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Quant Pacing: I see the light!

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chaiken21044 Just gettin' started! Default Avatar
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Quant Pacing: I see the light! Post Sun Apr 05, 2009 11:21 am
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    I'd like to share something I discoverd recently, that may be helpful to all of you out there batteling the Quant score bules. (Especially mid-rangers like myself)

    For the past 6 months, I've been studying Quant like it's my job, but could not seem to improve my score, despite the fact that I was able to grasp the vast majority of subjects & answer practice problems correctly.

    My Quant scores and practice tests were ranging between 31 & 35. This was very frusturating b/c I was confident I knew the material better than my scores reflected.

    I knew that pacing was important, but I had NO IDEA just how crucial it was until performed the following experiment.

    Last week I took a Manhattan Gmat test, on Saturday and got a 31 on Quant : (

    The next day, without studying a lick in between, I took another MGMAT test BUT this time I used the feature that allows you to set a time limit on each individual question. So, I was forced to select an answer and move on after 2 min.
    The result was that I scored a 42 on Quant! So, I went from the 30th% to the 63rd% overnight.

    Granted, the actual GMAT does not allow us this luxury, but it taught me the valuable lesson of pacing. The average difficulty of the questions I got right was much lower, but I got far more correct answers, and scored much higher.

    To re-test my theory, I took another practice test a week later. This time I did NOT set the clock to run out after 2 min on each questio, but I forced myself to choose an answer and move on after 2 min. The result was the same; I scored a 42 on Quant.

    I'm now aiming to score in the mid to high 40s on Quant, and I have a lot more confidence b/c I no longer feel like I did a week ago, which was that I needed to go back to square one & re-read all the chapters, etc.

    I once was lost but now I'm found.

    I highly reccommend people out there to try this experiment on a practice test, just to see how it affects your score.

    Best of luck.

    Now, if I can just get my 37 scores on Verbal up into the 40s I'll be made in the shade.

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    mike22629 GMAT Destroyer! Default Avatar
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    Post Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:48 pm
    When I first started taking the practice tests I was getting in the low 40s in the quantitative. After reading someone's blog I realized that one of the most important factors to consider is which questions to "give up" on. Even if you know how to do a question, if you realize that the only way you know how to do it takes 4-5 minutes you should guess as best you can and move on. Remember, the worst thing for you score is guessing a bunch of questions at the end as opposed to guessing a few questions in between. After realizing this, I have raised my average about 6 or 7 points in quantitative.

    Gumby 87 Just gettin' started! Default Avatar
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    Post Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:23 pm
    I have also come to this realization. My timing on quant was terrible. I started allotting 3 minutes max and my score improved drastically.


    I think my score is slightly lower than it should have been for that particular test b/c the manhattan test would skip the question I didn't answer in time. Can anyone confirm that?

    vaishalijain7 Really wants to Beat The GMAT! Default Avatar
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    Post Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:19 pm
    Actually I am also surprised regarding MGMAT test. I usually score in quant not lower than 44 even in kaplan tests but in MGMAT I scored 35. I was really sad about it but after reading this I realized that my quant score could have been lower because I devoted too much time for some difficult questions in MGMAT test.

    vaishalijain7 Really wants to Beat The GMAT! Default Avatar
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    Post Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:19 pm
    Actually I am also surprised regarding MGMAT test. I usually score in quant not lower than 44 even in kaplan tests but in MGMAT I scored 35. I was really sad about it but after reading this I realized that my quant score could have been lower because I devoted too much time for some difficult questions in MGMAT test.

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    Post Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:54 pm
    Great thread! I am moving it to the GMAT Math section.

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    Tauqeer Just gettin' started! Default Avatar
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    Post Sat Apr 18, 2009 11:57 am
    Great thread ! Which practise tests are you using ?

    4seasoncentre Really wants to Beat The GMAT! Default Avatar
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    Post Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:33 pm
    As I've mentioned in other posts before, it's ok to spend extra time on some questions (4, maybe 5 minutes to an extreme) but only if you are relatively certain you will yield a correct answer. Some questions you will just whiz past that allows you to allot this extra time.

    jmnelson419 Just gettin' started!
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    Post Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:29 am
    Hi Everyone, I found this thread when searching for timing tips....this is a great tip. I take my GMAT on Saturday (6 days) and just did a practice test where I ended up with 15 questions to complete with only 5 minutes left on the clock. I'm encouraged in that I'm finally understanding the math concepts, but discouraged with my timing.

    Any other tips on pacing that ya'll can share? I'm doing as many practice problems as possible but I'm starting to run out of prep time!

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