Manhattan Advanced GMAT Quant - Is it too tough?

Question

I've been self-studying for GMAT since Sep'20 and have already finished all the books from Veritas Prep. But when I came across the book, Manhattan Advanced GMAT Quant, I felt kind of insecure about my quant knowledge. I tend to take 3 to 6 minutes on average to solve most of the problems in this book. I am going to sit for the exam at the end of this month and I'm taking way too long to finish this book. Should I ditch studying this book? Is it absolutely necessary to achieve a score above 700?

N.B. I actually like this book and learned some cool tricks to minimize calculation while answering DS questions but most of the PS questions seems to be too complicated for me to answer within a couple of minutes.

N.B. I actually like this book and learned some cool tricks to minimize calculation while answering DS questions but most of the PS questions seems to be too complicated for me to answer within a couple of minutes.

bb · Answer

Correct. A number of people pointed out the fact that the questions have additional steps that even if you spend a very short time planning a strategy to solve them, you still end up working very hard for 3+ mins on just calculations and solving. These questions tend to be hard by being lengthy in a solution rather than difficulty in approach. Sometimes I am stumped by a GMAT question because I don't know how to solve it and sometimes I know how to solve it but I just want to spend the time....

Karpov92 · Answer

Good to know I'm not the only one. I've already spent a lot of time and energy on this one and I'm not even halfway through. I think this is for people who have been preparing for a while for the GMAT and have enough time in hand to finish it off.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Shahriar92,

GMAT questions are almost always written so that they can be approached in more than one way, meaning that just because you correctly answered a question doesn't mean that you did so in the most efficient fashion (to put it a different way, if "your way" of approaching a question takes a long time, then there is almost certainly a different approach that would be faster). In addition, you're not going to see more than about 5-6 questions in the Quant section that are 'really hard', so working through a whole book of really hard questions is probably not the best use of your time (especially if you are making little mistakes on 'gettable' questions during your CATs.

Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

HI Shahriar92,

Out of curiosity, have you taken any official GMAT practice exams? If so, what were your quant scores?

Karpov92 · Answer

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm trying to improve my quant score as much as I can. I generally don't make silly mistakes but I have a terrible time management skill. Whenever I get stuck on one problem, I can't pull myself out of that situation and spend quite a lot on that particular problem. Yeah, I know, it's a terrible habit. Working on it.
1. Typically 30 hours/week.
2. OG 21 and 6 books on quant from Veritas Prep, Powerscroe for CR, Manhattan RC, and Manhattan Advanced Quant.
3. Just took one exam before I started my prep. Haven't taken any other mock test. GMAT official practice exam-1 score: 640 (Q44, V35)
4. Goal: A score above 710.
5. I will sit for the exam at the end of this month.
6. Planning to apply from Dec'20 in Canadian B-schools- Alberta, Haskayne (Ucal), John Molson (Concordia), Gustavson (UVic). Not aiming at the top-tier B-schools due to financial constraints.

Karpov92 · Answer

Just took one exam before I started my prep. Haven't taken any other mock test. GMAT official practice exam-1 score: 640 (Q44, V35).

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Shahriar92,

When you are preparing for GMAT, it's important to approach your prep in such a way that it helps you solve GMAT like questions with ease. If you find that the questions you are solving are way too complicated, then I think you should switch to a better resource because there's no point wasting time solving questions which don't help you with GMAT.

As you have just a couple of weeks to go, I suggest you to take an official mock and analyze your performance so that you have a clear picture of which areas to focus on. Once you identify the weak areas, understand if you lack the conceptual knowledge or the application skills and based on that choose the right resource to study because the right resource helps you nullify the gaps if any.

And to answer your last question, it entirely depends on your profile and the colleges you wish to apply for. Top colleges have average score around 700. So, if you wish to get into top b-schools, then it's better to target a 700+ score to be on safe side.

Having said that, if you need the right study plan for the next two weeks, you can get in touch with me using the below link.

Click here to schedule a call

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Shahriar92,

From what you've described, your studies so far have been "book heavy"; unfortunately, many GMATers who study in that way end up getting 'stuck' at a particular score level. Even the best books are limited in what they can teach you; they also can't force you to approach questions in a certain way and their explanations are often one-sided. As such, you might need to invest in some new, non-book study materials for this next phase of your studies.

To score at a high level on the GMAT, you have to have a variety of skills (more than just content knowledge) and the only way to properly assess whether you have those skills or not is to take FULL-LENGTH CATs under realistic conditions AND at regular intervals. From what you describe, you have only taken 1 CAT - and that was approximately 2 months ago. At this point, we have no idea what your current 'ability level' is, so I suggest that you take a NEW CAT sometime soon (perhaps Sunday). Once you have that Score, you should post back here (or you can feel free to PM me directly) and we can discuss the results and how you might best proceed with your studies.

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

	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Target Test Prep - Save up to $599 $400 Discount + $99 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

Manhattan Advanced GMAT Quant - Is it too tough?

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards