Too often, students focus their study efforts on difficult GRE Quant questions, such as those involving relatively complicated probability, combinatorics, and number properties, while neglecting the basics. This is not a sound strategy for GRE success. Mastering math, particularly the math tested on the GRE, requires that you take a linear approach to developing your knowledge and skills. If you skip to the hard stuff, it will be challenging for you to develop a strong command of the material. There are a number of reasons for this.

For one, understanding the basics, such as how to work with fractions and exponents, is necessary for solving more complicated questions. For example, if you are not well-versed in calculations involving fractions, you could miss or take too long answering a probability question. Furthermore, the key to hitting your score goal is getting all of the easy- and medium-level questions correct and getting as many difficult questions as possible correct.

Remember, the first Quant section has a mix of difficulty levels, and getting all or most of the easy- and medium-level questions correct will drive up your score in that section. This solid performance will give you the opportunity to increase your score even more in the second Quant section, in which you will encounter more challenging questions.

Conversely, missing easy or medium questions in the first section will not only negatively impact your initial quant score, but also result in your being presented with easier questions in the second section, which means that you will not even see the types of questions that could significantly improve your score. If you can’t correctly answer easy and medium questions, you are unlikely to later see score-enhancing difficult ones.

Knowledge of the basics, or the lack thereof, can make or break your GRE Quant score. Concepts such as fractions, ratios, and decimals are simple in theory, but that doesn’t mean you are skilled at solving GRE Quant questions involving those concepts. Often, test-takers don’t devote study time to the types of questions that are easy in theory, and thus test-takers often waste an inordinate amount of time answering those types of questions on the actual test. Don’t discount the possibility that to increase your GRE Quant score, you may need to get better at tackling the most basic types of concepts and questions, and then build upward from there.

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep