Beat Quant Sections of Competitive Exams (GMAT, GRE, etc.)
Competitive Examinations are not getting easier. With more people taking them, you need to score better to be able to achieve the coveted 98th or 99th percentile to distinguish your application from peers who want the same things you do - admission into top schools/programs. Almost all exams these days have a math section, and for many people it has been years since they left behind painful memories of high school math. Here we present the top 10 tips that worked for us. They may for you too.
The Trick of 10s
Focus on the Ask
Prep Harder than the Test
Build Experience
No surprises on Test Day
Track the Ratchet
Identify Difficulty
Filter and Guess
Master the Time
Remember the Why
1. The Trick of 10s
Only perfect practice makes perfect. -- Vince Lombardi
While training, do problem sets of 10 questions each, all focused on a particular topic. Keep at this till you score 9/10 or 10/10 consistently. Start with simple questions, then work on harder ones. But keep going. You should correctly hit 9 or 10 out of every 10 consistently before you move on. And you need to really work on this, because with your day job and studying evenings, nights and weekends coupled with the number of topics you need to cover, you don't have that much time before test day. If you can only focus for 5 minutes at a time at the end of a long day at work, fine, do sets of 5 problems at a time.
2. Focus on the Ask
If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else. -- Laurence Peter
When you read a question, focus on what the final ask is, and let it become second nature to jot that down. Underline or write down important facts from the question. Read the question quickly, carefully and completely but with mind focused on your target - what the question is asking. Then work on that answer. Solve the right problem while trying to solve the problem right.
3. Prep Harder than the Test
I do not know how I am going to win. I just know I am not going to lose. -- US Army Rangers
Copyright free image from pexels.com
Not a popular idea, but if you really want that M7 MBA or that graduate school admission in the school of your dreams, you'll have to put in the work to show them you deserve that seat more than many of your peers. Work harder on the content than your peers will. Really understand it. And don't be too kind to yourself during prep - use the hardest material you can find, but demand the same high score of yourself as you would on the real exam. You'll get there, but it takes time, patience, and a little bit of a scare to motivate yourself in the early stages. Be determined and resolute. Do not accept sub-par performance from yourself.
4. Build Experience
The more you sweat in Training, the less you bleed in war. -- US Navy SEALS
(3) is about using difficult quality material that focuses on the test curriculum. This one is about doing more prep - the quantity. You'll have calm confidence going into test day. I'd do two complete GMATs back to back - it is grueling, sure, but no easier way to almost guarantee a good outcome. And your mind will become tough - you will be able to easily handle small upsets on test day because you would have seen it all many many times in prep. Small things won't throw you off your game.
There is no compression algorithm for experience. -- Andy Jassy, CEO, AWS
5. No Surprises on Test Day
Everyone has a plan until they are punched in the face. -- Mike Tyson
You should take your punches early in prep. You should have seen every type of question or problem before test day. Sure, there will still be one or two that might be new, but you'll have a general sense of how to approach these. Look up where the test is to be taken, scout the area, explore how you'll get there and back, time your runs. Do not leave anything to chance. Wear your favorite clothes, eat your favorite food, generally get yourself into a good mood. Remember what went poorly in early practice tests you took at home, how you felt, and how you improved on those aspects before test day. Feel the confidence, expect to do well. Really visualize it.
6. Track the Ratchet
Many tests these days are adaptive. As you answer more questions correctly, you get harder ones. Build your ability to classify difficult questions into levels. You're seeing too many difficult questions? It means you're doing really well. Use that as positive reinforcement as you work through the rest of the test. And you've worked on harder material in training right? You're all set to conquer this. If the ratchet slips lower, don't panic - so you may have made an error, or perhaps you found a question to be harder than the test thought it was, just focus on doing your best in each question. Every right answer brings you closer to your goal.
There are many fine websites and sources that provide content for improving your performance. A completely free one that has a ratchet function built in, is ChiPrime. The Adaptive Test you see on that web-page gives you the flexibility to train at your own pace, and further optimises on your time, so you solve only 5 questions in each quiz. While there, you can also read some lessons, watch some solved problems, etc.
Image from ChiPrime.com website
7. Identify the Difficulty
Math questions are usually difficult for one of two reasons - a. the question takes lots of calculations, or b. you don't even have an idea of how to proceed. You should train yourself to see which questions at the hardest levels you are seeing in the test.
For the first of these, usually there is a short-cut. If you don't see it, approximate if you can, and get to an answer, or try other ways to maximize your chances of getting the question right (see below) and move forward.
(b) is much more devious - you must be doing really well in the test if you see these questions. Here, you'll have to play the odds, find a good way out, and move on without wasting too much time.
8. Filter and Guess
Usually, for multiple-choice questions (MCQs), there are at least a couple of choices that make no sense. Your first task is to eliminate these. If taking a computer adaptive test, write down the letters a to e or however many options are offered, next to the question number on your scratch pad, then start striking off options that make no sense. Then whatever you are left with (hopefully just one), must be the right answer. If left with 2, try to figure what makes more sense, and pick that one. You've already improved your odds in the guess from 20% to 50%.
9. Master the Time, Stay in the Moment
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why they call it the present. -- "Master Oogway", "Kung Fu Panda"
Copyright free image from pixabay.com
People that do poorly manage their time poorly. They worry about how they're doing as they take the test, worry about whether they answered the previous question correctly, wonder what the next question or next section will be like, worry about the verbal section while doing math, etc. But you know better. You are 100% present there at the test, with the question in front of you. Nothing else exists. Other than time. Every tick of the clock counts, and each tick brings you closer to your goal. You will use those ticks wisely just like you trained at home. And you will excel.
10. Remember your Why
If you know yourself and your enemy, you need not fear a thousand battles. -- Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"
Video summary of Simon Sinek's "Start with Why"
Simon Sinek has a very nice talk about how, when people know why they are doing something, they usually do a much better job at it. You know why you want that M7 MBA or that graduate degree from the school of your dreams. Spend some time every day thinking about why you want it, and how getting it will help you realize your life goals. Feel the importance of your exam performance. You know it is important, and given you've put in more effort than most, know you'll do well. Use that to drive you to success. Use it on down days where you feel spent even before you start.
Arnold Schwarznegger tells the story of how, when a reporter asked Muhammad Ali how many sit-ups he does a day, his reply was "I don't start counting until it starts to hurt". You don't achieve greatness by sitting in your comfort zone. Want an outsize win? You'll need to put in outsize effort.
In Conclusion...
Copyright free image from pexels.com
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Power through the hard parts, keep your head in the present, and master time. You'll get what you want - in the competitive exam and beyond. Feels good to summit, doesn't it? I had this poem (Thinking by Walter Wintle) pinned to a wall of my cubicle early in my career, and it drove me to work as hard as needed to achieve my goals.
The difference between a successful person and others is not the lack of strength, not the lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. -- Vince Lombardi.
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