I just Beat The GMAT!

I got the official report this morning for my first attempt last Tuesday: 640 (Q36/V40), 6.0 AWA. I'm disappointed with this score but not surprised, since the GMAT Prep CAT I took two weeks before was almost exactly the same scaled score with the same overall score. I was hoping for a little higher, I would be happy with 660 and more than pleased with anything higher. So, at least I don't have a huge score differential to overcome, I feel like I'm more than halfway there already.

Obviously quant is my problem. I'm heavily verbally inclined, usually 90+ percentile and I only practiced the AWA once or twice, and not recently. The difference between quant and verbal for me is night and day. With verbal, I hardly have to think about it. It comes so naturally that I have to get up to pretty difficult Qs before I have to really put in some effort. With quant, it's the opposite, it feels so foreign and I have a hard time getting my brain to wrap around it. Questions that are just average difficulty are challenging.

Things I noticed on test day/overall issues:
- TIMING: I'm a slow test taker anyway, and it seemed like test day anxiety made me even slower. I even had issues with timing on the verbal section, which never happens. The quant section was a timing massacre, I guessed on so many questions and still rant out of time (I don't remember how many questions I didn't get to answer at the end, maybe a couple).
- APPROACH / STRATEGY: Tying into the first issue, I felt like I had a hard time engaging with quant questions, like I was taking FOREVER to make a start. I also felt like I wasn't using strategy and shortcuts well enough if I used them at all.
- MEMORIZATION: I feel like I could have done better memorizing simple calculations (fractions, square roots, etc.) and formulas. I have a lot of flash cards made up, but half of it still doesn't seem to stick.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to proceed, at least enough to push that quant score high enough to get a 660/670. What really helped you with timing/approach/strategy concerns? What would you do if you were me, or what have you advised people like me to do that you have seen work?

Note: I've already taken a prep class, and will not be taking another. If I go in for any more formal help, it would be in the form of quant-specific help only. Tutors are expensive, but I'm willing to seriously consider it and save up the dough if I need to.

Hi, while professional GMAT tutors from major prep companies average at about $200 an hour, you can check out sites such as tutorspree . com that offer tutors around $60 an hour, ones that specialize in GMAT as well as SAT, LSAT, MCAT, etc.

just wanted to throw that out there.

Hi,
Which type of questions do you find tough in quant?
DS or Problem Solving?
If its DS, then you can save some time by not finding the exact answer. You just need to check if you can get a unique answer. Suppose you have 2 equations and 2 variables, and you know that both equations are not the same, you don't need to find the actual answer then.
And you didn't mention how you prepared for quant.

That doesn't sound right. I know someone with a 37Q and 40 Verbal. He got 600.

nycknicks11 wrote:That doesn't sound right. I know someone with a 37Q and 40 Verbal. He got 600.

I think it has something to do with the percentiles changing over time. It just depends on how the current batch of test takers is doing, I guess? The report says the 36Q is the 43rd percentile, the V40 is the 89th, and the 640 is the 75th percentile. I don't know enough about the details of scaled scores to be sure about what would make the difference there.

cans wrote:Hi,
Which type of questions do you find tough in quant?
DS or Problem Solving?
If its DS, then you can save some time by not finding the exact answer. You just need to check if you can get a unique answer. Suppose you have 2 equations and 2 variables, and you know that both equations are not the same, you don't need to find the actual answer then.
And you didn't mention how you prepared for quant.

I avoid finding the exact answer for DS, because I agree it's a waste of time and your advice is good. I took advantage of Grockit's recent special because a lot of people say it's great for timed practice and I can get good and reaquainted with my problem areas.

In general I prepared for quant with a class (Kaplan, took me from 590 to 650 as my best practice score) back in November/December. I wasn't satisfied with how I was doing at the end of the course so I didn't schedule the GMAT then and took a break (probably nothing but wasted time). More recently I've been studying with the MGMAT set of 8 books as well as the OG 12th edition and the math supplement. That was about 6 weeks of study before the exam. In retrospect I don't think I did enough practice problems at a challenging enough level, since I started with the OG and supplement at the beginning.

rjank wrote: I'm looking for suggestions on how to proceed, at least enough to push that quant score high enough to get a 660/670. What really helped you with timing/approach/strategy concerns? What would you do if you were me, or what have you advised people like me to do that you have seen work?

Normally you dont have to worry about scoring 670, on an average the people score an extra 31 points when they take the exam next time. The thing is trying to score higher. Get MGMAT guides, they are great material.