Need help in quant for improving score

[harsh170488]

Hi,

I have been studying for some time now (around 3 months to be precise) and i have covered up almost all the concepts properly. I started with my CATs and have given 2 tests till now. However the performance is not upto the mark and need help from you guys to pinpoint where i am going wrong and how i can improve .

CAT 1 660(Q44 , V36)

In my first mock I started with the quant section pretty nicely and was able to solve the questions at the start . For about 10 questions i was right on track with the time and the level of difficulty was also 700-800. But somehow for questions between 10-20 , i took a lot of time . This send me off-balance and i stared falling behind . this left me with less time for the last 15 questions and i was probably rushing a lot without paying much attention.

Weakness: Probably my biggest weakness are the careless mistakes. This takes a heavy toll on my timing. I tend to take up the longest time in these questions . Below are the questions(by topic) which i got wrong:

1. There was one question on fraction - time taken (6:03): The approach which i took for solving this problem was perfect but somehow i made some calculation error midway and ended up getting the wrong answer . I knew that my approach was right on target and hence kept taking that extra time , but maybe due to irritation ( of getting the approach right and still not getting the answer ) could not figure where i had gone wrong. This was a big chunk of time which i lost

2.There was one problem on VIC's - time taken (4:04) : The same problem continued . The approach was bang on but somehow substituted some wrong value on the sheet and was not getting an answer. eventually i had to let go of this problem.

There were similar instances with some more questions

I don't think there was any gap in the concepts at all. The approach for most of them was correct but somehow i was not able finish off the question with the right answer. This was seen more in the Problem solving questions where u actually have to arrive on a particular answer . My time on data sufficiency problems was around the 2 min mark.

CAT 2 :

I thought the careless mistakes was particular to only one test and it will actually go away instantly if i take more tests and hence i took the second CAT without much gap

The problem - My quant score was even worse this time (Q37). I was not able to finish off the exam and ended up leaving 7 questions . This was a huge blow for me. The problem was same -the questions with the silly mistakes took a lot of time . This time i had more instances of these wrong answers.

There were 2 problems on geometry (time taken in each 5:49) : The problems were fairly simple but again due to some careless mistake and miscalculations couldn't arrive on the answer .

One problem on exponent(time taken 4:38 ): The same problem. Wrong calculations and hence ended up spending a lot of time.


These questions were relatively at the start of the test and my timing was not right by the time i arrived at the 15th question. i had lost hope with this particular test. I was so irritated and low in confidence that i started taking up more and more time for each question.

Please help me on how can i improve upon this particular problem. For me i don't have any problem in the concepts . I don't know from where to start fixing this. I have already done a fair amount of practice . I have finished the OG's and the strategy guides but didn't find any problem with most of the questions .

The problem is that this doesn't show me my weak areas(at-least by topic). in the 1st CAT- "number properties" was the best area for me but in the second it was the worst. I don't know on which topic to pay attention. How can i overcome this problem so that i don't end up loosing problems just on the basis of silly mistakes ( even if the approach was correct ) ? I think that if i am able to minimize this problem i would see a considerable jump .

[StaceyKoprince]

But somehow for questions between 10-20 , i took a lot of time .

This is extremely common and why it's so important to practice timing just as much as you practice everything else. :)

Probably my biggest weakness are the careless mistakes.

This is also sadly very common. It's important to keep a log of any careless mistakes you make. Ask yourself WHY you made that particular careless mistake and what bad habits to break and what new habits to make in order to minimize the chances of continuing to make that same kind of careless mistake in future.

somehow i made some calculation error midway and ended up getting the wrong answer .

This is where to dig in! Now "somehow" you made "some error." Figure out exactly WHAT error(s) you made and WHY you made them. There are reasons. If you don't figure out why, then you can't do anything to minimize the chances of repeating that type of error.

For instance, I had a student once who would sometimes drop negative signs that appeared at the beginnings of equations, eg:
-x^2 + 3x - 18 = 0
As he was doing the work, sometimes that first negative sign would just disappear. After he noticed this two or three times, I suggested that he start putting parentheses around a negative sign that appeared at the beginning like that, eg:
(-)x^2 + 3x - 18 = 0

The act of writing the extra symbols made him concentrate on the fact that the negative sign existed, so he was less likely to forget it.

Note that I wouldn't suggest he do this for any negative sign in the problem - so not before the 18. Just where it's needed, at the beginning, because that was the only place where the error would occur.

I knew that my approach was right on target and hence kept taking that extra time , but maybe due to irritation ( of getting the approach right and still not getting the answer ) could not figure where i had gone wrong.

And, as you learned, that was the wrong reaction. The right reaction, if this happens again, is:

ANY time I find myself thinking, "But I know how to do this! But I SHOULD be able to get this! If I just had a little more time! I've already spent so much time that I don't want to give up because that's like wasting all the time I already spent!"

Let go immediately. If you have to think any of those things, then there's already a problem. You don't get any points for banging your head against the wall. Let go and spend that time where you're NOT having a mental block at the moment.

This was seen more in the Problem solving questions where u actually have to arrive on a particular answer . My time on data sufficiency problems was around the 2 min mark.

You spent an extra 6 minutes on 2 problems alone. That time had to come from somewhere. Are you sure that you didn't make any other mistakes due to speed / rushing, especially on DS where it isn't always so obvious when you've made a careless mistake? If so, spending that extra time also cost you those other problems.

I thought the careless mistakes was particular to only one test and it will actually go away instantly if i take more tests

You know what I'm going to say now, right? :) See everything I wrote above. This doesn't get better on its own.

