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At one point, she believed GMAT wasn’t for her. After scoring 595, self-doubt crept in and she questioned her potential. But instead of quitting, she made the right strategic changes. The result? A remarkable comeback to 695. Check out how Saakshi did it.
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17 Nov 2025, 18:54
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Hello,
I am rather frustrated with quant. My highest mock recorded is an 83. Which I achieved by pausing the test after each question and solving. I chose this path to increase my confidence. Analyzing my 83 afterward, I was able to correctly solve every wrong question. (rather quickly)
During practice, I routinely crush the concepts but miss questions due to dumb mistakes, or hit the panic button. I have viewed many GMAT Club Youtube videos and consistently solve questions using mental math only and thinking through the concepts.
I know that I can do this math. I know that I am so close to crushing this exam, and I know when it clicks I will score 85+ easily.
Every time I do a timed test or a mock the questions look way more advanced than any quant questions in the Official Quant Guide or Official Guide. Has anyone else suffered similarly? If so, any tips or guidance?
Also, I find verbal extremely easy. I am an 87+ verbal performer and I usually finish verbal with 15+ minutes to spare. My verbal proficiency increases my quant frustration, because it is preventing me from absolutely killing this exam. I wish I could apply my verbal CR strategy to quant, which is: read each sentence independently, evaluate what the clause is telling me, ask how the information relates to the previous statement or affects the argument as a whole, find the flaw, solve. I have zero anxiety or confidence issues with verbal.
I am rather frustrated with quant. My highest mock recorded is an 83. Which I achieved by pausing the test after each question and solving. I chose this path to increase my confidence. Analyzing my 83 afterward, I was able to correctly solve every wrong question. (rather quickly)
During practice, I routinely crush the concepts but miss questions due to dumb mistakes, or hit the panic button. I have viewed many GMAT Club Youtube videos and consistently solve questions using mental math only and thinking through the concepts.
I know that I can do this math. I know that I am so close to crushing this exam, and I know when it clicks I will score 85+ easily.
Every time I do a timed test or a mock the questions look way more advanced than any quant questions in the Official Quant Guide or Official Guide. Has anyone else suffered similarly? If so, any tips or guidance?
Also, I find verbal extremely easy. I am an 87+ verbal performer and I usually finish verbal with 15+ minutes to spare. My verbal proficiency increases my quant frustration, because it is preventing me from absolutely killing this exam. I wish I could apply my verbal CR strategy to quant, which is: read each sentence independently, evaluate what the clause is telling me, ask how the information relates to the previous statement or affects the argument as a whole, find the flaw, solve. I have zero anxiety or confidence issues with verbal.
Hi. Welcome to GMAT Club though sounds like you are not a stranger.
1. We all have strengths - sounds like yours is Verbal and that's fantastic! Schools don't care how you get your 695 so max out that verbal and DI as much as you can.
2. You should move through the quant portion of the test mechanically, like a zombie. You will get 1-2 questions per exam where you will just stare at it but the other 19-20 questions should be really mechanical - you read the question and as you read, your mind is predicting what it will likely be and the second you finish reading it, the mind is already on the way solving it and mapping out the process. It should be very familiar as the Quant is strongly based on patterns.
3. Don't feel that not scoring high on Quant is embarrassing or that you should hide it or that you are just defective or something like that. Many people try to swipe under the rug and jam more questions in thinking they can break through the blocker (I am hearing a tiny bit, or a lot if I am honest lol, of that in your post). I would suggest a different approach - just pause for a day and look around. Look at what's not working (something is not) and try to brainstorm about how you can start trying some new things/approaches to help you overcome. Solving more questions is not the answer as you would have already gotten there (solving questions is important but not before you figure out how). But you look at it while eating dinner or cleaning the kitchen - think about what crazy things you can do to get you solving quant questions more mechanically. I have a few ideas to get you started but if you are trying to get into the 90+ percentile on a very competitive test, you have to outstudy and outwork 90% of people. Being gifted and having good analytical skills is great but it it is the hard work that pays off at the end.
4. Ideas to consider and build upon:
A. Treat every mistake as a hint/gem. Always ask WHY did I make it and WHY will I not make it again if I encounter the same concept/question. If you cannot guarantee this, it is pointless to do anything more. You have to guarantee that if You catch a mistake, you will not make it again. Make sure you never make the same mistake (e.g. question type again).
