Hi Beat the GMAT folks,
After studying since early July I took the GMAT for the first time yesterday and got the VERY lopsided score of 48 on Verbal and 39 on Quant. While I'm relatively happy with the composite score of 710, I'm pretty sure the more competitive B schools would cringe at that bottom 43 percentile Quant score, especially because I have a pretty weak quantitative background in general.
Ironically, I didn't study Verbal for more than 20 minutes beyond taking full practice exams and I've studied Quant every single day for 3+ hours a day since July. I hadn't studied any math since high school and it basically felt like re-learning everything from the beginning, not to mention that I have very little natural affinity for it. My practice test scores started very low at around 36 for Quant, but as time went on I was consistently scoring respectable 44-46's on practice exams (my last 5 practice tests were all in this range). I was really hoping to at least get in the low 40's and squeak by with a 60th percentile Quant score but apparently under pressure I wasn't able to do it. Obviously most people take the test multiple times but before I start studying again I would like to change my patterns so I get more return on my time.
If anyone has any advice around these points specifically I would really appreciate it:
1. Approaches for people who are good at verbal and just can't seem to "get" math. Obviously I am not a bad test taker in general, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to pull off that Verbal score. But as soon as I start doing math I feel like my reasoning skills evaporate and I just stand there blinking like a deer in headlights. I'm generally good at logic but when I need to do a DS question, even one that requires very few calculations, my brain feels clumsy and all of a sudden I'm like the Incredible Hulk trying to perform open heart surgery with my giant monster hands. What can I do to apply my generally strong reasoning skills to mathematical concepts without getting so flustered? No matter how many practice questions I do it just feels like they rarely become clearer...
2. Advice for people who really struggle doing math quickly/in their heads. This one is trickier - I think that a lot of my issues with the Quant section have stem from the fact that I have a slight visual learning disability, sort of akin to dyslexia, where I think one symbol but actually end up writing a different symbol... for example I could not, for the life of me, tell the difference between a "b" and a "d" until I was about 9 years old. With the use of calculators and word processors this problem barely affected my academic performance throughout high school and college, but now that I'm studying for the GMAT and I can't use a calculator to keep my numbers straight I am kind of screwed. I've found that with a lot of problems I'm getting all the way to the end of my calculations and realizing that I messed up somewhere by writing something ridiculous like 5 x 8 is 30, wasting tons of time in the process. I know that rote practice is supposed to help address this, but I feel like I really need to go beyond that. On the majority of the practice tests I've ended up rushing significantly towards the end and guessing on the last few questions because the math just takes me so long.
3. Staying focused on math when you loathe every godawful, excruciating second of it. Both 1 and 2 contribute to a looming sense of discomfort and anxiety when it comes to math and this both clouds my judgement and makes it difficult to use good time management. I did a whole lot of meditation leading up to the test, almost completely stopped drinking coffee and alcohol, and cut down significantly on social media use, all in order to cut down on my anxiety and have a clear head for the exam. On test day I was calm, but somehow not completely present for the Quant section. After I walked out of the test center I realized that I couldn't recall a single math question I had answered on the test, so while I wasn't sitting there hyperventilating I also wasn't fully focused and engaged. How do I say focused on concepts that are so hard for me to engage with to begin with?
My study regimen thus far:
-Veritas course July-August, completed all problems sets, attended all lessons, followed up with refreshers by watching their online lessons. I think their content was good but the class was very fast-paced and I was so behind in math to begin with that I think a lot of the higher-level concepts were lost on me.
- During the course I did a good number of really basic math drills to practice mental math (this helped a little but felt too tedious... maybe not continuing here was my mistake).
-After the course ended, I started prepping with Magoosh. This helped a lot because I felt that the Magoosh videos did a good job of breaking down the math concepts into much more digestible parts than Vertias. However, even when I felt like I had a pretty good foundation in the basics, I still struggled a lot to access my knowledge under time pressure.
- 1-2 practice tests a week since August (Scores: GMAC 630, Veritas 730, Magoosh 680, GMAC 680, Veritas 740, GMAC 740, Veritas 730, Veritas 740, Veritas 740).
- Flash cards to remember basic math concepts
- Practice problems every day
- OG 2014, but I used Magoosh and Veritas questions more because I prefer their online interfaces
Thanks so much for any advice!!!
