Quant vs. Verbal Improvement

Question

Hi all,

I have been practicing for the GMAT for around 1.5 months now, and want to take the exam at the end of March. My verbal skills have improved tremendously, most of the time in the 90th percentile (I am a non-native), but somehow my quant is not improving, which is really frustrating me.

I have read through the Manhattan Guides, and could easily solve the problem sets in the book, but somehow I really lack problem solving skills on the real questions. When I look at the answer, it is obviously simple as hell, and I fully understand it. So I clearly, lack the problem solving skill. Do you guys have any advice on how to approach this during a month?

Thanks and best regards!

kiran120680 · Answer

Hi, What is your current score level in quant? You have to brush up your basics once again, then practice questions without times. Once your accuracy improved to desired level, you can practice in test mode. All the best.

akela · Answer

Hi ashszn , Welcome to gmatclub! You might find some useful tips here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/i-cannot-sol ... 89336.html Hope this helps

siddharthkapoor · Answer

If you're mostly in the 90th percentile in your Verbal tests, a performance that is satisfactory, then you must aim to give your GMAT preparation a strong and an urgent push by targeting to improve in Quants score. As you said that you lack problem solving skills, an assessment that I agree to, I think that the best way for you to up your Quants ability is to sign up for a professional GMAT preparation service, such as e-GMAT, Math Revolution, etc. According to my personal experience, I state that books don't teach concepts and particularly their applications as well as online study materials do mainly because books don't provide enough in-depth knowledge, hand holding through the preparation or situations that are tested in GMAT. My point is validated by looking at the number of people who have benefited from the online study materials and the price differences between the two types of study material. I recommend you to subscribe for e-GMAT's services as I personally benefited by their products, but it's better that you take such a call given you know your needs better and how much weekly time you have for preparation. However, don't spend too much time in finding out the right product. Pick something quickly and then head towards your goal.

Oh! I have a question: In which tests are you scoring around 90th percentile in Verbal?

All the best. Feel free to ask anything.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ashszn,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so since you've been studying for just 1.5 months, you might naturally improve as you continue to study. At this point, you have about 4 weeks of study time remaining though, so you if you want to be efficient with the time that you have, you might need to invest in some new study materials that will keep you focused on the proper Tactics to score higher.

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) Have you used any other study materials besides the books that you mentioned?
2) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs/mocks (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
3) What is your overall goal score?
4) When is your exact Test Date?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi ashszn,

You ask a really good question. Since you have been studying for some time and still struggle when answering GMAT quant questions, you really need to look at HOW you have been preparing for GMAT quant and make some changes, right?

Keep in mind that there is a significant difference between answering GMAT quant questions in a timed and pressure-filled environment and answering those questions with no pressure (after the fact). Thus, in order to improve your accuracy at correctly answering GMAT quant questions the first time you see them, you must improve your quant skills. To do so, I recommend following a structured study plan in which you individually learn each topic, and then practice each topic until you've gained mastery. By studying in such a way, you will not only develop sound skills in solving GMAT questions but also fill in gaps in your quant knowledge.

For example, let’s say you are learning about Number Properties. First, you should develop as much conceptual knowledge about Number Properties as possible. In other words, your goal will be to completely understand properties of factorials, perfect squares, quadratic patterns, LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, and remainders, to name a few concepts. After carefully reviewing the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions, practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties. When you do dozens of questions of the same type one after the other, you learn just what it takes to get questions of that type correct consistently. If you aren't getting close to 90 percent of questions of a certain type correct, go back and seek to better understand how that type of question works, and then do more questions of that type until you get to around at least 90 percent accuracy in your training. If you get 100 percent of some sets correct, even better. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.

When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills.

So, work on accuracy and generally finding correct answers, work on specific weaker areas one by one to make them strong areas, and when you take a practice GMAT or the real thing, take all the time per question available to do your absolute best to get right answers consistently. The GMAT is essentially a game of seeing how many right answers you can get in the time allotted. Approach the test with that conception in mind, and focus intently on the question in front of you with one goal in mind: getting a CORRECT answer.

In order to follow the path described above, you may need some new quant materials, so take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant courses .
 
You also may find it helpful to read the following articles about  how to increase your GMAT quant score  and  the phases of preparing for the GMAT .

If you have any questions, feel to reach back out. Good luck!

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