Help with increasing Quant score

[riddlemethis828]

Hi Everyone,

I know that there are a ton of great people and even experts on here so I wanted to ask for some advice. I am struggling to increase my Quant score. I initially studied for the GMAT for 2 months (self-studying going through each of the Manhattan GMAT books and the OG books) and got a 6_______. My quant put me in the ___th percentile. In practice tests, my quant percentile (for Manhattan GMAT) had me at 70th percentile. My practice scores ranged from 660-680 on the four tests that I took.

Fast-forward to November, I dusted off my books and also enrolled in Knewton. I have been practicing with Official GMAT questions and also running through their quant lessons, practice homework, and all of the extra practice homework. After getting through the first 10 (out of 13 total) lessons, I took a practice test (this time a Knewton one) and scored a dismal 600 (37Q/37 V). (I'm not concerned about my verbal dropping because I have not been focusing much time on it yet).

I'm not sure what I am doing wrong or what else I can be doing. I know that the SAT was long ago (in my case, 12 years ago!) and that the GMAT math is far more challenging but I got a 770 out of 800 in the math section. So I know that I used to be really good at math.

Does anyone have any advice? I've been doing well on the Knewton homework staying under 2 minutes per question and scoring 90% and I also took Manhattan GMAT's Basic Math Diagnostic, which consists of 20 problems at a 300-500 level of difficulty. They give you 40 minutes to complete all 20 problems and I believe I only needed maybe 15 minutes to complete the diagnostic. (I got 100%).

I'm going to start creating an error log. Does anyone else have any suggestions? I would be extremely grateful to hear them.

Thanks in advance!
Sabrina

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

To prepare for the quantitative section, I suggest a systematic approach in which you take the time to master each topic/concept (e.g., percents, ratios, geometry, etc.)

So, for each topic/concept, you should:
1) Learn the underlying concepts (rules, attributes, notation, etc.)
2) Learn GMAT-specific strategies related to that topic
3) Practice dozens of questions all related to that one topic.
4) Don't stop working on that topic until you have mastered it
Then, and only then, move on to the next topic.

An Error Log (aka Improvement Chart) is a great idea. You can find a free downloadable Improvement Chart here: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-error-log. This will help you identify and strengthen your weak areas.

I also suggest that you spend a lot of time reviewing the responses from the Experts on this site, since they often model the steps you should be taking when answering question.

In addition to learning the core concepts and GMAT-specific strategies, be sure to work on your endurance and test-taking skills (e.g., time management) by taking several practice tests.

If you're interested, we have a free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

Cheers,
Brent

[riddlemethis828]

Thanks, Brent. Any suggestions for how to identify questions pertaining to one specific topic? I have the Manhattan GMAT books which obviously had practice questions at the end but they never seemed very GMAT like.