👋 Hello, my friends at GRE Prep Club!

While there is typically limited variability in the way concepts are presented on a traditional math test, on GRE Quant, there are dozens of potential variations of even the most seemingly simple question types. One mistake that students make when preparing for GRE Quant is that they don’t systematically practice with enough questions in each category.

For most people preparing for the GRE, working on quant questions one type at a time is the most effective method for increasing their quant scores, and mastering how to correctly answer questions in a particular category can take answering many such questions. Practicing questions by topic means spending a certain number of days working on only Rate-Time-Distance questions, for example. The goal is to become so skilled at Rate-Time-Distance questions that you can’t get them wrong. By working through question categories one at a time, you learn how to decipher the logic of that question type, developing multiple approaches for arriving at answers and gaining a clear understanding of the common pitfalls in a category. You might make the same type of mistake twice in a row, but you probably won’t make it five times in a row. Thus, you must solve a wide spectrum of realistic practice questions in each quant category.

When people don’t spend sufficient time mastering a topic prior to taking the GRE, they tend to struggle with questions that look and feel different from the ones with which they practiced. In other words, they tend to get bogged down when they encounter problems that center on familiar concepts but use those concepts in new and unique ways. Consider the algebra topic known as the difference of squares. Most test-takers understand that x2 – y2 = (x + y)(x – y). However, some don’t engage in enough deliberate practice to be able to actually recognize and solve questions on the difference of squares. Conceptual knowledge must be bolstered by the practical application of that knowledge if you hope to have success in GRE Quant.

Thorough conceptual and practical mastery will help give you the confidence you need to walk into the test center cool, calm, and collected, knowing that you are well-equipped to handle whatever spin the test puts on a question type. By focusing on categories of questions, you drive your quant score higher with each category that you master. If you work in this way, hitting your Quant score goal is almost inevitable. Remember, when you study a topic, your goal is not to practice until you get questions right, but to practice until you can’t get questions wrong.

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep