So I completed my first practice test yesterday (Veritas). The results were...puzzling.
First, the easy part: My verbal score was about what I expected. Very strong in Critical Reasoning, acceptable in Reading Comprehension, and work is needed in Sentence Correction. 80th percentile overall, hoping to get this near 90th percentile with study.
Now, for the more intriguing part: the Quant section. I did very well with Data Sufficiency: 16 correct out of 18. I totally bombed the Problem Solving section: 5 correct out of 19.
I knew going into the test that my math skills were going to be a big problem. It has been a very long time since I've had to do algebra of any sort and I need to do some serious review of that stuff. But what is puzzling to me is that I've generally seen a ton of complaints about how frustrating the DS section is, and I had no trouble with it. I realize that I was also getting lower-level DS questions because I was not doing well with the PS questions, but even that doesn't/shouldn't explain the huge disparity between the two sections, should it?
Alright, so given all of this plus the fact that the verbal section tends to have more weight in the composite score, I'm wondering just how much energy I should devote to improving my Quant score. Yes, I understand that top b-schools want to see some balance between the scores, and I'm going to shoot to do that. I think that I can make a huge improvement with some serious algebra review. Assuming my DS performance stays strong, I should be able to focus mostly on the PS skills. However, at a point, my lack of general math aptitude is going to hold me back and I'll start to experience some serious diminishing returns in study time vs progress made. If I had to guess, that point will probably happen when my practice tests show my quant score around the 70th percentile, maybe even a bit lower.
Sure, I could keep pushing. I could essentially take Algebra I & II all over again and maybe make it into the 80th percentile or higher, but is that time investment worth it when such an improvement might only marginally affect my composite score due to the verbal having significantly more weight? Again, yes, I understand that a school wants to see a score balance and I'll strive to do that as best as I can. But the simple fact is that I'm not balanced. My verbal skills have always been much stronger (hell, that's why I studied business as an undergrad instead of engineering). If I want to break the magical 700 barrier, I think my best shot would be pushing my verbal score into the 90th and higher percentile.
So in essence my question is: would it be a good idea for me to study the quantitative section until I get to around the 70th percentile, and then turn my focus to boosting my verbal score to 90 and above?
First, the easy part: My verbal score was about what I expected. Very strong in Critical Reasoning, acceptable in Reading Comprehension, and work is needed in Sentence Correction. 80th percentile overall, hoping to get this near 90th percentile with study.
Now, for the more intriguing part: the Quant section. I did very well with Data Sufficiency: 16 correct out of 18. I totally bombed the Problem Solving section: 5 correct out of 19.
I knew going into the test that my math skills were going to be a big problem. It has been a very long time since I've had to do algebra of any sort and I need to do some serious review of that stuff. But what is puzzling to me is that I've generally seen a ton of complaints about how frustrating the DS section is, and I had no trouble with it. I realize that I was also getting lower-level DS questions because I was not doing well with the PS questions, but even that doesn't/shouldn't explain the huge disparity between the two sections, should it?
Alright, so given all of this plus the fact that the verbal section tends to have more weight in the composite score, I'm wondering just how much energy I should devote to improving my Quant score. Yes, I understand that top b-schools want to see some balance between the scores, and I'm going to shoot to do that. I think that I can make a huge improvement with some serious algebra review. Assuming my DS performance stays strong, I should be able to focus mostly on the PS skills. However, at a point, my lack of general math aptitude is going to hold me back and I'll start to experience some serious diminishing returns in study time vs progress made. If I had to guess, that point will probably happen when my practice tests show my quant score around the 70th percentile, maybe even a bit lower.
Sure, I could keep pushing. I could essentially take Algebra I & II all over again and maybe make it into the 80th percentile or higher, but is that time investment worth it when such an improvement might only marginally affect my composite score due to the verbal having significantly more weight? Again, yes, I understand that a school wants to see a score balance and I'll strive to do that as best as I can. But the simple fact is that I'm not balanced. My verbal skills have always been much stronger (hell, that's why I studied business as an undergrad instead of engineering). If I want to break the magical 700 barrier, I think my best shot would be pushing my verbal score into the 90th and higher percentile.
So in essence my question is: would it be a good idea for me to study the quantitative section until I get to around the 70th percentile, and then turn my focus to boosting my verbal score to 90 and above?
Last edited by Spee on Wed Feb 11, 2015 3:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
