Affinity for Verbal, IR, AWA. not so great with Quant. Help!

[jamielynn26]

Good Afternoon,

This is my first post here, so hello Beat the Gmat community! My situations seems to be a strange outlier, especially when it comes to this particular forum.

So here's my story:

I naturally have an affinity for Verbal, and decided to spend 99% of my time working on math. I aced Calc 2, received a degree in Economics, and worked in the accounting world...yet ractice test were telling me Quant was by far my weak spot.

For some reason, I couldn't crack what I needed in math to push me over to 600 - I used the OG, would practice, review answers, watch Magoosh videos, etc. (OG and Magoosh were my primary points of GMAT Prep).


I took my first try last week. I was confident that I could score in the 600s, with the AWA and IR being other strong points. I knew I could achieve a high score on the verbal no matter what the computer threw at me - the Quant section was the main focus of my GMAT prep.

I had taken many practice tests, and leading up to the exam knew the Quant was mymake or break. On the PT on the GMAT software, I went from a 22% 29 quant, 56% 30 verbal, 500 total. My 2nd try 4 days before the test was 69% 34 verbal....and I ran out of time to even guess on the very LAST question of the section - 35% quant 34. My other PTs had told me I was in the quant 40-50% range, so I knew what Ic ould do, I just had to be careful with time, right? RIGHT? That's the mindset I had - 2.5 min and move on.

I happened to read on The Economist GMAT Prep free trial, a 2 days before my test, that the first questions matter the most on the Quant section. Although I had read that statement, and seen it for the most part fleshed out as a bad strategy, I believe I carried that with me in the testing center on my Official Day.

Cruised through the essay, finished as much as I could on IR without being careless, came to the Quant section, and began. No questions were too surprising, except that I actually came upon a decent amount of my weakest areas, of course, that are slightly more rare on average. Pfff.

I forgot about that little timer in the corner, and the next time I looked up - I had less than 15 minutes for about 20 problems. With about 15 questions left, I didn't even have time to read the question, I had to click through and fill my answers without being able to do any sort of elimination, and I finished the Quant with about 2 seconds left.

I decided to go straight through Verbal no break, with the mindset I would crush this section to alleviate the pain of my awful time management on Quant.

I saw my raw score when I was finished - IR 5, Q28, V35, Total 530. I just received an e-mail with my AWA score - 6.

A 28 is an 18th percentile score in Quant. I didn't cancel my score and sent them to the schools, thinking my retest will show my true math skills, when I use time management.

I retake the test Dec. 10. I'm brushing up on math, locking in basics, taking practice test so my time is on track, and even thinking about cracking open the Manhattan advanced Quant book I bought with the OG, and it turned out to be way over my head at that point.

I've searched for posts from individuals that have a very clear affinity for the Verbal section, and have found none (Perhaps because I am a 25 Caucasian female from the US?). My math is very average, but what do schools and programs think about this? I have a high interest in Finance - even if I get into the school I want, will I have to approach from a different program?

I just don't know where this puts me. Any replies are very much appreciated, as far as schools, programs, any math nerds that would like to give some tips for the next ten days - and anyone else that would like to chime in! I tried to keep it brief and to the point, so if you'd like any more information, I will be glad to explain or elaborate about anything that might fill in the dots....Thanks!

[[email protected]]

Hi Jamie,

You're not the first person to find the GMAT to be a bit more challenging than they originally thought it would be. Many Test Takers end up spending more time on their studies because they have to adjust their mindset and study habits to hit their score goals.

Before I can offer any advice, I'd like to know a bit more about your studies and plans:

1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) Do you know which Schools you plan to apply to?

4) How long did you actually spend on your studies before taking the GMAT?
5) How long have you spent on your studies in total?

Thankfully, the GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. With a December 10th Test Date, you might not have given yourself enough time to hit your goals though.

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

[MartyMurray]

Hi Jamie.

I am someone who has somewhat of "an affinity for the verbal section" and yet by working on my weaker areas in quant one after the other I was able to achieve my score goal.

