Quant at 42-44

[bcrew13]

I have taken tons of CAT tests and find myself making really stupid mistakes, partially because I'm pressed for time, partially I tend to rush myself even when I have time. I'm looking at schools like Boston College, and want my Quant around 48-49 if possible, but is there any advice to get past making mistakes on problems you know pretty well, or just plain overthinking a problem?

[[email protected]]

Hi bcrew13,

Given what you've described, you should STOP taking CATs. A CAT is essentially a 'measuring device' - when used correctly, it will give you a reasonable assessment of your skills and help you to define your strengths and weaknesses. Taking lots of CATs will NOT make you a great Test Taker though, especially if you keep making the same mistakes over and over. The improvements that you're looking for can only come with focused practice.

1) How long have you been studying?
2) What resources have you been using?
3) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
4) What is your goal score?

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

[bcrew13]

1) I've been studying for about 2 and a half months, and have my test November 21st.

2) Manhattan Prep study guides, downloaded a quant practice problem guide from here, flashcards, etc.

3) My total goal would be 690-720, and my Verbal scores have been low 40s so total has been around 680, but I feel like I still have time to improve to get over 700 in the next month.

[[email protected]]

Hi bcrew13,

I have some questions about the LAST CAT that you took:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take it at home?
3) Did you take it at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during that CAT that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Have you taken this CAT more than once?
6) How many Quant questions did you spend MORE than 3 minutes on?

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

[bcrew13]

1) No, only Quant/Verbal this time
2) Yes
3) Yes
4) Skipped the Essay/IR, but everything else is realistic, no pause, realistic time limit, etc.
5) I have taken the CAT three times, once a month, but I took 1 before studying to see where I was at
6) 6 questions(4 between 3-4 minutes), and 2 of them I took a long length of time on(5:30 each)

[[email protected]]

HI bcrew13,

While your initial post was focused on improving your Quant Scaled Score, you appear to have a bigger 'issue' - this CAT score (and likely many of your other CAT scores) are NOT accurate.

A CAT score is only as accurate as how realistically YOU choose to take the CAT. If you skip sections, take it at home, retake a CAT, do anything else that is unrealistic, etc., then your score is likely to be less accurate.

From what you've described, you've been using a 'book-heavy' study approach; many Test Takers getting 'stuck' when studying in that way, and it's likely that this has happened to you.

1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?

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

[bcrew13]

Hmmm, I see.

1) goal score is 710
2) November 21st

[MartyMurray]

Hi bcrew13.

Maybe you said it yourself, "problems you know pretty well." I guess part of the question is "How well is pretty well?"

Here's one thing I have seen. A person does a bunch of problems on a timed basis. In reviewing them the person sees that while he or she made mistakes, he kinda knew how to do the problems. So he feels pretty good.

Well ... the thing is that knowing conceptually how to handle the problems is NOT the same as really knowing how to do them and get them right.

Some careless quant errors are truly basically silly mistakes. Often people make them when they are doing calculations and get most of the way to the answer. Then, excited that they have done the lion's share of the work, they blow the last few steps or choose an answer that does not match what is being asked.

Other supposedly careless errors are actually the result of not really being that good at the types of problems one is getting wrong.

Whatever is going on with you, you can increase your quant score significantly by slowing down when you do practice problems and really seeking to achieve a high hit rate, maybe at least 85%. If you don't get at least 85% right untimed, how are you going to score Q49 on a timed basis?

Also, keep this in mind. The GMAT quant section is not a test of whether you know certain math concepts. It's test of whether you can get to right answers consistently. Maybe that seems obvious, but I know from my personal experience that at first one can be in a mindset that says, "I need to know about how to do these problems," when actually one more needs to be in a mindset that says, "I need to be good at getting right answers."

So that's much of what you need to be working on, getting good at getting right answers.

One resource I have seen people use to increase their quant scores is the quant part of the question bank at https://bellcurves.com/. You can access it by going to the GMAT section and setting up a practice account. Then you just work through questions in areas in which you are weaker, section by section. If you do that for a month, and really focus on getting right answers, you will likely hit that target, but you really need to build depth of understanding of and develop accuracy in each category. So take as long to do questions as you need to in order to get that high hit rate.

To figure out which categories to work on, go back over the CATs you have taken and see what you consistently get wrong and what takes you the longest. Then become an expert in those things. Once you have done that, I bet you can find more areas that you are pretty good at but not Q49 good at.

Many of the explanations in that question bank are not that good, but you can post questions here and also just look at the explanations already here to get great ideas for how to handle all types of quant questions.

[[email protected]]

Hi bcrew13,

The pacing 'issue' you're dealing with is due to the handful of questions that you're 'over-committing' to. As a general rule, you shouldn't spend more than 3 minutes on any one Quant question (spending that extra time on those questions will almost certainly keep you from correctly answering other 'gettable' questions). Even then, you can only go up to that 3 minute mark a limited number of times in that section.

Based on the information you've provided, you spent about 25 minutes on those 6 questions. That's a THIRD of your total time! Having to answer the remaining 31 questions in 50 minutes would be challenging for most Test Takers. It's not accurate to say that you're 'pressed for time' though - your decisions are putting you in that situation.

Part of this comes down to discipline - you're not comfortable 'letting go' of a question. The other part is 'your way' of doing things - it's likely that the approaches that you're using take too long to implement.

Thankfully, all of this can be improved. However, depending on how long you've been working in this way, 4 weeks of study time may or may not be enough for you to properly 'fix' these issues. There are also the broader 'issues' with how you've been taking your CATs. Until we have a truly realistic score assessment, we don't know what your actual abilities are.

To start, I suggest that you take a NEW CAT (including the Essay and IR sections) and do your best to make that CAT 'match up' with Test Day in as many ways as possible (take it at the same time as your Official GMAT, take it away from home, don't skip sections, don't retake a CAT you've already used, etc.). When working through the Quant section, you have to be mentally prepared to 'let go' of any question that you think is taking too long (and then actually DO IT). Once you have that score, you should report back here.

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

[bcrew13]

Do you have a suggestion on where the best place to take a CAT exam that would create a realistic difficulty to the actual exam?

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

I have taken tons of CAT tests and find myself making really stupid mistakes, partially because I'm pressed for time, partially I tend to rush myself even when I have time.

If silly mistakes are hurting your score, then it's important that you identify and categorize these mistakes. Some examples might include:
- sloppy writing causes a 7 to mysteriously turn into a 1
- you forget that a question is an EXCEPT question.
- you fail to notice crucial information such as x is an integer or w < 0.
- you calculate Pat's current age when the question asked for the Pat's age 5 years from now.
- and so on

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


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

Cheers,
Brent

[[email protected]]

Hi bcrew13,

One of the big parts of taking a CAT in a realistic way is to NOT take it at home. On Test Day, you have to get dressed, carry out all of your supplies (ID, food, drink, etc.), drive to the Testing Center, etc.

If you know where your Test Center is located, and the approximate amount of time that it takes to travel to that location, then you might be able to come up a suitable 'mirror' of those details. This might take some planning on your part, but I suggest that you look for a library, office space, local college campus, etc. that you can use as a 'substitute' location.

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