Math Study Strategy

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Ashish321: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 36; Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:48 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 3 times

by Ashish321 » Wed Feb 23, 2011 9:10 am

Hi Oxford Bound,

First , if you get an answer right , it shouldn't be mandatory for you to loook @ how the Official Guide has solved the Questions. There could be multiple ways to solve the GMAT Questions , and if you are getting the correct answer , your way is one of them . So , my advice , would be that once you get a question correct , move ahead with other questions ,instead of looking at the solution . That is nothing but a waste of time , from my perspective.

From what i read i that you would have issues with finishing all the questions in stipulated time period , That could cause you issues during Actual GMAT . Have you taken GMAC CAT as of now ? If not , do take one . It would give you a clearer picture as to where you stand.

Moreover , i fell the MGMAT Quant books do a great job in identifying different areas tested in Quant Section . I felt all the MGMAT Quant books very extremely helpful , barring one or two which i felt were just too basic.

So , you can have a look at those as well.

Please let me know , if i can help you add to what i have said .

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Wed Feb 23, 2011 9:10 am

KapTeacherEli: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 578; Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:00 pmFollowed by: 62 members; Thanked: 136 times

by KapTeacherEli » Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:44 am

oxfordbound wrote:Hi All,

I've been studying for about 5 weeks now (roughly 2 hours after work and 5-6 hours on weekends to the best of my ability). I'm having an extremely difficult time understanding how to approach the official GMAT quantitative guide/official guide quant section questions.

I bought a Kaplan book that went through the basic concepts of GMAT math very well - the questions were obviously easier but they helped drill home the basics. What i'm having issues with is connecting this to the GMAT questions....i find myself struggling with the problem then having to look at the answer and getting it wrong in the process. Or if I solve a problem correctly it is done in a different way than what the book has shown as the answer method. ---> Feels like I'm not making progress at all!

I find this approach isn't really helping me attack other questions. The only different approach i took with success to a specific type of problem was overlapping sets. I watched the BeattheGMAT video clip of putting values in a table and understanding the categories of the question...i barely think about the problem and know how to solve it.

i'm really confused as to how to attack these problems and feel i should be able to at least solve some problems with greater accuracy by now but it isn't the case...advice??

Thanks in advance - OxfordBound

Hi Oxfordbound,

I bolded part of the section above because I want to emphasize this point: in the majority of cases, you SHOULDN'T be following the OG Method! The OG methods are almost invariably technical--though correct, it's rare that a student could go through all of those mathematical steps in the two minutes allotted to each problem. So don't get frustrated if you're finding that your methods don't match the OG's--as long as you A) got the right answer B) due to skill and not luck C) in under two minutes, then you handled the question correctly!

As far as 'solving problems with greater accuracy', the OG is also a poor measure of that. OG problems roughly go from easiest at the beginning of a section to hardest at the end--meaning that if you work straight through each section, you will likely see negative progress as the questions will get harder faster than you can improve! To measure your progress, you need to be taking CATs--either the GMATprep exams or the tests that came with your Kaplan book.

In other words, don't get discouraged. I sounds like you're doing the right things, so keep up the good work!

Eli Meyer
Kaplan GMAT Teacher
Cambridge, MA
www.kaptest.com/gmat

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