General GRE Quant Struggle Thread

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Hi everyone, I've been studying for the GRE for about 3 months now, and just got a tutor to supplement my book and online resource quant studying, which didn't seem to be cutting it. I'm still getting the majority of quant questions wrong, and haven't seen much improvement. I'm kind of giving up at this point- taking the test in about 4 weeks and there's no way I'll miraculously improve by then. I'm mostly just posting this for moral support and do see if anyone else is in the same boat as me. Anyone else been hitting the books hard and just not seeing any marked improvement?  

[Psychophys]

I studied by myself for about 2 months, utilizing the Official GRE prep books and Magoosh, and found that my quantitative skills weren't improving significantly.  I even tried practicing a timed version of the test, and this only worsened my apprehension about the quant portion (given that I felt the pressure of time and felt I was getting many quant questions wrong).  Eventually, after I felt like I could do no more to improve it (and for the sake of my own mental well-being), I stopped preparing altogether.  I'm not sure if my struggles were due to the fact that I hadn't taken a math class since my senior year of high school, or if this was my innate "ceiling".  Nevertheless, I took the test and scored in 60-70th percentile range for quant, but in the upper 90's for verbal (which has seemingly always been my strong suit, at least for standardized tests).  So, maybe my fluid intelligence (as assessed via the quant portion) isn't all that great!  Supporting that idea, my GRE score seems to be line in with my math score on the ACT, which was also above average, but not stellar.  Anyway, that's just my own experience in a nutshell.  Best of luck with the test and your future endeavors.

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14 minutes ago, DanieI said:

I studied by myself for about 2 months, utilizing the Official GRE prep books and Magoosh, and found that my quantitative skills weren't improving significantly.  I even tried practicing a timed version of the test, and this only worsened my apprehension about the quant portion (given that I felt the pressure of time and felt I was getting many quant questions wrong).  Eventually, after I felt like I could do no more to improve it (and for the sake of my own mental well-being), I stopped preparing altogether.  I'm not sure if my struggles were due to the fact that I hadn't taken a math class since my senior year of high school, or if this was my innate "ceiling".  Nevertheless, I took the test and scored in 60-70th percentile range for quant, but in the upper 90's for verbal (which has seemingly always been my strong suit, at least for standardized tests).  So, maybe my fluid intelligence (as assessed via the quant portion) isn't all that great!  Supporting that idea, my GRE score seems to be line in with my math score on the ACT, which was also above average, but not stellar.  Anyway, that's just my own experience in a nutshell.  Best of luck with the test and your future endeavors.

Thank you, this makes me feel a bit better! I'm aiming for the 60-70th percentile, as even though it's too low for my top choice, it's probably the best I can hope for and still be a bit of an improvement from my first diagnostic test. I've been letting my anxiety get the better of me with regards to how a lower math score means failure etc, but rationally (and from your experience), that's simply not true. Thank you again for your help! 

[Monochrome Spring]

I highly recommend Magoosh, and it was one of my primary study methods when I was preparing for the quantitative section of the general GRE. Bog Entry: My GRE Experience

Don't beat yourself up too much, and remember that your percentile is compared across all graduate students applying for programs, including physics and math majors who had more formal quantitative training throughout their undergraduate programs. Your score is still good, and you can balance it with other aspects of your application.

[syee]

Personally I recommend Manhattan. If you have time, try the 8 books series -- i.e., the Strategy Guide. Out of those 8 books, 6 of them are for quant: algebra, fractions/decimals/percents, geometry, number properties, word problems, and data interpretation. They have excellent introductions and step-by-step explanations, so that you can understand the basics first, and then try working on the problems on your own. They also have tips/shortcuts -- crucial to GRE. If you don't have time, try the 5 lb. This one doesn't deliver those introduction -- it's question-based. But like the 8 books, it's separated into different topics, so you can tackle your weakest. 

I would think you can still do a lot in 4 weeks -- so don't give up just yet! -- though it does depend on your progress on verbal and AW.