Recommendation on what to change in strategy to score high in Quants

Question

Hi All, I am a software engineer and have been working for 7 years in the IT Industry with US/UK based MNCs. I appeared for GMAT last year in Oct 19 and scored a very low score of 570. I want insights on what should be my strategy changes to increase my marks especially in the Quant section (39). Verbal (28) was also bad but since I am from engineering background I cant justify my low score in quant. From what I have understood, there are two major drawbacks for me: 1 - Solving a question in 2 min. I know we can save one min with easy questions and use that extra min for touch ones but it seems I cant follow this when under stress of exam. I can solve certain problems in may be 6 minutes but definitely not in 2-3 mins 2 - I tend to make very basic mistakes which I don't know my brain put up such a solution. Like for instance,subtracting 3.5 from 21 , it comes to 16.5 in my head which in exam I take it for true

Below was the scores with timelines - Started preparation in Jul 19 by putting 3 hours daily. - Joined a small coaching centre which brushed up my basics. Provided with questions from various sources and regular exams. - I gave a prep Test every month to see the improvement. My score never really went above 600 in any of the prep tests Kaplan: 520 V 33 Q 28 --- after 1 month Manhattan : 580 V 31 Q 38 --- after 1 month Manhattan : 580 V 34 Q 35 --- after 1 week Experts Global: 590 V 28 Q 44 --- after 1 week Unofficial GMAT: 590 V 28 Q 43 --- after 2 weeks of sabbath from work and working on weak sections I am preparing for another attempt this year in Nov. Please guide and suggest things which can improve my score Thanks in advance. Talha

logro · Answer

Hey Talha,

Unfortunately there is no better way to improve your timing than practicing. I would suggest you to divide OG questions in sets of 30 and do timed practice. This way you can get used to the habit of having a timer

If you are confident about the concepts then you can take a dive in and start working on OG problems. If you want to brush through the basic, then i would suggest you can take up the TTP's 5 day free trial and get a basic understanding of the content (MGMAT books if you prefer a book over a course)

Also you need to maintain an error log and review them periodically

Kudos if it helps

Kinshook · Answer

Hi  Talhas 
I would recommend that during initial phases of your preparation, you forget about timing issue and focus on making your fundamentals strong. 
It is very similar to driving in which you don't drive fast during learning and gradually increase your speed after practicing. 
For making fundamentals strong, you can learn from MGMAT strategy guides and for practicing, you can refer OG.
There are a lot of questions available on GMATClub and you can select questions from question banks.
Hope it helps!

Avinashkr29 · Answer

Analyze the pattern of your mistakes, where do you score low. Work on your weakest areas.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Talhas,

From what you describe, there are some immediate issues that are impacting your performance in the Quant section (and once you change how you "see" - and respond to - that section, you'll find that it's easier to score at a much higher level):

1) The Quant section of the GMAT is NOT a 'math test'; it's a critical thinking test that requires lots of little calculations as you work through it. Most GMAT questions can be approached in more than one way, so it's likely that "your way" is the "long way" (that ALSO leaves you open to making little mistakes). This is meant to say that there are faster, easier approaches that you can be using on most of the prompts that you face.
2) Doing work "in your head" is the WORST way to approach a GMAT question (as that greatly increases your chances of making a silly/little mistake), so you should not purposely choose to work in that way.
3) The idea that you should answer each Quant question in under 2 minutes is NOT good pacing advice. Certain 'gettable' questions will require that you spend up to 3 minutes of your time (but NO Quant question is ever worth more than 3 minutes of your time).

Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) What study materials have you used so far?
2) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks?
3) What is your overall goal score?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Talhas,

Since your highest quant score is 43, moving forward, you really should follow a study plan that allows you to learn GMAT quant from the ground up. In other words, follow a study plan that allows you to learn each GMAT quant topic individually and then practice each topic until you’ve achieved mastery. Let me expand on this idea further.

For example, if you are learning about Number Properties, 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 this article about  How To Increase Your GMAT Quant Score .

Feel free to reach out with further questions.

Good luck!

Talhas · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thanks for your insights.

