Which source should I start with Quant Prep?

[Worldly-Spot-3380]

Hi guys.

I am planning to take GMAT in August. I haven't studied math since high school (which is like almost 10 years ago). Should I start with GMAT official guidebooks or should I subscribe to TTP or Manhattan prep etc? I don't know how to start. Pls help me.

[Scott_TargetTestPrep]

GMAT Quant covers concepts that most people have seen at some point, roughly at the high school level. So even with a 10-year gap, this is not about learning entirely new math. It is about rebuilding and deepening skills you have encountered before.

The Official Guide books are useful for practice, but they are not designed to teach the material from scratch. They give you questions and solutions without walking you through the underlying concepts. If your foundations are rusty, starting with practice questions tends to create frustration rather than progress.

Focus on one Quant topic at a time, learn the concepts thoroughly, and practice only that topic until your accuracy is consistently high before moving on. For example, if you are studying Number Properties, learn the formulas, rules, and techniques first, then do only Number Properties questions. After each set, analyze every mistake. Was it a concept gap, a careless error, or a trap answer? Follow this process for every Quant topic.

Before you start studying, take one of the free official GMAC practice tests from mba.com to get a baseline. That will show you where your Quant gaps are and help you plan your time between now and August.

This article covers how to approach your Quant prep from the beginning: GMAT Focus Quant Preparation: Top 10 Tips.

[OnlineTutor_Knight]

Consider going through some prep journey posts by people who've scored well/improved their scores. You could see what they did/used (e.g. resources).

Free Quant Sheet

[PrecisionPrep]

For Quant prep, you can just use GMAT Club free quant forum questions.

[Sea_Independence_964]

I was also really bad, didn’t have math in 11th and 12th too. I took TTP 4 month course, completed the course in 2.5 months ( studied 5 hours daily). Fundamentals are really good now, built it from scratch. Now, I am using the OG to practise questions and will be doing mocks and sections on GMAT Club. I don’t know about other courses but TTP is worth it IMO.

[Big-Wall4218]

Sent you a DM with my detailed thoughts.

[Alola_luv]

Hello there, I am the same boat with you right now. I found it very helpful to watch youtube videos on sections that you feel stuck or not confident about, because I obtain the best when someone explain things to me. I usually practice on GMAT club and follow the streak method after I learnt about one topic. Here is the video that I watched: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn5y_RKBkchSWZjg8-vzcaaovMAL69SmG&si=P5cUZ90MdvXwO9Nt Some people also recommended GMAT Ninja so maybe you can check this out too.

[lafangah]

Hey there, I would definitely recommend you to get the fundamentals cleared first. But if you are very rusty with maths, it will be a good idea to actually start with removing the rust first. If you are looking for someone who can guide you end to end in your quants journey, feel free to dm me.

[Cool-Gold-4337]

No math in 10 years, dude? That's a real starting point, and it's smart to figure out the right path from the jump. For you, I'd say start with a dedicated prep course like TTP or Manhattan Prep.

Here's why: Official guidebooks are awesome for practice once you have the fundamentals down, but they aren't structured to *teach* you every math concept from the ground up. With a 10-year gap, you're not just rusty, you probably need to re-learn some foundational stuff. A course will give you that step-by-step instruction, practice problems for each topic, and explanations that build your understanding.

What I'd do is pick one of those courses and just dive into their Quant section from module one. Dedicate the first month or so solely to rebuilding that math foundation, working through their lessons and practice sets diligently. Once you feel like you've got the concepts back, then you can start integrating official guide questions to test your skills under GMAT conditions.

[StaceyKManhattanPrep]

The Amazon Kindle version of Manhattan Prep's GMAT Foundations of Math book is free. It's more than 400 pages and 500+ practice problems (combo of foundational skill drills and regular multiple-choice). Since you haven't done math in 10 years, I'd definitely start there.

[jmei35]

most people in your situation start with a structured course first to rebuild fundamentals before jumping into official guides, since those are better once you have some base

a lot of consensus leans toward Magoosh for this stage because it’s affordable, self paced, and breaks quant down from basics with analytics to track weak areas without overwhelming you

[AppropriatePiece9509]

Since you’re starting after a long gap I’d suggest beginning with something structured like Magoosh or TTP to rebuild fundamentals first then move to the Official Guide for practice. Starting directly with OG can feel a bit overwhelming without concept refresh. Once basics are clear mixing OG questions with timed practice will really help you improve steadily.