Over the years, I have noticed a consistent pattern among students who achieve top scores on the GRE Quant section. These students do not give up on questions easily. They do not throw in the towel after 60 seconds or 90 seconds simply because the solution is not immediately obvious. Instead, they push through the discomfort and force their brains to keep working. In contrast, students who regularly quit on problems too quickly — even if all other factors are equal — tend to see far less improvement in their Quant scores.

The ability to push through difficult problems is not just about solving a particular question. It is about training yourself to be comfortable with discomfort. The GRE is designed to test your reasoning under pressure. Feeling frustrated, tired, or stuck is normal. What separates high scorers from others is how they respond when those feelings arise. Rather than backing away, top scorers lean in. They use difficulty as a tool for growth.

One of the best ways to build this resilience is to work on practice problems untimed. When you are not racing the clock, you give yourself the space to struggle through a problem fully. This is where meaningful learning happens. There is a psychological component to solving GRE Quant questions. Often, you will not know what to do at first glance. Doubt may creep in. You may question whether you have the skills to solve it. But if you stay engaged, try different approaches, write things down, and wrestle with the problem long enough, you often find a path to the solution. That process might take ten or fifteen minutes at first. That is fine. The goal is not speed at this stage. The goal is to develop the habit of persistence.

When you give up too quickly, you rob yourself of the opportunity to build this skill. Reading the solution may teach you the mechanics, but it does not teach you how to sit with uncertainty and work through it. That ability — to keep going when things are unclear or challenging — is one of the most important skills you can build for the GRE.

Of course, the ideal scenario is to solve questions efficiently and with clarity. Over time, as you become more experienced and more familiar with common problem types, efficiency will come. But even if you do not immediately know the elegant solution, I want you to keep hacking away. Calculate, estimate, test numbers, draw diagrams, write out cases. Do whatever you need to do to move forward. Stay engaged with the problem until you are truly out of ideas.

Research shows that when people believe they have exhausted their mental capacity, they have often only reached about forty percent of what they are capable of. This principle applies to GRE prep as well. The process of stretching your mental endurance — of pushing past your initial limit — builds resilience that pays off not just on test day, but in any challenging situation.

Also, keep in mind that GRE Quant questions often appear more intimidating than they truly are. What looks confusing at first glance is often quite manageable once you begin working through it step by step. The questions with the biggest bark often have the smallest bite.

So the next time you feel stuck, remind yourself: this discomfort is part of the process. Stay with it. Solve it. You are building far more than just math skills.

Reach out to me with any questions about your GMAT prep. Happy studying!

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep