What types of question do you round to the closest number?

[Flyin999]

I'm going to take the HESI test in the next 2 weeks. Right now I'm studying for the test from study guide and free practice exam in websites. I have noticed that the questions that I tend to get wrong are the questions that require student to type the answer in (rather than multiple choice). I actually got the right number, but I either didn't round the number,or I rounded the number when I wasn't suppose to. That makes my answer wrong. I'm really concerned that I will lost these point from not rounding the answer right. Could anybody tell me what rules we are supposed to use for HESI when it comes to rounding numbers?

For example, I always round the number up if the question asks about how many people because I was taught that we cannot round the number of people down (e.x. 1.1 people has to equal 2 people). However, the study guide seems to round the number up if the decimal greater than 0.5. Also, there is a question that calculates a percentage that confuses me. I think we can answer the percentage with decimal (like 65.15% , 44.36%, or 80.03%), but the answer key doesn't have the decimal; they rounded the percentage to a whole number. Another question asked how many cakes need to be bought for a group of people. Say you calculate that 2.3 cakes would be required, would the final answer be 2 or 3 cakes being necessary?

I'm not sure if I can trust the study guide and the practice test because they both have some mistakes. If anybody can clarify what kind of rounding the HESI test expects for me, I will really appreciate your help.

[TheRedNurse]

I just took the HESi Monday and got a 96% on math. Definitely round up for questions involving people or cakes or stuff like that. Also, DO NOT SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE OFFICIAL STUDY GUIDE. Or, stick with questions that do the basic math you find in the Elsevier study guide. The math was wayyy more basic than other study books/sites would lead you to believe. There was maybe one oz to mL conversion, mostly they were like "how many grams are in a kilogram," and adding 4.549 + 94.3. Really basic stuff. And there were maybe 3 or 4 questions where you had to fill in the answer -- the rest were multiple choice.

[Flyin999]

Thank you for your reply, TheRedNurse. I read the elsevier's study guide 3rd edition, and HESI entrance from the websites that people here recommended. Both, websites and the study guide, have the same type of question. They are basic math and easy. However, this type of question (fill in answer) that I missed is the easy point that I should get it right. I have heard that there are more than 3-4 questions that needed to be filled. One of my friend had about 7 questions that required to type the answer in, so I guess each person is different. That's why I'm concerned and want to know the rule.

[TheRedNurse]

In terms of the actual rules... If I remember correctly, each question on the HESI tells you what to round to. As in, the nearest whole number, or the tenth, etc. I was worried about this too. but as long as you know how to round, you should be fine. I don't think the guides are trying to be tricky -- it's probably that there is zero standardization.

[Flyin999]

TheRedNurse I'm going to round the number as the question directed. I think I'm confused because the answer key gave me the wrong answer, or the sample questions from the websites don't have an instruction what types of rounding (whole number, ten, or tenth) used. I believe the test has a better instruction of what kind of rounding it expects from me.