Frrustrated with Quant: Counting and Three Set Venn Diagrams

Thanks so much, I will check it out!


Thanks for the response, I appreciate it!

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? I have studied for two months now and I am registered to take the GMAT on December 10.
2) What materials have you used? I am using Magoosh, the Kaplan GMAT book, the Official Guides and currently also studying with The Economist GMAT Tutor (the trial run, I really love their program but it's quite pricey to purchase the whole thing so I'll see about that one).
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
I haven't taken a practice test in a few weeks (I figured it would be a waste of time until I have all my math basics down and feel more comfortable) but I scored between 480-530 on the tests (really not that great and there was always a big gap between my verbal and math score). In the verbal section I scored a 38 at my lowest and in math it is between 22-32 (YIKES). So as you can tell, bringing up my math score is definitely my biggest goal here, and I am not stopping before my score is acceptable. Another one of my problems is that I somewhat freak out under timed conditions in the quant section and just give up if I can't solve a problem in two minutes. It's as if everything I know goes out the door and I just panic and select whatever answer choice looks good to me.

My biggest weaknesses in math are definitely three set venn diagrams (no issues with the two set ones), counting problems and probability. Advanced geometry problems are not my favorite either but at least I always understand the solutions so I think if I keep practicing I will get more comfortable with them.

My IR score is all over the place from 2-8, kind of depends on how "lucky" I get with the questions.

Goals:
4) What is your goal score? The average score at the school I am applying to is 580 so I would like to get a 600 at least.
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT? December 10, 2016.
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School? I want to send off my application in January 2017.
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to? St. Louis University is my first choice, followed by U of Missouri's MBA program.

Hi gracie90,

With a score goal of 600+, there are a variety of different Quant/Verbal Scaled Score 'combinations' that will get you to that score. Since that goal is so modest, you should know that you can get EVERY hard/weird question wrong and still hit that goal. This is meant to say that you do not need to correctly answer ANY of the questions that you described in your original post. You DO need to limit the silly mistakes though.

You have plenty of time to continue studying and hit you score goal. Since it's been a few weeks since you took a CAT, you should plan to take a new CAT soon. Make sure to take the FULL CAT (with the Essay and IR sections), but this time you should dump any question that you think is too hard. You can then take all of the time that you save by dumping those hard questions and spend some extra time on all of the remaining questions. Once you have that score result, you should post back here and we can discuss how best to proceed.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Thanks so much, really appreciate the input! I am definitely taking another full CAT this weekend and will report back with my results.

I just wanted to report back that I took another practice score today (the free Economist practice score) and I scored a Q34 and V29, with a final score of 520. I was shocked to see how low my verbal score was as it had never been lower than 38.

I do have to admit that I rushed through the verbal section a little bit because I was so eager to see my quant score. The Economist evaluation told me that I finished both the quant and verbal sections ahead of time (with 10-15 mins to spare) so I know that I have to practice my time management as I am constantly freaking out I may not be able to finish a section on time.

Do you have any suggestions on how to proceed with my studying until the big day on December 10?

Hi gracie90,

Did this practice CAT include the Essay and IR sections? If it didn't, then we cannot assume that this score result is accurate. You seem to understand that finishing the Quant and Verbal sections early was NOT a good thing; to properly maximize your performance, you really have to slow down, do the proper work (on the pad!) and use the time that you've been given. Finishing a section a couple of minutes early is fine, but finishing one 10-15 minutes early almost always means that you rushed through some questions (and got them wrong as a result).

If you want to stick with your current practice materials, then that's up to you. However, it doesn't appear that "your way" of studying is leading to a meaningful improvement, so you might want to consider investing in some new materials and following a different study plan.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

I wrote an essay beforehand and the CAT simulation did include an IR section as well (it was the free Economist GMAT simulation so I am not sure how well it measures up to the actual GMAT, I am taking the next GMAT cat simulation - from GMAT dot com - next week).

Do you have any suggestions on what practice materials/study plan I could add to improve in a meaningful way over the next one and a half months? I have been using Magoosh, the Official Guides and the Kaplan Book, and have been following the Magoosh 3 month study plan. While I liked Magoosh and Kaplan, I just don't think the materials are in-depth enough for me.

Hi gracie90,

Given your timeframe, and based on everything that you’ve described, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Total Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in well under 2 months, so it should fit your schedule nicely. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an Account.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Great, thank you! I will give it a try and hopefully it will get me to my target score