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Quant - 20-23 Right 15-17 Wrong ?Suggestions?

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Quant - 20-23 Right 15-17 Wrong ?Suggestions?

by euro » Fri Oct 29, 2010 4:13 am
hi guys,

After studying results from 4 tests (3 MGMAT and 1 GMAT prep), I have found that I typically get around 20-22 Right and the remaining 15-17 Wrong on the Quant section. (Raw score range is 44-48 Overall score 650-720).

I find it difficult to solve the questions from higher bins in less than 3 mins.

Trend analysis has revealed that I take around 4 to 4.5 mins to get the tougher (usually absolute values, number props) 700-800 level questions right.
In one of the tests, I adopted a strategy which required that I guess on the tougher problems. This resulted in a lower overall score.

Suggestions on improving performance are truly needed.
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by beatthegmat » Sat Oct 30, 2010 5:19 pm
Pacing is perhaps the most important skill to learn on the GMAT. The lack of time per question is the core of what makes this test so hard (my opinion).

We've written MANY article about mastering pacing. On the top right of this page, there is a search box. Type in 'Pacing', and you'll see five articles at the top that talk about pacing strategy. No one strategy works for everyone, so you're going to have to experiment.

You're right though that you can't spend so much time on the hard bin questions on your real GMAT--you'll never finish! Do some work to practice your pacing, but my personal advice is to simply move on and guess if you are taking too much time to answer a given problem.

Good luck!
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:41 pm
Hey euro,

First of all, great work thus far...the fact that you're scoring so well and getting to see such hard questions on these tests is encouraging!

Eric's (obviously) right that there is a ton of advice all over this site dedicated to pacing, and with good reason as it's such a critical part of the exam.

I also wanted to chime in to mention this - you've already taken a huge step toward improving your pacing...you've diagnosed that it tends to take you too long on difficult number properties, absolute value, etc. problems correct. Now you really have a few steps to capitalize on that:

1) Get faster at those problems! I'd recommend finding/creating sets of problems dedicated to those disciplines (search the forums here, use the OG and its supplements, purchase the Veritas Prep or other books, etc.) and performing this drill - over 10 questions, give yourself 30 seconds each to get started on them. Whether it's beginning the first few steps or just categorizing (e.g. "I need to find a pattern in the units digit"), train yourself to have something to show for first 30 seconds you're dealing with the problem and you should find that things go faster from there.

2) Glean from the above drill a pretty good feel for when a question is a good investment of your time. You may well find that some questions just won't let you get started within 30-45 seconds...you just don't know where to go. As long as you can limit yourself to only about 3-4 of them on test day, then you can use your instinct to just guess and move on, banking that extra time to use on the problems that still take you 2:30 - 3 minutes but that you can definitely get.

3) See where else you can pick up some time to devote to those harder questions that may take you the 2:30-3:00. Perhaps you're fully calculating Data Sufficiency problems when you could stop as soon as you know that the calculations will lead you to an answer. Or maybe you're not recognizing number properties shortcuts to avoid calculations on problem solving questions. See if you can save yourself 2-3 minutes on questions that you're already getting right, but inefficiently. That would add some time to your bank to dedicate to those harder questions that you know you could get if you just had a little more time.
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