From what you said, it sounds as if you have learned a lot about GMAT quant concepts and seen how to do problems, and now maybe you have to work on getting more skilled at actually applying what you have learned to getting more right answers.

The GMAT is different from the calc that you aced, in that, unlike the questions on a typical math course test, GMAT quant questions are not really structured to see whether you know about math. The math is just building blocks for questions that test your skill in using resources to get to right answers. So using resources to get to right answers is what you have to get good at.

How can you get good at that? One aspect of that is finding a good source of practice questions, and slowly and carefully doing questions, learning as you go to fight your way to right answers. Generally this goes better for people when they do questions in categories, seeking to master each category before moving to the next.

While I am not sure how many categories you can master in the about a week you have left before your next test, you can surely get better at a few. So you may want to go over your practice tests to see which categories you find the most challenging and focus on those.

Then you could go the the GMAT section here, https://bellcurves.com, and set up a practice account. Doing that will give you access to many quant questions that are categorized by type. If the questions there don't work for you, find another source. Practice makes perfect.

Meanwhile, Rich asked you when you plan to apply, and I am wondering the same thing, as it may make sense for you to reschedule your test if doing so would fit your application plans. A week is not a lot of time to raise a GMAT score significantly. Even pushing your test date back a couple weeks would give you significantly more time to prepare.

[jamielynn26]

Hello! Thanks to the both of you for taking the time to reply.

I went ahead and did myself a favor and rescheduled to Dec. 29th (I want to make sure my scores get in before R2s).


To Rich, a reply:

1. My initial "goal score" was anything with a 6 in front. Now, with an extra month...I would like to see if I can reach even further.
2. Mid January for R2 for my #1 school, later for others
3. Yes and No. I wanted to go a finance route, but I may have to rethink that with a poor Quant score. (By that I mean, search for schools that may not emphasize math so much - I won't be applying to MIT)

4. One solid month of 6-10 hour days, 6 days a week. If I give myself more time, I procrastinate. I personally work better when all my focus is dedicated to one thing. One of the reasons I quit my job, because they would not allow me to reduce my hours at all.

5. A few months. I'm familiar with the test, processes, etc. , if that's what you mean by "in total"?

Thanks Rich!

[jamielynn26]

Hi Jamie.

I am someone who has somewhat of "an affinity for the verbal section" and yet by working on my weaker areas in quant one after the other I was able to achieve my score goal.

From what you said, it sounds as if you have learned a lot about GMAT quant concepts and seen how to do problems, and now maybe you have to work on getting more skilled at actually applying what you have learned to getting more right answers.

The GMAT is different from the calc that you aced, in that, unlike the questions on a typical math course test, GMAT quant questions are not really structured to see whether you know about math. The math is just building blocks for questions that test your skill in using resources to get to right answers. So using resources to get to right answers is what you have to get good at.

How can you get good at that? One aspect of that is finding a good source of practice questions, and slowly and carefully doing questions, learning as you go to fight your way to right answers. Generally this goes better for people when they do questions in categories, seeking to master each category before moving to the next.

While I am not sure how many categories you can master in the about a week you have left before your next test, you can surely get better at a few. So you may want to go over your practice tests to see which categories you find the most challenging and focus on those.

Then you could go the the GMAT section here, https://bellcurves.com, and set up a practice account. Doing that will give you access to many quant questions that are categorized by type. If the questions there don't work for you, find another source. Practice makes perfect.

Meanwhile, Rich asked you when you plan to apply, and I am wondering the same thing, as it may make sense for you to reschedule your test if doing so would fit your application plans. A week is not a lot of time to raise a GMAT score significantly. Even pushing your test date back a couple weeks would give you significantly more time to prepare.

Hi Marty,

I took some sensible advice and now have 19 more days to prepare.

I definitely relate to where you are coming from about using "tools" or "resources," as you put it, that are gained over time by doing practice problems and studying concepts. Maybe I had to spend too much time going back to brush up on concepts that I never really got the chance to Master any category on Quant!

