RECENTLY TOOK THE CFAT

[George Wallace]

That's all it takes to get the question wrong....  ;D

 

[CEEBEE501]

Its not a question from the test. Its on publically available "practice tests" that they give out during recruiting and post on websites. I'm surprised your math teacher took "forever to figure it out"!!!! This is taught in introductory algebra (whenever its taught... circa grade 6)

Well it was the wording that she didn't like, I think she was baffled by how they wrote it but then she just showed me and I felt kinda stupid for not seeing it right away.
And I take Calc12, Math12, And Physics12 so simple things tend to over complicate (I started to do calculus on my last Physics test ) It seems tho that most of the math is more logic and to see if you pay attention.

 

[Snafu-Bar]

They we're intended to make you read it a couple of times, and in my case second guess yourself along the way.

 

[Marshall]

Well it was the wording that she didn't like, I think she was baffled by how they wrote it but then she just showed me and I felt kinda stupid for not seeing it right away.
And I take Calc12, Math12, And Physics12 so simple things tend to over complicate (I started to do calculus on my last Physics test ) It seems tho that most of the math is more logic and to see if you pay attention.

I guesstimated most of my answers on the CFAT, and I always picked the one which agreed. The recruiter said I did above average, so I guess that worked.

 

[oligarch]

Well it was the wording that she didn't like, I think she was baffled by how they wrote it but then she just showed me and I felt kinda stupid for not seeing it right away.
And I take Calc12, Math12, And Physics12 so simple things tend to over complicate (I started to do calculus on my last Physics test ) It seems tho that most of the math is more logic and to see if you pay attention.

Yeah I tend to do the same thing. I wasted some time solving some decimal questions on the CFAT when I could have just said screw it and rounded the numbers and multiplied then, since its multiple choice. I guess I've been overtaught as many people have.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Yeah I tend to do the same thing. I wasted some time solving some decimal questions on the CFAT when I could have just said screw it and rounded the numbers and multiplied then, since its multiple choice. I guess I've been overtaught as many people have.

...or maybe you failed the 'time constraint' part of the test with that superior intellect.

 

[Marshall]

...or maybe you failed the 'time constraint' part of the test with that superior intellect.

I find a lot of people seem to over-think the test. Maybe people with average intellect have the best chance hehe. I had to convince myself it was not going to be something related to say a provincial exam or something I had in HS. The practice test really IS a good representation of what to expect.. not much more or less in terms of difficulty I found.

 

[psychedelics07]

I have been looking over some math to refresh my memory for my CFAT, which is tomorrow morning at 8:30am.  I went to go write the practice test tonight,  and the one they gave me is missing pages    My fault for waiting to do it the night before!  So a tip:  Don't do what I did.

 

[Zell_Dietrich]

I find this question stupid, even tho its easy.

10. How many soldiers are there in a group of 27 sailors and soldiers if there
are four fifths as many sailors as soldiers?

I showed it to my Math teacher and it took her forever to figure it out.
How many of these oddly worded questions where on the test?

This question is poorly worded,  I remember the style of the questions on the cfat and they weren't like this.  The questions were very clear.

I think you were looking at:
http://www.cfsuo.forces.gc.ca/adm/pdp-pps/doc/cfat-tafc-eng.pdf
  (Page 9 question 10)

Another solution to the problem (grade 10 math)

D= SolDiers
A = SAilors

D + A = 27

0.8A = D

Rearange the formula so that D is isolated on both sides

0.8A = D    and D = 27 - A  Since D is the same for both formulas We can rewrite is to be: 

0.8A = 27 - A
+A    |  +A

1.8A =  27
/1.8  |  /1.8

A =  15

This is only something you can practice from a grade 10 math book - you have 3 months to wait I think take a refresher course.

The patern questions aren't taught in school,  but there are tricks:

1) Quickly qrite down the sequence,  then above and inbetween the numbers write the difference,  if that doesn't show you the pattern, repete.  Most are obvious as soon as you do this.
I hope this formatting works, this is an example I just made up.

2  -6  18  -54  ___



  (-8)    (24)      (-72)
2        -6        18        -54

Because we see the differences increasing we know it isn't add or subtract.  So we try simply dividing the following numbers by the previous. 

-6 / 2 = -3  Nice but lets try that with the next  18 / -6 = -3  Oh a match.

