Verbal 94% but Quant 42

[Orion007]

Hello guys,

Sadly, the score break down for my test yesterday in the subject line yields only a 650.

i was curious if anyone else has the apparent score discrepancy I have and how they handled it.

This was my 3rd time taking the test.

1st test was 600 (71%v 42%q)
2nd test was 640 (83%v 50%q)
3rd (shown above)

I was able to improve my verbal score with almost minimal effort. 90% of my studying was devoted to improving my quant. The verbal just came natural to me I guess (and I'm a cpa for cristsakes)

But I could never get my quant score to improve. I'm left to think that my methods are ineffective and my effort misguided. This includes live classes, frequent practice tests and countless practice problems.

I'm left to conclude that, if I take it again, I'd need a private tutor.

Does anyone have an experience with private tutor success?

How have others dealt with great verbal success and mediocre quant performance?


Out of curiosity,do people in general find one section harder than the other? Is it harder to in the 90s on quant than it is verbal?.... or does that just depend?

[ceilidh.erickson]

I'm sure you're eager to hear unbiased advice from other students, but there are a few things I wanted to mention...

1) IGNORE PERCENTILES!!! Students place entirely too much weight on percentiles, which are entirely unbalanced between quant and verbal. A raw score of 42 is now a 50th percentile on quant; 10 or 15 years ago, a 42 was well above a 70th percentile. Because students are studying more and more, and because the test is becoming more international (the rest of the world tends to outpace Americans, who used to make up the majority of test takers, in math), quant percentiles are plummeting.

The raw ability level that it takes to achieve a 42 has not changed, though. Broadly speaking, a 40+ is considered strong, a 45+ is very strong, and a 48+ would be exceptionally strong. Some top 10 schools might ask students to get a 45 or above, but usually only if that student had never taken rigorous math courses in college. Mostly schools just care about the overall score.

Your 83rd percentile on verbal is a raw score of 37 - actually LOWER than your quant score! The higher percentile just indicates that verbal scores are falling as the test becomes more international. If you're targeting a 700+, you might get there more easily by doing MORE verbal, even though that may seem counterintuitive. If you can get your verbal score from a 37 to a 42, and your quant up just a couple of points to a 44, you'd have a 700.

2) As for you question about private tutoring - it's a significant investment, but I think it's a good one. A high-quality tutor can find flaws in your technique that you didn't know where there, and help you to create a structured approach to target weaknesses. If you're interested in Mprep tutoring (in person or online), you can find more information here: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/prep/tutoring/

Good luck!

[ceilidh.erickson]

If you're looking for other advice on how you can improve your quant score on your own, though, here are some posts and articles to help:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/need-help-in ... tml#572028
https://www.beatthegmat.com/what-is-the- ... tml#564654
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... uage-test/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ms-part-1/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... m-solving/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -mistakes/
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2015/04/ ... sly-part-1
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -on-quant/

[[email protected]]

Hi Orion007,

Many 'math-thinkers' (engineers, bankers, accountants, etc.) end up getting 'stuck' at a certain level (often the Q40-Q45 range) in the Quant section because they 'see' that section as a 'math test', when it's really NOT that at all. Yes, you will do lots of little calculations to answer questions, but that is NOT why those questions are being asked. The entire GMAT is essentially a big test of your critical thinking skills, including pattern-matching, organization, logic, flexible thinking, thoroughness, etc.

This is all meant to say that 'your way' of dealing with the Quant section is why you're scoring at that level. The entire GMAT is consistent and predictable though, which means that you CAN train to score at a higher level, BUT you'll have to hone new skills, learn/practice Tactics and make a concerted effort to change how you 'see' (and respond to) the Quant section. A tutor might help with that, but a tutor is not a necessary part of the process.

In a prior post, you stated that this recent attempt would have to be your last attempt, but now it sounds like that is not necessarily the case. With the proper training, you could conceivably study and retest in under a month.

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

[Orion007]

I'm sure you're eager to hear unbiased advice from other students, but there are a few things I wanted to mention...

1) IGNORE PERCENTILES!!! Students place entirely too much weight on percentiles, which are entirely unbalanced between quant and verbal. A raw score of 42 is now a 50th percentile on quant; 10 or 15 years ago, a 42 was well above a 70th percentile. Because students are studying more and more, and because the test is becoming more international (the rest of the world tends to outpace Americans, who used to make up the majority of test takers, in math), quant percentiles are plummeting.

The raw ability level that it takes to achieve a 42 has not changed, though. Broadly speaking, a 40+ is considered strong, a 45+ is very strong, and a 48+ would be exceptionally strong. Some top 10 schools might ask students to get a 45 or above, but usually only if that student had never taken rigorous math courses in college. Mostly schools just care about the overall score.

Your 83rd percentile on verbal is a raw score of 37 - actually LOWER than your quant score! The higher percentile just indicates that verbal scores are falling as the test becomes more international. If you're targeting a 700+, you might get there more easily by doing MORE verbal, even though that may seem counterintuitive. If you can get your verbal score from a 37 to a 42, and your quant up just a couple of points to a 44, you'd have a 700.

2) As for you question about private tutoring - it's a significant investment, but I think it's a good one. A high-quality tutor can find flaws in your technique that you didn't know where there, and help you to create a structured approach to target weaknesses. If you're interested in Mprep tutoring (in person or online), you can find more information here: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/prep/tutoring/

Good luck!

Thanks for your reply!

Though I think I may have mislead you with my initial post. My quant percentile was 42%, with a raw score of 39. Not sure if that would change your response at all.

You provide some intersting points but I want to make sure I understand you correctly, Are you saying I should try to improve my verbal score even higher? That does seem counter intuitive.

I can keep my verbal score at a raw score of 41 (what i got last time). I feel to improve my verbal would require much effort than improving my quant since I feel that, in my struggles with quant, I make very simple mistakes. Quant thus I believe would be easier to fix. I just need learn better strategy and time management.

thanks!

[GMATinsight]

Hello guys,

Sadly, the score break down for my test yesterday in the subject line yields only a 650.

i was curious if anyone else has the apparent score discrepancy I have and how they handled it.

This was my 3rd time taking the test.

1st test was 600 (71%v 42%q)
2nd test was 640 (83%v 50%q)
3rd (shown above)

I was able to improve my verbal score with almost minimal effort. 90% of my studying was devoted to improving my quant. The verbal just came natural to me I guess (and I'm a cpa for cristsakes)

But I could never get my quant score to improve. I'm left to think that my methods are ineffective and my effort misguided. This includes live classes, frequent practice tests and countless practice problems.

I'm left to conclude that, if I take it again, I'd need a private tutor.

Does anyone have an experience with private tutor success?

How have others dealt with great verbal success and mediocre quant performance?


Out of curiosity,do people in general find one section harder than the other? Is it harder to in the 90s on quant than it is verbal?.... or does that just depend?

I thought you should just know that Quant score of 39 is the stage from where improving the score to like 45 is not much of a difficulty because score 39 represents lack of understanding of basic fundamentals and major weakness in understanding how to solve DS questions.

All you need to do is learn how to handle DS questions which you can either observe from the suoutions available on these forums or get help of Subject expert.

In case you find it useful to have an assessment done through instructor then you may contact us through mail and with the help of demo class and 2 hours long discussion (1 hour for Quant and 1 for Verbal) through SKYPE.

[ceilidh.erickson]

Thanks for your reply!

Though I think I may have mislead you with my initial post. My quant percentile was 42%, with a raw score of 39. Not sure if that would change your response at all.

You provide some intersting points but I want to make sure I understand you correctly, Are you saying I should try to improve my verbal score even higher? That does seem counter intuitive.

I can keep my verbal score at a raw score of 41 (what i got last time). I feel to improve my verbal would require much effort than improving my quant since I feel that, in my struggles with quant, I make very simple mistakes. Quant thus I believe would be easier to fix. I just need learn better strategy and time management.

thanks!

This changes my original statement slightly. A raw score of 39 is lower than most top schools would be seeking - you should aim to get as close to a 45 as you can.

That said, an increase on the verbal to a 43 or 44 would also raise your overall score considerably, so don't discount the possibility of improvement there. I would recommend spending at least 1/4 of your time studying verbal, so that at least it would stay the same, and at best go up a few points.

Then spend 3/4 of your time on quant. You've identified the #1 thing that drags quant scores down: simple mistakes! Make sure you're tracking your errors carefully and thinking about how to fix them. Spend less time doing new problems, and more time carefully reviewing the ones you've done. More here: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -studying/