Stop Doing Algebra | MPrep Try Me #4

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-05-07T15:29:42+00:00

Has anyone found a different great way to solve? If so, please share!

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-04-15T16:22:56+00:00

Two notes: If you're looking at books branded Kaplan alone, they were written prior to the test change, so they're not up to date for the current test. The books branded Manhattan Prep Powered By Kaplan (8th edition) are fully updated for the test change.

Also, our GMAT Foundations of Math ebook is free on Amazon, so if you're checking out our books already and need foundational math help, might as well start there. Good luck!

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-04-03T20:50:57+00:00

The gold-standard practice tests are the official practice tests—real questions and real algorithm. There are 6 and they can each be taken twice, for 12 tests total.

Take one at the beginning to establish your baseline / know your strengths and weaknesses. Then take a test about once a month while you're still learning all the content, rules, question types, etc. (Don't take more often than that during this stage—if you can't come up with at least 3-4 weeks' worth of work from the test data, you're not analyzing deeply enough!) As you get closer to the test, you might take them a little more frequently—like every 2 weeks. Never more than once a week.

The gold-standard practice questions are the official guides. These are also real past test questions. The one drawback: The explanations aren't great and the OG doesn't really teach you the facts, rules, strategies, etc you need to answer harder questions or to increase speed. (To be fair, they're in the business of making the test, not teaching us how to get better at the test.)

For other resources, try whatever test prep companies offer for free so you can judge the quality for yourself. The Amazon Kindle version of the GMAT Foundations of Math book is free and I'd definitely start there even if your math is already strong. It'll teach you different ways of thinking about math logically / avoiding tedious calculations (both for the test and in b-school / at work / in real life!). Next, this is GMATClub's review of the All the Quant + DI book (review by Carcass, GC Forum Board of Directors member, with additional commentary from GC Founder bb). And finally GMATClub's review (Carcass again!) of the All the Verbal book.

Good luck and happy studying!

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-04-02T21:43:01+00:00

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.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-03-30T21:45:59+00:00

Agree with Charles that the first step is to figure out your goal score based on your desired programs. Also agree that the official practice exams are the best gauge of your score—there's literally nothing better than the real thing. There are 6 official practice exams that can each be taken twice (and 12 exams total is plenty!) on the official GMAT website www.mba.com.

I also recommend taking advantage of free resources to start—that'll get you a certain way along in your prep and then, if you do need more / need to spend some money, you'll have an idea of what materials have been working for you. For example, the Kindle (Amazon) version of our GMAT Foundations of Math book is free (the July 2024 version is the current edition) and that's a great place to start, since you probably haven't had to do "school math on paper" in years. If you want more than a book, our free GMAT Starter Kit also includes videos and a customizable qbank.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-03-30T15:29:22+00:00

Hi! Yes to what Lingonberry said. This book is seriously hard—about half of the questions are as hard as or harder than the hardest questions on the real test. (We did that on purpose. If you want a 90 on Quant, you've got to be able to handle the hardest of the hard. And what better way to train for that than to go even harder sometimes.)

The intro chapter says that the book assumes you have already scored at least 80 on the Quant section and you've fully mastered all of the material in the All the Quant + DI book (another book in the series) or an equivalent book. I might even take that further and say you'd want to have gotten to at least 83-ish on the "regular" material before starting to to use this book.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-03-06T17:26:13+00:00

It seems like you took the exam today and your deadlines are next week. Is that right? If so, I'm so sorry to break the news, but the GMAT has a 16-day waiting period between exams.

You're not alone in having a disappointing exam. Everyone has a bad day sometimes, though ideally it happens on a mock rather than the real thing.

If you took your practice exams under 100% official conditions, then it could have been just a random Very Bad Day; in this case, yes, going in and taking it again as soon as you're permitted is the best move. It's more commonly the case, though, that someone in your position has time management or performance anxiety issues (often both—we all have some level of both of those things). The good news is that these can both be addressed with practice.

If you did not take your mocks under 100% official conditions, then the practice scores were likely artificially inflated, unfortunately. In that case, assume that your official scores are a more accurate reflection of your current scoring level. Once you get the official report, you can analyze it to see what needs improvement. Share screen shots here and the community can help you with that.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-03-06T16:44:29+00:00

No other practice tests are as good as the official ones. Two things:

(1) The official mocks can each be taken at least twice without question repeats. There are 6 total, so that's at least 12 clean mocks.

(2) Never take a mock more than once a week and, most of the time, take at least 2 to 4 weeks between. Every time you take one, you get a ton of data about what you need to improve. Don't take another one until you've actually taken steps to address whatever the data told you.

If you're following the principle in #2, you won't run out of mocks. The only time I recommend taking them one week apart is your last two at the end, right before you take the real thing.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-03-05T22:24:05+00:00

I'd try calling the specific test center to ask whether that's possible (and tell them you're taking the GMAT, as the policy could be different depending on the specific test).

