NEW HERE? LEARN MORE
closeclose
Last visit was: 25 Apr 2024, 01:02 It is currently 25 Apr 2024, 01:02
Decision Tracker
My Rewards
New posts
New comers' posts

Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel

Put your helmets on...incoming bomb.

SORT BY:
Date
Kudos
Tags:
Find Similar Topics  Add a Tag
Show Tags
Hide Tags
avatar
phumbert
Intern
Intern
Joined: 08 Jun 2008
Posts: 2
Own Kudos [?]: [0]
Given Kudos: 0
Send PM
Put your helmets on...incoming bomb. [#permalink] New post   12 Jul 2008, 22:58
**disclaimer- I have a few drinks in me...part of the "healing process" :)

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I first want to thank everyone on this forum for all their insight and assistance, I found your advice invaluable. So, yes, I just bombed the GMAT, but I would like to give you a little background before getting to that. :roll:

I am a relatively smart young man, looking to enter a top 10 program in 2009. My application is extremely strong, but I need a minimum of 680 on the GMAT to be a contender. I am not a quant star. I so admire all the poster's on this forum to whom quant comes natural...but I am not one of them.

I began my GMAT prep focused and determined. I gave myself over two months, while most of my counterparts seemed to only afford a few weeks to prepare. I relied mostly on OG11 and the GMAT math bible from GMAT Hacks. I studied roughly 3 hours every weeknight and 5 hours every weekend for the final month.

My GMAT practice tests were averaging in the mid 600's. I can post each score (took it 5 times) if it would be helpful in advising me...just let me know. My final practice, the day before the test, I scored a 680.

The night before, and morning of the test I was cool, calm, and collected. I was confident in my preparation and ready to nail it. So lets talk about the test :?

I had never taken the time to include the AWA's in my practice tests. Come the morning of the test, I found that when I was writing essays for an hour before the quant section, it was unfamiliar to me and made me uneasy. The quant section began with a very difficult, unfamiliar question. It was all down hill from there...panic stuck with me and I rushed through many of the questions. After completing the section I knew that I had not down well. Nonetheless, I decided to take the 10 minute break to calm down and collect myself. I then attacked the verbal section with my familiar confidence and determination and felt that I finished strong.

Long story short, here are my results: Quant- 29 (25th percentile), Verbal- 44 (97th percentile)...score of 590. Getting the score was a shot right to the groin. Those was the lowest marks that I had ever received on Quant, and the highest I had ever received for Verbal. Sure, nerves clearly got the best of me...but 29??? Ouch.

My concern is this: I now have one month to regather my thoughts and tackle this test again. I cannot afford another setback like this one, and would like any opinions/advice on where to go from here. I refuse to write this score off to nerves alone. I should have done better, and no excuse changes that.

I suppose I am (selfishly) looking for a little encouragement and a few suggestions for improving. I know that bringing a 590 to a 700 is possible, but I would so much appreciate any guidance that anyone would be willing to give. I am really down and having trouble jump starting myself and getting "back on the horse". So thats it...comment away :oops:

-pfh
User avatar
iamcartic
Manager
Manager
Joined: 24 Apr 2008
Posts: 78
Own Kudos [?]: 75 [0]
Given Kudos: 0
Send PM
Re: Put your helmets on...incoming bomb. [#permalink] New post   12 Jul 2008, 23:52
U did great on verbal but screwed the Q. My advice is - you require a lot of practice coz practice in quant is the only way to attain the peak. So all you have to do is practice, practice, practice.....

Pick some basic stuff from the market to get hold of the subject and then practice. Accuracy in conceptual understanding is a must before you start practicing.

Good luck!!
User avatar
StartupAddict
Senior Manager
Senior Manager
Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 364
Own Kudos [?]: 182 [0]
Given Kudos: 0
Location: Canada eh
 Q50  V41
Send PM
Re: Put your helmets on...incoming bomb. [#permalink] New post   13 Jul 2008, 07:38
Your V is very strong, if you can pull off a 44V you can pull off at least a 45Q you're well into the 7's. Get a high school algebra book and start learning the basics... 29Q probably means you got got only about 10 questions right on quant.
User avatar
jasonc
Current Student
Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Posts: 199
Own Kudos [?]: 77 [0]
Given Kudos: 3
 Q49  V44
Send PM
Re: Put your helmets on...incoming bomb. [#permalink] New post   13 Jul 2008, 10:35
If the highest you scored on any practice test is s 680 - I personally would have rescheduled the test for a later date since you're aiming for at least 680.