B. Memorize. If you cannot wrap your mind and solve a question reliable under pressure, memorize a sample question and a sample solution. This is really the idea of doing many questions - you end up creating a mental map/road of how you should solve the questions. If that map is not working out - memorize. I had to do this for the Both/Neither type of questions. I just could not wrap my mind around it under pressure, so I memorized a question and a solution and on the test, I could reproduce the question, reproduce the solution and plugin numbers, guaranteeing I would solve it correctly.
C. Build pressure. It sounds that part of the problem is the pressure and anxiety so perhaps increasing pressure during your practice can make it more bearable during the test. Not sure but something to consider.
D. Examine your dark secrets and fears about the test and math. Writing them out helps a lot of the time - they don't look as scarry and then writing a few potential ways to tackle them makes us feel we can manage them a lot more. There are likely some things that make your stomach tighten and you know those areas and you try to ignore them and avoid them, but the way to a high score is addressing and facing all of them.
E. Warm up before the test - always do 10 questions before you take a test to get your mind firing. During the test you should be lost in the test humming along and solving it with intensity and ignoring the surroundings
You can likely come up with a lot more - creating hand-written notes, cataloging all quant questions, memorizing arithmetic https://gmatclub.com/forum/what-arithme ... 80128.html for quick speed tricks, etc - there are many ways to build your skills up and these are not throw-away skills either. You can use them for the rest of your life, including when your kids go to school and you can actually help them.
1. We all have strengths - sounds like yours is Verbal and that's fantastic! Schools don't care how you get your 695 so max out that verbal and DI as much as you can.
2. You should move through the quant portion of the test mechanically, like a zombie. You will get 1-2 questions per exam where you will just stare at it but the other 19-20 questions should be really mechanical - you read the question and as you read, your mind is predicting what it will likely be and the second you finish reading it, the mind is already on the way solving it and mapping out the process. It should be very familiar as the Quant is strongly based on patterns.
3. Don't feel that not scoring high on Quant is embarrassing or that you should hide it or that you are just defective or something like that. Many people try to swipe under the rug and jam more questions in thinking they can break through the blocker (I am hearing a tiny bit, or a lot if I am honest lol, of that in your post). I would suggest a different approach - just pause for a day and look around. Look at what's not working (something is not) and try to brainstorm about how you can start trying some new things/approaches to help you overcome. Solving more questions is not the answer as you would have already gotten there (solving questions is important but not before you figure out how). But you look at it while eating dinner or cleaning the kitchen - think about what crazy things you can do to get you solving quant questions more mechanically. I have a few ideas to get you started but if you are trying to get into the 90+ percentile on a very competitive test, you have to outstudy and outwork 90% of people. Being gifted and having good analytical skills is great but it it is the hard work that pays off at the end.
4. Ideas to consider and build upon:
A. Treat every mistake as a hint/gem. Always ask WHY did I make it and WHY will I not make it again if I encounter the same concept/question. If you cannot guarantee this, it is pointless to do anything more. You have to guarantee that if You catch a mistake, you will not make it again. Make sure you never make the same mistake (e.g. question type again).
B. Memorize. If you cannot wrap your mind and solve a question reliable under pressure, memorize a sample question and a sample solution. This is really the idea of doing many questions - you end up creating a mental map/road of how you should solve the questions. If that map is not working out - memorize. I had to do this for the Both/Neither type of questions. I just could not wrap my mind around it under pressure, so I memorized a question and a solution and on the test, I could reproduce the question, reproduce the solution and plugin numbers, guaranteeing I would solve it correctly.
C. Build pressure. It sounds that part of the problem is the pressure and anxiety so perhaps increasing pressure during your practice can make it more bearable during the test. Not sure but something to consider.
D. Examine your dark secrets and fears about the test and math. Writing them out helps a lot of the time - they don't look as scarry and then writing a few potential ways to tackle them makes us feel we can manage them a lot more. There are likely some things that make your stomach tighten and you know those areas and you try to ignore them and avoid them, but the way to a high score is addressing and facing all of them.
E. Warm up before the test - always do 10 questions before you take a test to get your mind firing. During the test you should be lost in the test humming along and solving it with intensity and ignoring the surroundings
18 Nov 2025, 02:51
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