BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Struggling with Gmat math section

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2010 5:22 pm

Struggling with Gmat math section

by carolyncobb85 » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:44 am
Hi all,

I just came back from taking the gmat for the first time after studying on and off for about three months. Ideally I was looking to score at least in the upper 600's for the schools I am applying to. I scored a 610 (a great disappointment) and am now realizing that I will have to take the test again. I am planning on rescheduling the exam for September or October which will give me two or three more months to study.

The question I have involves the difference between my math and verbal scores. I scored in the 90th percentile for verbal but only in the 35th for math! Is there any hope for me in the math portion of the test if I really focus on studying that section in the coming months? Or is such a difference in scores a sign that these math concepts are beyond my reach?

Also, I would like to note that I have a very busy and abnormal work schedule (as I work weekends and nights), and I cannot afford to spend vast amounts of money on private tutoring or a gmat course. I own the official guide to the gmat as well as the kaplan general gmat study guide and the kaplan gmat math workbook.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
Top
Source: — GMAT Strategy |
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1031
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:23 pm
Location: Malibu, CA
Thanked: 716 times
Followed by:255 members
GMAT Score:750

by Brian@VeritasPrep » Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:35 pm
Hi Carolyn,

First of all, congratulations on a terrific verbal score! You're almost all the way there, so you should certainly feel proud of that milestone.

To your question "is there any hope for me in the math portion?" I'd answer a resounding "YES" for a few reasons:

1) The math section is a lot more like the verbal section than you'd think, so you're already well on your way. Data Sufficiency questions are essentially Critical Reasoning questions using mathematical statements instead of science or social science statements. A CR question might ask a variation of:

All savings accounts bear interest and some interest-bearing accounts are tax free. Is the conclusion "some savings accounts are tax free" valid?

(the answer is "no" - we don't know that any of the savings-type interest accounts are among the "some" that are tax free. Try a hypothetical that is consistent with the premises but not with the conclusion - say that, for example, all savings accounts bear interest and so do IRAs, but only Roth IRAs are tax-free. That's allowed by the facts, but would invalidate the conclusion, so we know that it's not necessarily true.)

In Data Sufficiency, the same question could be asked like:

x/y > 3. Is x>3y?

(the answer, again, is "no" - if y were negative, then the inequality would be flipped. Again, you may want to try a hypothetical - if x is -4 and y is -1, then -4/-1 is greater than 3, but the answer to the question is "no", as -4 is not greater than 3(-1).)

So...to summarize the examples, train yourself to use that same kind of logic that is helping you score nearly perfectly on CR and RC questions to apply it to Data Sufficiency. Ask yourself "where is the argument vulnerable?" and you can continue to do what you do well, just on both sections.

2) You already know what doesn't work for you on the math section, so you're closer to finding the right methods of solving question and of studying.

2a) Look at the mistakes you've been making on previous practice tests and homework sets and see if you can find patterns in them. You'll likely be able to find a few things that you commonly do incorrectly and by fixing those raise your score significantly.

2b) Think about how you've studied for the math section and make some changes. If you've been doing a lot of problems but not improving on the fundamentals, find some "Math Fundamentals" resources to get thoroughly comfortable with the basics. If you've been doing okay on the homework but having trouble with pacing yourself, then start working through some pacing drills (I can suggest some that I recommend) to pick up speed. If you've been doing a lot of memorizing but tend to blank on rules/formulas/properties in test situations, then try to build a more comprehensive understanding of "why" the rule holds instead of just "what" the rule is.

You should be able to identify some areas for improvement and ways to change or just improve the way you're going about it. And as you do that, I know that the community here can help you along the way!
Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

Looking for GMAT practice questions? Try out the Veritas Prep Question Bank. Learn More.
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1