Math Strategy Process

[schelljo]

Morning All-

I just took my 3rd CAT and have made great strides in my verbal score. My math score has remained the same but not due to a lack of knowledge. When I take a test untimed I do awesome and am in the 75% but when I take it timed I score in the 45%. The issue is really around 1 thing. My process seems to come unraveled in the actual timed CATS. I see three major categories of issues after reviewing.

1. Sometimes skipping over key pieces of information in the question. Ex: x must be an even integer.
2. Sloppy work on the page as in not set up in the most organized manner.
3. Don't take the time to pause in-between questions and fully regroup. I go question to question and therefore don't always think how can I best approach this and instead just start solving.

I feel like I am so close to getting the score I desire and wanted to reach out to see if there are any suggestions for the GMAT community on how to to overcome these issues. Just for clarification I am using the MGMAT processes. Thanks so much!

[DavidG@VeritasPrep]

It sounds like your issues are all related to focus and organization. Aside from making a conscious effort to take a breath and regroup in between questions, you could consider a mindfulness meditation practice, which has been shown to dramatically improve focus and attention in as little as two weeks: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... on/275564/

Also, I'd make sure that you're occasionally taking an official practice test to make sure you're getting the most accurate indicator of where you currently stand: https://www.mba.com/us/the-gmat-exam/pre ... tware.aspx

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

If silly mistakes are hurting your score, then it's important that you identify and categorize these mistakes. Some examples might include:

Once you have identified the types of mistakes that YOU typically make, you will be able to spot situations/questions in which you're prone to making errors.

I write about this and other strategies in the following article: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/avo ... teaks-gmat

Also, you might benefit from the following strategy:
1) read the question (slowly)
2) answer the question
3) reread the question (to ensure you didn't miss anything)
4) submit your answer

Cheers,
Brent

[[email protected]]

Hi schelljo,

I'd like to know a bit more about the 'scale' of the problem that you're describing.

1) How are you scoring on your practice CATs overall (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
2) Is your score goal still 720?
3) Do you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
4) When are you planning to take the GMAT?

As you continue to practice, you need to put an emphasis on your organization and your note-taking. By not taking proper notes, ALL of these other problems end up occurring. 75 minutes is actually the perfect amount of time for the Quant section, but NOT if you're inconsistent/sloppy with your work or if you have to reread the prompt over and over.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[Rich@EconomistGMAT]

Hi schelljo,

Could you also repost your previous practice exam scores? It sounds like you've developed some bad habits in quant that are holding you back, but reviewing your previous scores will help us confirm this and make some additional suggestions.

Best,
Rich

[schelljo]

Thanks all the advice. I just took another CAT with some of these strategies in mind and saw improvement but need much more practice for consistancy.

Brent-

Most of my mistakes are reading too quickly or beginning to jot and work before I finish understanding the question. This leads me to miss key elements like even integers, excepts and positives. This especially kills me on number problems. I also noticed that after reviewing all of my CATS that I am very poorly organized and that my setup needs to 100% the same each time. I fortunately had very few computation errors.

David-

The take the breath advice is extremely helpful as it clears the mind for a second. Thank you! I am now taking CAT's every 2 weeks.

Rich-

1. Below are my most recent scores of the past month.

V 31 Q 43 610
V 30 Q 38 580
V 31 Q 39 570
V 29 Q 32 520

2. The goal is still a 720.
3. I am completing the entire CAT each time.
4. I am planning on taking the GMAT on Oct 1.



Thank you all for your time and advice!

[[email protected]]

Hi schelljo,

These CAT results show a certain general consistency in how you're handling the Quant and Verbal sections. You're consistently doing certain things correctly and you're consistently making the same general mistakes. As such, 'your way' of doing things is NOT going to be enough to get you to a 720+. To score at that level, you're going to have to make some significant improvements to how you handle the Quant and Verbal sections of the GMAT. As such, you're likely going to have to invest in some new resources and put an emphasis on learning/practicing new tactics.

1) How long have you been studying?
2) What resources have you been using?
3) Do you have the flexibility to push back your Test Date?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[schelljo]

Rich-

Thanks for reply.

I have been studying about 30 days due to a hospitalization which made me completely restart. I have been using the mgmat guides and have made it through about half. Have half more to go. I am flexible a bit as I am targeting r2 dates.

Have a great weekend!

[[email protected]]

Hi schelljo,

I suggest that you 'ease off' on taking CATs for a bit (maybe take 1 CAT every 2 weeks) and focus on working through the rest of your Study Plan. It might be that you'll be able to pick up some of those missing points once you finish working through the guides that you have. My suspicion is that you're going to need to invest in some additional study resources to hit your score goals though.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[schelljo]

Rich-

Thanks for all the advice. I should be done in roughly 30 days and will advise then on where I stand. Anything else I should be doing now? Have a great weekend!

[Matt@VeritasPrep]

If you find that you're rushing to finish the math section, one method I recommend is giving yourself 3-5 strikes. A strike is a question that (1) is so weird that you can't even tell what it's asking for, or (2) that you know you'll probably take 5 minutes to solve.

For each of these strikes, just guess quickly (in under 20 seconds). This way you can save your time for questions you're more likely to get, you'll have a better shot at solving problems you can actually get, you won't rush to make it to the end of the section, and you won't have to guess randomly on the last three or four questions, which really kills your score. (It's OK to guess on 3 or 4 questions, just not in a row!)

Most students are skeptical of this strategy at first, but it can give pretty excellent results. The GMAT is tough enough that you can miss 6-8 math questions and still get a Q49, which is more than enough to put you above 700 as long as your verbal score is fairly strong.