The "Getting Started On Quant" Starter Kit

The "Getting Started On Quant" Starter Kit

A few weeks ago I compiled a bunch of free videos into one place as place you could point as a solid starting point (and then some) for a studier trying to crack into GMAT Verbal. I'm going to do the same thing for Quant, here.

I think the resources below cover a *huge* amount of valuable ideas regarding GMAT Quant. I do recommend picking up our "All the Quant" manual, as well, but a lot of what you need to ge a 700 on the GMAT can be found here.

As I did on the Verbal thread, I recommend, before you dive into this, watching the '24 things every GMAT studier needs to know' video in my signature, and reading this post regarding how one improve on the test, generally.

First, a few general study tips:

1). Study with a clock and get used to answering in GMAT pace, but once you've answered, put the clock away and work for as long as you want. Try different approaches, wrestle with the thing, spend as much time as you want--but get used to choosing a letter in time.

2). When you've chosen a letter, don't think you immediately need to check the explanation. In fact, maximize the time you spend thinking and wrestling before going to the explanations.

3). Once you go to an explanation, you should *never* read the whole thing in one sitting. You should read until the explanation mentions something you had not considered. At that point stop, go back to the problem, understand how the writer got to that point, then see how much further you can go. Go the explanation for the next hint if you need to.

Here's a good video on reviewing problems in general, and the age old wisdom of Error Logging:


Also, a note on second-level learning.

Know first that you can take our Foundations of Math Course for no charge. And if you can't make the actual course, you can get access to a course recording for free, along with the Foundations of Math syllabus. I think this is a great course, even for more advanced students. We really break down the most basic quant concepts you'll need for the GMAT and talk about them with a GMAT mindset. That is, we learn to think about Quant in a way the GMAT rewards.

Okay, so let's dig into quant-specific stuff.

First, some high level videos:

Data Sufficiency Overview:


Reading: What Does 'Insufficient' Really Mean?

Data Sufficiency Traps and Patterns


Tips for Data Sufficiency:


Testing Cases


Testing Cases: The method and a flowchart

NOTE: Testing Cases is one of the most important weapons in your arsenal for quant. Come to back to these again and again and again as you study. This logic needs to be deeply understood and the process basically automated.

Pre-thinking and Rephrasing for Data-Sufficiency


Note: You can (and should) 'pre-think' for PS questions as well:

The First Thirty Seconds


First-Quarter Clutch


Understand, Plan, Solve


Inference Chains in Problem Solving


The Problem-Solving Toolkit


(NOTE: Students grossly over-emphasize algebra. It's just one of many tools you have.)

Working Backwards


Picking Smart Numbers and Testing Cases in Problem Solving


Estimation


The above are big high level, strategy and study-tactics videos. Now let's lay out some specific topic resources for you:

All About Percents


FDPRs


More FDPRs


Ratio Strategies


The Power of Ratios (NEW!)


(More advanced) All About Percents pt II: Percents and Profit


The GMAT's Favorite Equation


Exponent Workout


Exponents Revisited


What Is Divisibility?


Divisibility and Data Sufficiency


(Advanced: The Remainder Cycle)

Number Properties and Data Sufficiency


The Four Sections of the Number Line


Translating English to Math


Story Problems and Translating

Getting Familiar with Functions


Statistics: Averages, Medians, and Sets of Numbers (NEW!)


Weighted Averages


Uniformly Spaced Sets


Quadratic Patterns


(BONUS Quadratics: Using the Difference of Squares)


Rate and Work Problems


Overlapping Sets


(ADVANCED): How to handle 3-group overlapping sets

All About Inequalities (NEW!)


(Advanced) Inequalities, Absolute Values, and the Number Line


Geometry: Formulas and Strategy (NEW!)


Hidden Clues in Quant


Twitching the GMAT: An Expert Takes the Quant


So, does this cover *everything?*

No. There are some topics that aren't here (though in time I could add them). I haven't included the free prep hours we have on probability or combinatorics, despite students *always* requesting those topics. (Note: they are really not that common, and rather difficult. I wouldn't worry about those topics until I was scoring at least a 45 on quant consistently).

Free resources for these subjects are out there, and you could also pick up the "All the Quant" manual as well. But this should be a very thorough 'GMAT Quant' kick-starter for you. I hope after watching these that you've started to understand what's *really* being tested in quant, and that you're not thinking about this as your old high-school math tests, or even like the SAT. There are some similarities, but it's in many ways a very different animal.