.
I was in the exact same spot last fall — placed into 1105 when I needed Pre-Calc and was pretty frustrated about it. What actually helped me the most wasn't just doing more practice problems, it was slowing down on the ALEKS prep modules and making sure I understood WHY each step worked instead of just memorizing the process. The test adapts to your answers, so if you're shaky on one concept it'll keep probing that area and you'll spiral fast.
Second attempt I gave myself three weeks and focused almost entirely on the topics ALEKS flagged as weak in my pie chart. Graphing functions and rational expressions were killing me so I drilled those until they felt automatic. I ended up placing into the section I wanted. Honestly it's doable, you just can't rush it.
Quick update for anyone following this thread — I've been grinding the ALEKS prep modules for about two weeks now and just hit a 42 on my practice assessment. Wasn't where I wanted to be starting out but it's definitely moving in the right direction. The logarithms section was killing me before and I finally feel like I've got a handle on it.
I'm planning to sit the real exam next Friday so fingers crossed. If you're in a similar spot I'd honestly just say don't rush it. A few focused sessions a day beats cramming everything the night before. I'll come back and post how it goes.
I was in the exact same spot last fall — placed into 1105 when I needed Pre-Calc and was honestly pretty frustrated. What actually moved the needle for me the second time was spending real time in the ALEKS prep modules instead of just clicking through them. I'd done maybe 30% of the practice before my first attempt and figured that was enough. It wasn't. The topics that killed me were rational expressions and function notation, so I went back and drilled those specifically until they felt automatic.
The retake is very doable if you treat the learning modules seriously this time around. Give yourself at least two or three weeks of consistent practice, like 30-45 minutes a day, and don't rush to retake it the second you hit the waiting period. I waited an extra week beyond the minimum and it made a difference. You've got this.