careless math errors

Question

Hi all -- looking for some test-day strategy help.

My quant is significantly weaker than my verbal, so I've been doing examPAL + Target Test Prep to get my skills on par with my verbal. I learned a lot of math incorrectly when I was younger and haven't really taken math since high school, so I've seen some significant gains as I straighten out old misconceptions and shake off the rust -- become 'fluent in math' again, as it were.

I'm realizing that, at this point, a  ton  of my math failure comes from dumb, dumb basic math errors, rather than bad strategy or misapplied concepts. Yesterday I got so tangled up on a midlevel problem that I pinged the TTP guys about it before realizing that I'd based my entire solve on 65-56 = 11. Googling around about careless GMAT errors, I came across this comment on a Magoosh blog: "Think of it like language drills when you are learning a foreign language: math is a language, and you want to speak it like a native." It really resonated -- I think at this point for quant I'm in that weird trough in language-learning where you can easily put complex sentences together, but you're not so fluent that you notice every time you conjugate a verb imperfectly.

The Magoosh blog posited that making consistent careless errors is a problem with attention/focus and recommended long-term mindfulness practice. Point well taken -- I need to sleep more, too -- but my test is on Thursday, and I'm also expecting to be managing a lot of test anxiety. At my current quant pace I absolutely do not have time for rigorously cross-checking every problem. What's my move here? Pivot from concepts to arithmetic flashcards for my last few days of review? Adderall? Doubling down on questions I'm super confident I understand to make sure I've got 'em cold, and cutting my losses on harder questions?

Thanks guys.

MahmoudFawzy · Answer

I have the same issue, but I am better know because of few habits:
1- take some time analyzing my mistake, and write it down.
2- come back to the same question after a while and solve it again.
3- solve few easy to medium questions before taking a mock test to warm up my brain.

Verbal33 · Answer

Hi,

Well, I am not sure if I can help you out as your test is on Thursday.

I used to do some calculation mistakes and it takes unnecessarily extra time to solve a simple question.

Now as you are already aware that you do calculation mistake while solving qs just be a bit careful. Give 2-3 seconds extra while doing the calculation. You have 2 days so you can solve a lot of simple addition, subtraction type of qs around 100-200 of them. You will improve to some extent and also get some confidence.

I hope this helps.

All the best!!

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi dannaglaraway,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. Regarding why you are making careless errors, the reality is that there are a multitude of possible reasons, from not reading carefully to writing sloppily to making mental math mistakes. It’s also entirely possible that your careless errors are due, in some part, to a relative lack of GMAT quant knowledge in certain areas. After all, on any GMAT, you must answer difficult and convoluted math questions in a timed and pressure-filled environment, so if you don’t know GMAT quant like the back of your hand, careless errors are likely, right? Take the following example:

14! is equal to which of the following? 
 
(A) 87,178,291,200
(B) 88,180,293,207
(C) 89,181,294,209
(D) 90,000,000,003
(E) 91,114,114,114

Upon seeing this question, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Grabbing a calculator to add up the values in the expression? If you are able to quickly recognize that using the “5 x 2 pair rule” will allow you to efficiently attack the problem (see the solution below), the question becomes very basic, and you can avoid having to perform tedious calculations that are likely to result in a silly mistake.
 
Solution:

Notice that there is at least one (5 × 2) pair contained in the product of these numbers. It follows that the units digit must be a zero. The only number with zero as the units digit is 87,178,291,200.

Answer: A

This is just one example, but hopefully you can see that by a) recognizing what the question is asking and b) properly attacking the question, your propensity to make a silly mistake greatly decreases.

I realize your exam is on Thursday, but how much of the TTP course have you completed?

Please reach out with further questions.

donnaglaraway · Answer

ScottTargetTestPrep , are you ever not answering questions on gmatclub, reddit, or TTP? You guys are all-seeing, it's awesome.

I feel pretty confident, given my most recent practice test score (Q48), that I'm grasping the material reasonably well -- I'm 79% through TTP as of right now but worked on geometry extensively in examPAL and consistently ace geometry problem sets. I've also internalized that if I'm doing a bunch of calculations by hand I'm probably attacking the problem wrong, and unless I'm inches from the answer, I do tend to back out and reassess when I find myself in the weeds. When I went back over my official practice test and compared it to my scratch pad, only 3 of the 9 I got wrong were concept issues -- with the exception of one guess for speed on a question I could have managed without a time limit, the others were dumb arithmetic mistakes that I easily spotted on review. It just really irks me that I could have had a shot at a Q49 or Q50, and I'm assuming my careless error margin is only going to increase under test-panic conditions.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi.

Just thought that I would add that I used to handle verbal similarly, finishing early, and then I realized that, since I wasn't answering every question correctly, finishing early didn't make sense. So, I changed my style and used all of the available time and was able to correctly answer 100 percent of the verbal questions I saw the last time I took the test.

I guess, if your test is tomorrow, maybe it's not a great time to change your style in verbal, but something to keep in mind is that, if you are so confident in verbal, it may make sense to slow down a bit, seek to get all of the verbal questions correct, and shoot for V51.

Another point or two in verbal should drive your GMAT total score up 10 to 20 points.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi donnaglaraway.

Q48 is fantastic! So, yes, I’d say that you are grasping the material VERY WELL.

Since your test is tomorrow, just try to relax today and if anything do some light studying of notes / flashcards.

