700 GMAT with low quant, advice?

[TW03]

I just took the GMAT and came away with a 700 (39q, 46v). It goes without saying that I will be retaking the exam as soon as possible (likely October 11 or 18) and would like to get some ideas on the best way to approach the quant section to better balance my score.

I started preparing about a month ago with the original guide and Grockit, I also purchased Total Math two weeks ago. My studying habits have been a little erratic due to starting a new job and my 7 month old baby. I took two GMATPrep tests, one last week (710, 42q, 46v) and another the week before (700, 43q, 43v). I find that my quant score is extremely sensitive to the overall composition of the math questions and obviously need to remedy this problem. I believe that I would do quite a bit better with a systematic and progressive approach to the quant and am looking for a 30 or 40 day program that tells me exactly what to do on a given day. The verbal is very easy for me and I don't see the utility in spending any more time trying to improve this score with such a large discrepancy between my scores.

I'm looking to bump my quant to at least a 45-46 while maintaining my verbal score, can anybody recommend a specific course of action for me? I just purchased the MGMAT quant books and should have them tomorrow.

[StaceyKoprince]

Congratulations on your new baby, new job, and 700 GMAT score! :)

I agree that you shouldn't be focused on verbal at this point. Do make sure that you do some verbal questions a couple of times a week, though, just to keep your skills up. It would be a bummer if your quant score goes up next time and verbal drops.

Next, I agree that you want a plan - but you actually do NOT want a pre-set plan that tells you what to do every day for the next 30 to 40 days. You want something customized to your own particular needs.

I can tell you how to develop such a plan for yourself (and you can check your plan here with me). You can also do some private tutoring if you want to have help developing and adjusting that plan - that's very expensive, though.

First, read this:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning

Based on that, in what ways do you think you need to change your mindset / approach to the GMAT (and your studies)?

Next, read this:
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat

Again, in what ways do you need to adjust your previous approach?

Finally, take one of our practice CATs if you have not already done so recently (within the last 2-4 weeks). Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CATs (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

(Note: this will not work with the GMATPrep tests you took because GMATPrep does not offer any data via which to analyze your performance.)

Based on all of the above, figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as any ideas you have for what you think you should do. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)

A few principles:
- Prioritize your order of study based on your own weaknesses, keeping in mind that a few topics can "cross over" into other areas. For instance, the Fractions, Decimals, and Percents book is labeled book #1 because those concepts often come up in algebra and word problems as well.

- Keep in mind the "two levels" of study (from one of the articles linked earlier). Where you're struggling with the underlying content, your focus is on level 1. In cases where you do know the underlying content, level 2 is what might be holding you back - at that point, it's not about doing more math drills but about analyzing problems to learn how to interpret and solve GMAT-type problems.

- Expect that, after 2-3 weeks of study, you will take another practice test and set up a new list of priorities based on the new data you have at that point. In other words, your initial study plan should take you out several weeks at most, not the whole 40 days.