Help! 5 Week to Study - 40 Point Goal

[mill1469]

Hi everyone- I took the GMAT a few months back and got a 660 (38Q- yikes!, 41V)... of course I was super happy with the verbal score but disappointed on the quant. In general though my test scores prior to the exam date ranged from 650 - 720 so while 660 was on the low end, not a huge surprise.

I've been studying again for a few weeks now but have realized that without the "time crunch" I tend to be really dedicated for a few days, slack a few, on and off so I've just re-scheduled my second GMAT in 6 weeks... I have a long weekend trip planned next weekend so I'm going to consider it more like 5 full weeks. If I feel really unprepared 10 days out, I'll just pay the $50 and reschedule.

I'm just wondering if anyone can give me advice on how to really beef up my quant score in this time. I work full time so I am aiming to have 12 hours of study time a week... 60+ hours, I feel like that should be enough time to get the bump I need... honestly even 20 points would be a win in my book.

Overall when I look at recent CATs for practice there isn't one subject I truly struggle with, it's more like I'm only okay at all of them. Does anyone have any ideas for ways to just really drill and practice overall quant skills in this time frame??

Thank you!!!

[Jim@StratusPrep]

Unfortunately, there is no quick fix. As you said, you need to get better everywhere. In order to do this you need to get better at identifying problems and solution paths. I recommend looking at different questions from the same topic area and seeing 1) why are they in that topic area, and 2) what about each question makes the solution path different.

[ceilidh.erickson]

There really is no such thing as "overall quant skills." You need to be strong in all of the following:

- Content knowledge - do you know all of your rules and formulas? Do you know how to quickly convert fractions to decimals, how to simplify exponents, how to find the volume of a cylinder? Do you know 2^6 and the approximate value of 3^(1/2) off the top of your head?

- Pattern recognition - can you recognize hidden quadratic problems (like PS #117) or disguised consecutive integer questions (like PS #170 (12th))? Can you connect every new question to others that you've seen?

- Shortcut strategies - do you know how and when to plug values, or work backwards from the answer choices? Do you know which questions you can solve by approximating?

- Solid technique - can you solve problems without making careless errors or overlooking information? Do you try to prove insufficiency on DS, without jumping to conclusions?

The first thing you need to do is decide which of these areas are deficient, and work at those. Review your practice tests in a LOT of depth (both right and wrong answers) to see where you need more work.

And track your work! https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -studying/

Good luck!