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Posts: 5
Hey Mike,
I am Prashant.
I gave GMAT last September and got 660 with the split of 43 Q and 34 V. In my mocks I was getting 49-50 in Q consistently, so I didn't actually slog through quant and in last 2-3 days before the actual exam I rushed through the data sufficiency part. 43 in Q was a heart breaker, when a 49-50 could have breached the 700 barrier for me. I have decided to give GMAT again ( couldn't do so in past 3-4 months as I had to travel a lot for work) . I don't want to be inundated with a lot of material. For verbal I am using GMAT official guides, manhattan SC guide. What I am afraid of is the quant now. I am decent at quant, with good fundamentals in most of the areas(Engineering background) except few such as time and work, difficult questions for set theory, probability. What I think I am particularly weak in is number theory. I observed this during the exam that I was taking a lot of time to analyse the questions. e.g. I have chose 2 as my even number then testing it for all possible
cases. OG quant is easy except few 30-40 questions at the end. Also, Data sufficiency has at least 100-120 good questions, I am weak in DS as well.
I will work through OG but before that I want to get my basics right and hone my quant skill back to the level when I was in school and college. I have seen the MGMAT's 5 guides, Jeff Sackmann's guide and Nova math bible and Nova DS book(Nova and Jeff Sackmann are suggested by my sister who scored 770 few years ago) .Can you please suggest, what should I focus on ?
Thanks,
Prashant
I am Prashant.
I gave GMAT last September and got 660 with the split of 43 Q and 34 V. In my mocks I was getting 49-50 in Q consistently, so I didn't actually slog through quant and in last 2-3 days before the actual exam I rushed through the data sufficiency part. 43 in Q was a heart breaker, when a 49-50 could have breached the 700 barrier for me. I have decided to give GMAT again ( couldn't do so in past 3-4 months as I had to travel a lot for work) . I don't want to be inundated with a lot of material. For verbal I am using GMAT official guides, manhattan SC guide. What I am afraid of is the quant now. I am decent at quant, with good fundamentals in most of the areas(Engineering background) except few such as time and work, difficult questions for set theory, probability. What I think I am particularly weak in is number theory. I observed this during the exam that I was taking a lot of time to analyse the questions. e.g. I have chose 2 as my even number then testing it for all possible
cases. OG quant is easy except few 30-40 questions at the end. Also, Data sufficiency has at least 100-120 good questions, I am weak in DS as well.
I will work through OG but before that I want to get my basics right and hone my quant skill back to the level when I was in school and college. I have seen the MGMAT's 5 guides, Jeff Sackmann's guide and Nova math bible and Nova DS book(Nova and Jeff Sackmann are suggested by my sister who scored 770 few years ago) .Can you please suggest, what should I focus on ?
Thanks,
Prashant
Posts: 4,475
prashanmdgl9
Dear Prashant,
I'm happy to respond.
The OG and the MGMAT books are good. The Nova books are good for practice problems, but of course, they don't have explanations. If you get Nova questions wrong, you really need to search here on GC, or post here, to get expert advice. I am not familiar with the Jeff Sackmann book.
The first thing I will caution you about is levels of understanding. It's simply not enough to say, "I understand." That's too naive. See this post:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/understand ... rformance/
Second, it seems your studying is very practice-question-based. I would recommend that you spend a lot more time with problem explanations. Look at the explanations even if you get the question right, just to make sure you did the question in the most efficient way and got it right for the right reasons. When you get a question wrong, it is entirely inadequate to look at the the explanation and say, "Oh, yeah. That's what I should have done." That does not build understanding. The question, for each problem you get wrong, is: what level of studying do you have to invest so you don't make that mistake again, so you are absolutely solid on that particular concept or skill the next time around? Also, it may be that shifting your perspective would help. See:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/how-to-do- ... th-faster/
Also, I would highly recommend Magoosh. In addition to over 800 practice questions, we have video lessons. Even if you know a fair bit of the math content, I believe learning time-saving strategies could give you the edge you seek. Furthermore, each question has it's own video explanation, for accelerated learning. Here's a free DS question:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1031
Here's another:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1024
Here's a free SC question:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/3586
When you submit your answer, the next page will have the video explanation.
Does all this make sense?
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test Prep
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
Magoosh Test Prep
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
Hi, i am
Preparing for gmat for a month now. What i found about myself is that i know and understand the concept and applying it correctly. The only problem is my silly mistakes. Like multiplication. I guess i have all the tables till 20.0pls advice what should i do to avoid such mistakes
Posted from GMAT ToolKit
Preparing for gmat for a month now. What i found about myself is that i know and understand the concept and applying it correctly. The only problem is my silly mistakes. Like multiplication. I guess i have all the tables till 20.0pls advice what should i do to avoid such mistakes
Posted from GMAT ToolKit
Posts: 4,475
Sweety04
Dear Sweety04
I'm happy to respond.
Here is a blog I wrote about different types of careless mistakes that students make:https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/careless-m ... gmat-math/
I think it's very important to think critically not only about the nature of the "silly mistakes" you are making, about exactly what piece is missing, but also, more importantly, about your state of mind --- your clarity, your calmness, your patience, your mindfulness. There are millennia-old practices for improving the quality of your attention and focus, and incorporating these into your GMAT prep could be a game-changer.
Does all this make sense?
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test Prep
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
Magoosh Test Prep
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
Hi Mike,
Thanks for reply! I guess my
Problem is lack of attention and my wandering attention. The article was really helpful
Thanks,
Sweety04
Posted from my mobile device
Thanks for reply! I guess my
Problem is lack of attention and my wandering attention. The article was really helpful
Thanks,
Sweety04
Posted from my mobile device
Hi Mike,
I am reading MGMAT quants and plan to start with OG QUANTS review and the OG REVIEW.please let me know if these books cover the entire GMAT QUANT.do i need to refer any other book for practice
Posted from GMAT ToolKit
I am reading MGMAT quants and plan to start with OG QUANTS review and the OG REVIEW.please let me know if these books cover the entire GMAT QUANT.do i need to refer any other book for practice
Posted from GMAT ToolKit
Posts: 4,475
Sweety04
Dear Sweety04,
My friend,
There are a few different issues here.
The OG Quants & OG Review are a fantastic source of practice problems, but the explanations are nearly zilch. They are not strong pedagogically. If you want to practice, they are great, but if you need to learn, they are horrible.
The MGMAT books are superb. That's a great source for actually learning the math. I would also recommend the free Magoosh blog:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/category/quantitative/
Many articles there you will find helpful.
Finally, be careful of your approach. The attitude of mediocrity is: "If I do A, B, and C, is that enough? Can I call myself done if I do those?" The attitude of excellence is, "Once I am done with A, B, and C, what else can I do? How else can I improve myself?" The attitude of mediocrity is what most people do, and according to the Great Law of Mediocrity, if you put in about the same effort as everyone else, you will get about the same results as everyone else. You will not standout. Excellence is what makes people stand out, but excellence always takes considerably more effort that most people would even consider making.
Does all this make sense?
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test Prep
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
Magoosh Test Prep
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
GMAT 1: 740 Q51 V39
Posts: 70
mikemcgarry
Sir,
Can you Please recommend, Which Journals should I read to improve my Reading Comprehension? I guess one is New York Times, what are the other ones?
Posts: 4,475
crunchboss
Dear crunchboss,
I'm happy to respond. See this blog:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-reading-list/
Also, see this blog:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/how-to-imp ... bal-score/
Read those two, and let me know if you have any further questions.
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test Prep
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
Magoosh Test Prep
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
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