Difficulty of Math Questions

Dear willieak,

I'm happy to respond. My friend, I have several things to say in response.

First of all, our questions are statistically calibrated primarily against other Magoosh users over time. A "hard" question in the Magoosh product is a question that, say, about 60% of all Magoosh customers over time were able to get right. Now, keep in mind, a sizable group among Magoosh GMAT students are international students, non-native speakers: on average, these folks struggle in verbal but many of them are super-sharp in math. Therefore, if 40% of the Magoosh users get a particular question wrong, this is not just 40% of the stereotypically "bad at math" Americans, but 40% of a pool that includes some truly mathematically gifted people. Admittedly, this makes it a bit difficult to gauge exactly what one individual question means in terms of one's GMAT performance. The overall estimated score is a better predictor than the granular approach.

Everything about GMAT score is cumulative. There is a way that the entirety of the experience of taking the GMAT is much more than the sum of the individual pieces. I think student often get too reductionistic, trying to understand potential GMAT success in a question-by-question way. That analysis ignores the many synergistic aspects of GMAT success. In particular, I am extremely skeptical of the entire idea of a "700 question." See this blog article:
Is this a 700+ level GMAT question?

Probably most importantly, let's talk about what this implies for your and your performance. I don't know when your GMAT is, but you started Magoosh recently, so I assume that you are still at more or less the beginning of your studies. I will say something that will sound like a complete paradox: be grateful for every single math question you get wrong. Here's what I mean. Every question you get right is a confirmation that you understand something, and while that's always pleasant to here, it really doesn't leave you with much to do. By contrast, every question you get wrong is a profound opportunity to improve yourself and your understanding. I hope you watch the video explanation for each and every question you get wrong. Ideally, you would also keep an error log. You see, it's actually a very good thing when you make a lot of mistakes at the beginning of your studies, because then you have the opportunity to get genuinely curious about learning more. As you move through the math video lessons, your mind will be "primed" by all these mistakes so that you learn the content in the lessons more deeply. As I teacher, I actually want the GMAT students to make a lot of mistakes at the beginning of their studies, not because I'm mean or sadistic, but because I know that if they engage fully with each and every mistake, they will be preparing their minds to receive the content in the lessons more deeply. Deep engagement with mistakes at the beginning leads to deep understanding by the end. Here's an important GMAT blog article:
Studying for the GMAT: Learning from Your Mistakes

Finally, I will say: my friend, don't be demoralized. In purely pragmatic terms, that's a luxury you can't afford at this point in your life. If you are serious about achieving GMAT success, you have to embrace the challenge with the courage of a lion. You have to be genuinely enthusiastic about learning from each and every mistake, alacritous about wringing from each mistake all the insight and learning you possible can get. Getting discouraged easily about mistakes is the path of mediocrity. Embracing mistakes heroically and proactively is the path of excellence. If you are aiming to achieve a GMAT score above 700, that would be an excellent performance. You can't get to excellence by tricks and gimmicks. Excellence comes from the heart.

My friend, I sincerely wish you excellence throughout your studies and on your GMAT. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Mike