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mstniko
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I make a lot of mistakes on hard questions in Quantitative Section 01 Oct 2019, 08:10
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Hi everyone!

I have recently started to prepare for GMAT and I am planning to take the exam at the beginning of December. I use the Official Guide 2019 for practicing questions and currently, I am working on Quantitative Section. My concern is, for me, the first 40 50% of the questions are kind of easy to solve ( I make occasional mistakes), but then questions are getting harder and harder and require a lot of time to get a solution. Therefore, I made a lot of mistakes on mid and hard level questions (about 40% of my answers on hard questions are usually wrong) and it demotivates me. The problem is I am worried that I won't be able to raise my score till the exam. I wonder whether this situation is common for many people or just my foundation is weak.

Please, could you give me some advice related to that? Which resources should I use to learn how to solve hard questions fast and correctly?
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I make a lot of mistakes on hard questions in Quantitative Section 01 Oct 2019, 09:33
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mstniko
Hi everyone!

I have recently started to prepare for GMAT and I am planning to take the exam at the beginning of December. I use the Official Guide 2019 for practicing questions and currently, I am working on Quantitative Section. My concern is, for me, the first 40 50% of the questions are kind of easy to solve ( I make occasional mistakes), but then questions are getting harder and harder and require a lot of time to get a solution. Therefore, I made a lot of mistakes on mid and hard level questions (about 40% of my answers on hard questions are usually wrong) and it demotivates me. The problem is I am worried that I won't be able to raise my score till the exam. I wonder whether this situation is common for many people or just my foundation is weak.

Please, could you give me some advice related to that? Which resources should I use to learn how to solve hard questions fast and correctly?
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Hi mstniko,

Are you preparing for GMAT on your own or taking any help from professionals?

If you’re preparing on your own, which material are you following ?

Posted from my mobile device
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I make a lot of mistakes on hard questions in Quantitative Section Updated on: 01 Oct 2019, 11:27
Originally posted by RashedVai on 01 Oct 2019, 11:25.
Last edited by RashedVai on 01 Oct 2019, 11:27, edited 1 time in total.
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mstniko
Hi everyone!

I have recently started to prepare for GMAT and I am planning to take the exam at the beginning of December. I use the Official Guide 2019 for practicing questions and currently, I am working on Quantitative Section. My concern is, for me, the first 40 50% of the questions are kind of easy to solve ( I make occasional mistakes), but then questions are getting harder and harder and require a lot of time to get a solution. Therefore, I made a lot of mistakes on mid and hard level questions (about 40% of my answers on hard questions are usually wrong) and it demotivates me. The problem is I am worried that I won't be able to raise my score till the exam. I wonder whether this situation is common for many people or just my foundation is weak.

Please, could you give me some advice related to that? Which resources should I use to learn how to solve hard questions fast and correctly?
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Hi,

I have the same problem. I was constantly scoring below Quant 40,
Then after I found the "Quantum Gmat" free official guide video solution, my outlook at Quant has been drastically changed. You may try their free official guide explanations. They have provided more than 2000 official guide questions free explanations. You may find some Playlist on their YouTube channel. It's the best thing out there. I can't believe it's still free.
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I make a lot of mistakes on hard questions in Quantitative Section 01 Oct 2019, 11:26
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mstniko
Hi everyone!

I have recently started to prepare for GMAT and I am planning to take the exam at the beginning of December. I use the Official Guide 2019 for practicing questions and currently, I am working on Quantitative Section. My concern is, for me, the first 40 50% of the questions are kind of easy to solve ( I make occasional mistakes), but then questions are getting harder and harder and require a lot of time to get a solution. Therefore, I made a lot of mistakes on mid and hard level questions (about 40% of my answers on hard questions are usually wrong) and it demotivates me. The problem is I am worried that I won't be able to raise my score till the exam. I wonder whether this situation is common for many people or just my foundation is weak.

Please, could you give me some advice related to that? Which resources should I use to learn how to solve hard questions fast and correctly?
Show more

Hi mstniko,

Welcome to GMATCLUB! I think this is quite common, however I recommend that you subscribe to a GMATPREP course to solidify your base first. You must first clarify your concepts before moving on to the OG's. Most of the GMATPREP courses are well designed and take you through the basics before taking you to the advance topics.

For Quant You can try out the TTP course as it is phenomenal and covers the entire syllabus really well. Plus it has great reviews on GMATCLUB. I must add that if you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in Quant; a subscription to GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them.

Further taking multiple mocks might help. Apart from the GMATPREP, Manhattan GMAT tests and Veritas Prep Tests in my experience have good verbal and Quant section and will certainly help you point out and improve your weak areas.

Further another advantage of taking many mocks is to build up your stamina. Apart from the GMATPREP tests, taking practice tests of any major GMATPREP company ought to do that.

Lastly I would also encourage you to purchase the GMATPREP QP 1 for some great additional practice. Here is a link that will help you with your decision.

https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-g ... h-focused/

Hope this helps. All the best.
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I make a lot of mistakes on hard questions in Quantitative Section 01 Oct 2019, 15:24
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Hi mstniko,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so since you are early-on in your studies, you should not expect to be perfect at any aspect of the Exam just yet. That having been said, the 'root' of most silly mistakes is a lack of proper note-taking. Once you have honed your note-taking skills, that task will increase your Score AND save you time - so it's something that you should be working on every day that you study.

Since it sounds like you're just beginning your studies, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can take 2 for free at www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). If you want to do a little studying first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the basic content and question types, then that's okay - but you shouldn't wait too long to take that initial CAT. That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 3.5 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.

I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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I make a lot of mistakes on hard questions in Quantitative Section 03 Oct 2019, 08:11
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Guys, thank you so much for your helpful suggestions.

I am preparing on my own and I use Manhattan GMAT Strategy Guides to learn different concepts and solidify my knowledge about the areas that I am already familiar with. I will check out all the resources that you have mentioned and if possible, I will try to purchase those additional practice tests. Maybe I better take the CAT test to find out my strengths and weaknesses.

Thank you one more time!
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I make a lot of mistakes on hard questions in Quantitative Section 03 Oct 2019, 11:55
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Hi mstniko,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. So, given that you are not following any sort of structured study plan and have really only been doing practice questions, I’m not surprised that you’ve struggled with accuracy. In fact, you hit the nail on the head when you said “my foundation is weak.”

To improve your quant skills, you need to ensure that you are following more of a linear and structured study plan that allows you to learn each GMAT quant topic individually and then practice each topic until you’ve gained mastery. Certainly, if you’d like more specific advice on how to improve your quant skills, feel free to reach out.

Lastly, you may find it helpful to read the following article:
The Phases of Preparing for the GMAT
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