But, looking forward, I think what you probably haven't been doing, and need to, is go through a basic gmat math/quant book and learn the concepts - not just do the practice problem.

Then, after you've thoroughly studied all the concepts, start doing practice problems, and keep an error log of what you've missed and why/what concepts.

It shouldn't bee too hard to improve your quant to at least a 40 in a month.
It may help to have a friend who has a solid math background assist you.
User avatar
Tenore
Manager
Manager
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 135
Own Kudos [?]: 15 [0]
Given Kudos: 0
Send PM
Re: Put your helmets on...incoming bomb. [#permalink] New post   14 Jul 2008, 09:58
I find that the logic needed to do well on one section is the same that is needed for the other. If you can get a 44 in verbal, you can get over 80th percentile in the quant.

I would ignore verbal at this point, except for very short refreshers every week to stay sharp. If you’re a native speaker, you won’t forget or regress. In fact, often your score goes up when you leave verbal alone, since your focus increases when your fresh (and your level of focus usually means as much as or more than your level of practice.) I scored a 46v with zero practice the month before.


Based on the disparity between your scores, I am guessing you are weak in the basics of quant, and are thus unable to even get to the point where your strong reasoning ability comes into play in the test. The only remedy is, as said in above posts, to get the basics down cold. Spend your first week or two solving all sorts of equations until you are extremely comfortable. Be sure you fully understand the finer points of fractions, exponents and solving systems of linear equations. The gmat will test these skills all the time. Knowing percents and ratios really well is also very important (they are easy; the gmat tests them often.)

When you have algebra under control, do every quant problem in the OG. Log those questions you get wrong or have trouble with and study them to death. I made a list of about 100 OG PS / DS questions that I struggled on, and I constantly re-did them. I probably answered each question on my list 5 or 6 times. This was more helpful than anything else.


If you can give yourself two months, that would be great. That gives you 2 weeks of algebra, 5 weeks of OG and one week off. After week 4, start doing the qant section on a few CATs to learn timing and good guessing habits (mgmat quant CATs are great for this). You'll need to take a few days off every so often, too... that's very important. Mental freshness is key in learning and in testing.
User avatar
B
jallenmorris
VP
VP
Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 1230
Own Kudos [?]: 951 [1]
Given Kudos: 32
Location: Oklahoma City
Concentration: Life
Schools:Hard Knocks
 Q47  V42
Send PM
Re: Put your helmets on...incoming bomb. [#permalink] New post   14 Jul 2008, 10:07
1
Kudos
Take a look at this link. This is a professor at Lamar University in Texas. Basically he has written a 354 page book on College Algebra (calls it the class notes). You can download it in PDF format. It's absolutely awesome. He gives explanations, demonstrations and then quiz problems with great explanations. Browse it over and look at the concepts you've seen on the GMAT prep tests and learn those. I don't think he has anything for geometry which you'll definitely want to go over. Some of those questions can be trick, especially triangles (maybe I'm speaking just for myself).

https://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/download.aspx

PS - Check out his "cheat sheet" section. How awesome is it that a college professor creates a 4-page long Algebra cheat sheet? This guy is my quant hero (sorry Walker, you got replaced!)
avatar
phumbert
Intern
Intern
Joined: 08 Jun 2008
Posts: 2
Own Kudos [?]: [0]
Given Kudos: 0
Send PM
Re: Put your helmets on...incoming bomb. [#permalink] New post   14 Jul 2008, 20:16
Wow, thank you everyone for such great feedback. I dove back in, head first tonight. Im going to begin by reaffirming the basics to ensure that Im building on the proper fundamentals. Then hopefully as I work a few times through the sources you suggested, I will be able to target exactly where I am weak, and correct any previous deficiencies. I really appreciate everyone's insight, and I look forward to reaching out more as I work towards 700. Thank you!!

-ps- by all means feel free to continue offering suggestions on this thread, I am always looking for help! :-D
GMAT Club Bot
gmatclubot
Re: Put your helmets on...incoming bomb. [#permalink]
14 Jul 2008, 20:16
Moderator:
bb
Founder
37305 posts

Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne
Main navigation
GMAT Resources
Partners
MBA Resources
www.gmac.com|www.mba.com | | GMAT Club Rules | Terms and Conditions