Quant Help needed!!!

[Samuraijack]

Hi there,
I need help big time on the quant section pls help me out where iam going wrong.

Basic background, under Graduation in Business management. Average in Maths decent in geometry suck at word problems, algebra and number systems. Theory wise average confidence in 3 of these.
Let me start from the beginning, I started my preparation on 10th Dec 2015, taking specifically about quant here, I went thorough all the basics from the quant review along with a tutor and learned basics & concepts of 70% topics such as averages, equalities and inequalities etc. Rest of the topics were largely self study.
The problem is that i know the topic theory and concept well, along with the respective formulas, but when it comes to application to different questions is where i fail.
I have practiced from the OG once and did about 500 level questions from each topic, doing around 40 questions per topic.
Even while practicing a new question on the same topic would leave me blank as to how to approach it.
I still did not lose heart and learnt the concepts of application of those questions, but the point is that the list of questions is endless, one cannot solve all the different types i guess.
I took my mock exam 3 days ago and got a score of 26 in quant. The topics were familiar but I dont know why i could not solve a unfamiliar question on a topic i studied.
After doing so many questions i feel my prep is not going where it should, today is 23rd Feb 2016 and i intend to take my GMAT in march.
I have been timing my self but only of lately when i finished the theory and the first round of OG in quant as well however when one is stuck on a question it takes 4 mins to 5 mins to get the ball rolling and try to solve a unfamiliar question.

Would appreciate if someone can help me out its not that i dont want to work hard but i feel iam pushing a car on an incline going 10 steps ahead then rolling 3 steps back.

thank you,
G

[DavidG@VeritasPrep]

Hi there,
I need help big time on the quant section pls help me out where iam going wrong.

Basic background, under Graduation in Business management. Average in Maths decent in geometry suck at word problems, algebra and number systems. Theory wise average confidence in 3 of these.
Let me start from the beginning, I started my preparation on 10th Dec 2015, taking specifically about quant here, I went thorough all the basics from the quant review along with a tutor and learned basics & concepts of 70% topics such as averages, equalities and inequalities etc. Rest of the topics were largely self study.
The problem is that i know the topic theory and concept well, along with the respective formulas, but when it comes to application to different questions is where i fail.
I have practiced from the OG once and did about 500 level questions from each topic, doing around 40 questions per topic.
Even while practicing a new question on the same topic would leave me blank as to how to approach it.
I still did not lose heart and learnt the concepts of application of those questions, but the point is that the list of questions is endless, one cannot solve all the different types i guess.
I took my mock exam 3 days ago and got a score of 26 in quant. The topics were familiar but I dont know why i could not solve a unfamiliar question on a topic i studied.
After doing so many questions i feel my prep is not going where it should, today is 23rd Feb 2016 and i intend to take my GMAT in march.
I have been timing my self but only of lately when i finished the theory and the first round of OG in quant as well however when one is stuck on a question it takes 4 mins to 5 mins to get the ball rolling and try to solve a unfamiliar question.

Would appreciate if someone can help me out its not that i dont want to work hard but i feel iam pushing a car on an incline going 10 steps ahead then rolling 3 steps back.

thank you,
G

What you're seeing is that there's a big difference between understanding a math concept and applying that math concept in the context of a test that is just as concerned with how you think as it is about what you know. This is all to say that you need to take more practice tests. It's good to know exponent rules cold, but if a question can best be solved by picking simple numbers, those rules may not come into play. It's good to have strong algebra skills, but if the algebra for a given question is unusually hairy, you'll be better off back-solving. So my advice: break down the practice test you took. Make notes about what you could have done better. If there are shaky conceptual areas, address them. But if there are questions on which you could have used a different, more intuitive/strategic approach, be mindful of this, and incorporate the approach on your next test. The GMAT isn't about learning a bunch of math concepts. It's about applying a small subset of those concepts on some problems, and determining a simpler/more intuitive approach that allows you to forgo those concepts altogether on other problems.

[[email protected]]

Hi G,

From what you've described, you've been treating much of this process 'conceptually' and that clearly hasn't lead to a strong result. The process to answering most GMAT questions is more 'practical' - look for patterns, take some notes, choose a particular Tactic and do some work on the pad. Your goal is NOT to learn to answer every variation of every type of question - it's to get comfortable with 'breaking down' questions into steps and then using a logical/efficient approach to handle each step.

1) What materials have you used during your studies?
2) How have you scored on each of your practice CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
3) What is your goal score?
4) What is your exact Test Date?

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

[MartyMurray]

As David basically said, it sounds as if you have somehow gotten an inaccurate impression of what this test is testing and what you need to be doing in order to increase your score.

Possibly the MAIN thing you need to be good at to rock this test is hacking your way to answers, finding some way, whatever that way may be, to get to the right answer to each question.

I know that when I started training I would be pretty happy even if I got a question wrong as long as I understood the concepts that the question involves. Then something dawned on me. The only thing that really matters is getting RIGHT answers, concepts or no concepts, strategies or no strategies.

So possibly that is what you need to focus on now, even if getting right answers takes you a HALF HOUR per question. You need to develop skill in doing whatever it takes to get to right answers.

[Samuraijack]

Hi G,

From what you've described, you've been treating much of this process 'conceptually' and that clearly hasn't lead to a strong result. The process to answering most GMAT questions is more 'practical' - look for patterns, take some notes, choose a particular Tactic and do some work on the pad. Your goal is NOT to learn to answer every variation of every type of question - it's to get comfortable with 'breaking down' questions into steps and then using a logical/efficient approach to handle each step.

1) What materials have you used during your studies?
2) How have you scored on each of your practice CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
3) What is your goal score?
4) What is your exact Test Date?

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

Hi rich,
1. The tutor at the TPR centre made us do questions from the quant review and the quant manual for basics building, then we moved to advanced level questions like 5 to 7 on each topic as we went along those were 700 level. For practice i used Manhattan 5th Edition 2012 for practice on the viriation of topics which the tutor didnt cover, rest were covered by a mix of Manhattan and 700 level by tutor, major chunk of self practice came from doing the OG 2016 once and the princeton review online question bank on their portal it has a mix of diff. difficulty questions, so 25 to 30 questions on average per topic.

2.I have just taken one CAT, quant score was 26, verbal was 37, but the TPR portal has online timed tests for quant on which i scored 60% on average, (6 out of 10).
3. I have a target score of 740 in mind, not sure of I should review it!!
4. i Havent taken any dates yet but would like to finish it by march.

thanks for all your help, I guess you've got a fair idea on the prep, feel free to suggest.

regards
G

[[email protected]]

Hi G,

With a 740 score goal, you're likely going to need more study time than you've allotted (meaning that you'll have to push back your Test Date to some time after March). In addition to the big improvement that you'll have to make in the Quant section, you'll also have to squeeze out some additional points in the Verbal section.

While it sounds like you've done lots of practice questions, it's unclear what type of Tactics you're using and whether you have a consistent way of working through prompts or not. Since you've been studying for several months now, you should have taken several FULL-LENGTH CATs (with the Essay and IR sections) - but you haven't done that though, so there's also a potential issue with how your studies have been 'structured' so far. You would likely benefit a great deal by investing in a more formal Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led).

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) Do you know which Schools you plan to apply to?

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