GMAT Math

Can you give us some more specific data on your performance right now? Have you taken a practice test in the last week or two? (Not GMATPrep - something from a test prep company that will give you analysis of your strengths and weaknesses.)

Either let us know what that data says or, if you haven't taken a practice test recently, take one. Make sure to take it under timed, totally normal conditions (do the essays, take no more than a 10-min break between sections, do it all at one sitting, etc.).

Also let us know what your score on that test is, including your quant subscore, and what you hope to get on the real thing.

Okay - it would be better if you had detailed analysis from a test prep company's test, because sometimes our own "gut feeling" assessments of our strengths and weaknesses aren't exactly right. (For example, I've had plenty of people tell me their timing is fine but when I go over the detailed results of their tests, it's apparent that their timing is a problem...)

But we'll just assume what you've said is right. If you take another test that does give you detailed data, post again with those results.

I'm not so concerned with your perceived weakness in probability and mixture problems b/c those aren't very common on the test. I am concerned about DS b/c that's obviously about half of the questions! The thing that's going to help you the most is some analysis to figure out what's going on there.

Go back to some DS work you did recently (could be that practice test or could be other problem sets you've done more recently) and go over every question (even the ones you got right). What process did you use? Is that the best process you could've used or is there a better way? If you find a better way now, how can you recognize when to use that better way in the future? If you got it wrong, why (very specifically) did you get it wrong? What could you do to avoid making that same mistake in the future? How will you change your current habits to minimize the chances of making that same mistake in future? Look for patterns - there will be certain errors you tend to make over and over. Pay special attention to those - those are your biggest problems, costing you the most points.

You mention that you are sometimes missing "small, stupid things that I should know." Are you literally missing them in the sense that you don't notice at all that this problem said X is an even number? Or do you read that but then forget to apply it? Writing things down can help. If some problem tells me x is a positive integer, I will write x=+int on my scrap paper. Every time. The act of writing helps reinforce the info in my brain so I won't forget (at least for the next 2 min while I'm doing this problem). Are you making calculation errors because you're trying to do things in your head? Writing helps with this too. Are you not noticing the implications of certain pieces of info? eg, if I tell you that x^2 < x, what does that tell you about x? That's more of a content issue - you haven't learned the unusual properties of certain numbers (in this case, normally something gets bigger when you square it - only under very specific circumstances will the number get smaller instead...).

Etc. Basically, you have to figure out WHY you're missing things you think you should be getting right and then figure out what habits you can implement to minimize the chances that you'll make those same kinds of errors in the future.