Q48 and beyond

Question

What is the best way to get 48+ in quants ? Any suggestions/tips/strategies/study materials etc would be very useful.

Legendaddy · Answer

There are several good resources that you can find in my posts. Links in my signature.

BM · Answer

Beyond mere platitudes, it's difficult to answer such a general question. In other words, what is the best way for whom? A more meaningful response would need to be tailored to the specific person. So, unfortunately, I cannot answer your question without knowing more about your profile.

With that said, I can tell you what personally worked for me: (1) Manhattan math series, (2) Jeff Sackmann's math sets, and (3) GMATClub tests.

With that said, I can tell you what personally worked for me: (1) Manhattan math series, (2) Jeff Sackmann's math sets, and (3) GMATClub tests.

msvel2304 · Answer

All my mocks I scored 48 and above. Most of the mistakes were careless mistakes. Work rate problems, percentages, ratio, inequalities and number properties. 11 to 12 mistakes out of which 5 to 7 are careless mistakes made in DS problems - mistakes made while combining two statements in inequalities, missing to consider power 0 for exponents, weighted average problems, conditional probability, subtracted the value from whole instead of finding fraction. Most of the careless mistakes are from DS and hardly 1 from PS in all my mocks. Will solving tough problems improve the score ?

I tried the Manhattan 700-800 level questions in the above poster's signature last time. Solved around 200 to 300 problems, but they were cumbersome while GMAT problems are more of simple subtle traps.

Jeff sackman's extreme challenges I finished already and it helped me improve probability and combinatorics problems - I feel comfortable now. There are very few problems in other topics. Is Jeff Sackmann's math sets the same as Jeff Sackmann's extreme challenge ?

GC Club tests - I took one test two days back and scored a pathetic Q28 with only 16 questions right. 11 questions were careless mistakes, I got them right when I reviewed them. GC tests are solid gold, they are more tough not cumbersome, yet filled with subtle traps. I am planning to improve it with Gmat club tests. Any other strategy guides should I look for ? I am looking for a one or two point increase, a Q50.

tridevi · Answer

I am also looking to ensure I get 48+ in quant. For me the problem is not so much the content but the ability to focus and perform under pressure/time limit. I am taking a practice test almost every other day, reviewing mistakes and practicing hard questions from various sources on days between test. I never heard of the Jeff Sackman math sets - will give it a go as I am not very comfortable with combinatorics and probability, an area in which MGMAT lacks depth - thanks for the rec! I'm taking the actual test on Sep 2 - will let you if my strategy works.

BrushMyQuant · Answer

Following is what I will suggest.

The places where you will probably be screwing up are
1. The timing
2. The one odd tough question which you get once you do 3-4 questions correct in a row
3. First 10 and Last 10 questions.(as they have more wieghtage then the remaining questions!)

Now, how to improve:

1. When you solve a question and you have already taken 2mins and you don't see yourself going anywhere in that question in next 1min. Then guess and move on! (its not necessary to get all questions correct to get a 50 or 51!)

2. Identify the weak areas (which i guess you have) and try the following:
Prepare a xls sheet (topic by topic).. and keep a track of your progress on a daily basis. Use color coding (Red,Orange,Green).
Red: You are weak in theory - brush up your concepts.
Orange - Done with theory but weak in application of the concepts
Green - Done with the topic

3. Regarding the individual topics:
For i=1 to end
For i=1 to end
-> Study "chapter i"
-> go to grockit.com and schedule game for "chapter i" with difficulty level easy, If doing good then increase the difficulty to "medium" else go to next step
-> re-read the "chapter i" if you are doing bad
-> else goto next chapter and repeat the above steps.

4. Why grockit?
Because they have a timer for each and every question so it will help you improve your speed.
They have tricky questions which is what GMAT asks you!

