People who struggle with math but got a 700+, how many hours did it take you to study?

Question

Ruchika C · Accepted Answer

I&rsquo;ve always been the type to freeze up when numbers came up&mdash;even back in school. When I took my first GMAT mock, I got a 550, and Quant was clearly the problem. I gave myself 3 months and studied about 2&ndash;3 hours a day, with most of that time spent relearning basic math.
I started slow with basic arithmetic, algebra, and word problems using free lessons from Khan Academy and the GMAT Official Guide. I kept a note of every mistake I made, and after 4&ndash;5 weeks, I started seeing patterns&mdash;like how I&rsquo;d misread rate questions or overcomplicate simple ones.
By the second month, I added timed practice sets and took a full-length mock every two weeks to track progress. On test day, I scored 710.
If math isn&rsquo;t your thing, don&rsquo;t rush. Start with the basics and aim for progress, not perfection. Stick to a plan&mdash;it pays off.

J Bajwa · Answer

Math was always the one thing that held me back&mdash;even in college. My first practice test was around 580, and I knew Quant was the reason. I studied for about 4 months, doing 2 hours a day on average, and split my time between Quant and reviewing past mistakes.
I used the GMAT Official Guide, but what helped most was breaking topics into small chunks&mdash;like doing just ratio problems for a few days, then just number properties. I also joined a small online study group, and used Mentr-Me&rsquo;s topic-wise resources and planning tips to organize my prep week by week. That helped me approach problems I&rsquo;d usually get stuck on from a fresh angle.
After about two months of untimed learning, I started full-length mocks every 10 days and tracked accuracy by question type&mdash;SC, CR, RC, and each Quant topic. That&rsquo;s when I started noticing consistent gains. I ended up with a 740.
My advice? Don&rsquo;t rush to finish everything&mdash;focus on truly mastering one type of question at a time. That made all the difference for me. Keep at it&mdash;you&rsquo;ll get there.