BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

"Problem" with Quant

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun May 01, 2016 7:20 am

"Problem" with Quant

by jbyx78 » Mon Oct 03, 2016 8:24 am
Hi,

I took the two GMATPrep exams and scored 750 (Q48,V46) for the first one and 740 (Q48,V44) for the second one. My verbal score surprised me, considering that I am not a native speaker. But I'm at a loss about my Quant score. 48 is not bad but two things concern me :

1) I didn't have time for the five last questions for both blank exams (I had to guess without reading the questions), but I felt like I could'nt go faster and I guessed on a few questions on the way.
2) When I redid the questions I answered incorrectly, I got most of them (two-thirds) right.

Could you give me some advice on how to do better on Quant ?

Thanks a lot ! :D :D
Top
Source: — GMAT Strategy |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
Followed by:511 members
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Mon Oct 03, 2016 9:22 am
Hi jbyx78,

These are both outstanding performances. Given these results, when are you planning to take the GMAT? Before we talk about how you might best improve in the Quant section, I have a few questions about how you took these CATs:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun May 01, 2016 7:20 am

by jbyx78 » Mon Oct 03, 2016 9:41 am
Hi Rich, thanks :)

I took the entire CAT for both the exams. I took them at home. I took them at the exact same time I'm supposed to take the real GMAT (next week, the 11th). I didn't do anything that I couldn't do D-day.
I took the first gmat twice (first : 690. second : 750) and the second gmat only once. For the first gmat, I saw some questions I had seen the first time I took it, but it was vague in my mind, so I don't think that it influenced my performance.

Thanks a lot ! :)
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
Followed by:511 members
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Mon Oct 03, 2016 9:50 am
Hi jbyx78,

Retaking a CAT that you've already taken almost always leads to an 'inflated' score result, so I would be a bit suspicious of the 750. However, since your first score on that CAT was a 690, and you scored a 740 on the second CAT the first time you took it, I would have to assume that you have the capacity to score at the 700+ level on the Official GMAT.

That all having been said, since your Official Test Date is in a week, you likely won't be able to make any big improvements to how you handle the Quant section. With a Q48, you likely don't have any big 'weak spots' either, so you really have to 'nitpick' your performances to determine WHY you're getting questions wrong.

After reviewing the Quant section of each CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math that you just couldn't remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun May 01, 2016 7:20 am

by jbyx78 » Mon Oct 03, 2016 10:21 am
On 16 questions I got wrong (for both exams), 5 of them seem very straightforward when I redid them. But when I took the exam, I sometimes made a silly mistake, or I COMPLETELY forgot how to do the math (I have no idea why I forgot).
I'd say that about 4-5 questions were "too hard" for me, in the sense that I could have got them right, but it would have taken me 5 min for each question.
finally, I didn't have time to do the last 5 questions for both exams (and when I redid them, they were relatively easy).
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
Followed by:511 members
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Mon Oct 03, 2016 2:56 pm
Hi jbyx78,

If you can honestly say that most of the questions that you got wrong (or couldn't get to because you were low on time) were 'gettable' questions, then you have the potential to increase your scores without too much effort. However, you have to be comfortable with 'dumping' a few questions that are too hard. Those hard questions end up taking too long - and you end up getting them wrong anyway - so there's really no reason to attempt them (doing so just ends up costing you points in other areas). This is a tough concept for many Test Takers to get comfortable with, but being proactive with Triage (re: dumping hard questions on purpose) can lead to big point gains.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1