Study and Strategy questions relating to the GMAT.
KyleC231
Course Students
 
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Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:29 pm
 

Practice Structure (which problems to pick?)

by KyleC231 Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:34 pm

Good Evening,

I am struggling a bit with how to pick practice problems and I am hoping someone can help me identify ways to pick the appropriate problems.

My analysis of my test scores tells me that 600-700 level quant problems are do-able, but at the upper end of my ability. I'm at the point where attempting the 700-800 level problems is a waste of my time. However, if I could correctly answer a few more 600-700 level questions I think I would see an improvement in my score.

So, how can I identify the 500-600 (medium) and 600-700 (hard) level questions in the OG?
StaceyKoprince
ManhattanGMAT Staff
 
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Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
Location: Montreal
 

Re: Practice Structure (which problems to pick?)

by StaceyKoprince Thu Oct 02, 2014 12:02 am

Good question. As a *general* rule, the OG problems get harder as the question numbers get higher. There are some caveats to that, though:

1) That trend holds true in general, but we've also tracked how our students do on these, and it's not exactly perfect. Some lower-numbered problems are rated "Devilish" on our scale, and some higher-numbered problems are rated "Easier" or "Medium."

2) You have different strengths and weaknesses than the overall population, so there will be some Medium-level questions that you find hard, and some Hard-level questions that you find easier.

In other words, you can't make "perfect" problem sets, but you can get pretty close. :)

From OG13 / 2015, pick DS problems in the 40 to 120 range and PS in the 60 to 180 range. (Feel free to adjust up or down depending on what you think as you do them.)

If you want to create mixed / random problem sets, this article can help:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... blem-sets/
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep