GRT prep — what to focus on for the quantitative section

51% on numerical is fixable in 5 weeks. I'd spend the first two weeks drilling the specific skill types: ratio and proportion, percentage change, and reading tables. Get those mechanical skills to near-automatic before you do full timed sets. Doing timed tests when you're still shaky on the underlying math just reinforces errors.

I went from 54% to 72% on the quantitative section in about 4 weeks. I did 20 numerical questions every morning before work, reviewed every wrong answer in detail, and kept a log of which question types I missed. By week 3 I could see the error patterns clearly — it was mostly percentage-of-percentage questions for me. Once I drilled those specifically my accuracy jumped.

The calculation errors under time pressure are usually a speed issue not a knowledge issue. Practice doing mental math estimates first — round numbers to get a ballpark, then refine. On most multiple choice tests the answer choices are spaced far enough apart that an estimate gets you there without the full calculation.

Also, don't skip the abstract reasoning section. Some candidates ignore it because it feels uncoachable but a few hours of practice does actually improve scores.

I passed my GRT last month and I was in the exact same boat as you, so I get it. The thing that flipped it for me was timing the data interpretation questions specifically. I'd been treating them like the rest of the numerical section, but they're a different beast. You don't actually need to do most of the math. Half the time the answer is just reading the right row off the table, and I was wasting forty seconds setting up calculations I didn't need.

So here's what I'd say. Before you touch your calculator, read what the question is actually asking and find which part of the chart it points to. A lot of them give you four numbers and only one matters. I started circling the question word first (increase, difference, ratio, whatever) and it cut my time per question almost in half. The verbal stuff will hold up fine on the day, trust me. Pour your three weeks into getting fast and calm on those graph questions and you'll walk out feeling way better than you expect.

Honestly the biggest thing for me was accepting I couldn't do marathon study sessions. I work full time and I've got kids, so my prep was basically 25 minutes on my lunch break and maybe half an hour after they went to bed. For the numerical stuff that actually worked in my favour because data interpretation is all about reps. You don't need three hours. You need to do five or six questions, get them wrong, and actually figure out why you got them wrong before you move on. I kept a notes app open and every time I fell for a percentage-change trap I wrote it down. After a couple weeks the same traps stopped catching me.

One thing I'd say though, don't make the mistake I made and pour everything into numerical while you let the other sections drift. I went so hard on data interpretation that I nearly forgot the situational stuff was even on there, and that section has its own logic you have to get used to. I ran through these free grt situational judgement questions on my phone during my commute and it honestly balanced out my week. Little and often beat cramming for me. Stick with it.

I failed my first attempt and honestly it came down to one thing: I was practicing individual math skills in isolation instead of practicing the actual interpretation workflow. The data tables aren't testing whether you can multiply — they're testing whether you can quickly figure out which numbers matter and ignore the rest. Once I stopped trying to process every figure in the table and started reading the question first, my speed improved a lot. It sounds obvious but I wasn't doing it.

Second time around I drilled timed sets of four or five questions back to back without breaks, which forced me to build a rhythm. If you're spending more than 90 seconds on any single question you're already behind, so practicing that pacing pressure is the thing that actually transfers to the real test. The content itself isn't brutal — it's the time pressure combined with the table format that gets people. Get comfortable skimming fast and you'll find the quantitative section way more manageable than it feels right now.

Honestly I almost bailed on the GRT after week two because the data interpretation stuff felt impossible. Like I'd look at a table with three variables and just blank. What helped me was slowing way down and forcing myself to identify what the question was actually asking before touching any numbers -- most of the time I was solving the wrong thing entirely.

The quantitative section isn't really testing your math, it's testing whether you can stay calm and methodical when the data looks messy. Once I accepted that and stopped trying to rush through it, my accuracy jumped a lot. You've already done three weeks which is more than most people bother with, so don't quit now -- the fact that you're identifying your weak spots is literally the whole game.

Same boat honestly. I've been drilling the numerical section for about two weeks and my practice scores finally jumped from 58% to 71% last week, which felt like a breakthrough after hitting a wall. The data interpretation stuff was killing me until I started working through the grt/questions/data interpretation practice set systematically rather than just randomly attempting questions. It's boring but it works.

I'm sitting the real exam in mid-August so I've got about three weeks left. Honestly the biggest shift for me wasn't learning new formulas, it was slowing down on the chart reading part and not rushing to calculate before I actually understood what the question was asking. Good luck with your prep, sounds like you've already identified the right problem to fix.