So. You've taken a diagnostic test and the quant hasn't gone too well. This isn't a good thing, obviously, but with some hard work and some time, you can improve your quant score significantly. But there are some pitfalls ahead that I hope to steer you clear of.

The Progression

If you haven't already watched it, now is a good time to check out the Quant Progression Timeline video. It's a helpful overview of the entire prep process and will help you put things in perspective as you progress. For now, however, your only job is foundation.

A Note on Attitude and Expectations

Often the people with the lowest quant scores have the most negative attitudes about math and their own math ability. Maybe you've even been told you have dyscalculia, or that you're inherently bad at math. Maybe math makes you break out in a cold sweat, hives, or gives you indigestion. Whatever your past, I invite you to be open minded about your future with math. What we want is an attitude of curiosity about the concepts you're about to learn. If you view concepts as stupid chores you have to do for a stupid test that doesn't say anything about you, well, I'm going to suggest that won't work very well.

Despite the "tickbox" moniker, we are NOT just ticking boxes. We are revelling in the process like a dog rolling on his back in a sweet summer meadow. We tick - but we don't tick until we are saturated with a particular video's knowledge.

If you have the attitude that you can and will actually learn and master the concepts, it will work better. Fake it till you make it. Ditch the negative comments and self-talk. Commit to working very hard for the course of your study plan and trust the process. Take pride in being accurate, getting things right the first time, and fully understanding things. This is not the hardest intellectual challenge you'll ever face. It's more about breadth than depth.

With that said, it's also important to recognize you will probably need more time than you think. You will have to work harder than you think. "Hard" work on quant is probably harder than you currently think it is. This is going to be a mission if you want to, say, go from 147 to 162. We're talking perhaps a few months of working a few hours a day ASSUMING your study plan is dialed in and that 3 hours is productive as hell. Obviously, this varies.

Modifications to the I'm Overwhelmed Plan

Like most people, your quant foundation work should start with the I'm Overwhelmed Plan. But just because this fabled plan works well for so many people does not mean you can just push your inner tube into the river and blithely float to your destination. Here are a few ideas to make sure it actually works for you:

• ChatGPT. Any time you don't fully understand a video, or you need another explanation of a quant question, or you would like a few more examples you can practice on, fire up your favorite LLM. Nip issues in the bud! You do not want to move on from something until you really get it. That's what the LLM is for. Talk to it until you get the concept fully.

• Skip certain topics. I actually think everyone can skip certain videos (see the list at the very end of this article). They are videos that can be viewed as enrichment, but are about topics I don't think the GRE tests. Note: this is my opinion NOT the opinion of the Gregmat team. Will it hurt you to learn all those topics? No. Will it take more time for questionable benefit? In my view, yeah.

• Skip questions. Some questions in the quizzes, progress quizzes, and / or tickbox quizzes, are too hard / unrealistic. Should you spend 15 minutes trying to solve one question? Probably not. You want to be above 90% on all these quizzes assuming your goal is 160+, but you do not need to be at 100%. So if you've been fighting with a certain question for 5 minutes, drop it. Also skip questions from my list of "topics to skip". However, ideally, someone more experienced than you can give you feedback on whether it's ok that you skipped any given question.

• Just do it (twice). Plan on doing the I'm Overwhelmed Plan for quant... then turn right around and do it again. This is what I often see works for people who went through an entire GRE study plan and got a 156 quant when they needed 160+. They just have to do the entire foundation over. Often, the 2nd time's the charm. Things will click better the second time you do them.

• Use the 5-lb. This is actually a good tip for everyone. After you finish the arithmetic concepts in the plan (modules 1-3), do the arithmetic chapters in the Manhattan 5-lb. book. This allows you to drill things with many more questions than you'll find in Gregmat - and the questions are typically more straightforward, which is useful for drilling concepts. Again, be meticulous but not perfectionist.

• Actually follow all the directions. The plan has very clear directions. They are not optional. You have to follow them to the letter if you want to succeed. Ignore or modify them at your peril.

What Now?

A good next step is to check out the So My Quant Foundation is Good - Now What? video. If you can, in fact, prove it, you can head into strategies, then untimed and timed practice.

The Bottom Line

As you've probably heard many times here on Gregmat, foundation is fundamental. Your ultimate goal is to master the topics you learn and demonstrate your mastery repeatedly on the quant mountain and on quizzes as your progress, so you continue to prove to yourself that you actually know this shit.

Vince's list of topics to skip

• # of numbers in factorials (1 and 2)

• trailing zeros in factorials

• infinitude of primes

• positive, total, odd, even factors with PF (4 videos)

• GCF, shared, LCM with PF (3 videos)

• remainders part deux

• remainders and addition

• Rational versus Irrational II

• Real Numbers

• The Number Line Revisited

• Polynomial Degree

• Algebraic Identities (6 and 7)

• Absolute Value Quadratics

• Completing the Square

• Even & Odd Functions

• Compound Interest II

• Quadratic Equations on the Plane

• Graphing Quadratics by Factoring

• Graphing by Completing the Square

• Graphing Absolute Value Equations

• Even and Odd Functions

• Visual and Euclid's proof

• Are Pythagorean Triplets Infinite?

• Archimedes Calculates π

• Visual Proof of Area of a Circle

• Calculating SD (simple cases)

• Calculating SD (complex cases)

• Population vs Sample SD

• Standardization

• Sets versus Lists

• A Very Interesting Problem

• Permutations in a Circle

• Don't Play the Lottery

• Probability and Combinatorics Combined (these 3 topics in red should be skipped if time is a factor)

• At Least / Most Questions

• Given Probability

• Play the Lottery

• The Birthday Paradox

• Skewness

• Effect on Normal Distribution