Mixing Up Numbers

[surrealgirl]

I'm curious to see if anyone has any advice, and I'm not sure where to post my question. I am 25 years old and highly intelligent by academic standards, but I have always done poorly in written mathematics. My pattern identification skills and visual mathematical abilities are excellent, and I do not have difficulty with words or word order. But I transverse numbers and processes consistently, and I cannot see the errors easily when checking my work. I didn't figure out multiplication until the 5th grade (using rhymes), and I didn't learn to read time until a similar age.

My problem is this: I need a 1200 on the GRE to get into the Graduate school of my choice. I scored a 700 on the verbal, but only a 490 on the quantitative. I'm 10 points shy of my goal and can't seem to do any better on the practice tests. I don't have trouble understanding the concepts, but I can never seem to get the right solution on paper! The GRE answer choices often show the numbers backwards as one of the options...I'm at a loss. Any idea why I might have this issue or how I might improve my visual number recognition?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[mmm4444bot]

What you describe sounds like some form of dyslexia, to me. My suggestion is to confirm whether or not this is true.

Ask your family doctor for a referral to undergo a comprehensive psycho-neurological examination. This will identify any learning disabilities and cognitive deficits.

There are specific training methods to help people deal with these types of issues. I have no formal training in teaching methods designed for those with dyslexia, but I worked with a dyslexic (phototypographer) for several years, and she spoke about monthly sessions with a clinical psychologist (PhD) who helped her gain the ability to recognize most of her mistakes as she made them.