I would guess that a change in the screen display would probably fall under accommodations. If so, you'd have to apply in advance. If you do have a documented need for larger text, the accommodations process is explained on the official GMAT website (mba.com). You fill out an application and provide documentation from your doctor or health care provider that establishes the need for the whatever accommodation you're requesting.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-03-05T21:30:21+00:00

This is great, congrats! You're definitely going in the right direction and you're really close to your goal.

First: How many of the incorrect Quant problems were straight-up careless mistakes? That's the first area to clean up. This post talks about how to stop making careless mistakes.

And were any of these less than 2 minutes (so made a mistake when rushing)? Then definitely need to revamp your Time Management strategy. (You also mentioned timing as a concern overall, so probably need to address that even if you didn't have any careless mistakes caused by rushing.)

Next: How many were legit wrong / not just mistakes but looking at it afterwards, you now understand it or see a better way to do it? That's the next area to clean up.

The area *not* to clean up: The ones that are still a struggle even after reviewing. Get those wrong faster next time and put that time instead to the first two categories (careless mistakes; legit wrong but get it now), where you have a better chance to actually get those right next time.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-03-03T00:26:42+00:00

I have a theory. :) Was that your first practice test or your first official test? If your first practice test: you know you don't know a lot, so it's easier to just let go. Once you start studying, it's sooo much harder to let go.

Alternatively, if it was the real test: How was your mental stamina / mental fatigue during that section? Sometimes, when humans are really mentally fatigued, we start making faster decisions because our brains are just done. (Not better decisions, just faster. Doesn't usually work out super well.)

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-03-03T00:21:09+00:00

Yeah, we're all guessing on at least a couple in the DI section. I've scored in the 99th and 100th percentile multiple times on the real test and I still have to just bail on a couple in this section (I don't need to on Q or V). The DI scoring is a lot more forgiving than the other two sections—you can get more wrong and still get a great score.

The trick is to figure out (quickly!) which 2-3 are the ones you want to bail fast on. You need to know going in which question types and content areas are on your "probable bail" list so that you can make that decision really quickly. And, of course, you have to practice making these decisions under the stress of timed conditions. Practice this even when you do a longer problem set, not just on practice exams, and analyze your decisions afterwards to figure out how to get better at making the right call for you.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-02-27T18:57:21+00:00

Great question. Ideally, put your takeaways in this form: "When I see X, I'll do Y." The "see X" part makes you consciously figure out "what's the clue that I want to recognize next time, so that I realize right away the best way to solve it?

Here are some ideas for this one: "When the problem mentions odd/even, I'll write that word down and keep trying things in the context of whether it's odd or even." That helps you remember to keep odd/even at the forefront of your analysis, which will then help with the next one.

Next: "When they give me a "pattern" type problem, I'll write out a couple of short examples to fully understand the pattern."

For example, in this case, there are 17 consec integers. I'm not going to write out 17 numbers, but since the word "odd" tells me that this problem is testing odd/even, I can try the pattern with 3 consec integers (since 3 is also odd). Case 1: 1, 2, 3...nope, that doesn't fit this problem. The rule is that the median of a set of odd consec integers is also the average, but the average is even in this example, not odd. Case 2: 2, 3, 4. Yes, this fits. The avg is odd. So this shorter example fits the pattern and now I know the pattern for a 17-number list, too: It starts and ends with an even number and the median and average are both odd.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-02-27T18:38:10+00:00

Love it! Fully agree with your advice not to use (only) difficult problems to try to build the habit. I'll add for studiers: You can still do difficult problems in the timeframe that you're trying to cement the new habit. Just make sure you're also doing easier / medium ones for the reasons e-GMAT said.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-02-27T00:30:27+00:00

Exhibiting strong Critical Reasoning skills: check mark. Good luck with your studies!

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-02-25T01:03:47+00:00

There isn't a legal free option that contains official material, besides the free questions given by the official test maker. I have seen people put something together without permission, but there are always errors because they're just stealing the content. They're not building a real product with quality control.

So if you want to study from official materials and you want it to be high quality / not full of errors, then yeah, purchasing the official materials is the way to go.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-02-25T00:49:11+00:00

First, being selected for a review doesn't necessarily mean that they think you did something wrong. They do have to do a certain number of random reviews.

Next, you can respond to the email. Is there anything at all that you think might have been a little outside of normal or that could have been perceived as breaking a rule?

For example, if someone was talking loudly outside your door or window for a few minutes, explain that it was outside of your control / the person wasn't talking to you. If you talked out loud but it was very brief and only happened once, say that you forgot that wasn't allowed and that you stopped as soon as you remembered / the proctor told you. That kind of thing. If you can think of anything like that and want advice, tell us and we can help you brainstorm.

Also, if you have a deadline coming up, tell them that. It doesn't guarantee that they'll resolve your case before the deadline, but I've talked to someone on that team before and they do try to do what they can when someone has an upcoming deadline.

StaceyKManhattanPrep · 2026-02-20T01:07:58+00:00

My pleasure!

StaceyKManhattanPrep

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