One month to go - How to boost quant to 40s. Help!

Question

I've one month to go for my GMAT, March 20. I've been preparing extensively and feel sick of it now.

My problem is my quant score doesn't improve. It's stuck between 34-38. My verbal is fine. I haven't touched verbal even once till now and I consistently score 40+, usually in the 93rd percentile.
I have gone through all the MGMAT quant books and done all the OG problems, kept an error log, the whole drill but the quant is stagnant. I have gone over this thread already:
how-to-improve-your-quant-from-q30-to-q40-142810.html

I have even hired a tutor to go over the topics I am most weak in but don't think even that's helping.

My question ultimately is, given that I have just a month, what's my best strategy to get my quant score in the 40s?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi GhostA,

With your Quant Scaled Scores, you're likely pretty good at straight-forward "math" questions, but you're missing out on a lot of "strategy" points (especially DS questions), you're likely making mistakes on "gettable" mid-level questions and you might have a pacing problem (but I can't tell for sure from the information that you've given).

When you review your CATs, in the Quant section:
1) How often do you get questions wrong because of a silly/little mistake?
2) How often do you get a question wrong because you don't know how to do the math?
3) How often do you get a question wrong because it's too hard?

4) How often do you spend more than 3 minutes on a question?
5) Do you have to guess on a bunch of questions just to finish the section on time? Do you ever leave questions unanswered?

For most Test Takers, a "chunk" of missing points can be found by fixing the little mistakes in your "process." If you want to earn a score in the mid-40s to high-40s, then you're going to have to push back your Test, invest in some new resources and learn/practice Quant strategies and tactics.

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

GMATPill · Answer

With a month left, you do have enough time to make a significant difference. Perhaps your tutor's approach is working for you -- but that doesn't mean there is no other way.

See if this math video resonates with you: https://www.gmatpill.com/problemsolving/og/222/222.mp4

We recommend dividing math questions into topics and focusing intensely on an individual topic before moving onto the next. For example -- algebra/exponents, sequences, number properties, exponents, word problems, etc

GhostA · Answer

Thanks for the pointers Rich. Reading your questions and doing an analysis, I believe I have the answers:

1) How often do you get questions wrong because of a silly/little mistake?
 Not very often.

2) How often do you get a question wrong because you don't know how to do the math?
 Often.
 
3) How often do you get a question wrong because it's too hard?
 Often.

4) How often do you spend more than 3 minutes on a question?
 Sometimes.

5) Do you have to guess on a bunch of questions just to finish the section on time? Do you ever leave questions unanswered?
 Rarely .

I believe at times when my initial approach to solve a question doesn't work, I start looking for other approaches and by then 90 seconds have gone by already and I end up spending too long trying to solve with another approach. Also, with harder question, I'm unable to solve them using advanced strategies (questions involving 2-3 quant topics i.e. coordinate geometry and quadratics). And sometimes I just blank out, I've no idea how to approach the question.

What would you suggest to remedy given I've limited time on my hand?

Thanks!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi GhostA,

If the primary reason why you're getting Quant questions wrong is that you just don't know how to do the 'math' involved, then THAT is the issue that you have to focus on. Tactics, pattern-matching, estimation, etc. are all useful approaches as long as you know the math concepts/rules/formulas and Number Properties first.

Since it's tough to gauge from this information what you're specifically having trouble with, I think that you should post a few Quant questions (that you've worked on) in the Forums. Don't post anything too nightmarish or crazy; instead, post the questions that seem "gettable" to you IF you knew all of the rules involved. Watching the Experts (and other Users) work through those questions might help you beyond just reading more books and churning through practice.

How have you been performing on DS? What fraction of those questions did you get correct on your last CAT?

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

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

For #2 (don't know how to do the math), are you missing some content knowledge that you need, or are you getting stuck even though you know the basics? In other words, is it "Yikes! I don't know how to get from individual rates to a combined time for the job!" or "I know the steps, but there's a twist to this problem that I can't figure out how to handle"?

Also, how are you doing at each difficulty level? Run an assessment report of your recent MGMAT CATs (or PM me your name & I can run it) and give us the details of report 2--Quant by Question Format & Difficulty. What % are you getting at each level of PS & DS?

GhostA · Answer

Hello again,

I'm sorry I couldn't do a test recently and wanted to reply once I have gone through a test and have the assessment report. I have been working on my quant concepts and have been able to push quant beyond 40s but I believe I'm still fuzzy on certain topics particularly in DS.

Rich : I believe you are right. I primarily get DS questions wrong. I think it's because I'm unable to translate the question into simple math concepts, i.e. essentially what is the question asking me? Would really appreciate some strategies to better tackle DS.

DmitryFarber : I believe my problem with math is in the second category i.e. "I know the steps, but there's a twist to this problem that I can't figure out how to handle"? I recently went through another MGMAT test and have attached the assessment report to this message. Would appreciate your thoughts and guidance going forward.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi GhostA,

On this most recent CAT, what were your Overall Score & Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores? Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?

And can you remind me what your score goal is?

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

GhostA · Answer

Rich - I didn't take the whole CAT. I skipped essay and just blew through IR. I've attached my overall scores for the Quant and Verbal sections to this message.

As for my goal score, I wish to touch the 700s. This CAT test pegged me at 660 presently.

Thanks!

ReasonTestPrepBP · Answer

Given that it looks like DS is the bigger issue for you, let me suggest one concept that I find most people just don't really understand. This may not be the issue for you, but let me put it out there anyway:

Just because DS questions don't require you to solve for a specific answer in the way that PS questions do does not mean that you can "go on a hunch" and choose, for example, choice B because you are "pretty sure" that statement 2 would be sufficient on its own. Again I am not sure if that is the issue in your case, but looking at that practice test report not only are you getting the DS questions wrong much more frequently, but you are also spending much less time on DS questions and in my experience that often means that the person is just short-cutting the questions a little and "going on a hunch" rather than proving that the answer is what they believe it to be.

Sometimes for the sake of time you need to go on a hunch, but you should be aware that when you are doing that you are not really fully answering the question - you are essentially guessing. On many or even most DS questions the whole design of the question is to punish you for making assumptions and not proving things out and often the "obvious" answer is the wrong answer. So you may need to spend more time on DS questions (or on some of them at least) in order to go one step further and reach a higher level of certainty with the answers you are selecting.

One other thing I would throw out there. I don't think it is as good for DS as for PS so it may not be as useful for you, but I think the MGMAT Advanced Quant book does a good job of helping with the harder questions and especially with how to choose the right approach and problem solve effectively and creatively. So if you haven't already you may want to give that book a try.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi GhostA,

In your original post in this thread, you stated that your goal was to get your Quant "into the 40s." While you have scored at that level in your most recent CAT, you've clearly had to take this CAT (and possibly others) in an 'unrealistic' way to achieve this goal, so those practice CAT results cannot be considered accurate. Also, your Verbal score has appeared to drop. If your overall score goal is to score 700+, then there isn't any real evidence that you're scoring at that level right now. As such, I think that you have to consider paying the $50 fee and rescheduling your Test Date.

There is no harm in taking your Test as planned, but if you score below 700 and are just going to end up taking the GMAT again anyway, then you can save yourself the stress (and another $250) by pushing back your Test a bit and studying some more. There's a 'realism' to Test Day that you can't 'shortcut' (not if you want to score 700+). You need more time to train for the FULL GMAT and improve your DS skills.

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

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