GMAT Strategy

Getting a good quant score on the GMAT.

Before you do anything else, study the Original Guide (OG) for two weeks and then take a practice test. If you get a score in quant that would put you in the 700 range, congratulations. This article is not for you.

If you scored between 400 to 600-and need a 700--you're facing an uphill battle. It's one that isn't talked about very much but that deserves attention. Here is what's likely to happen as you get going:

Starting your studies, you'll probably spend some quality time pouring over the OG quant section. You'll be able to do most easy problems but have serious issues with the hard ones. "No matter," you'll say, I'll get some reinforcements! Manhattan GMAT (or substitute) shows up in the mail. You've also ordered the practice tests and started to do them weekly. At first, things appear to be on the up and up. You're getting a handle on the problem types, dusting off high-school algebra, and getting comfortable with word problems. Your second and third practice tests are leaps and bounds better than your first. "Maybe this GMAT thing isn't so bad after all," you'll say. Three to four weeks in and things are looking pretty rosy. Then, a dark cloud starts moving in.

It will start innocently enough. You'll take a practice test and score worse than you did on the last test - "ugh," you'll think, "it must be the hangover." Your review sessions will seem a smidge more painful than they did early on and you'll miss a couple here or there. You'll do another practice test and get rewarded with the same score you got the week before. The effortless improvement you enjoyed on a weekly basis is slipping away and being replaced by what feels like trench warfare-bayonetting your way through the mud just to get a few measly points. Worse, you're rapidly running out of ideas of what to do next. You start changing study materials compulsively, like an addict chasing his next fix. Somehow, it always seems like the tough GMAT problems are one step ahead of your study materials. You start to feel manically taunted by the 700-800 caliber problems. You resent their obnoxious, Mensa-wannabe feel and texture: if x is brown, and y is the sum of every other third prime number that starts with 2 or 5, how old is Harry? You stare at this problem blankly. You get a sinking feeling that this is your real adversary, not the "feel good" two-liners at the beginning of the OG. Sally and her 10% discount is fool's gold. You look back at your problem. It doesn't even make sense.

The reality of the GMAT-and the reason that many study plans don't work-is that the 700-800 quant problems aren't just more difficult versions of the 500-600 problems, they are fundamentally different problems testing a very different set of skills. As a result, the studying that helps someone move from 500 to 600 is unlikely to help them achieve a 700. Even lobbing a Herculean amount of hours at the study materials is unlikely to result in a vastly higher score. What many people describe as GMAT burnout is often the frustration and fatigue that accompanies working hard at something without being rewarded with tangible results.
(it's late...to be continued)

You start changing study materials compulsively, like an addict chasing his next fix.

wow, you sure know how to put a depressing spin on things.

Yeah, I'm sure I'm not the only one curious, but please let us know where you're going with this.

P/E Paychecks wrote:Getting a good quant score on the GMAT.

Before you do anything else, study the Original Guide (OG) for two weeks and then take a practice test.

The dude has already lost me after the first couple of lines.

1) Say what the "ORIGINAL GUIDE"???

2) "study the Original Guide (OG) for two weeks"
there is nothing much content wise to study in OG. It is just an amazing source of retired questions.

By the attitude you are projecting in this post, I sure hope you got a 51 in quants

Why would anyone with trouble in quant read this? It's just depressing.

lol....and i got excited when i saw the title of this post thinking i am going to get some expert advice on how to increase my quantitative skills....

guess not......rather i am sad now.