My entire application is due Jan. 12 for my #1 school, and later on for other schools.

I will definitely check out the site you recommended. My problem is that my weakest areas are geometry, probability, and concepts I've seen aren't statistically asked that much (not to say they aren't important).

Another thing I've noticed is if I had enough time, I could figure most questions out. I just don't have the tools to answer "hard" questions in that 2.5 min time frame.

Based on my new timeline, is there any other sites or books you think would be helpful?

I love the idea of building up to mastery, so I am going to check out the Bell Curve site.

Thanks so Much!

[MartyMurray]

While I don't really have any other sites or books in particular to recommend, there are others out there, such as the Manhattan Advanced Quant guide. You may need to do some research. Just remember what I said about doing internet searches for questions. That can actually be a great way to get questions in a particular category. Also I way recommend e books over paper books. Making paper is destructive, and so using it is also bad karma for you.

The Question Pack made by GMAC has good, though not categorized by topic, questions too. So that might be worth buying.

On the BellCurves site, the geometry questions are great. There are good probability questions there too, but some of the first half dozen you run into may not be that great. Generally, most of the questions there are pretty good, but some could be better, and you have to just some judgement and ignore the lower quality ones.

To score high on quant, you need to be comfortable doing data sufficiency questions. For more DS questions, you could use the Veritas Question Bank. Meanwhile, that bank also has some great RC questions that force you to be really careful about noticing what the passages say and don't say.

You think your weaker areas are the ones you mentioned, but hiding behind those glaringly weak areas are others, questions in which show up on the test regularly and in which you could be way better. Those somewhat weak areas hiding behind your glaringly weak areas are probably the ones you should work on most.

For instance, I bet you could be way faster at and more accurate in handling rate and work problems or problems involving averages. Sure, getting the right answer to a mean and median question can be pretty straightforward, but how long does it take you? How fast can you get to the answer of a medium difficulty mixture problem? What is your hit rate in your stronger areas? Can you get 85% or more right consistently?

Those are the types of things you can change by working on questions category by category.

Getting better and faster at handling the more straightforward question types will not only help you get more right answers to those questions but also leave you with you with more time to work on more complex or challenging questions.

If want ideas on how to efficiently get to quant answers, you could search on Beat the GMAT for the questions you are working on. Alternatively, you could post questions. You will pretty much definitely get cool ideas by doing that.

Also, it helps to develop commonly used GMAT quant skills, such as handling special right triangles and working with prime factors. Check this out. https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/07/ ... r-problems These things show up over and over, and so by getting good with them you set yourself up to save time and get right answers.

Overall, for quant, I think that probably you understand enough or close to enough concepts. I think you need more to develop the resource using skills we both have mentioned.

You can work on verbal too, and every positive move you make drives your expected score higher.

Here's one way to look at it. https://infinitemindprep.com/raising-you ... the-board/

While you are doing this, keep taking practice tests every week to ten days to hone your timing skills, develop test endurance, and create results to use to assess what you could work on to score higher. It's probably worth purchasing the GMAT Exam Pack to get two more official tests. If you need more, for starters you could use the free first Veritas and Manhattan tests. The test prep company tests are not exactly the same as official ones, but they still provide good practice and good data that you can use to direct your prep.

Rock this thing. You obviously can.

[[email protected]]

Hi Jamie,

Studying for the GMAT is not like studying for any test that you've taken before. You can't really 'cram' for the GMAT and trying to do too much in too short a period of time is more likely to lead to 'burn out' than to a really high score result. Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet (and that does NOT mean that you should continue to study 6-10 hours a day).

Using your Official Score as a gauge, you have a great opportunity to pick up points in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Many Schools tend to put a greater emphasis on the Quant Scale Score, so putting in some extra time on the Quant section would be beneficial in a number of ways. Thankfully, your score goal is reasonable, but you're going to have to change the way that you 'see' (and respond to) the Test.

Given your situation and timeline, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Quant Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in under a month, so the time commitment wouldn't be too intense. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an Account.

