I am not improving 1 bit

Question

I dedicate good time to doing practice tests and learning methods to solving the problems. I have spent maybe a month to a month and a half, (mainly focusing on math so far). I was a physics major and i can't place better than 52 percentile, while getting about 12-15 questions wrong each test. Where am I going wrong here?

johnnyx9 · Answer

What is going wrong with the math problems that you miss? Is it:

1. Not sure how to approach certain problems
2. You know how to approach them, but you're not calculating the problems correctly when employing the proper approach
3. You're making mistakes aside from calculating, such as not reading carefully to see what the question is asking you for.

Tuneman · Answer

there are a few i do not know how to approach, maybe 4 or 5 per section, then there are a few that I mess up the math, switching numerators and denominators... Really the problem I have is 80% of the problems I feel rushed, I can't properly answer them within 2 minutes, if I had unlimited time im sure I would get about 6-8 more correct.

CrazyHorse · Answer

Are you keeping an error log? Are you carefully reviewing the answers to each question? That would be the first step.

You might want to consider a prep course or a tutor if you're really struggling. No sense in beating your head against the wall. Been there!!

sammie21 · Answer

tuneman, i would agree, you need to identify what types of questions you're getting thrown by and then focus specifically on those. at one point i was getting killed on sentence correction. i ended up getting tutoring from manhattan review and the tutor was able to target that area incredibly well. 
at the same time you should be warned not to abandon studying all the sections that you're doing well on also...ya wanna make sure you end up doing great on the stuff you're good at in addition to improving your problem areas.

Tuneman · Answer

Well I do appreciate the advice, I do know someone who used to tutor for the GRE's, they probably would do it for free, are the tests similar?

I wish I could take this slow and spend a couple months on it, but really all I have is about 4-5 weeks...

kidderek · Answer

If you're not improving, you're not studying properly. Take baby steps. Learn and absorb very slowly and do not move on until you feel comfortable.

Tuneman · Answer

For the error log. Is that the same thing as the "GMAT study grid" that qhoc0010 posted in the sticky above?

lepium · Answer

don't spend time doing exercises without reviewing them afterwards. For every 2 minutes spent on every exercise, spend 5 minutes reviewing afterwards and relating your reasoning with the fundamental. I'd rather do 200 exercises very thoroughly than 3000 lightly.

sammie21 · Answer

i could not agree with lepium more. it's about the quality of your study, not the amount of half-focused time you put in or the number of questions you complete.

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I am not improving 1 bit

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