I just Beat The GMAT!

Just scored a lower-than-expected 680 on my first attempt - V45-ish, Q39 - this marks my lowest-ever quant score due to many unfamiliar questions.

I studied OG and Kaplan for about two months, then the week leading up to the actual exam I had picked my quants up considerably using Kaplan Quiz Bank practice sets - went from averaging 65% to 81% on sets of 37 questions. Great explanations and the questions didn't seem too easy. I had scored 700, 710 and 720 (reinstalled) on OG Practice CATs from the site.

However, on exam day I drew a disproportianate number of questions in all my weakest areas - coordinate geometry, properties of sets, integers. These only came up occasionally on the practice tests (both Official and Kaplan) but seemed to make up about 30% of the actual test! This surprise, combined with a good bit of panic, sealed my fate.

Any chance I just drew a quirky set? Are quants getting harder this year?

In any case, I scheduled a second try for early November. I'll be working on my apps at the same time, so GMAT study will be focused on tuck-pointing the holes in my quant skills and maintining good pace.

While 680 is not a bad score overall, I know the 39Q will kill me at top schools, especially now that half of Lehman just joined the application pool! My goal is to get up to at least the 75th percentile.

If anyone knows of a quant review that explains well and covers all the relevant areas, or would like to share advice or past experiences, I'd be most appreciative.

Cheers and good luck to everyone!

I like your plan. Give it another shot in November someone with such a high Verbal score can score higher. But on the other hand, if this score is enough for you..don't bother taking the test again.

You can master your quant skills reading this forum and gmatclub's math section:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/7?sid=6a2265b ... 8125f8ebab

Good luck!

Thanks for the tip emrahercan, I wish I checked out the math section of this site earlier, lots of good stuff (BTW - not sure whether it's my browser, but I'm having trouble opening the link you posted).

Any opinion on MGMAT for quants? I relied heavily on Kaplan for my first attempt, but I'm starting to suspect they get their reputation for rigorousness from the Verbal side of things (e.g. a friend who scored upwards of 780 swears by Kaplan, but then again he's a native Russian speaker and had a strong quant background to begin with).

Thanks again and good luck with that 780!

hey,

I am in the same boat! I also felt like there was way too much focus on coordinate geometry, inequalities (which I HATE), and overlapping sets. I didn't get any questions on probability OR combinations. I too thought that the test was very biased in that regard.

I'm wondering if other people had the same experience. I just took the test today and got a miserable 660 (i'm shooting for 700). And it was mainly because my quant score plummetted. Part of me thinks that I just had bad luck with the questions and wants to re-take the test next week...

Anyway, your approach of taking the test again in November is probably better.

Good luck!

I feel your pain, Newera. I spent at least a whole day of review on prob, stats and permutations, but not a single one showed up on the real test.

I would have gladly re-taken on the spot if they'd have let me; it just felt like a fluke question set. I would've stayed on that computer like it was a nickel slot machine.

But, if a lot of others are seeing the same thing, maybe there's been a rebalancing in the GMAT index. Better to learn the more obscure topics cold before before pulling the lever again.