NEED INSPIRATION!

Question

I have taken the GMAT 3 times this year!! and I keep getting the same score. My Quant is very low 45th percentile and my verbal is 93rd percentile. I had given up on the GMAT but have now decided to take it a 4th time! I am more determined than ever but I still have that little voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me I am stuck at my current score.

I need to break away from this score!! I have read through a lot of the posts and am definitely going to try and change my study strategy. I think the hardest part for me has been really understanding the concepts and going over answers without breaking down and looking at the explanations without trying to solve it first. I just don't know how much time I should spend trying to solve a problem without moving on. I have one month to get it together which should be enough since I have been studying since the beginning of the year!


Is there hope? One month is my absolute cut off line I know more time would be better but I don't have that option. 

Any inspirational thoughts would be greatly appreciated! lol

Calamity Jane · Answer

Well, you DO have the option of taking more time. You don't HAVE to apply to b-school this year. And if you apply with a 45% quant score, you're not going to get in anywhere. So take a deep breath and take a step back.

You need to work on your math fundamentals, not just for the GMAT, but for b-school in general. I would either get a math tutor if you can afford one, or plan to take a math class at a local college, like a community college. It will do wonders for you and improve your chances all around.

defenestrate · Answer

one month! Ok, remember in high school the math books. Get an Algebra 2 book and work all the way through it. Understand every point .I used a great book called Practical Algebra by Peter Selby and Steve Slavin.

Also get a quick brush up on geometry, especially triangles, quadralaterals, and circles.

Go through the entire thing. I did this in about a week...of course I worked about 4 hours a day on it.

Only after you reviewed the fundementals should you begin the prep with something like Manhattan Gmat. I have a feeling you have been focusing on specific questions, and not learning the tools needed to answer the question.

Go through the OG, they have a point by point list of every math point needed to do really well on the GMAT. 

A month is not a lot of time. You might really want to wait another year. Remember that getting into the top tier B school makes a difference worth the year of investing in it.

uphillclimb · Answer

Take a class, gsrgirlie. It should be an Algebra 2 class, as was suggested to you, or pre-calculus, which will cover a lot of the same material. Speaking for myself, I am convinced that's what made the difference in my quant score. No amount of "tricks" etc. that you can learn will substitute for you being comfortable with the material in general. Honestly, relax. Business schools are not going to close up shop in the next year. Take the time to set yourself up to have a better shot at the exam, and by association, your applications. I think you will be much happier with the result.
Good luck.

positive soul · Answer

Do not give up!!!!! 

What is your goal? You want to get into a top school? If so, I don't know anyone that got in with 45% in quant. Even if you do, you will get killed in Grad School without math fundamentals. I assume, you want to go to Grad School to learn not to have a hard time.

But are you sure the problem is your math skills? or is the GMAT way to test math concepts? Make a self assessment and take action to solve your problem. I know you must be frustrated by now. I also I experienced the same situation a few years ago. 

I believe it is good to set a date to re-take the test but make it a realistic date. The fact is that you will not improve your math skills in one month unless you find what your problem is and spend a lot of time EVERY DAY improving your skills. Do not be discouraged!!!!! You can do it but you need to be smart abou it. Good luck!!!!!

Fig · Answer

Positive soul would perhaps not present his amazing story by himself, so let me suggest it : https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=35919

rhyme · Answer

Positive Soul's is arguably the best one here.... But I'll post my own, cause im proud of it. https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/t30030

leftysidewinder · Answer

I would recommend to keep your notepad neat so you can keep track of your Q problems. The GMAT tests your ability to juggle multiple step math problems. I had a tendency to make many careless mistakes, on math problems that I'm capable of solving. Plug in the wrong answers, and MAKE SURE they are wrong.

ocprep · Answer

I think when I took my first diagnostic without any math review...I was shocked at how many "easy" quant ques I got wrong. So I purchased the Kaplan GMAT Math workbook and worked through each question until I understood each concept, then worked thru the Kaplan Premier math ques, then the OG Math overview and my score has improved tremendously. THE KEY is to not move on to the next question until you FULLY understand how to solve a problem - drives you nuts sometimes but you gotta do it. There are many ways to solve a problem, just find one that works for you. 

I've started creating flash cards that have the basics, cuz they're so easy to forget. 

You'd be surprised how reviewing basic arithmetic can raise your score...you need to focus on fundamentals, then move on to algebra, then geometry. Good luck!

kwam · Answer

I'm not the right person to give you advice here as my weakest point was the verbal, and I'm not into any B-school - hopefully yet. However, I will try to point out somethings that I've noticed during my process.

Q can be tough even for math background guys, don't try to solve it as we are used to, that's one of the GMAT's secret, back solving for instance, is as important as knowing that 1 + 1 equals 2.

Although in my last GMAT, I was stubborn and lost almost 5 min trying to solve a question, just don't do that - I know, how hypocrite am I? - if you loose more than 4 min, just guess and move on, it's better to guess and solve all questions, than later finish the test with unsolved questions.

More on guessing: try to guess right, many questions on the GMAT Q is about have the idea of the right approach, you do not need to solve until the end when the questions is that kind of: "which of the following is the least?", try to just eliminate the most obvious, because if you loose more than 4 minutes you will increase your probability of guessing right.

Practice: practice leads to perfection, off course we're not seeking 800, but the more you practice the best you can do. Avoid studying Verbal if V is your strong point, almost naturally one goes for one's strongest point, but just do that practice your weak point. My last GMAT time I studied "almost exclusively" the V part, IT SUCKED BIG TIME, but hey that's the point, we're fighting our weaknesses, right?

Finally, always believe - it's like Impossible is nothing :lol:

- you have many histories here from people who did. Stay calm, focus, practice and be positive.

Good luck!

- you have many histories here from people who did. Stay calm, focus, practice and be positive. Good luck!

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