Search for a test preparation booklet from the college or university you are planning to attend. If they have a preparation booklet, this can be incredibly helpful in finding out what kinds of questions will be covered on the actual exam. If the college does not have preparation materials, you are going to need to find outside materials to study.
Strengthen your basic mathematics skills. While calculators are allowed on virtually all college math placement tests, you will need to know the underlying principles. It is important to remember the order of operations, distributive properties, fractions and other basic skills and techniques.
Study algebra. The bulk of many math placement test questions are algebra-based. You can expect to see less complex problems at the beginning of the test and more difficult ones as you progress to the end. Find study materials for elementary, intermediate and advanced algebra. Study materials for precalculus courses work too, as these are mostly higher-level algebra.
Find trigonometry study materials. Trigonometry can be found on most college math placement tests. It is usually not the bulk of the exam, but knowing trigonometry can help you attain a higher score.
Become familiar with the style of the exam. Most tests consist of multiple-choice questions with four to five choices per question. Some of these will be mathematically stated problems and others will be word problems. There may also be graphs on your test. Ask the advisers at the college if there is a penalty for not answering all the questions. On some tests there is no penalty for leaving answers blank, on others there is.
Practice your math problems. The only way to become proficient in math is to keep tackling problems. As you work out the solutions, try to understand how the different parts of math are working together. There are only so many ways you can ask a math question, so frequently problems are created with an extra step from a previous section. A straightforward algebra question may be made more complicated by adding parentheses into the equation and forcing you to use the distributive property before solving the problem.
Relax. Get plenty of rest before taking your exam. Make sure that before you take the exam, you take care of yourself. Give yourself plenty of time to get ready and don't stress out about the test. Many times, mistakes are made on exams because the person taking them knows the material but feels panicked. Read the questions carefully and thoughtfully. If you have trouble on one question, skip it and come back to it later. A question farther along in the test may jog your memory.