Remember to warm up before your test by doing some practice questions before you head to the test center.

Let me know how things go.

Good luck!!

unraveled · Answer

donnaglaraway

I do have similar issues while solving math questions. Few examples of mistakes i recently made are:
1. question gives number as integer but solving it considering the non - integers also.
2. question gives number as actor of 4 but solving it as if number is a multiple of 4.
3. sometimes reading simple question but solving it as hard question OR vice-a-versa (comprehension or attention deficit.)

I know there are many other errors that i make. But i am now noting down every pattern of error i am making. Hoping that
i reach Q50 at least(looks diicult task though since after scoring Q48 in GMATprep test 1 & Q49 in GMATprep test 3 i haven't reached that level in gmatclub tests where my highest is Q45).

One thing to note here that when i assessed my Q49 all i could find is inconsistent wrong answer i.e. i lacked consistency in answering correctly. May be that is your case also since your recent score is Q48.

For verbal i won't give any suggestion, i might have to reach out you instead.

You are way-way ahead on that.

donnaglaraway · Answer

You are absolutely right, and I've been slowing down pretty dramatically -- I've picked up +V2 by going about half as fast -- but I also like to do a ten-ish minute breathing exercise, stretch, and drink water before quant, so I sequence the test Verbal/Quant/IR/AWA and use my extra time after verbal to get my brain settled down a bit. 20 points could, uh, dramatically change the course of my life (my GMAT's by far the strongest part of my application and a couple different folks I trust have told me T15 full time is on the table if I can hit 760 on the real test) so your advice is much appreciated!

donnaglaraway · Answer

Thanks for the support! You guys have been really great.

donnaglaraway · Answer

Yeah, my error log shows that it's pretty random -- I tend to mess up PS problems that involve several steps of calculation regardless of the level of difficulty, and often land on answers that aren't in the choices then go back and revise. It's  bad ; I honest-to-god got x-2 on a question that asked "if x+2=y-4, what is y in terms of x," which...yeah, woof.

One indicator that I'm understanding and applying concepts well and just messing up execution is that my DS questions go almost perfectly -- all of the errors on my most recent practice test were PS questions, actually, so I basically understand exactly how to do given problems, but don't stick the landing when it comes time to do the math. Annoying. I think that's what they call being a 'poet' rather than a 'quant,' right? Someone just tell me what kind of business nerd I am, please.

Hah re: verbal, thanks, turns out a critical theory degree's good for precisely one thing.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Funny, doing pretty much exactly what you describe was my other idea, but I didn't want to say too much in one reply, and I wasn't aware of the section order you planned to use.

Anyway, have fun taking the test, and be super careful. Remind yourself that, just by being careful, you could score 760+.

Also, remember to warm up by doing practice questions before you take the test, to get into GMAT execution mode.

donnaglaraway · Answer

GMAT-obsessed minds think alike. Trying not to put too much pressure on the score -- I have a year to retake it if necessary, since I'm going to miss R1 at the places I care about -- but it would be so nice to crush it on the first shot. Thanks for the tips!

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

My pleasure!

donnaglaraway · Answer

WELL that was bizarre. Q49 IR8 V...44. Exam went great overall, 760. Much less test anxiety than I anticipated and I had time to check most of my work for the dumb mistakes.

Re: verbal I've never, ever had a verbal CAT or an official mock or a full section length quiz where I got more than three wrong, and this split straight up did not occur to me as a possibility. I'm weirdly charmed? I even finished quant with more extra time than verbal. Like of course I spend two months pushing my quant up 7 points hour by wretched hour and this passive aggressive double-crosser of a test absolutely roasts me on my strong suit, why wouldn't it. I'm going to talk to some admissions consultants and see what my next steps should be -- if I retake, keep the quant up near Q49, and return to the V49-50...

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Haha. GMAT verbal is a tricky thing. Incorrect is designed to seem correct, and correct is designed to seem incorrect or irrelevant.

Would like to see you score higher ... just for the spectacle of it.

Anyway, nice work. Apparently, you achieved the accuracy that you were seeking in quant.

If you take it again, please keep us posted.

donnaglaraway · Answer

MartyTargetTestPrep  any tips on where to start if I want to be absolutely sure my re-take goes better? I'm looking at my ESR and, at least per this test, looks like RC and some SC are where I need to shore things up. I know when I've gotten things wrong in the past, RC hasn't been an issue, but I do sometimes disagree with the GMAT on questions where elegant syntax and proper grammar are in tension.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

For, RC, probably your move is more practice with official materials, to develop a bit more skill in telling the differences between trap choices and correct answers.

The SC issue you described is a bit more sophisticated. You have to somehow get better at making the call regarding what GMAT SC question writers consider correct.

You might be able to increase your SC accuracy just by changing your perception of SC, because it's likely that your perception of what SC is meant to test is somehow subtly different from what it actually tests, with the result that, when you have to make a tough, and possibly even somehow sketchy, call regarding what's considered correct, you make a call different from what the question writer made.

What have you done so far to prep for SC?

(Also, if you are considering a retake, you may want to cancel your current score within 72 hours of taking the test. I believe that you can always reinstate later, though, before cancelling, you may want to reconfirm that you can reinstate, just in case something has changed that I am somehow not aware of. I think schools would rather see one high score than two.)

careless math errors

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