How to pace yourself during QR

[amaghsou]

I know it isn't the most important section but I am worried a low score could bring my AA down. The first time I took the DAT, I got a 16 on QR and I do not plan on doing that again! On my first attempt, I did like 7 destroyer tests and a handful of bootcamp tests, which obviously wasn't enough practice. Aside my lack of quantitative reasoning, my biggest challenge is time; I had 10 questions left in the last minute on my first DAT attempt... Now, I have about a month left until the exam and I feel like I have made no significant improvement on this section from the last time I took the test. Each Destroyer test still takes about an hour and half to finish and the results are usually around 28/40. What are some techniques you guys use to beat the time crunch and just do better? Thank you in advance!

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[Cali20002]

I only got a 20 on QR so take my advice with a grain of salt. I think the best strategy is to do all the problems you know you can do ASAP, right away. Skip the more complicated problems or ones that you don't know how to do. Then when you're done with doing problems you know how to do, just go back and do your best.

 

[asdf99]

Don't worry too much about your pacing in the Math destroyer. Just focus on knowing why you're doing each step and why the answer is what it is.

If Bootcamp tests are taking an hour and a half to complete I think that is a bit of concern (but not insurmountable)

Difficulty with pacing can mean a plethora of potential things. Some that come to mind are:

- Lack of content review. If you don't know what you are doing, things will naturally take longer
- Strategy problems. Getting stuck on a question and refusing to move on would be an example. Make sure you do easy questions first
- Relying alot on the calculator could potentially make you slower, as sometimes process of elimination of eyeballing it easy faster.

It's hard for us to say what in particular is causing trouble. But a month is alot of time in my opinion to work on math.
I'll be honest and say that although I enjoy math, I got a 20 in QR, which is alot lower than alot of people on this site. So hopefully others can chime in.

 

[Rynomachine]

I got a 29 on QR. Did you find the bootcamp QR cheat sheet? Memorize it, and know what each part is used for. Its only like 3 pages. Skip any harder ones and save them for the end. When you read the questions, try to tell yourself exactly what the question is asking.

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[amaghsou]

I only got a 20 on QR so take my advice with a grain of salt. I think the best strategy is to do all the problems you know you can do ASAP, right away. Skip the more complicated problems or ones that you don't know how to do. Then when you're done with doing problems you know how to do, just go back and do your best.

Yeah, that's how I did it before, it's just tedious going back tens of question (by clicking) because that kills a lot of time too. Thank you for the advice.

 

[amaghsou]

Thank you for the advice! I am finishing Bootcamp in a reasonable amount of time but I've realized that a lot of the bootcamp questions are similar to the destroyer problems. I think I get too focused on the tricky problems and don't move forward to the next one.

Don't worry too much about your pacing in the Math destroyer. Just focus on knowing why you're doing each step and why the answer is what it is.

If Bootcamp tests are taking an hour and a half to complete I think that is a bit of concern (but not insurmountable)

Difficulty with pacing can mean a plethora of potential things. Some that come to mind are:

- Lack of content review. If you don't know what you are doing, things will naturally take longer
- Strategy problems. Getting stuck on a question and refusing to move on would be an example. Make sure you do easy questions first
- Relying alot on the calculator could potentially make you slower, as sometimes process of elimination of eyeballing it easy faster.

It's hard for us to say what in particular is causing trouble. But a month is alot of time in my opinion to work on math.
I'll be honest and say that although I enjoy math, I got a 20 in QR, which is alot lower than alot of people on this site. So hopefully others can chime in.

hank you

 

[amaghsou]

I got a 29 on QR. Did you find the bootcamp QR cheat sheet? Memorize it, and know what each part is used for. Its only like 3 pages. Skip any harder ones and save them for the end. When you read the questions, try to tell yourself exactly what the question is asking.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using SDN mobile

Wow, congratulations, that is an amazing score! I didn't even know there was a cheat sheet on bootcamp. I'll start looking for it, thank you for the help!

 

[Rynomachine]

My membership ran out, so I don't think I can link it to you, but it's incredibly helpful. Let me know if you have any questions about the content!

