Hello Aashume,
GRE scoring in both verbal and quants starts from 130. What it means that even if you do not answer anything correctly you will get at least 260/340, i.e both verbal and quants you will get 130.
In GRE you tackle 5 sections with 20 questions each. They are explained as follows:
- 2 sections in Verbal
- 2 sections in Quants
- 1 experimental section (either quant or verbal)
But the catch is you won't be notified by ETS on which section is the experimental one. So depending on your luck you may have to take 3 sections of quants i.e 60 questions in total , out of which 40 will be scored. Ideally each question stands for 1 mark. Meaning if you score 30 correct out of 40, you should get 130+ 30 or 160/170. Each question carries 1 point basically.
So if i understand you correctly you want a minimum of 150 /170 in quant. Based on that i will give you the following tips if you want to follow:
- In the first section of quants, try to answer correctly as many question as you can. Do not fall in the trap of purposefully under performing in the 1st section with the hope of having a relatively easy 2nd quant section. You cannot fool the GRE adaptive algorithm that way.
- Go for the low hanging fruit.. It means before starting to solve the question, think clearly and critically. If you can roughly chart your way to solution mentally, then only start solving the question. In the first go solve all the questions that seem easiest to you.
- Do not start solving any problem which seem tough or you don't know beforehand how to find a solution. You have been allotted 35 mins for 20 questions. Thats roughly 1 min 40 secs per question. Do not waste that time on questions which you have very less clue about how to solve. Rather focus on those which are easy to solve. You can always go back to the tougher questions if you have time left.
- Finally, do not fret upon speculating on which section is the experimental one. That can only be counter-productive. Treat every section with equal importance.
- GRE is not only a test of mental acumen but also of mental perseverance and patience. You will see that at the end of the exam especially during the 4th or th section, you may seem a bit mentally exhausted. Be prepared for that. Take some mock exams at home to prepare your mind to tackle that inevitable exhaustion.
I hope this helps! Let us know how everything went... Good Luck!!!