5. General Advice
GMAT Quant is not tough - its tricky
Keep an eye on that then i guess you can help yourself out a bit.
Also, i read it somewhere that when you are doing good in Quant then you get either a probability or a PnC question. So if you get a question like that then its a plus for you!

6. Go to gmatclub and follow the discussions of the topics in which you are weak. Try to do the 700 level questions and try to follow the discussion which they have. It will help you in knowing how to think about the problem.

How to improve Quant :-- Register in grockit.com and practice, practice and practice!

Good Luck for your prep!
Hope it helps!

BM · Answer

I found that subtle traps are the main challenge with DS. Jeff Sackmann's math sets and the GMATClub tests basically exposed me to almost every variation of trap to watch out for. And as far as word problems go, I prefer relying on lots of problem practice than  rereading  a guidebook (such as Manhattan's Word Translations).

Excellent observation! I completely agree with you on Manhattan's archive. Here's a  review  on this resource for anyone else who is interested.

The Extreme Challenge set, which contains 100 questions, is one of his math sets. I think that there are 1,800 in total, organized according to topic and difficulty. For you, I would recommend getting his DS and word problem sets. They're not cheap, though. See  here  and  here  for more information.

Since your mock test scores are so high, I don't think that you need to invest in more guidebooks. The GMATClub tests are extremely difficult, but don't worry too much about the score. It's much, much better to stay mentally positive and treat these as a learning opportunity rather than a legitimate practice test.

msvel2304 · Answer

Jeff Sackmann's set is costly and I don't think it will be of much use to me at this time, for one or two point improvement. I am planning to stick with GC tests - solve and review them efficiently. Also planning to get the GMATPrep pack 1 for additional practice.

BrushMyQuant · Answer

You can find a good number of 700-800 level quant questions in this thread 700-800-level-quant-problem-collection-detailed-solutions-137388.html

msvel2304 · Answer

I already tried them buddy. Check bmillan01's reply in the above post for what I said about it and what he felt about it as well.

BrushMyQuant · Answer

Did you try grockit?
If you are able to solve tough questions of grockit then no one can stiop you from getting a 48+!

Also, as far as I think: the differences between a guy scoring a <48 and a guy scoring a 48-51 are
1. The way you look at the problem.
- a 48-51 guy looks at a problem as a issue whose solution he can find out
- a <48 guy looks at a problem which is tough(by default) and he will give his best to get the solution somehow.

2. The exam pressure
- a 48-51 guy is confident in the exam as he has seen the score of 49-51 in mock tests.
- a <48 guy has conssitently seen a 45-48 score in mock test with a one odd 49-51 score and he thinks of doing wonders in the exam and get a 49-51 score (which is tough to do! (not impossible though!))

3. The way you read the question
- a 48-51 guy reads the questions carefully nothing down(or keeping in mind) all the possible things given in the question (like given that x is a postivie integer) ( a 48-51 guy keeps in mind that x is an interger and also its positive)
- a 48-51 guy re-reads a question if he does not get the meaning of the question correctly( as there is no point in solving a half read question!)
- a <48 guy reads the question as fast as possible and sometimes misses the information mentioned in the question like x is a positive integer.

4. The way you deal with the pressue of the previous wrong question
- a 48-51 guy does not think/care about the previous question(even if it is wrong), as thinking about it will give him extra pressure and nothing else.
- a <48 guy thinks about getting the present question right as he ahs the pressure of previous wrong question in mind.

5. The time you spend on the present question
- a 48-51 guy spends 2mins on a question and makes an educated guess and moves on if he thinks that he can't solve the question in next 1min
- a <48 guy once stuck on the question spends like 4-5mins on that question and still gets it wrong and then screws up the reamining questions too.

6. The basics
- a 48-51 has strong basics and solves the easy questions confidently and within a min and moves on.
- a <48 guy is not that strong in basics and spends close to 2mins to cross check his answer if he has done it right or not.

Above things I have written based on my experience as i moved from a 44-48-49- 51 (things might not be true in all the cases!)

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