I posted a little while back asking for some help in getting my quant score a bit higher before the week before I took the exam. Unfortunately, my request was to broad and, while I could have narrowed it a bit, it would have taken too long to get a response. My fault entirely. As I anticipated, I didn't do as well on my first attempt as I would have liked. I got a 670 (Q44/V38), which isn't bad but considering that was below my other GMAT Prep exams (700, Q44/V41, and 690, Q42/V42) I wasn't impressed. I know what I did wrong on the exam as I am usually a 40+ scorer on verbal. Just went through WAY too fast (had 20 minutes left over in that section). The trouble I am having is that I seem to have hit a ceiling in math. I get roughly a 42 or 44 EVERY time on EVERY exam I take. It's really getting frustrating. Good news is that I am nailing 300-600 level questions consistently. Every instructor I spoke said I need to nail those down first and so I did every easy problem I could find (Horacio - you were a huge help in that regard). No change in score BUT I did notice that I was getting much harder questions than I was before, which was good. As I am preparing for my "second swing," so to speak, I need some help on how to study for these harder questions and really ratchet up my math. Algebra and geometry are my two lowest scoring topics, though with geometry I think it's because every question I have gotten on my MGMAT CATs has been 700-800. FDP's I make careless errors on so I think I just need to focus a bit more there. Number properties is also an area where I could use some help...
Any guidance (Drills or helpful "things" one can do) I can get on improving my math score a few points in the next month or so (I take it on April 23, I believe) would be much appreciated. Also, I now have a bit more time to provide details as needed. Thanks in advance.
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- Dillonfriedman
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- Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 8:00 pm
- RonPurewal
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Re: Retaking
april 20something is not very far away; it's possible to improve certain textbook skills in that kind of timeframe, but the problem is that you don't need only textbook skills; you have to know them well enough so that you can make lateral connections between them, i.e., so that you can quickly see what is related to what else (in unfamiliar-looking problems). those kinds of connections are very difficult to improve substantially in that short a timeframe.
therefore, your quant studying should be primarily focused on backup methods -- plugging methods (VIC and backsolving), estimation, and DS plugging.
for a refresher on these methods (except estimation, which i haven't discussed in the study hall yet), watch the FEBRUARY 4, 2010 study hall at this address:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/thursdays-with-ron.cfm
these methods are *easily* the single most important thing that you can learn in quant. in fact, if you took two identical students and taught student #1 only textbook methods for six whole months, while teaching student #2 only backup methods for 4-6 *weeks*, i would bet serious money on the student #2 to realize a greater improvement.
here's what you should do:
* watch the video
* go to the og problem solving section
* start somewhere in the middle (say, question 80-100ish) -- there's not much point in using backup methods on the problems at the very beginning of this section
* try to use ONLY BACKUP METHODS on each problem. i.e., even if you are totally ok with the textbook solution to the problem, *DO NOT* use it; you need to force yourself to try using backup methods. they aren't familiar at first -- you don't generally use them in school, since school tests are usually not multiple-choice -- so you will need some serious practice before you get into the groove of using them.
if you become skilled at using the backup methods, you will find that they solve at least 50-60% (!!) of all the problems in the problem-solving section, especially the harder ones (the ones that appear toward the end of the OG).
therefore, your quant studying should be primarily focused on backup methods -- plugging methods (VIC and backsolving), estimation, and DS plugging.
for a refresher on these methods (except estimation, which i haven't discussed in the study hall yet), watch the FEBRUARY 4, 2010 study hall at this address:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/thursdays-with-ron.cfm
these methods are *easily* the single most important thing that you can learn in quant. in fact, if you took two identical students and taught student #1 only textbook methods for six whole months, while teaching student #2 only backup methods for 4-6 *weeks*, i would bet serious money on the student #2 to realize a greater improvement.
here's what you should do:
* watch the video
* go to the og problem solving section
* start somewhere in the middle (say, question 80-100ish) -- there's not much point in using backup methods on the problems at the very beginning of this section
* try to use ONLY BACKUP METHODS on each problem. i.e., even if you are totally ok with the textbook solution to the problem, *DO NOT* use it; you need to force yourself to try using backup methods. they aren't familiar at first -- you don't generally use them in school, since school tests are usually not multiple-choice -- so you will need some serious practice before you get into the groove of using them.
if you become skilled at using the backup methods, you will find that they solve at least 50-60% (!!) of all the problems in the problem-solving section, especially the harder ones (the ones that appear toward the end of the OG).
- Dillonfriedman
- Course Students
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 8:00 pm
Re: Retaking
Apologies that this isn't math related but I wanted to respond to your post directly, Ron...
Do you recommend that I move the test back a little bit so I can study a bit more? If so, how would you recommend I structure my time in the interim? I found the lab on guessing and the aforementioned study hall very helpful and plan on integrating the discussed tactics into my study plan but beyond learning/practicing these methods what else should I do?
In short, is it worth the expense to reschedule my exam for a later date? I realize that the response may be along the lines of "That depends on you" but I am looking for something a bit more concrete if at all possible.
Do you recommend that I move the test back a little bit so I can study a bit more? If so, how would you recommend I structure my time in the interim? I found the lab on guessing and the aforementioned study hall very helpful and plan on integrating the discussed tactics into my study plan but beyond learning/practicing these methods what else should I do?
In short, is it worth the expense to reschedule my exam for a later date? I realize that the response may be along the lines of "That depends on you" but I am looking for something a bit more concrete if at all possible.
- RonPurewal
- Students
- Posts: 19744
- Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:23 am
Re: Retaking
Dillonfriedman Wrote:Apologies that this isn't math related but I wanted to respond to your post directly, Ron...
Do you recommend that I move the test back a little bit so I can study a bit more? If so, how would you recommend I structure my time in the interim? I found the lab on guessing and the aforementioned study hall very helpful and plan on integrating the discussed tactics into my study plan but beyond learning/practicing these methods what else should I do?
In short, is it worth the expense to reschedule my exam for a later date? I realize that the response may be along the lines of "That depends on you" but I am looking for something a bit more concrete if at all possible.
if i were in your situation, i would just go ahead and take your currently scheduled administration AND plan to take another administration. remember that schools only go with your highest score and ignore the others, unless you have a profile with a rather extreme number of test administrations (say, 4-5 or more administrations).
the only way that i would cancel your upcoming administration, if i were you, is if you've already taken the exam at least twice. in that case, you are going to have to be more conservative about future attempts.
if not, then you may as well just let it rip.
4 posts Page 1 of 1