  (-3)    (-3)        (-3)      (-3)
2        -6        18        -54      _____

-3 * -54 = 162


Good luck

 

[Unglunk]

    I feel your pain. I'm an older applicant to the CF, so i understand that although you have the knowledge, you forget the simple things over time. I took the test twice. I qualified for any NCM trade the first time, but was looking at the Officer possibility through CEOTP, so i took it again after brushing up on some math for a couple of weeks, and all went well. You can take it twice, but twice only, so make sure you are good and prepped for the rewrite, or thats it for you.

 

[George Wallace]

     I feel your pain. I'm an older applicant to the CF, so i understand that although you have the knowledge, you forget the simple things over time. I took the test twice. I qualified for any NCM trade the first time, but was looking at the Officer possibility through CEOTP, so i took it again after brushing up on some math for a couple of weeks, and all went well. You can take it twice, but twice only, so make sure you are good and prepped for the rewrite, or thats it for you.

OH!  If you do worse on your second test, that is the score that will count.  There is no "best of" when you do the test; only your latest score will count.

 

[Unglunk]

    To be honest with you, i never thought i would do worse on the 2nd write. I was just reading on here that your 2nd test, regardless of better or worse, stands. That part i didn't know; realistically, you should do better on the 2nd write, as you will be familiar with the general format. It definitely would suck to get a worse score on the 2nd write, but you shouldn't. BE PREPARED; my recruiter was happy to say were i was the weakest and what i should work on, but i already kind of knew; for me, it was the simple math you just forget with age and it came back after minor review.

 

[Marshall]

OH!  If you do worse on your second test, that is the score that will count.  There is no "best of" when you do the test; only your latest score will count.

Not that it matters now, just curious:  Is there more then one version of the CFAT? Or is it just the one version that is always used.. if so, it would be quite embarrassing to do much worse the second go (unless there ARE multiple versions)

 

[forza_milan]

If people haven't taken any tests in a long time, it helps to refresh math and spatial abilities skills. Personally what I did was, head out to the local library and get as many aptitude testing books as I could get my hands on. The ASVAB books also help, although the US Armed Services aptitude test has mechanical aptitude testing as well, which is not part of the CFAT: (http://www.amazon.ca/Master-ASVAB-CD-4E-Vocational/dp/0768926025/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228487100&sr=8-2)

And practice, practice, practice. The faster you are able to do the tests at home, the faster you will be able to do them during the test. The questions may not be the same but the concepts being tested and taught in the aptitude practice tests (from either online, books, or both) are very similar, so when you do the tests, if you have practiced, you will be familiar with many of the styles of the questions - which is why practice helps. The little practice test that the CFRC handed you just helps to show what KIND of questions may be asked, but does not dictate the level of difficulty - in my opinion.

Oh and one final thing that helped me was doing spatial tests at home. I tried to do as many as I can and with this, like most things, the more you do, the more instinctive reasoning becomes when it comes to solving the shapes. I know not everyone has the time but take an hour or two in the evening to do some of these tests at least one week before your test so that you can go do the CFAT confidently.

Just my 2 cents - hope I helped someone.

 

[muck0nator]

i just took the test 2 weeks ago, got double the passing requirement, no studieng etc, going for the physical wednesday. woot

 

[forza_milan]

i just took the test 2 weeks ago, got double the passing requirement, no studieng etc, going for the physical wednesday. woot

The irony.

 

[WannaBeFlyer]

i just took the test 2 weeks ago, got double the passing requirement, no studieng etc, going for the physical wednesday. woot

Priceless.

 

[George Wallace]

Into your hands......the future.  :

I think your parents are going to spend your inheritance.    >

 

[muck0nator]

The irony.

lol i guess i probably shouldn't have rushed what i wrote.. made myself look like an idiot haha

 

[Fusaki]

Or, if you take my approach. Which I did in Math classes when teachers thought they had you stumped with big equations.. This makes this question ridiculously easy..

Since there is 4/5's as many soldiers..

4 Soldiers, 5 Sailors = 9
+ 4 Soldiers, 5 Sailors = 18
+ 4 Soldiers,  5 Sailors = 27

Thus,

12 Soldiers, 15 Sailors.

FAIL!

I'm not any sort of mathemagician, but I was able to figure it out without using "X" or any other sort of ****ed up book learning.

How many soldiers are there in a group of 27 sailors and soldiers if there
are four fifths as many sailors as soldiers?

4 parts plus 5 parts is 9 parts total.

27 divided by 9 is 3

3 times 5 is 15

Therefore there are 15 Soldiers.

Find X? Isolate D? Whatever. You guys did it the hard way.  And I failed math. Twice.