If you have any additional questions, then feel free to contact me directly.

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

[jamielynn26]

Hi Marty,

I'd like to thank you again for the time you put into your response. I have rounded up a few resources to try (as well as the Manhattan Advanced Quant book I never was able to understand, until yesterday, slowly...).


DS is, overall, where I do needmore practice, so I will check out Veritas (Great Recommendation!)

And I know my verbal could improve, it's weighing the balances of time spent on higher difficulty verbal, or lower difficulty quant. I've actually already finished some lessons on RC, so I'll see how I do on Practice Test 1.

Tomorrow I can look more into the bell curve site.

25 days and stress free! Actually that's a lie - do most people really pay over $200 to advisors for admissions help? Do you know of a discussion about this topic on this site off the top of your head? Just curious (maybe the money I spent on paying to retake the GMAT would have better spent elsewhere - or I can advise if there's not a thread on this already).

Off to the races...

[MartyMurray]

I guess some people do pay big for admissions advice. While I don't know that much about it, except that one person working with me is totally financially tapped from spending so much on getting into business school, I suspect you can find plenty of answers to any question you have regarding admissions counseling.

For RC, remember that in a way it's a test of vision. Have to have good radar to help you find the right information in the passages and to see the key details you need to see in order to get right answers.

[jamielynn26]

Hi Jamie,

Studying for the GMAT is not like studying for any test that you've taken before. You can't really 'cram' for the GMAT and trying to do too much in too short a period of time is more likely to lead to 'burn out' than to a really high score result. Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet (and that does NOT mean that you should continue to study 6-10 hours a day).

Using your Official Score as a gauge, you have a great opportunity to pick up points in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Many Schools tend to put a greater emphasis on the Quant Scale Score, so putting in some extra time on the Quant section would be beneficial in a number of ways. Thankfully, your score goal is reasonable, but you're going to have to change the way that you 'see' (and respond to) the Test.

Given your situation and timeline, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Quant Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in under a month, so the time commitment wouldn't be too intense. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an Account.

If you have any additional questions, then feel free to contact me directly.

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


Rich

Hi Rich! Thanks for coming back!

I wouldn't call my study plan "cramming" at all. I casually got to know the test before I really dug in. I tend to operate better in tight but realistic timelines...more focus, dedication, etc. This obviously didn't work for me to obtain an "elite" score, but I am not a person who can spend too many months preparing.

Anywho, I do plan to spend 95% on Quant while reviewing some Verbal concepts I probably haven't seen before.

I will check that site out soon shortly, and hopefully one plan jumps out at me as "clicking" my other knowledge up a notch.

Bam!

All the best!

[jamielynn26]

Hi Jamie,

Studying for the GMAT is not like studying for any test that you've taken before. You can't really 'cram' for the GMAT and trying to do too much in too short a period of time is more likely to lead to 'burn out' than to a really high score result. Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet (and that does NOT mean that you should continue to study 6-10 hours a day).

Using your Official Score as a gauge, you have a great opportunity to pick up points in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Many Schools tend to put a greater emphasis on the Quant Scale Score, so putting in some extra time on the Quant section would be beneficial in a number of ways. Thankfully, your score goal is reasonable, but you're going to have to change the way that you 'see' (and respond to) the Test.

Given your situation and timeline, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Quant Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in under a month, so the time commitment wouldn't be too intense. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an Account.

If you have any additional questions, then feel free to contact me directly.

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


Rich

Hi Rich! Thanks for coming back!

I wouldn't call my study plan "cramming" at all. I casually got to know the test before I really dug in. I tend to operate better in tight but realistic timelines...more focus, dedication, etc. This obviously didn't work for me to obtain an "elite" score, but I am not a person who can spend too many months preparing.

Anywho, I do plan to spend 95% on Quant while reviewing some Verbal concepts I probably haven't seen before.

I will check that site out soon shortly, and hopefully one plan jumps out at me as "clicking" my other knowledge up a notch.

Bam!

All the best!