Guys,
Which strategies and recommendations do you have for people struggling with timing in Quant?
My first official GMATPrep Test was a 690 with Q46 and V39. I got the last 9 questions in the back of the Q section wrong because of timing issues. I know that if I had been better with time I could be pushing 50+ on the Q and therefore getting my close to goal of a 730-750. I ended with 15 questions wrong in the section meaning that I know I'm answering hard questions but timing is my weakness.
How do I improve!?
I know that with better timing I can really improve my score
My timing for verbal is fine, in fact, I finished the early. So I'm not worries about that.
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GMAT Timing Help (Quant)
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Hi jbotero08,
How have you been scoring on your other CATs? The GMATPrep CATs don't provide the detailed information that other CATs provide, and it's THAT information that I'm curious about.
Many Test Takers think that a pacing problem is fixable in and of itself. The reality is that Test Takers who have pacing problems CAUSE the pacing problems, so we need to know more about HOW you're taking your CATs.
With your last non-GMATPrep CAT, how many Quant questions took you MORE THAN 3 minutes to answer (whether you got them correct or incorrect)? What was the total amount of time that you spent on those questions?
Once you've identified these questions, you have to review HOW you went about answering the questions. It's possible that you took a "long approach" to the question and that's WHY you have a pacing problem. It might also be that you "stared" (either at the screen or at your pad) for too long before getting to work. THAT's a different problem.
While just about every GMAT Expert has some advice about pacing and "where you should be" at any given moment of the Test, a greater assessment is required to ultimately "fix" this problem. Start by answering the questions above, then we'll go from there.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
How have you been scoring on your other CATs? The GMATPrep CATs don't provide the detailed information that other CATs provide, and it's THAT information that I'm curious about.
Many Test Takers think that a pacing problem is fixable in and of itself. The reality is that Test Takers who have pacing problems CAUSE the pacing problems, so we need to know more about HOW you're taking your CATs.
With your last non-GMATPrep CAT, how many Quant questions took you MORE THAN 3 minutes to answer (whether you got them correct or incorrect)? What was the total amount of time that you spent on those questions?
Once you've identified these questions, you have to review HOW you went about answering the questions. It's possible that you took a "long approach" to the question and that's WHY you have a pacing problem. It might also be that you "stared" (either at the screen or at your pad) for too long before getting to work. THAT's a different problem.
While just about every GMAT Expert has some advice about pacing and "where you should be" at any given moment of the Test, a greater assessment is required to ultimately "fix" this problem. Start by answering the questions above, then we'll go from there.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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Brent@GMATPrepNow
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I suggest that you use a Milestone Chart to keep you on track. Also, if you're struggling to answer all 37 question in the allotted time, you need to look for "optimal guessing opportunities" to help maximize your score.
All of this is covered in our free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244
Cheers,
Brent
All of this is covered in our free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244
Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
Thank you Rich and Brent!
Rich, which CATs do you recommend? What you said makes sense so I want to follow your advice. That's actually a question I have since I'm testing on September 6th.
My goal is go up 30 points from my GMATPrep GMAT so I could land at a 720.
I will do a separate GMAT Quant, GMAT Verbal in addition to a full CAT test every week. That way I get used to the test, and when not I can at least practice doing a whole session. More so, that should keep me busy researching how to do my wrong questions right and practicing those skill sets.
Thank you.
Rich, which CATs do you recommend? What you said makes sense so I want to follow your advice. That's actually a question I have since I'm testing on September 6th.
My goal is go up 30 points from my GMATPrep GMAT so I could land at a 720.
I will do a separate GMAT Quant, GMAT Verbal in addition to a full CAT test every week. That way I get used to the test, and when not I can at least practice doing a whole session. More so, that should keep me busy researching how to do my wrong questions right and practicing those skill sets.
Thank you.
GMAT/MBA Expert
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[email protected]
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- Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
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HI jbotero08,
If you're interested in purchasing a "block' of CATs, then I'd suggest that you start with the Official GMATPrep CATs from www.mba.com.
There are also "packs" of CATs that you can purchase from MGMAT, Kaplan and Veritas.
CATs are best used in their entirety. Breaking a CAT "into pieces" to test yourself on one section is not a great use of a CAT because that type of exercise does NOT properly simulate Test Day. For example, wanting to test your Quant pacing is understandable. However, part of Test Day is about endurance - to properly test your Quant pacing skills, you actually need to write an Essay and complete an IR section BEFORE you start a Quant section.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
If you're interested in purchasing a "block' of CATs, then I'd suggest that you start with the Official GMATPrep CATs from www.mba.com.
There are also "packs" of CATs that you can purchase from MGMAT, Kaplan and Veritas.
CATs are best used in their entirety. Breaking a CAT "into pieces" to test yourself on one section is not a great use of a CAT because that type of exercise does NOT properly simulate Test Day. For example, wanting to test your Quant pacing is understandable. However, part of Test Day is about endurance - to properly test your Quant pacing skills, you actually need to write an Essay and complete an IR section BEFORE you start a Quant section.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Last edited by [email protected] on Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
GMAT/MBA Expert
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Brent@GMATPrepNow
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I agree with Rich in that the Official GMATPrep practice tests are a great place to start.
I'd like to add that these test can be taken multiple times. I mention this because, when students see that the free GMATPrep software contains two practice tests, they assume that they can take each test only once, and if they do take them a second time, the questions will be the same.
This is not true. The GMAT is computer adaptive and questions are drawn from a large pool of questions. So, while you may see the occasional duplicate question, the majority of questions will be new to you.
If anyone is interested, I wrote an article for BTG on this topic: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/03/ ... iple-times
Cheers,
Brent
I'd like to add that these test can be taken multiple times. I mention this because, when students see that the free GMATPrep software contains two practice tests, they assume that they can take each test only once, and if they do take them a second time, the questions will be the same.
This is not true. The GMAT is computer adaptive and questions are drawn from a large pool of questions. So, while you may see the occasional duplicate question, the majority of questions will be new to you.
If anyone is interested, I wrote an article for BTG on this topic: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/03/ ... iple-times
Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
