Best strategies for Quant improvement

[LawrenceC101]

Dear Instructor,

I just took my first GMAT and scored 670 (41Q, 41V)

The test confirmed what I already knew- I really need to improve my Quant section to achieve my goal of scoring 700+

I feel like I'm so close but am discouraged because I've hardly shown any improvement in the Quant section from my first CAT to the actual exam, despite focusing a majority of my efforts on Quant.

CAT1: 620 (39Q, 35V)
CAT2: 640 (40Q, 37V)
CAT3: 660 (41Q, 39V)
GMAT: 670 (41Q, 41V)

How realistic is it to improve my Quant to say a 45 or so? Is it possible that I've simply reached my ceiling?

I've had about a month off in between jobs and took the entire online course in the time span- putting in a lot of hours but all crammed together. Maybe I didn't give the math enough time to sink in? What are the best strategies for improving one's Quant score?

Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

Cramming isn't a great strategy for this test - it does work for some people, but there's so much to learn that it's typically better to spread the learning out over several months.

First, let me congratulate you on a fantastic verbal score! It's nice to know that you don't need to worry about that section when you re-take the test.

Were you working off of the self-study program, where you watch tapes of the classes? Were you using the GMAT Interact series of interactive lessons? Something else?

Most likely, some of that material that you crammed did stick but some of it didn't, so the first task is to figure out what you know well and what you don't know as well.

We also need to talk about how you were studying to make sure that you were doing so in an effective way (or to tweak how you're studying going forward).

First, read these two articles:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/2013 ... lly-tests/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/2013/ ... -the-gmat/

Think about how what you've been doing does and doesn't match up with that and how you may need to change your approach accordingly.

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CATs (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

Feel free to focus this analysis just on quant. Based on all of that, figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as any ideas you have for what you think you should do (in particular, what you think you need to do differently next time around).

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 and come up with a plan - figure out what the data says and what you think you should do about it!)