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[amaghsou]

My membership ran out, so I don't think I can link it to you, but it's incredibly helpful. Let me know if you have any questions about the content!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using SDN mobile

Thanks again! I will definitely contact you if I need anymore help.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

I only got a 20 on QR so take my advice with a grain of salt. I think the best strategy is to do all the problems you know you can do ASAP, right away. Skip the more complicated problems or ones that you don't know how to do. Then when you're done with doing problems you know how to do, just go back and do your best.

I second this. It's really easy to burn up a lot of time on a question you're stuck with and then you don't have enough to answer simple questions you could have done quickly.

On the real DAT, if the method to solving the problem isn't immediately obvious to you, flag it and move on. If you've got time left over at the end, then go back to the questions you flagged.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Don't worry too much about your pacing in the Math destroyer. Just focus on knowing why you're doing each step and why the answer is what it is.

If Bootcamp tests are taking an hour and a half to complete I think that is a bit of concern (but not insurmountable)

Difficulty with pacing can mean a plethora of potential things. Some that come to mind are:

- Lack of content review. If you don't know what you are doing, things will naturally take longer
- Strategy problems. Getting stuck on a question and refusing to move on would be an example. Make sure you do easy questions first
- Relying alot on the calculator could potentially make you slower, as sometimes process of elimination of eyeballing it easy faster.

It's hard for us to say what in particular is causing trouble. But a month is alot of time in my opinion to work on math.
I'll be honest and say that although I enjoy math, I got a 20 in QR, which is alot lower than alot of people on this site. So hopefully others can chime in.

Excellent advice and I agree 100 percent....No amount of time will help if you are presented a problem you have no idea how to solve. Time needs to be spent on learning , than worry about timing.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Test 16 in QR is not that challenging.
You must know the basics first.
Go over the formula sheet in the first few pages of the Math Destroyer. Get familiar with the formulas.
You already did 7 tests, so you know that the same topics are repeated over and over again ( trig, geometry, word problems probabilities etc...). As you do the rest of the destroyer, it should become easier.
Do not memorize the answers!!!! Each problem can be done different way. Find the way that best works for you and stick with it. As an example, for me personally I don't like to work with decimals, I prefer fractions or scientific notation.
as far as timing is concerned:

Skip over the problems that you think will consume a lot of times, mark them and move on. Do the easy problems first.

Do not spend more than 2 minutes in a single problem. Come back to those problems when you are done.

Here are a few techniques to solve lengthy and hard problems: 1- eliminate the obvious wrong answers. 2- backsolve ( use the answers given in the solutions and plug them back in.) 3- If you have no idea how to solve a problem just Guess and move on.
The math Destroyer has 18 tests so you have plenty of practice problems to go over.

Try to do one test a day from now till test day.

Hope this helps.

 

[amaghsou]

I second this. It's really easy to burn up a lot of time on a question you're stuck with and then you don't have enough to answer simple questions you could have done quickly.

On the real DAT, if the method to solving the problem isn't immediately obvious to you, flag it and move on. If you've got time left over at the end, then go back to the questions you flagged.

Thank you so much for the help!

 

[amaghsou]

Test 16 in QR is not that challenging.
You must know the basics first.
Go over the formula sheet in the first few pages of the Math Destroyer. Get familiar with the formulas.
You already did 7 tests, so you know that the same topics are repeated over and over again ( trig, geometry, word problems probabilities etc...). As you do the rest of the destroyer, it should become easier.
Do not memorize the answers!!!! Each problem can be done different way. Find the way that best works for you and stick with it. As an example, for me personally I don't like to work with decimals, I prefer fractions or scientific notation.
as far as timing is concerned:

Skip over the problems that you think will consume a lot of times, mark them and move on. Do the easy problems first.

Do not spend more than 2 minutes in a single problem. Come back to those problems when you are done.

Here are a few techniques to solve lengthy and hard problems: 1- eliminate the obvious wrong answers. 2- backsolve ( use the answers given in the solutions and plug them back in.) 3- If you have no idea how to solve a problem just Guess and move on.
The math Destroyer has 18 tests so you have plenty of practice problems to go over.

Try to do one test a day from now till test day.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the time you put in to the response! I appreciate all your response and your assistance. I will try to work these problems again, everyday!