Regents FAQ

Why Do I Need To Prep For The Regents?

You May Know The Material, But

Do You Know The STRATEGIES To Get A GREAT Score?

Kweller Tips: it’s really important that you take the Regents exams starting the 8th grade. Some schools, such as M.S. 167 start administering regents as early as the 7th grade. The sooner you start taking Regents exams, the sooner you can get them over with and move on to AP classes. Those AP classes are what will put you over the top and make you a competitive college applicant, and ultimately save you money in college. Halsey JHS 157 honors classes complete the following three (!) regents exams by the end of 8th grade: U.S. History, Algebra 1 Common Core, and Earth Science. Those students will have an advantage over others once they enter 9th grade because they are essentially skipping a year in math, science, and history. The more Regents you take, the close you are to graduating with an Advanced Regents Diploma. Furthermore. the NYS Scholarship for Academic Excellence, known as the “Regents Scholarship” awards students up to $3,500 each year for 4 years of undergraduate/college study as long as you score a 90 or higher on each NYS regents exam and attend a college within NYS. Last but not least, you cant reach those juicy AP classes in Grade 12 unless you start taking regents from grade 8.

Kweller Suggests:

  • Grade 8- Algebra Common Core & Earth Science
  • Grade 9- Geometry & Living Environment/Bio
  • Grade 10- Algebra 2/ Trig & Chemistry
  • Grade 11- Pre-Calculus & Physics & AP Chemistry
  • Grade 12- AP Calculus AB/BC & AP Chemistry, or
  • Grade 12- AP Stat & AP Physics and AP Bio

How To Ace The Regents:

The New York State Regents Examinations can be a major obstacle for students to overcome. Passing these standardized tests is typically required for graduation, and they serve as important indicators of a student’s progress and success. However, many students struggle on these exams unnecessarily. Here is a list of tips (both general and specified) about the best and most efficient ways to prepare for these examinations. If you follow them, you are sure to see a boost in your score.

For Further information please contact the team at Kweller Test Prep.

There are 16 Regents Exams offered. Links to past tests, solutions, and scoring keys for all exams can be found here: http://www.nysedregents.org/

Why Should I Care About The Regents?

  • A local diploma just doesn’t cut it. It’s not enough nowadays.
  • In order to get a competitive edge, you should not only settle for a Regents diploma but should try for an advanced one. An advanced Regents diploma not only shows mastery of a subject but may also exempt you from taking certain courses in college.

Can I Get Any Scholarships If I Do Well On Regents Exams?

  • YES! SMART scholarship ($3500 a year)

How Can I Go From A 90 To A 99 On My Regents?

  • Add an extra line below each essay Q.
  • Never repeat the Q in the A. Always use the space for the answer.
  • Look over the test to see if one part can help you answer another part.
  • Be careful when changing an answer. Try to remember why you chose that answer in the first place.

Math:

  • Integrated Algebra
  • Geometry
  • Algebra 2/Trigonometry

Social Studies:

  • Global History and Geography
  • United States History and Government

Science:

  • Chemistry*
  • Earth Science*
  • Living Environment
  • Physics*

Languages Other Than English:

  • French
  • German
  • Hebrew
  • Italian
  • Latin
  • Spanish

English Language Arts:

  • Comprehensive English

* The star indicates that a reference table is given on the exam. All reference tables can be viewed here: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/reftable/home.html

Note: Most Regents examinations are offered 3 times a year: in June, January, and August. June is the most common time for students to take regents exams. Students can earn different types of diplomas based on the number of regents they take, and their scores on these exams. This information is listed below, and can also be found here: http://www.hesc.ny.gov/content.nsf/SFC/Regents_Requirements

Requirements For A New York State Regents Diploma:

Passing Grades (65+) In:

  • Comprehensive English
  • Any Mathematics regents exam
  • Global History
  • U.S. History
  • Any Science regents exam

Requirements For A New York State Regents Diploma With Advanced Designation:

Passing Grades (65+) In:

  • Comprehensive English
  • Integrated Algebra
  • Geometry
  • Algebra 2/Trigonometry
  • Global History
  • U.S. History
  • Living Environment
  • Chemistry or Physics or Earth Science
  • Any Foreign Language regents exam

“With Honors”:

Either the regular or the advanced regents diploma is given “with honors” if the average of the student’s scores on all required regents exams is 90 or higher.

