GMAT 700, taking it again in 3 weeks, How can I improve quant?

Hi glatzekatze,

I would be happy to provide some advice, but I have a few questions for you:

1) Did you get your enhanced score reports? If not, could you do so and share the score breakdown from your GMAT?

2) Can you provide us with the dates and score breakdowns from your Official GMAT prep practice exams? When you took the practice tests, did you take them under realistic conditions (e.g. in a quiet environment, no extended breaks)? Did you complete the entire CAT, including the IR and Essay sections?

3) Can you describe your study routine? What resources have you been using to study? How many hours a day did you study and for how many total months?

4) For your retake, how many hours a day can you commit to studying?

5) What are the MBA programs to which you plan to apply? What deadlines are you targeting?

To help diagnose your GMAT quant strengths and weaknesses, I welcome you to take my free 37-question quant diagnostic. After completing the diagnostic, you are provided with a detailed analysis of your proficiency level of all GMAT quant topics, as well as an opportunity to discuss your diagnostic results with me or another TTP instructor/coach.

Thank you for your help!

1) I got the ESR for the first one, I posted screenshots of the details here: gmat-700-retake-220799.html#p1705313
I tried to get it for the second test, but I'm abroad for holiday atm and the internet doesn't work well enough

2) I took all of the CATs under realistic conditions.
Aug 2nd, 770 (q49/v46)
July 7th, 760 (q50/v41)
June 21st, 780 (q51v46)
these were the last ones

3) I started in March, studied ca. 4 hours a day and went through all the Manhatten Prep books first and practiced the types of questions with the OG, then I took my first CAT after 1 month and only scored a 510, that's why I decided that I needed to change something and hired a tutor. He gave me his own study material and I started to score over 700 about 1 month later At this time I studied around 8 hours a day. The last lesson I had with him was in the beginning of June, I was then on holiday for almost a week and did nothing. When I came back I studied again for ca. 8-12 hours a day til my first exam (700(q45/v41) AWA 5.5). Between my two exams I took one week off of studying because my head kind of stopped working. I then studied for a little more than one week for around 4 hours a day and scored 700 (q48/v38) (no AWA since I cancelled) again, I cancelled the score. Since then I have not really studied, I took one CAT on Aug 2nd to see if my skills are still there and purchased the Math Revolution 51 Short Cut course and watched some of the videos. And that's basically it. Oh and I sometimes attended the e-gmat free webinars, or registered for them so that I have the recordings.
Oh and btw, I have the luck of not having time problems, I usually have 20-40 minutes left in both sections. I really try to slow down to avoid silly mistakes, but I'm just too impatient I think

4) I could study more or less the whole day, since I'm free til the middle of September, but I want to take it in August since my sister is getting married in the end of August.

5) I will apply to schools based on my GMAT Score, if I'm above 740, I'll apply to Harvard and Insead, if not, I'll stick with a MiM and apply to schools like HEC (1st choice), LBS, LSE, IE, WHU and EBS; I want to apply in the first round since I want to improve my chances of being taken. With most schools I looked at, that's in October.

Thank you very much, I'll do that later this day, when I have enough time.

Hi Rich,

that's why I purchased the Short Cut 51 course, I hoped it could help me with a strategy, but I think it's just not my way of studying!
I posted my ESR here: gmat-700-retake-220799.html#p1705313

Thank you for answering my questions.

In reviewing your ESR, I see that on the quant section, you correctly answered 43% of the second set of questions and 43% of the final set of questions. Also, given that you said “I really try to slow down to avoid silly mistakes, but I'm just too impatient I think,” the lower quant score may be because of a lack of focus while taking the GMAT.

Thus, consider training your brain to “stay in the moment” and focus on each task in front of you. Remember, it does not matter if you get 99% of a GMAT quant question correct; if you miss just 1% of the question, you will get it wrong!!

In fact, I wrote an article that addresses some of your issues and provides detailed advice about how to improve your accuracy on the GMAT.

For your retake, since you previously studied using mostly books, you may consider seeking out a more robust study resource, such as an online self-study course. Self-study courses typically have granular analytics, so you can easily track your progress and locate and fix any remaining weaknesses. Once you feel that you have fixed your remaining issues, resume taking practice exams. Unless you have already taken them, you should complete the exams from exam pack 1 and exam pack 2.

If you need further advice or would like to review the results from your quant diagnostic, please let me know.

This may be an unusual piece of advice. Have you considered joining a study group? Others agree with me that you need to learn how to slow down, and perhaps seeing how people tackle questions differently from you do may help you think through each question instead of trying to find shortcuts and skipping steps which can easily lead to careless mistakes. You could achieve this by working with a tutor, but this option is obviously more expensive.

I really did consider this, I found a girl who was studying for it and I taught her and studied together with her.. but besides her I couldn't find other people in my location :/