So I'm looking for some tips and advice on improving my Quant score, which is, at the moment, a level above abysmal. I'm averaging a 620 GMAT (35 Q, 40 V) and I know a lot of the rust is wearing off my unused math skills (because seriously, who needs to do long division without a calculator in their job... not in mine).
My first test, I made a lot of silly mistakes... not reading the whole question and seeing the "Except", forgetting or taking too long to remember my multiplication tables and exponent rules, etc. I improved as I got used to the questions etc. Now I consistently get the easy and medium questions right, but am often flummoxed by how to approach problems labeled as Hard.
Here's the thing. I'm reading through every question I get wrong, and doing them repeatedly. I'm doing timed practice sets. My times are getting faster. For example, I just did 30DS questions in the OG guide and got 27/30 correct AND did it in 60 min - so 2 min per question. Now the issue is that, when I sit down for a CAT, I panic. Sweaty palms, darting eyes, inability to focus. And all the sudden, a question that I can get in a timed practice set looks impossible.
I clearly have a mental block here when I sit down for the Quant section. Has anyone ever experienced this and has any tips on getting past it? My target score is a 700, and with my strong performances in verbal (and they are getting stronger with practice) I know that I can get there if I get my Quant up, but it's easier said than done to get past the mental block.
Is it just practice practice practice? I've been studying for 3 weeks and have another 6 to go before my test and I'm really hoping to see improvement in the CATs soon or I'll push my test date.
Thanks for your help guys - and I know that this type of thing may be foreign to some of you, but I got pretty schooled by a math class once (I had to rotate conic sections in 3D without calculus... that melts your brain) and I have never really recovered.
My first test, I made a lot of silly mistakes... not reading the whole question and seeing the "Except", forgetting or taking too long to remember my multiplication tables and exponent rules, etc. I improved as I got used to the questions etc. Now I consistently get the easy and medium questions right, but am often flummoxed by how to approach problems labeled as Hard.
Here's the thing. I'm reading through every question I get wrong, and doing them repeatedly. I'm doing timed practice sets. My times are getting faster. For example, I just did 30DS questions in the OG guide and got 27/30 correct AND did it in 60 min - so 2 min per question. Now the issue is that, when I sit down for a CAT, I panic. Sweaty palms, darting eyes, inability to focus. And all the sudden, a question that I can get in a timed practice set looks impossible.
I clearly have a mental block here when I sit down for the Quant section. Has anyone ever experienced this and has any tips on getting past it? My target score is a 700, and with my strong performances in verbal (and they are getting stronger with practice) I know that I can get there if I get my Quant up, but it's easier said than done to get past the mental block.
Is it just practice practice practice? I've been studying for 3 weeks and have another 6 to go before my test and I'm really hoping to see improvement in the CATs soon or I'll push my test date.
Thanks for your help guys - and I know that this type of thing may be foreign to some of you, but I got pretty schooled by a math class once (I had to rotate conic sections in 3D without calculus... that melts your brain) and I have never really recovered.
