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27 Jul 2022, 09:55
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hey all - am grateful to this community for all the solid content and am hoping to get some insight on why I can't crack the quant section.
Quick background, I've been studying diligently for the past few months (few hours per day) and over the past 3-4 weeks I’ve consistently put in 10-12 hour days minimum with TTP. I’m trying to score in the mid to high 7s and am super discouraged…it’s all I’ve been thinking about.
Before I started TTP I was just casually doing problems from the Wiley books and official practice questions from GMAT. I took a few official practice GMATs both before and after TTP:
Before TTP (casual studying):
660 (Q42 V38) - baseline diagnostic
690 (Q48 V36) - one week after baseline
730 (Q48 V41) - three weeks after baseline
After TTP / intensive studying:
710 (Q47 V40) - five weeks after baseline
Finally, I went in for the real thing this week after two more weeks of intensive study and came out with 710 (Q44 V44).
I am extremely disappointed and feel I've wasted a great deal of time. I don't understand how the more time I put into studying quant, the worse my score gets. I am increasingly convinced the GMAT is just an intelligence test that can't really be studied for effectively, and that my brain simply doesn't work fast enough or recognize patterns quickly enough to be successful on the quant section.
I canceled my score and right now do not intend on applying anywhere. As frustrated as I am, I do think the test is incredibly well-designed and indicates that I would likely struggle in B school (not to mention, my application wouldn't be competitive as-is).
I am considering giving it one more shot but don't want to continue down this rabbit hole of diminishing returns. Has anyone here been in a similar situation and do you have any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong / why I can't hack it?
Much appreciated in advance and apologies for the lengthy and depressing post.
Quick background, I've been studying diligently for the past few months (few hours per day) and over the past 3-4 weeks I’ve consistently put in 10-12 hour days minimum with TTP. I’m trying to score in the mid to high 7s and am super discouraged…it’s all I’ve been thinking about.
Before I started TTP I was just casually doing problems from the Wiley books and official practice questions from GMAT. I took a few official practice GMATs both before and after TTP:
Before TTP (casual studying):
660 (Q42 V38) - baseline diagnostic
690 (Q48 V36) - one week after baseline
730 (Q48 V41) - three weeks after baseline
After TTP / intensive studying:
710 (Q47 V40) - five weeks after baseline
Finally, I went in for the real thing this week after two more weeks of intensive study and came out with 710 (Q44 V44).
I am extremely disappointed and feel I've wasted a great deal of time. I don't understand how the more time I put into studying quant, the worse my score gets. I am increasingly convinced the GMAT is just an intelligence test that can't really be studied for effectively, and that my brain simply doesn't work fast enough or recognize patterns quickly enough to be successful on the quant section.
I canceled my score and right now do not intend on applying anywhere. As frustrated as I am, I do think the test is incredibly well-designed and indicates that I would likely struggle in B school (not to mention, my application wouldn't be competitive as-is).
I am considering giving it one more shot but don't want to continue down this rabbit hole of diminishing returns. Has anyone here been in a similar situation and do you have any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong / why I can't hack it?
Much appreciated in advance and apologies for the lengthy and depressing post.
27 Jul 2022, 13:46
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi.
I realize that, right now, you don't feel great about your GMAT performance, but the truth is that many people prepare for many months to achieve a 710 score and use that score to gain admittance to top schools that they use as springboards to their dream careers. So, I think you've gone way too negative in your assessment of your situation. In fact, given your high verbal score, you are in a great position to totally rock the GMAT with not that much more preparation. You just have to prepare more effectively. By preparing effectively, you can score as high as you want.
So, my take is that something about the way you have been preparing hasn't been working.
One theory is that you started off pretty good at hacking your way to answers to quant questions, and then, when you started learning more concepts and strategies, your hacking skills got pushed into the background, and meanwhile, your new skills haven't fully developed yet. If that theory is correct, your quant score should stabilize and start to increase again as you continue to prepare and eventually go as high as you want it to.
Probably, a key part of your success story will be integrating your hacking skills with the concepts and strategies you're learning as you prepare.
Have you read the following post? If not, you may get from it some insights that you can use to make your quant prep more effective.
How to Increase Your GMAT Quant Score: Top 25 Tips
Also, please feel free to reach out to the TTP team for help with making your preparation more effective.
Finally, to put things into perspective, you could read some of the debriefs in the list in this post
The Biggest GMAT Score Increases Ever
I realize that, right now, you don't feel great about your GMAT performance, but the truth is that many people prepare for many months to achieve a 710 score and use that score to gain admittance to top schools that they use as springboards to their dream careers. So, I think you've gone way too negative in your assessment of your situation. In fact, given your high verbal score, you are in a great position to totally rock the GMAT with not that much more preparation. You just have to prepare more effectively. By preparing effectively, you can score as high as you want.
So, my take is that something about the way you have been preparing hasn't been working.
One theory is that you started off pretty good at hacking your way to answers to quant questions, and then, when you started learning more concepts and strategies, your hacking skills got pushed into the background, and meanwhile, your new skills haven't fully developed yet. If that theory is correct, your quant score should stabilize and start to increase again as you continue to prepare and eventually go as high as you want it to.
Probably, a key part of your success story will be integrating your hacking skills with the concepts and strategies you're learning as you prepare.
Have you read the following post? If not, you may get from it some insights that you can use to make your quant prep more effective.
How to Increase Your GMAT Quant Score: Top 25 Tips
Also, please feel free to reach out to the TTP team for help with making your preparation more effective.
Finally, to put things into perspective, you could read some of the debriefs in the list in this post
The Biggest GMAT Score Increases Ever
28 Jul 2022, 00:11
Kudos
Bookmarks
I myself has faced this problem in Verbal. I think Marty has given a proper reply and this strategy also applies to those facing difficulty in improving Verbal score.
