Advice for Huge Math Disparity? 620 (Q-31, V-45)

[portm]

It is 2 weeks since I finished my Manhattan GMAT course, and I just got back from the test. Unfortunately I did not get the score I was aiming for (700+). I got a 620 with a 31 Quant (27th %) and a 45 (99th %) Verbal.

I'm obviously very happy with Verbal. I never thought I'd even hit 90% since grammar, reading, and writing have always been a weakness of mine. I jumped from 80th percentile on my last 3 CATs to 99th, so hopefully I can maintain my score when I retake the exam.

I'm hoping the quant score was a fluke and that I can improve it significantly next time I take the test. The past 3 CATs I've averaged 65th % and have done a lot of studying since then, so I was expecting to jump into the 70s or 80s. Even on my first ever CAT before any studying I got 55th %. I've always been pretty good at math (Finance major, TA for Statistics I & II, heavy quant jobs, etc.) which is why my struggle with it is so perplexing. During the exam I felt lost on how to effectively tackle a number of problems as if I'd never seen a similar problem type before. I also noticed I had much worse time management than on the practice tests. I went way too quickly at the beginning and had a huge time reserve built up that I used to spend 5-8 minutes on a couple problems. I also had no idea I was doing that much more poorly than usual, or I would have opted to cancel my scores.

I've done all the benchmark OG problems multiple times as well as most of the easier problems and some of the harder problems. I've done pretty well on them (83% correct, 1:00 avg. time). I've also redone the In Action problems several times and re-read problem topic chapters a number of times. However, there is still plenty more I can do since I've done about 40% of the quant problems Archer tracks. I've done timed sets and large sets of random OG problems a lot. In terms of time, I've been studying non-stop for the past 3+ months, cramming all day on weekends, and putting in 30-60 minutes when possible during the week.

For the most part, I feel like I have a decent understanding of all but the most challenging problems. However, for some reason, I seem to freeze up, even on practice CATs, and my knowledge goes out the window as I come up with something on the fly to solve a problem.

Any suggestions on how to tackle this issue so I can improve my quant and get a 700+ level on the next exam? Also, even if I get there, will a 27th percentile math on the 1st exam hurt my application?

Thanks!

[stephane.nicolas79]

Hi, your score is kind of surprising. However, I experienced the same problem myself and I still do not understand what the problem is. I always have between 70 and 80% in Quant in the CAT's and I ended up with 50% the day of the test. I knew that instructors repeat not to focus a little more on the first 10 questions, but it seems to me, from my experience, that this legend is not one. I felt that I started very badly, and this led the computer to only give me crazy easy questions for the last 27 questions! On the contrary, one time, I was at 20% after 7 questions with MGMAT, but this did not prevent me to get to my real level later in the test, and I ended up with 81% this day.

I think that the Official Gmat does not try to understand if you started badly or not. I believe that it already has a clear idea of your level after 10 questions and is just willing to make slight changes afterwards. This does not mean that you cannot improve your percentile during the test, but I am pretty sure that you cannot recover from a bad start as well as you can do it in MGAT CAT's. I went home with a 630 while I had scored 740 in my last prep with MGMAT, so I was more than disappointed. I also had the same feeling as you regarding the questions, as the first 10 questions were very weird that I came to ask myself if I had really studied the same test. Maybe one of the instructors could tell us a little more about that, because I really do not know what to think now. I had been told that MGMAT CAT's were pretty accurate. I am not so sure about that now. It seems to me that the logic of the Quant is rather different, and this is probably why we get high scores with MGMAT in Quant and do not get high scores in the Official GMAT. I think that MGMAT is great, but there is definitely a problem with the algorithm of the Quant, which is, by the way, more fair that the algorithm of the Official test. I came to ask myself if the algorithm of the Gmat is not meant to make you take the test again, since far less people would take the test if the GMAT really evaluated your level at Quant as well as MGMAT does. When you start badly with the GMAT, you cannot recover, and I do not think that this is fair to people who are good at Quant and have studied so much. However, this is just a hypotesis :) but I think it is true. I do not see how a guy with your background could end up with a 28% in Quant. This is why I think that the Official GMAT presents this characteristic.

I am sorry I could not help you more with this issue, but I just wanted to tell you that you were not the only one!

Good luck

[maria.segal.1]

Hi guys,
I took the test on Thursday, and had the same issues. (36Q, 41V,640) and I'm not even a native English speaker. In ALL the tests I took at home (12 exams total), my lowest quant score was 45, and my verbal score was always worse than my quant. However, on test day, for some reason, the quant questions given to me seemed extremely easy, right form the beginning of the test. I couldn't believe the score, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw it...

[portm]

Hi guys,
I took the test on Thursday, and had the same issues. (36Q, 41V,640) and I'm not even a native English speaker. In ALL the tests I took at home (12 exams total), my lowest quant score was 45, and my verbal score was always worse than my quant. However, on test day, for some reason, the quant questions given to me seemed extremely easy, right form the beginning of the test. I couldn't believe the score, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw it...

Hm, interesting. Yeah, I could not believe my score when I saw it either. I've never done very well on Quant, but I ended up getting a score that was 5 standard deviations below my mean practice test scores. I thought I was doing a little worse than normal on test day, and my time management was poor, but I was shocked at my 31 on Quant.

I've also been doing pretty solid in verbal, but I never thought it would be possible to get 99th percentile. I was again shocked by this number because I thought I was doing MUCH worse than normal on the Verbal section.

I'd say my 640 total was around where I thought I'd end up, but the way the score split was mind boggling to me.

[portm]

I just took another practice test today and it is clear whatever I'm doing isn't working. I've seen virtually no improvement in my scores despite countless hours of studying. Here is my practice test history:

June 2011: 630 (Diagnostic exam before I even started studying. Finished each sections in 30-35 minutes.)
April 2012: 640
April 2012: 660
May 2012: 640
July 2012: 650

As I've continued my studying, I have reworked a ton of the Official Guide problems I've missed with the Manhattan GMAT explanations. I've also completed the Official Quantitative Review and gone over their (sometimes poor) explanations. I'm using the Archer tool to track my timing and problem areas.

I began to do Total GMAT Math and GMAT Hacks Challenge sets, but I did not like many of his answer explanations or how the books were laid out in general.

What resources would you suggest I use from here until my retake sometime in September? Would it be beneficial to keep reworking OG problems with the Manhattan explanations? I've done most of the ones I've had issues with 5+ times, so I feel like if I get the answer correct, it is just because I remember how to do that specific problem. I've done the same thing with MGMAT CATs.

Should I give the GMAT Hacks materials another try, or are there different materials you would suggest for my situation?

Or is there a completely different approach I should be taking than solving a lot of problems and then analyzing the answers and why I've made mistakes?

At this point, as long as I can ensure I have the fundamentals down (skipping some of the 700-800 problems), I think I'll be able to get the 700+ I need. Unfortunately, I'm still struggling with a lot of my previous issues - careless mistakes, slow/wrong arithmetic, Number Properties, Primes & Divisibility, Exponents & Roots, and Fractions. Something is just not clicking with me since I continue to make the same types of mistakes.

[portm]

I forgot to update this post after my retake. I figure it is worth updating to show people with some hard work, it is possible to really boost your score.

After getting the 620, I got back to work, primarily just doing a lot of problems, taking lots of notes on my common mistakes, and doing some more practice tests. After a few more months of heavy studying, I scored a 750 (46Q, 47V). While I still think I could have done better on my quant, I'm obviously very happy with the score.