1) I have referred to OG and Manhattan Prep
2) Kaplan - 08/24/19 , Manhattan 09/01/19, Manhattan 09/08/19, Experts Global 09/15/19 , 10/03/19 Unofficial GMAT , 10/09/19 GMAT
3) Overall score 720 plus
4) B-School like Foster, Kelley, Scheller, Olin,etc, / Apply for Fall 2021

I am planning to give next GMAT on 01st Nov 2020

Thanks

Talha

Talhas · Answer

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the detailed answer. Really appreciate it!!

I did that approach for focussing on problem on individual topics. I used OG for that, but unfortunately the number of questions for each topic was less like 10
However, I when I used to solve them after revising one topic, I am able to solve it ( tried to time it as well and average was close to 3 min )

I was looking more to understand how to approach a problem in a non conventional way ( the GMAT way ). All my life, I have been solving the math problem by solving it step by step, which is time consuming ( as this was how we have been taught in schools ). I understand from many forums that there is a "smarter way" to approach a GMAT problem, rather than the harder way. ( like eliminating options, taking a smart guess, etc)

Also there weren't any specific weak sections when I worked on individual topics, but I think speed was a concern. I understood that the approach I am following is the culprit in my poor timing.

As you said more practise is what I require which is correct but I need to first fix my approach to solve a problem and then practise with that approach to see the improvement.
If you see the history of my scores, I wasn't really improving even after 3 months of practising which means something is fishy.

Thanks
Talha

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Talhas,

Based on the Quant Scaled Scores from your last couple of CAT, your overall math knowledge is probably fine - but beyond training in efficient Tactical ways to approach the Quant section, you might also need to train in new ways to work through the necessary 'math steps' that often come with Quant questions. The same holds true for the Verbal section. Statistically-speaking, raising a 590 to the point that you can consistently score 720+ will likely require at least another 2 - 3 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. However, a November 1st Test Date gives you only about 1.5 months of study time - so you might need to consider pushing back that Test Date (although you don't have to decide on that either way at this point.

1) For your next attempt, are you planning to take the At-home GMAT or are you planning to take your GMAT at a Test Facility?
2) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

Talhas · Answer

Hi Rich,

Yes, I understood my fundamental are strong given my engineering background, but I was looking forward to learn new approach especially from GMAT perspective. There are numerous techniques which are taught on various platform ( eliminating options, taking a smart guess, reading between the lines, etc ) that I am unaware of and I think could be helpful for increasing my speed.

I decided for 1st November for my GMAT test, so that I could have enough time to apply R1 and R2. Given the unpredictable scenarios going on, I want to have enough time to work my way past new issues that are coming up due to the pandemic. Also, I want to be eligible for scholarships , which are given on first come first serve basis.

I can definitely defer the date. I had set that date in mind to push myself to start preparing for the exam.

Coming to your questions, below are my responses:

1) I am planning to take the At-home GMAT.
2) I think I can put in anywhere between 2-3 hours weekdays with 5-6 hours on weekends

Thanks
Talha

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Talha,

Since you know the specific Schools that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile and plans. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

If you ultimately "need" a 720+ to apply to those Schools (and apply for the Scholarships that you are qualified to apply for), then THAT Score Goal has to come first. Given everything that we have discussed so far, you would have a far greater chance of hitting that type of Score if you plan for the Round 2 application deadlines than you would if you tried to 'rush' to make the Round 1 deadlines.

1) When was the last time you took a NEW practice CAT in the At-home 'format' (Quant, then Verbal - with NO break in-between, then an optional 5-minute break, then IR)? If you have not done that yet, then I strongly recommend that you take a NEW CAT this weekend so that we can gauge your current skills, strengths and weaknesses. Once you have that Score, you should post back here and we can discuss the results and how you might best proceed with your studies.

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

homersimpsons · Answer

Try Target prep course and gmatclub mocks for a high gmat quant score.

Talhas · Answer

Hi Rich, Well this turns to be funny now. This attempt after a break from practise from past one year I have scored the highest till now

Q 44 , V 30 , IR 4 - Total 610 I must say, few questions I could have solved if I had the remember the formulae. Verbal questions seemed to be easy to me and I think practise is what I need. But quant is so unpredictable for me. I couldn't attach attach the report from test (Experts Global) for your detailed analysis as I have less points or kudos, IDK

I can send it over to on email if you wish. Eager to hear back from you. Thanks Talha

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Talhas,

I've sent you a PM with some additional notes.

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

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