GMAT Strategy

how close are these to the actual exam? I just answered 50 questions and got 48 right and the 2 I missed were calculating mistakes. I ask because when I have taken some practice tests and the prep4gmat app the questions are much more challenging. also some of the questions posted here are more difficult. so which is more accurate?

[email protected] wrote:Hi jbryant62,

To start, the Quant section of the GMAT is only 37 questions, with an approximate ratio of PS to DS questions of about 22 to 15, an adaptive algorithm and fairly standard ratio of certain subjects tested. Working through 50 questions in the OG (either 'in a row' or randomly) guarantees you NONE of those factors. The individual questions themselves ARE realistic (they all once appeared on the Official GMAT at some time or another), but no book will be able to give you an exact set of 37 questions that will 'match up' perfectly with what you'll see on Test Day.

It would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?s
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?

I haven't studied much. I checked out a crack the GMAT book from the library a little over a year ago but haven't studied since.

2) What materials have you used?s

I recently obtained a copy of the GMAT OG 2017 and the 2016 quant review.

3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)? I took the first on on 11/25. Scored 570 43 quant 25 verbal. Disappointed in both but I ran out of time on the quant so had to guess on the last 3 questions and when reviewing I knew them. Most of my mistakes were simple comprehension. Answering how many when the prompt asked for what was left, etc.

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?

I would like to obtain 700 to keep my options over.

5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?

No definite time table yet but around spring 2017

6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

Looking to start Fall 2017

7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

With work and a family, my choices are somewhat limited compared to where I would like to go. Most like UF.

Hi jbryant62.

While I am not all that familiar with the Guide For Quant Review, I can say that most of the quant questions in the Official guide are not as difficult as the ones that you would see if you were scoring in upper 40's to 50's in quant.

As a matter of fact, probably the level of difficulty of the questions that you saw in scoring 43 in quant on the practice test that you took is fairly consistent with the level of difficulty of some of the more challenging but maybe not the most challenging quant questions in the OG.

So the short answer to your question is that in achieving your score goal you will likely see some quant questions that are more challenging that the OG quant questions.

At the same time, the truth is that even at the highest levels of quant, the questions are often not that difficult to answer, and are often more tricky than complex.

Beyond that, here some tips for you.

Tip One: Do practice questions in as much time as you need to get them right. You need to learn to consistently get right answers, and taking your time when doing practice questions is the way to develop the skills you need in order to get them right consistently. As you develop those skills, you will naturally speed up.

Tip Two: Work on quant questions topic by topic. If you go over your practice tests, you will find that certain types of quant questions were somehow more challenging for you than others were. Of course, if you work on those most challenging types until they become easy for you, you will not only get them right, but also you will get them right faster, leaving yourself more time to work on other questions and helping you to finish the quant section on time. You already scored Q43. By getting better at handling just ten types of questions, you might be able to score well into the upper 40's in quant. If ten types are not enough, you can continue working on types until you hit your goal.

Here is a comprehensive list of quant question types, along with the frequencies in which they have appeared in some official practice tests.

https://gmatclub.com/blog/2012/04/breakd ... frequency/

Tip Three: To drive up your verbal score you need to see what's going on in the questions more clearly. How to achieve that vision? By working on verbal questions very carefully, seeking to prove each wrong answer wrong and each right answer right. If you can get 100% right taking twenty minutes per question, soon you will get most of them right taking two minutes per question. To the degree that you don't get 100% right taking twenty minutes per question, figure out for each question that you don't get what you had to see and what you had to do differently in order to choose the right answer rather than the wrong one.

Enjoy the game!!!

I will say that I have always been better at math than say English. I feel confident that once I practice some that I can improve my math score. I havent performed these concepts in many years. I mixed up my circle formulas and such. Easily fixed. Verbal not so much. The writing style is just confusing to me and while I get that you dont really need to know anything about the prompt to answer the question, the subjects just lose me. Does anyone really write like this? Does anyone know how the scoring is calculated? If I was able to score in the upper 40s in quant, what would I need on Verbal to get to 700?

jbryant62 wrote:I will say that I have always been better at math than say English. I feel confident that once I practice some that I can improve my math score. I havent performed these concepts in many years. I mixed up my circle formulas and such. Easily fixed. Verbal not so much. The writing style is just confusing to me and while I get that you dont really need to know anything about the prompt to answer the question, the subjects just lose me. Does anyone really write like this? Does anyone know how the scoring is calculated? If I was able to score in the upper 40s in quant, what would I need on Verbal to get to 700?

C'mon, for someone who can do math the way you do, and who has a reasonable grasp of English, as you do, the CR questions, for instance, should be totally manageable.

Scoring high in verbal is mostly about catching details and using logic. Can you catch details and use logic? I think so. With a reasonable amount of practice, you should be able to drive your verbal score at least into the middle to upper 30's.