General Tips:

  • Pay attention in class! It’s easier to learn a subject in a year than the week before the test. However, if this doesn’t work
  • Buy a review book! Barron’s works well. Frances Kweller says that it is best to start from the back of the book. *Kweller Prep offers Regents Crash Courses as well!!
  • Take at least four practice exams, and go over each one in detail. EVERY PAST REGENTS EXAM FROM THE PAST TEN YEARS IS EASILY FOUND ONLINE! Questions from previous years are often repeated, with minor changes. For each test, know what you got right, what you got wrong, and why. If you can’t figure out why a certain answer is right, get help from a review book, tutor, or classmate. Don’t stop until you feel confident that you can correctly answer every question on all four exams. If you do this, I guarantee you will get a high score. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BULLET POINT!!!
  • For tests with short answers: SHOW A LOT OF WORK. Lots of people lose a lot of points for not showing enough work. Don’t make this mistake!
  • For tests with essays: Focus primarily on general essay-writing techniques. Introduction, conclusion, topic sentences, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, legibility… these are the components that will make or break your essay score. On the Global History, U.S. history, and English regents exams, the essay questions are either extremely open-ended or all the relevant information will be given to you. Therefore, writing ability becomes far more important than specific knowledge for the essays, which make up a large portion of your overall score.
  • To reiterate: LEARN TO WRITE WELL! This will help you at every stage of your life, so you might as well get good at it now.
  • For tests with reference tables: Be familiar with the reference tables! The vast majority of questions can be answered with information taken directly from the table. Read over the whole table the night before your exam, and understand what each section/table/chart signifies. That being said, don’t take time trying to memorize the information in the reference table, as it is provided on the test.

Chemistry

  • Main tip: Understand the significance of the periodic table. Ionization energies, bonding, redox… almost all of that good stuff they ask about on the Chemistry regents exam can be explained using this table. Understanding this one page can teach you most of what you need for this exam!

Earth Science

  • The test has a reference table – use it!

Physics

  • Main tip: Understand the relationships amongst variables in an equation. Know the meaning of a direct relationship, inverse relationship, direct square relationship, and inverse square relationship. You should also what the graphs of these four relationships look like.

Living Environment

  • Main tip: This is the one science Regents exam for which you will not get a reference table. This makes practice tests and studying all the more important. One key thing to note is that a large portion of the test is on the environment, a topic that is often covered quickly and late in the school year. This is a good area to spend some extra studying time.

Global History

  • Main tip: In most schools, the material of this exam is covered in both ninth and tenth grade. While this allows you to get a deeper understanding of the material, it also makes it easier to forget information that you learned in the fall of freshman year. Practice tests are a great way to review! Note: This test has an EXCELLENT curve.

U.S. History

  • Main tip: Take a few practice tests, and you will notice that some topics (ex: Marbury v. Madison (1803) = judicial review) come up far more often than others. Study what’s actually on the test! Also: the short answer questions following the DBQ documents are great opportunities to rack up points. You can pull the answer word for word from the document and get full credit. Note: This test has an EXCELLENT curve.

Integrated Algebra

  • Main tip: You’re allowed to use a calculator! Be familiar with your calculator and know how to use it to answer different types of questions. You should not lose points because of computation mistakes!

Geometry

  • Main tip: Proofs are a lot of fun. They’re also worth a lot of points. Have fun practicing a lot of statement-reason proofs, and then use your practice to ace the proofs on the exam.

Algebra 2/Trigonometry

  • Main tip: You can use up to three hours to complete the exam. Take your time, and don’t get stuck. It is often possible to find the answer to even the most difficult questions by using a slower (but still precise) method. For instance, if you don’t understand how to use the formula for binomial expansion, you can multiply out the terms by hand. Plugging in answer choices and replacing variables with example numbers are other good methods to find or check solutions.

English

  • Main tip: Familiarize yourself with the format of the test. In addition to standard reading comprehension, there is a listening section, two single-paragraph essays, and a full-length essay.
  • For the listening section, your proctor will read the passage twice. You should try to answer the questions after the first reading, so you know what questions you need to focus on for the second reading.
  • The short essays will be based on two reading passages: one prose, one poetry. The first essay question will ask you to write one “well-developed” paragraph about a common idea in the two pieces. Note that in this case, it is much better to write too much than too little. The second essay question will ask you to write about a specific literary element or technique from one of the two passages. Examples of literary devices will be listed for you on the test. KNOW YOUR BASIC LITERARY DEVICES! You can always write about characterization or theme.
  • Finally, the full length essay is a standard literary thesis essay. Follow the instructions in the test booklet as closely as possible. Special tip for this essay: You have to use at least two works of literature. They can be any ones you want, but you have to know both the name of the work and the author. Keep at least three works in mind before the exam!
  • Note: The curve on the English test is the worst of any Regents Exam. There is less room for error if you want to get a high score.

Foreign Language (LOTE)

  • Main tip: It’s pretty much impossible to cram for this test. Know that you have to listen, read, speak, and write. Multiple choice questions are exclusively on listening and reading comprehension. Translations, conjugations, and grammar questions will not directly appear on the test.

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