nhemdani wrote:
Dear all,
I have been thinking about posting here for a few days and finally decided to reach out. I am performing miserably in quant section of the exam. This is quite unusual because I have always been pretty good at Quant (IB 7, SAT 700+ in quant, and even A+'s in college calculus classes). I prepared for Quant using Kaplan workbook + Premier and averaged 75-90%. So I was feeling quite confident until I took a CAT by Manhattan this morning and scored less than 40%. I am devastated with my quant performance.
I am not sure whats going wrong. Is there a book (other than Kaplan, 2nd Ed Quant, and 12th
OG) that I should consider purchasing to cover more GMAT topics? Kaplan was very helpful but the questions I saw in this morning's CAT were not covered in Kaplan... I will start with 2nd Edition and
OG this week and finish them by 25th Feb.
DS is more challenging for me and I don't seem to be improving much. I can really use some advice especially if you were once in my situation and improved considerably.
Thanks
If your basics of Quant are in place, there is no reason to fret. If you averaged 75-90% in your workbooks, there is no reason to believe that they are not.
Is this the first online test you have taken? If yes, there can be many factors at play here which could have brought your score down. First of all, taking a test on the comp is very different from taking the paper test. You will get used to it after a few more tests.
Take any two test prep companies - they will have very different styles of question writing. Some people are thrown off by that. The solution is to simply try tests from various different providers. You will learn to focus on the important points and ignore the frill.
Are you used to solving questions under time pressure? If not, that is another factor that could have drowned you. Not because you don't get enough time, but only because you don't know how to manage your available time well and because the ticking clock stresses people. Again, you will get used to it after a few more CATs.
Every question you see in GMAT will be different. You would not have seen it before. But mind you, they will be questioning you on the exact same concept that you yourself would have used at least 10 times in 10 different questions. Just the application will be different. Remember this and it will give you a lot of confidence. Say, if you see a circle, chances are you need to use 2*pi*r or pi*r^2. Don't focus on 'these questions were not covered by Kaplan' because they never will be. Focus on whether the concepts were covered. If they were, then you just need to practice more.
DS is harder than PS for most people. That is the reason we, at Veritas, have a book dedicated to DS strategies and questions. The drills in the book help you develop the step-by-step approach you will use so that you don't waste time making your way through the ton of data.
close
Updated on: 06 Feb 2012, 08:59