Read these:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

and this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/error-log.cfm

And I'm going to say something that you'll read when you read the above articles, but I want to reinforce it here:

You will NEVER get good enough that you can answer everything correctly and in the expected amoung of time. They will ALWAYS give you things that are too hard or take too long, and you will ALWAYS make at least a couple of careless mistakes (because the test is long and we are all human). Learn to live with that and learn to let go a LOT faster when things just aren't working, even if you are convinced that you know how to do this problem.

[harsh170488]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for your insights. It helped me a great deal . I went through all the articles you posted. Now i am convinced that timing is a major factor in GMAT and could make or break the day. So its better that i improve and not rush through the CAT's. I have analysed my CAT's by following the same approach you have mentioned in your post. Can you help me and suggest ways i can improve ? Please find below my analysis

CAT 1
----------------

way to slow (3+ minutes):
Total 10 questions
Correct:5 Wrong:5
Difficulty:most of them were 700-800 level except 1 which was 600-700 (7 PS questions, 3 DS Questions)

Topics: 3Q-Rates and Work- 2wrong,1 correct
2Q-Statistics - 1wrong , 1 correct
1Q-Percents- 1wrong
1Q-Geometry-1wrong
1Q each from Exponents & Roots , Algebraic translations ,Quadratic equations- All correct

Problem area identified: All the 3Q from Rates&Work were with VIC's and 1 Statistics question with VIC's . I get stuck in problems which are presented as VIC's and loose a lot of time on substituting values and testing each answer choice.

way to fast:
Total 9 questions
Correct:5 Wrong:4
Difficulty:6 questions were of 700-800 level ,out which i skipped 3 on purpose because i was low on time and had to rush. 4 questions were 500-600 level , i didn't struggle with them and got all of them correct under 1 min .

CAT 2
-------------
way to slow (3+ minutes):
Total 6 questions
Correct:2 Wrong:4
Topics: 1Q-Rates and Work(VIC's)- wrong
1Q-Exponents & roots -wrong
1Q-Fractions- wrong
1Q-Geometry-correct
1Q-consecutive numbers-wrong

Based on both the tests the i also noticed the following:

50% answers correct+time way to slow:
Percents
Ratios
Exponents & Roots
Quadratic Equations

less than 50% answers correct+time way to slow:
Fractions
Rates&work
Statistics
Digits & Decimals

My analysis:

I am wasting a lot of time in problems dealing with word problems. My biggest weakness being questions related to Rates and Work. I loose a lot of time when i get questions from this topic. especially when they are coupled with VIC's . I try to work the brute -force way taking numbers and then substituting back in all the answer choices. I guess i will be better off solving them conceptually with actual variables. That will save time .

Other topics when posed as Word problems(percents , fractions , Ratios, Statistics) also pose a discomfort to me. The real challenge which i find with them is comprehending the question. I actually have to read the question at least 3-4 times before i can convert them into equations . This re-reading takes a lot of time . I understand the topics well but probably due to anxiety and an urge to rush during the test further delays it. How can i improve on such topics ? should i solve more questions ? Any techniques which i should adopt to quickly comprehend the question ?

Exponents and roots is also taking time. i am getting them correct but taking too long. Probably i have to find faster ways.

How can i improve my timing on the above topics ? Finishing them faster will definitely improve my timing.


Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks !!

[StaceyKoprince]

I try to work the brute -force way taking numbers and then substituting back in all the answer choices. I guess i will be better off solving them conceptually with actual variables. That will save time .

Maybe. Maybe not. Know what will definitely save time? Making an educated guess and moving on at or before the 2m mark. :)

We typically see only 1 or 2 rate / work questions per exam. You're spending way too much time and getting them wrong anyway. We only need to answer about 60% of the questions correctly. So why waste time and mental effort on these? Be strategic!

Remember: this is not a math test. You're not applying to a master's in math program. You're taking a test written by people who want to tell whether you're going to be a good business person. This is a test of your "higher order reasoning" skills. How you think. How you make strategic decisions. Whether you can prioritize appropriately. They are actually testing you on whether you can cut yourself off when that's the best decision to make!

Re: word problems / translating, they LOVE to use this stuff ot disguise what they're talking about and to make it harder for us to set up the math. Read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... into-Math/

Part of this is going to involve going back to old questions and really digging into the wording / asking yourself why they worded it the way they did, what makes it tricky, what they're trying to hide or disguise, etc. Get to the point where you can say: this sentence right here is really saying XYZ but it's written in such a way as to make it seem like it's saying ABC or to disguise the fact that it's also telling you MNO. For this sequence of words, I should be thinking about blah-blah-blah because of these clues, and that will help me to set up the math.

This can also help:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -Problems/

And for VICs:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... rithmetic/

Exponents and roots is also taking time. i am getting them correct but taking too long.

WHY are you taking too long? Which particular part is slowing you down? Figuring out what to do in the first place? Doing the manipulations? When you read explanations, do you see shortcuts (or do you find shortcuts yourself afterwards) that you didn't see when doing the problem for the first time? How are you going to remember those shortcuts and, most importantly, recognize when you can use them again?

Start using this to analyze your work:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm

In fact, read this and pay particular attention to the How To Study section:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

How can i improve my timing on the above topics ? Finishing them faster will definitely improve my timing.

Agreed. You could finish them all faster right now - simply by getting them wrong faster. But you weren't thinking that when you wrote the above sentence, were you? You were thinking "getting them right faster will definitely improve my timing." :) So you still need to do some work on that mindset (re-read the In It To Win It article). The goal is NOT to get everything right, and as long as that is in the back of your mind, you're going to struggle with timing and that's going to mess up your score.