[J_Sherz]

My problem with Math education was always that speed was an enormous factor in testing. You can methodically go through each question aiming for 100% accuracy and not finish the test paper, while other students can comfortably breeze through all the questions and get 80% accuracy but ultimately score higher on the test. This kind of penalizing for a lack of speed can lead to younger kids who are maximizing for grades to move away from Math for the wrong reasons.

Source: I'm slow but good at Math and ended up dropping it as soon as I could because it would not get me the grades I needed to enter a top tier university.

[analog31]

In my view, speed plays a role, though I can't say that it should play such a central role.

I think that in a lot of disciplines, you have to become fluent at manipulations, and at seeing and thinking in higher level patterns. Being able to think your way through a more complex problem would seem to benefit from, if not require, seeing multiple steps ahead in a progression. At least this is my perception.

My experience in school math was that it wasn't enough to satisfy myself that I knew how to solve a problem. I then had to work my way through a whole bunch of similar problems until I could perform the manipulations quickly. This is also how I managed to commit the definitions, axioms, and theorems to memory. If I didn't do that stuff, then I got my arse handed to me on the exam. I gave my kids pretty much the same advice.

[MengerSponge]

You couldn't finish your tests in high school, but you're good at math? Have you ever been evaluated for test anxiety?

https://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/children/test-anxie...

There's no shame in it (although high schoolers can be assholes), and it can help your school accommodate your needs eg extra time to take your exams.

[J_Sherz]

I've never been evaluated but I don't think test anxiety fits in my case - the speed issue was only ever in math / physics.

My accuracy on the questions I got to was very high, I just couldn't go fast enough to complete enough questions. Same deal on SAT type math papers too.

[MengerSponge]

Different tests challenge people differently. It may be that you only needed an accommodation in computationally heavy exams.*

Truthfully, my mention of accommodations isn't for you--I'm assuming you're out of high school already and you've found a professional niche that works for you. I mention test anxiety and the professional workarounds for high schoolers or their parents.

*) This is actually moving well beyond my expertise. I know about the existence of test anxiety, and I've accommodated students with it.

A brief consult with Dr. Google surfaced some clinically recommended accommodations that probably would have helped you. Sorry I don't have a time machine!

http://www.2enewsletter.com/article_2013_05_slow_processing....

This one's my favorite: "Reducing the number of tasks required to demonstrate competence (such as 5 math problems instead of 25)"

[alimw]

Where I did my undergraduate degree they squared the marks scored for each question before adding them up! Slow but accurate was an advantage.

[xfer]

But, most exams at that level gives enough time to make them accurate.