Taking the test a third time - Need some guidance for Quant

I myself haven't tried the tests but have looked at the questions and they are way harder than the actual GMAT - but that's the advantage. You get set to a higher difficulty level and then questions of the lower difficulty will seem like a cake walk, well not literally but I guess you get my point.

Hello, guy I should pay no attention to Congratulations on your existing improvement!

One product you might want to look for is the GMAT Quantitative Focus. Have you seen it? The only reason I ask is that it's fairly new. If you have, skip ahead to the ***. GMAT Quant Focus is an online test you can take that supposedly gauges your individual strengths and weaknesses, and tells you where to focus your study, subject matter wise. One nice advantage is that, unlike with the CATs, answer explanations are provided. Each time you take the test, it's $25, but if you buy 3 at a time, it's $65.

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Here's a question for you; what is your overall approach? Is it the old school classical approach or have you learned some of the powerful techniques and shortcuts that are out there?

I got a quite strong test score the first time I took it (710), but it still wasn't quite where I wanted it to be. Oddly enough, the biggest handicap I had was the fact that I had been a math major in college. Therefore, by God, I could solve some equations. Work things out the long way. If there's anyone who could do that, it should be me.

Eventually, I learned that it's much better, whenever the problem permits, to just take the answer choices, ask yourself "is this it?" and confirm. For example, do you have the new 12th edition burgundy book? If so, question #13 in the PS section does a beautiful job of demonstrating this idea. Another good hint here is to first check answer choice D, and then answer choice B. As a math major, I didn't like this idea; it offended me! And yet, I can't argue the results of this paradigm switch (760).

I don't want to preach to the choir, so if you already know all this, then I'll leave it at that.

However, if you'd like me to go on, I gladly would. Know this: doing things the same way will get you the same results.

Good luck with everything!

Liquid,

Are you on the Booth WL too? Don't worry about helping the competition, I won't be taking the GMAT again before the June deadline.

I didn't know about the Quant Focus tool. I will check that out. It definitely sounds like it is worth the money.

My original approach was to work everything out the long way, and I think I could benefit from using more test taking strategies. During each live test, I started the first question with some iteration of a ratio problem that I hadn't seen before, wasted too much time trying to figure it out, and then chose a random answer after 3.5 minutes. When the test was over, I was still rattling off formulas and math properties that I had memorized, didn't get asked on the test, and ended up not taking the test strategically.

So please, if you have any other guidance, I would appreciate it.

I think it might be worthwhile for you to go through another good math book: check Nova's "GMAT Math Bible". I went through MGMAT books and still found Nova's book a good alternative. Nova's exercises emphasize more creative thinking than do MGMAT's books.

Once you went through a good math book, I still think you need to do some GMAT Club math tests. That you found them difficult is revealing - you need to practice on tests that you find challenging!

Also, make sure you go through OG12 even if there is an overlap with OG11.

Finally(!), look for the hardest GMATPrep questions in this forum and make sure you know at least two ways of solving these problems.

As a GMAT Club Member with 200+ posts, you also have access to the GMAT Club Tests - don't use them to learn/study math principles, but they will give you a very thorough understanding about areas you are still lacking. Don't get discouraged if at first you barely get any score - they are very hard.

What are the big differences between OG12 and 13? I read a review on amazon that said they are virtually identical.

I think you mean 11 and 12. 12 just came out in March - a bit early for the 13th.

See here: the-official-guide-for-gmat-12-merged-76806.html

I assume you mean OG12 vs. OG11 See some good analysis here: https://www.manhattangmat.com/official-guide-12.cfm
1/3 of the questions are new. OG12 is more representative of what you will see in actual test.