Introduction
The problem solving questions of the GMAT test are
designed more to test your understanding of the underlying
mathematical concepts than to test your ability to
actually carry out the quantitative procedures accurately.
Fortunately for many test takers, advanced quantitative
areas such as trigonometry and calculus are not tested
on the GMAT. To score well, you will only need to be
knowledgeable of the basic arithmetic, geometry, and
algebra that are taught at the high school level. Any
decent GMAT prep book will cover these quantitative
concepts.
Problem Solving
Tips and Strategies
Read the questions carefully. This is
the most common pitfall that GMAT test takers make
and it is hard for us to overstate this. There is a
big difference between the questions "Which of
the following may be true?" and "Which of
the following may not be true?" The test writers
deliberately include choices that correlate to common
misinterpretations of their questions.
Use your scrap paper for every question. No
matter how easy the question appears, you should utilize
your scrap paper. Seeing the calculation on paper will
help you avoid many of the easy mistakes and the corresponding
answer choice designed to exploit that mistake. Also,
once you record your answer on the GMAT CAT, you can't
go back and change it. This aspect of the CAT makes
this tip even more effective.
Do not get bogged down with complicated or lengthy
calculations. We have looked at hundreds
of these GMAT questions and they are deliberately
designed to make such calculations unnecessary. You
are overlooking a shortcut if you find yourself getting
bogged down in this way.
The "guesstimating" technique
is extremely effective on this exam. Most
of the time the answer is a value, the choices
will not be very
close to each other. As a result, if you can save
time and closely guesstimate the answer to be 30%
and the choices are 4%, 13%, 29%, 47%, and 81%, then
you will know the answer must be 29%. Congratulations,
you just saved a lot of time on this question and
avoided a longer calculation that would have greatly
increased the chances of committing a math error!
Learn how to work backwards. If
you are completely stuck on a question, you can always
try
to plug in an answer and work backwards. If you do
this, we suggest you start by plugging in the middle
value. If this answer does not correctly answer the
question, it may at least tell you if you need to plug
in a smaller or larger value. In this case, you have
narrowed your initial 5 choices down to 2.
Convert quantities freely. There
are often shortcuts available to you if you see certain
relationships between the numbers used in the problems.
Keep in mind, the GMAT test writers never haphazardly
select numbers for their questions. This technique
is most often used in questions where you get the urge
to pull out a calculator. One easy conversion to remember
is that, at least for purposes of the GMAT, π = 22/7.
Use process of elimination as a last resort. The
GMAT writers have historically arranged the answer
choices in ascending numerical value. Even if you are
unable to hone in on the correct answer, chances are
guesstimating, working backwards, or some other technique
will help you at least eliminate many of the wrong
choices.
Practice, practice, practice. If
you spend some time practicing these questions, you
will
be able to internalize these tips and strategies. You
will also become very comfortable with the questions
from this portion of the test and will quickly realize
if there are any math areas such as geometry or algebra
where you will need to brush up on your skills. When
it comes time to sit for the GMAT, you will want to
know the total number of degrees in the sides of a
triangle, the calculation for the area of a circle,
etc off the top of your head.
Problem-Specific
Tips and Techniques
There are a few distinct types of problems that have
their own specific tips and strategies:
Geometry Problems
Assume the diagrams are drawn accurately unless
the question specifically states otherwise. Do
not, however, rely on your visual judgment to answer
these questions. The test writers never allow
their questions to be that easily answered. One common
mistake is to assume that 2 lines form a right angle
when this is not specifically indicated. Do not make
this assumption as it is one of the most common mistakes
made on the GMAT.
Spend at least 30 seconds reviewing the diagrams. Many
implicit facts and numbers are often contained inside
these figures. Due to the computer-adaptive nature
of today's GMAT, you will need to sketch out the diagrams
on your scrap paper to deduce the implicit facts from
the data explicitly given.
Graph Problems
Spend at least 30 seconds reviewing the graphs
and tables. Graph problems are not designed
to include hard math calculations. Instead they are
designed to test your ability to interpret and use
information contained in the graphs and tables. As
a result, you will be well suited to study the structures
and basic contents of the graphs and tables. The
axis labels, legend key, and units of measurement
are more important than the actual
data presented.
Make sure you are familiar with bar, circle, and
line graphs. These are the 3 graph types
most commonly presented on the GMAT.
You can rely on visual estimations for the bar
graphs and line charts. The test writers
will not use visual tricks for deception. You often
times will have to trust the visual estimation to
determine the correct answer. Note: this will
not work for geometry questions however.
"Weird" Problems
Identification is half the battle. AdmissionsConsultantsSM defines "weird" as
problems that simply test your reasoning skills and
not your quantitative skills. These questions are widely
considered the most intimidating on the entire exam.
An excellent example of this genre
of questions is when a new function is presented
that you never learned
in school. When you come across this type of problem,
you will greatly improve your odds of answering it
correctly by calmly and methodically imitating the "logic" presented
in the question. If this fails, you can always work
backwards.
Word Problems
Build equations for word problems. When
dealing with a word question (such as trains traveling
at a certain speed) build an equation that will help
you get the answer. Use obvious letter symbols such
a "A" for train A, "B" for Bob's
age, etc.
Don't waste time looking for subtle meanings. You
can make reasonable assumptions with these questions.
The test writers are not trying to trick you in this
way.
Click here to
see our problem solving practice questions.
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