How to get more than 50 in Math? Any tips please.

Question

I am a newbie here. I have taken my gmat couple of years back with just one month of preparation. For Math, I prepared for a week. I never had any problem in Math since I took GRE. I scored a 49 in Math and heart breaking 26 in Verbal with overall score of 590. I strated my preparation again for the last couple of months. I know I am weak in Verbal part, so I would like to focus my energy on Math. I am aiming for 50 or more. I took a practice test couple of days back and I could score a 49. I am really curious to know, what can get me to 50 or more? Is it really very difficult to get there? Guys, please lend me some tips here. I heard Math is getting tougher these days, so I really doubt whether I can get even 49 this time

. Most of the practice test, I am not finding enough time in Math and I had to guess atleat 4-5 questions. And out of those, I am getting atleast 3-4 wrong. So I believe that is the reason for not crossing the magic figure of 50. To get 50, do I need to get atleast 32-34 right? Please lend me your suggestions. Thanks in advance.

sdrandom1 · Answer

I am in same boat as you are. Hence I am subscribing to this thread, so I can benefit if somebody replies.

bb · Answer

I can try to give you some clues - it is a path that's somewhat unique to all of us but the same in terms of direction.

Here is 1: my-quant-wakeup-story-journey-to-q50-gmat-80842.html

Here is 2: gmatprep1-700-q51-v33-2nd-gmatprep1-770-q51-v42-61448.html

irajeevsingh · Answer

If I would have been in your shoes, I would focus and dedicate all my energy to Verbal. IMHO gains will be much more in verbal than pushing yourself for +1 in quant.

sid82 · Answer

I take your advice seriously. I have already started focusing my energy on my weak ie: verbal. There is no escape :-(

My verbal score on the Manhattan tests is around 34-37. I will be extremely pleased if I can score atleast 35 on the D-day.

irajeevsingh · Answer

Sure, wish you all the luck.

topher · Answer

I'm trying to get myself from about 47Q to 50Q. I know that's a large gap, but I have 6 weeks until my exam and I think I can at least get to the 49 level consistently if I practice enough. Tips are welcome.

whatthehell · Answer

Can you let us know in which test did you get 47 in Quant? If you got that in Manhattan or Kaplan then you are certainly a candiate for 50+ in GMAT as far as I can tell.

bigoyal · Answer

sid, did you try your hands on GMATPrep ? If not, I would strongly suggest that, since its only the GMATPrep tests that has questions very similar to the GMAT actual tests. With 2 GMATPrep tests, you would be able to identify the weak areas in Quant.

topher · Answer

MGMAT CAT1: 47Q
MGMAT CAT2: 44Q
MGMAT CAT3: 47Q
MGMAT CAT4: 46Q

It's been a while since I've looked at the GMAT Prep stuff, but I took a diagnostic at the very beginning of my studies and from what I remember the official quant questions were less time-consuming to solve. The thing with the MGMAT CAT quant questions for me is sometimes I know I can solve them, but I just guess b/c I know I can't do it in 2 minutes.

Other times, the MGMAT questions involve really intricate algebraic manipulations. My guess is the real exam is not the same in this regard. The real exam does test your ability to "elegantly" solve questions through algebra, but it won't require you to do all these crazy calcs.

Anyway, I just did my first GMAT Club quant test (26/37 - 50.8 percentile). I may not have enough time to get through all of them, but I'll use these to improve my math as well.

gmac25 · Answer

Can you suggest some good practice material for quant.

OG has few tough questions only, kaplan math also not having much of them.

bipolarbear · Answer

it seems like the jump from 48-50+ is more difficult than i first imagined. there's a lot to cover

gmac25 · Answer

even i do agree that jumo from 47-48 to 50 or 51 requires time, i am still to try quant tests on gmatclub. hope it will do the trick.

gmac25 · Answer

one important input that might help to achieve 50 or 51 is what to practice??

can anyone help?? OG 11 and kaplan Math workbook doesnt have challenging questions.

1000 series doesnt have explanations!!!

where to go??

walker · Answer

If you have already done with OG and GMATClub Tests. I would recommend:

1) Answer as more problems here, at forum as you can. It will give you self-confidence. Too simple? Solve it fast and have always a few ways to do so.

2) Hunt for weaknesses. Any mistake is gold! it clearly points to your weaknesses. Work hard to figure out why you did it wrong, find a base reason.

3) Concepts first, quantity second.

4) Even if you know an answer, before submitting it ask yourself: Where GMAC does want to trick you? If you clearly see "where" then click "Ok".

gmac25 · Answer

Hey.... thanks a LOT for the help.....

i havent taken GMATclub tests, saved them for last leg of preparation.....

sid82 · Answer

Guys,

Finished my GMAT a month ago. I could manage 730 (Q51 V37). I don't want to comment on verbal since it has been one of my weakest areas. I got nervous for a while in the verbal part and that would have cost me few points. All in all, I am satisfied with my score. I really put my bet on quant score and am very happy to get 51.

Few pointers.

1. Practice every quant question in timed mode. Try to practice the art of answering DS question doing most of the work in your mind and less on paper. It saves time.

2. For PS questions. Jump into the equations/numbers as and when you read questions on the screen. But for one or two questions most of the PS questions are straight forward give you have your fundas right. I didn't see any questions out of scope from OG.

I will come up with some more pointers shortly.

How to get more than 50 in Math? Any tips please.

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