Devastating 330.. Need HELP

Question

Ok so my GMAT experience was less than stellar. My practice test were 450-500. But my weakness is math. I literally had an issue with every single quantative problem. I am not sure what to do, im not sure if a prep course would be appropriate or if i should take a college algebra class as a refresher even before i take a prep course. Math has always been my weakness. I was a straigth A student with a C in math. This is the hardest thing to overcome as i feel that math is just not for me, however, i really want to go to business school to get into marketing. A 330 is just not going to cut it.

Any advice would help Thank you!

My hardest part was concentrating during the test. when reading comp section came up i was mentally friend and could not longer comprehend what i was reading anymore.

Preparing i did some of the MGMAT FOundations of Math and the OG . 
I must admit i could have done more to prepare. but i just feel so discouraged since the quant section was just so overwhelming for me. Does any one have a schedule or something they stuck to while studying. ? for example, one week math, geometry, number properties. the next week word problems, ect. I need some kinds of structure. I am terrible at self studying.

Any advice would help Thank you!

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Monyberumen , My condolences, my friend. I would really like to help you. First of all, here is a three-month study plan for someone who struggles across the board: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-gm ... beginners/ You might also look at the one designed for folks who are OK in Verbal but struggle in math: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-gm ... h-focused/ If you sign up for Magoosh, our math lessons go back to square one and teach you every you need, from the basics up. No need for a separate algebra refresher course. Here's a GRE blog I wrote about coming back to Math when you never were particularly fond of it. https://magoosh.com/gre/2013/coming-back ... ears-away/ Here is an assortment of GMAT blogs about studying for math: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/how-to-stu ... gmat-math/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/mathematic ... -the-gmat/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-number-properties/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-math-equations/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/how-to-do- ... th-faster/ Here's a practice PS question: https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/2584 Here's a practice DS question: https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/961 When you submit your answer, the next page will have a complete video explanation. Every one of our questions has its own video explanation, for accelerated learning. Finally, on the issues of building your power of concentration & focus, see these articles: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/overcome-g ... y-breathe/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/beating-gmat-stress/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/the-gmat-b ... g-picture/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/zen-boot-c ... -the-gmat/ Even if you decide not to sign up for Magoosh, I hope you get a lot out of the free blog, and I hope you find considerably more success in the future, my friend. Mike :-)

WaterFlowsUp · Answer

Dear Monyberumen ,

Allow me to suggest you a few tips for improvement. on the forum I found that most of the re-takers rely heavily on e-gmat courses. Rajat@egmat and Payal@e-gmat are the teachers , who have helped many on their repeat attempts. I have found their course immensely useful when it comes to Verbal. 
For Quant, Magoosh is definitely a good option but I will suggest you Veritas. Veritas prep has deconstructed the challenges in Quant in a very easy and lucid manner , in which a student can get the maximum benefit out of it. If you need any further tips kindly let me know. It is better to put a post here , so that it can beneficial to the other users who may need help in future.

Blax0r · Answer

Sounds like you're missing foundation-level math education.

I'd recommend going to khanacademy.com, start at the 6th grade math level (which should hopefully be easy for you), and work your way up. Skip Calculus/DiffEq/LinAlg/Applied Math/Recreational Math.

Afterwards, you'll want to try some SAT problems (they are usually more straightforward) until you're able to diagnose and tackle the various problem types.

Then, come back to GMAT problems, and see how you do. I'm guessing this will take a bit of time (6 months - 1 year), but you'll be cramming in years of math education. Good luck!

WaterFlowsUp · Answer

@ Blax0r, thanks for the suggestion, but with all due regards i think so much of hard work is not needed. A poor score in Quant doesn't reflect that an aspirant doesn't know maths at all but it correctly conveys that a good hold on the basics may help. I will suggest the user to take professional guidance for few months and that should be enough.

jkaustubh · Answer

Hi,
I will give you my 2 cents on GMAT. First of all my intro. I am a Male Indian engineer belonging to the general category (means no reservations in India for us), believe me this is the worst category to be in India. I gave GMAT on 18th Oct 2013 (my first and hopefully last attempt) and scored 710.

Now lets get to the business. You scored low. You also know that you are weak in Math. The only thing to get good at math is practice. No matter where are you from, no matter what profession are you in, practice is the only thing that will take you ahead in math. Push yourself hard. Get out of your comfort level. You completed "some" of the MGMAT foundations and OG. Why not all of it? Follow the MGMAT books religiously. Finish each and every damned question in those books. Do not leave even a single example. Then solve the OGs and the Quant review bookwise. For example, when you finish MGMAT guide 1, there is a list of OG and Quant review questions in the last page. Do those questions. Maintain an error log. Analyze your mistakes, and make your fundamentals strong. Then go for sectional tests once you have completed your Quant material. Take timed tests, use timer even when you practice. This will help you a lot. It doesn't matter which course material you follow, ultimately it will all boil down to you. Disciplined self study my friend is the only key.

For your concentration, train your body clock to the timings of the actual GMAT exam. Study when you will actually sit for the GMAT, i.e. if you are appearing for 9 am gmat then try to study during those hours. Once your body will get accustomed to those timings then there will be no question of concentration. Your mind will just follow your body.

Do ping me if you need more help. I will be my pleasure.

Thanks and Regards

jkaustubh

Blax0r · Answer

Solid post; there are no shortcuts OP. Although at the 330 level, I think he/she needs to be straightup re-taught many of the math concepts.

jkaustubh · Answer

Yes I do agree that, joining a class will help this guy/ lady. The flow of the studies will be setup. Thats what is required. :-D

gmat6nplus1 · Answer

Conceptual clarity is a must and a starting point, you can't play a video game well if you don't know the keys, once you learn the keys you will even be able to walk the dog while playing Call Of Duty. Your success in math hinges on conceptual clarity. Put yourself in a mindset in which math and numbers are actually cool and fun. If during your day you stumble upon anything familiar with math, seek to recall as many properties as you can about that thing; even if you go to the grocery store and the price of your bill is a prime number, recall all the properties about prime numbers. Try to be flexible, and educate yourself to juggle with numbers at the point that converting them them between fractions, decimals etc.. will be a cakewalk.

I would suggest you to recap all the math properties that you face (books are heavier than normal pieces of paper and really cumbersome to carry around) and cut yourself at least half hour during your day to revise them religiously, trust me, you will see substantial improvements, at least I did and I do continue seeing them.

Extensive practice together with conceptual clarity will make the magic happen, you will see that extensive exercise will help you noticing all the nuances that you may have overlooked during your theoretical education.

Last thing, I was skeptical about it but it turns out to be pivotal for my preparation, maintain an error log, revise it once a week (or more often) you will suddenly see your mistakes decrease and your accuracy surge.

It is A LOT of work...trust me...but it's more than worth the effort.

I truly look forward hearing some good improvements from you.

M.

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Devastating 330.. Need HELP

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