Katherine
After studying since early July I took the GMAT for the first time yesterday and got the VERY lopsided score of 48 on Verbal and 39 on Quant. While I'm relatively happy with the composite score of 710, I'm pretty sure the more competitive B schools would cringe at that bottom 43 percentile Quant score, especially because I have a pretty weak quantitative background in general.
Ironically, I didn't study Verbal for more than 20 minutes beyond taking full practice exams and I've studied Quant every single day for 3+ hours a day since July. I hadn't studied any math since high school and it basically felt like re-learning everything from the beginning, not to mention that I have very little natural affinity for it. My practice test scores started very low at around 36 for Quant, but as time went on I was consistently scoring respectable 44-46's on practice exams (my last 5 practice tests were all in this range). I was really hoping to at least get in the low 40's and squeak by with a 60th percentile Quant score but apparently under pressure I wasn't able to do it. Obviously most people take the test multiple times but before I start studying again I would like to change my patterns so I get more return on my time.
If anyone has any advice around these points specifically I would really appreciate it:
1. Approaches for people who are good at verbal and just can't seem to "get" math. Obviously I am not a bad test taker in general, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to pull off that Verbal score. But as soon as I start doing math I feel like my reasoning skills evaporate and I just stand there blinking like a deer in headlights. I'm generally good at logic but when I need to do a DS question, even one that requires very few calculations, my brain feels clumsy and all of a sudden I'm like the Incredible Hulk trying to perform open heart surgery with my giant monster hands. What can I do to apply my generally strong reasoning skills to mathematical concepts without getting so flustered? No matter how many practice questions I do it just feels like they rarely become clearer...
2. Advice for people who really struggle doing math quickly/in their heads. This one is trickier - I think that a lot of my issues with the Quant section have stem from the fact that I have a slight visual learning disability, sort of akin to dyslexia, where I think one symbol but actually end up writing a different symbol... for example I could not, for the life of me, tell the difference between a "b" and a "d" until I was about 9 years old. With the use of calculators and word processors this problem barely affected my academic performance throughout high school and college, but now that I'm studying for the GMAT and I can't use a calculator to keep my numbers straight I am kind of screwed. I've found that with a lot of problems I'm getting all the way to the end of my calculations and realizing that I messed up somewhere by writing something ridiculous like 5 x 8 is 30, wasting tons of time in the process. I know that rote practice is supposed to help address this, but I feel like I really need to go beyond that. On the majority of the practice tests I've ended up rushing significantly towards the end and guessing on the last few questions because the math just takes me so long.
3. Staying focused on math when you loathe every godawful, excruciating second of it. Both 1 and 2 contribute to a looming sense of discomfort and anxiety when it comes to math and this both clouds my judgement and makes it difficult to use good time management. I did a whole lot of meditation leading up to the test, almost completely stopped drinking coffee and alcohol, and cut down significantly on social media use, all in order to cut down on my anxiety and have a clear head for the exam. On test day I was calm, but somehow not completely present for the Quant section. After I walked out of the test center I realized that I couldn't recall a single math question I had answered on the test, so while I wasn't sitting there hyperventilating I also wasn't fully focused and engaged. How do I say focused on concepts that are so hard for me to engage with to begin with?
My study regimen thus far:
-Veritas course July-August, completed all problems sets, attended all lessons, followed up with refreshers by watching their online lessons. I think their content was good but the class was very fast-paced and I was so behind in math to begin with that I think a lot of the higher-level concepts were lost on me.
- During the course I did a good number of really basic math drills to practice mental math (this helped a little but felt too tedious... maybe not continuing here was my mistake).
-After the course ended, I started prepping with Magoosh. This helped a lot because I felt that the Magoosh videos did a good job of breaking down the math concepts into much more digestible parts than Vertias. However, even when I felt like I had a pretty good foundation in the basics, I still struggled a lot to access my knowledge under time pressure.
- 1-2 practice tests a week since August (Scores: GMAC 630, Veritas 730, Magoosh 680, GMAC 680, Veritas 740, GMAC 740, Veritas 730, Veritas 740, Veritas 740).
- Flash cards to remember basic math concepts
- Practice problems every day
- OG 2014, but I used Magoosh and Veritas questions more because I prefer their online interfaces
Thanks so much for any advice!!!
Katherine
