Some of you have left math behind, planning never to touch it again, and all of a sudden the GMAT comes along. You know that you were good in math but now that there has been a lag, you’re afraid you won’t be able to catch up on the fundamentals. The lines, polygons, integers, triangles, and (worst of all) the permutations and probabilities start to bother you. You know you knew this stuff– in fact you were always a grade A student—but now you have to get back up to speed.
What’s the best way to do that? Well, that’s probably a little different for everyone. But always remember this: if you were good in math at one point of time, you are still good in math. You have not lost your Quant skills, so don’t lose your self-confidence! It’s just a matter of logging the hours of study time before your math skills come back to you, and then, believe it or not, GMAT Quant practice can be fun!
The best way to begin your Quant preparation is to get the Official Guide notes and go through them. Try to not only read them but also to find and work out similar formulas. This will help you to brush up on some of the formulas and the topics. For faster results, though, try this method: read a topic from the Official Guide, and immediately get to the Grockit site and play a game on that topic, preferably in a group. That will help you pinpoint your weak areas, and the practice games will help your brain find those math skills that are lurking in there somewhere. Do this for each of the topics, starting with what you consider the easier ones and working your way up to the tougher ones.
Next, identify your weak areas. We all hate some topics but still we know that we have to prepare to face them—that’s a reality both on the GMAT and in life. The best thing to do for those topics is to schedule a game with a tutor who can help you and whom you consider strong in that particular area. Follow this process, topic by topic, and you’ll start to see your skills return.
Once you have refreshed your Math fundamentals and played games with the Grockit website, it’s time to see where you stand on with your GMAT score.
Here’s how you do it: Go to mba.com (the official GMAT® website) and download GMATprep software. The software has two mock tests and is the most accurate practice software available. Use the tests wisely since there are only two of them.
Take your first test after you have figured out the Quant and Verbal fundamentals. For verbal, follow the same strategy as mentioned above for the Quant. Do not try to complete the Official Guide (OG) before taking GMATprep Test 1. The software has some questions that are repeated from the OG and may skew your score.
After the first GMATprep test, you’ll start to see the results that you get from studying the OG and using Grockit for collaborative learning. Happy studying, and we hope to see you in a Grockit game sometime soon!
