by Rich Cohen, Rich.C@empowergmat.com www.EMPOWERgmat.com
Whether you know it or not, the top Scaled Score that you can receive in the Quant section of the GMAT is a Q51. These days, that score represents about the 97th percentile, meaning that 97% of Test Takers can’t (or won’t) do what it takes to score at that level. The Q51 has become something of an obsession for a subset of Test Takers – they become fixated on it and spend an excessive amount of time trying to achieve it (when that time and effort would almost certainly be better spent improving other things, such as their SC, RC and CR skills for the Verbal section).
One of the difficulties with scoring at that level in the Quant is that it requires a number of skills that are not needed to pass a typical ‘math test.’ Many Test Takers continue to study for the Quant section as if it were a math test though and can’t improve beyond a certain point (typically a score in the Q45 to Q49 range). Before you can earn a Quant Score above that range, you have to define what you’re not properly doing during your studies… and then make the necessary adjustments to how you prepare for the Quant section of the GMAT.
1 - You’re approaching the 37 Quant questions as if they were ‘math questions’
The Quant section of the GMAT is NOT a math test – it’s a critical thinking test that requires that you do a number of little calculations (typically involving basic math) throughout it. As such, there’s a general limitation as to how high you can score with ‘just’ math skills – since those skills are NOT what that section is designed to measure.
When scoring Q51, a variety of other skills take precedence over high-level math skills. Your ability to use Tactics, pattern-match, use the answer choices to your advantage, estimate, make logical deductions based on Number Properties, etc. all contribute far more to scoring a Q51 than you probably realize. Beyond those skills, your ability to take notes, do organized work, work efficiently and be thorough with your thinking (especially when working on DS questions) also factor in a great deal when handling the Quant section overall.
2 – You’re focusing on the wrong questions during your review
Many Test Takers become fixated on the ‘level’ of the questions that they’re getting correct and incorrect. That mis-placed emphasis on ‘700 level’ questions ends up distracting those same Test Takers from what they should actually be focused on – correctly answering all of the ‘gettable’ questions, regardless of the implied level of those question.
As a way to prove this point, you should take a good look at the Quant section of the last CAT that you took. Make a list of every question that you got wrong and try to categorize (in real simple terms) WHY you got each question wrong. How many questions did you think were just ‘too hard’ relative to all of the other questions that you got wrong? How many of those other questions do you think you could have gotten correct? I’ll bet that list is LARGER than the list of questions that you thought were too hard. Now, guess which list most people tend to fixate on….? If you’re wondering where you’re going to find the missing points that you’re looking for, then you should start with ALL of those gettable questions that you didn’t get correct.
3 – You’re taking your CATs in an unrealistic way and that’s impacting your score results
On Test Day, you’re going to have to go through quite a bit of work before you see your first Quant question. Beyond the check-in phase and the time it takes to get to your computer, you also have to work through the Essay, the IR section and the first 8-minute break. All of those tasks take time and effort. That first Quant question won’t show up until almost 1.5 hours have gone by on Test Day. When you take your CATs, have you worked through ALL of those Test-Day requirements before you begin the Quant section? Because if you haven’t, then you’ve taken a shorter, easier CAT that required less work from you; by extension, you went into the Quant section in an unrealistic way and you likely had an easier time dealing with it than you actually will on the Official GMAT. At higher and higher score levels, the GMAT becomes really ‘sensitive’ to little mistakes. If you’re not training to perform at a high level under realistic, test-like conditions, then you’re less likely to perform at a high level on Test Day.
Thankfully, all of these areas CAN be improved on. To start though, you have to acknowledge whether your current practice resources are helping you to stay focused on all of these essential details or not. If your study materials aren’t emphasizing all of these factors, then you have to consider working with the materials that DO emphasize them.
To that end, we’re here to help.
GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich
