Archive : GMAT

In the quant section of the GMAT, there are a fair number of formulae to know in order to answer the ensemble of questions that may be asked of you. Most of them are covered in any basic test prep material, but a formula is always just a short hand version of a much longer manual process.

There is an anecdote about a primary school teacher who wanted to keep a misbehaved child busy for a period, so she asked him to sum up all the numbers from 1 to 100. To her dismay, the child answered the question in a matter of seconds, and the answer was correct. The child explained to his teacher that, instead of simply adding 1+2+3…, you could create a pairwise addition that would always yield the same number. If you added 1 to 100, you would get 101. If you added 2 to 99, you would still get 101. If you added 3 to 98, you’d still get 101, and so on. Thus the addition of 100 different numbers could be turned into a multiplication of two simple numbers: 101 x 50. The student in question was mathematical prodigy Carl Friedrich Gauss.

Word Problems tend to intimidate newcomers to the GMAT.  Don’t be scared!  The math on most word problems is actually easier and less troublesome than the math on a straightforward arithmetic or algebra problem.

The reason the math is easier on these problems is because the problem is made hard in other ways.  Word problems are considered hard because you have to convert a word problem into a math question.  This involves good reading skills and good critical reasoning skills.

Without descriptive words, phrases or clauses, sentences lack color.   A misstep of many is not paying close enough attention to the proper placement of modifiers.    The makers of the GMAT are aware of this shortsightedness of many test-takers.  As a result, they do test your ability to recognize illogical modifiers.

Parallel Reasoning questions on the Critical Reasoning section of the GMAT are a type of “method of reasoning” question-type. These questions require you to focus on the author’s logic. Parallel reasoning questions ask you to look for the answer choice that has the closest logical structure as the argument in the question stem. Ask yourself: which choice best matches the WAY the author moves from the evidence to his conclusion?

Last week, we discussed how drawing extreme diagrams can help solve Geometry questions. Today we will see how to solve another Geometry question by making diagrams. The diagram can help you understand exactly what it is that you need to do; doing it will be quite straightforward.

If GMAT tutoring sessions sometimes look like George (or Oscar) Bluth prison meetings from Arrested Development – two people across the table from each other speaking intelligently – the “no touching” recurring theme is embedded in this exchange:

Step one: Student begins to work on problem, places scratch paper directly underneath problem covering answer choices.
Step two: Instructor slaps the note paper away and yells “no touching (the answer choices)”

We are very excited to announce that you can now register for a free 7-day trial of our self-study course, Veritas Prep GMAT on Demand. This trial gives you free access to over four hours of high-definition video GMAT instruction!

Critical reasoning questions on the GMAT tend to follow the same structure over and over again. This means that they can be answered the same way over and over again (like the movie Groundhog Day, but with words!). The first step is to determine which type of question you’re dealing with, which is why identifying the category is the first step towards successfully answering the question. The four major categories can be remembered with the mnemonic SWIM:

Any worthwhile MBA program is bound to cause some stress in the life of a student. Remember: if your MBA program didn’t challenge you at the highest level, it wouldn’t be worth it. That said, sometimes we make it hard on ourselves to de-stress in our GMAT study plan. Procrastination, lack of sleep, and taking on too much work are the most often-blamed culprits. If you find yourself “burning the candle at both ends,” try these techniques to bring a little relief!

On GMAT Test Day, you will likely see at least a few quadrilaterals tested. Quadrilaterals, like other shapes in Geometry, usually appear in Geometry questions that involve basic properties of quadrilaterals, perimeter, or area. Like most Geometry, all it takes is some memorization and a little practice!

Let’s continue with geometry today. We would like to discuss how drawing extreme diagrams can help you solve questions. Most GMAT questions are quite intuitive and hence our non-traditional methods are perfect for them. They are not typical MATH problems per se; instead, they are logical puzzles. If you can prove why some things will not work, it means whatever is left will work.

By now you’ve seen the YouTube video, the autotunes, the reenactments… Charles Ramsey’s 911 call took the world by storm this week, hoisting him to pop culture sensation status reminiscent of our old friend Antoine Dodson.

And at the same time as he was saving three kidnap victims, Charles Ramsey may also have been saving your GMAT verbal score.

I, for one, am very excited about the new Baz Luhrmann adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatbsy.” Re-reading the book in anticipation of today’s opening, I was struck by the differences in character between Jay Gatsby and the protagonist Nick Carraway, especially evinced by this exchange from Chapter 6:

Even if you know the basic rules for questions involving powers and roots, it’s still common to feel some intimidation towards harder-looking GMAT questions.

The “” symbol is called the “radical” symbol. You may know the square root, but how comfortable are you with cube roots? For instance:

A common complaint I hear from students is: “I’m not good at algebra”. Full disclosure, algebra isn’t my favorite topic either. Although algebra is a powerful tool for solving many questions on the GMAT, it is rarely the only means available to solve a given math problem.

There are so many types of Critical Reasoning questions that sometimes it’s confusing to tell your Method of Reasoning from your Argument Structure! Students are always instructed to read the question stems first and discern the specific category of CR question from them, but there’s another more important reason to hone in on the specific wording of the question stem: it gives away the answer!         

The reading section of the SAT is both the easiest and the hardest part of the test. Why is it the easiest? It is essentially an open book exam. You are given a passage and then asked to answer questions based solely on the reading in front of you. The answers are right there on the page.  So why can it be so difficult?

You’ve probably read about or seen CR questions that confuse “causation” with “correlation,” but what does it mean in the real world? And why does it matter?

In statistics, let’s say we have data from two variables: x and y. They have a direct relationship. As one increases, the other increases. This could lead scientists to draw a conclusion that one variable causes the change in the other variable. But this isn’t necessary true! In fact, some third variable may be affecting both x and y! In order to prove causation and validate that one variable is indeed directly influencing the other and is the reason behind the detected correlation, further studies would need to be conducted, altering parameters, and recording outcomes.

This week, we will further build up on what we have discussed in the past two weeks. You will need to sum up everything we discussed last week in a few seconds and arrive at a conclusion and then, move on and solve the question on the basis of that conclusion. We will take you through the ‘summing up’ and ‘getting a feel for it’ process step by step so that it’s intuitive to you next time you come across this concept.

Not sure how to make adjustments in your GMAT study plan? Take this short quiz to find out what kind of student you are! Once you determine your study style, you can make small adjustments in your study plan to help you become more efficient in your GMAT prep!

Preparing to take the GMAT exam is a journey that requires patience, dedication and the ability to maintain focus over a long period. Taking the exam is the culmination of a long journey that may have lasted months if not years. The approaching test day has caused a few sleepless nights for many as that circled date on the calendar loomed ever closer. This entire experience might remind you of another similar rite of passage that many of us have gone through: The prom. (Unsubstantiated rumor: new American Pie movie will revolve around taking the GMAT)

About seven months ago we embarked on one of the most ambitious data-collection efforts ever undertaken in the test preparation space. When we introduced the Veritas Prep GMAT Question Bank in October, we wrote:

The Argument Essay definitely allows for some flexibility, but it helps if you have a memorized template going in, because then there’s no risk of being “stuck.” Below is a sample outline. If you are an adept writer, you may wish to place your “How to Strengthen” paragraph on its own right before the Conclusion, and then have a separate shorter Conclusion. Click here for tips on writing your essay. 

Word problems on the GMAT often do not require particularly difficult algebra to solve. Most of the time, solving simple linear equations or using a formula is all that is required. The key is to not be intimidated by the length of the description and to be able to pull out the relevant information and set up the correct equation/s. These 4 tips will help you tackle any Problem Solving question that is significantly wordy.

Let’s pick up from where we left last week. We had discussed a coordinate geometry concept using clock faces and had left you with a tough question. Today we will see how you can solve that question using the concepts discussed last week.

For GMAT instructors and number enthusiasts, yesterday was a banner day – on April 25, 4/25, both the month and the day (4 and 25) were perfect squares (2-squared and 5-squared). And with that in mind, let’s take a look at some properties of squares that can help you better solve exponent questions on the GMAT.

The AWA section of the GMAT is made up of one short piece of writing called the “Argument” essay. It essentially asks you to evaluate an argument, usually a type of proposal. The main qualities that the readers look for are the organization of your ideas, the quality of the ideas themselves, the strength and relevance of the examples, and your grasp of standard written English. According to GMAC, the “Analysis of an Argument tests your ability to formulate an appropriate and constructive critique of a specific conclusion based on a specific line of thinking.” With that, let’s take a look at a few helpful tips:

One of the reasons calculators aren’t allowed on the GMAT is to ensure that people are really thinking about the numbers they are using to solve problems. Being at ease with mental math is a skill that has been slowly eroded since the advent and subsequent ubiquity of the calculator in the education process (sadly my frequent calls to bring back the abacus have gone unheeded). Too often, people mindlessly type in numbers, and don’t even notice if they hit the wrong number or a button gets pressed twice. Of course 5*6=45, the machine told me so! (Dependence on machines also eventually leads to Skynet) However, being good at mental math can be helped along if you already have a good idea which numbers you might expect to see on test day.

Need better scores on GMAT Geometry questions? The GMAT loves triangles (no offense, circles). With a clear set of rules and formulas which govern their construction, they are lean, mean, Plane Geometry-machines. Get ANY question with a triangle right as long as you know its foundational properties. Let’s review!

As the basketball playoffs get underway, the LA Lakers are present once again.  While they’re missing their star player, let’s take a moment to reflect on how he helped get them there – and how it can help you on the GMAT.  In the entire history of basketball, perhaps no one has been a better example of focus and perseverance than Kobe Bryant.  And if there’s one thing you’ll need to be successful on the GMAT, it’s a good dose of Kobe-esque grit and determination.  What lessons can we take from the legend to use in our own preparation and game day execution?

Let’s start with geometry today. It has some very interesting and intuitive concepts. We will discuss one of them today. It’s surprising how a little bit of imagination can go a long way in helping you solve questions. Let’s discuss the concept first. We will look at a question later.

Imagine a clock face. Think of the minute hand on 10. Ignore the hour hand for our discussion today. Say, the length of the minute hand is 2 cm. Its distance from the vertical and horizontal axis is shown in the diagram below (using the green and the red dotted lines). Let’s say the minute hand moves to 1. Can you say something about the lengths of the dotted black and dotted blue lines?

Whether you’re counting your bracket money from March Madness or looking forward to this week’s NBA Playoffs, basketball is in the air these days, and it offers a great opportunity for you to look at what good GMAT strategy looks like. You can see it particularly in kids or other pickup players – the NBA guys are all too good at it but you can pick it out there, too – the more aggressive the player, the more rebounds he collects. Many players are content to do what the coaches advised, to box out the opponent next to them and get in position for the rebound…but then they sit back and wait for the ball to fall in their hands. The elite players, really at any level, are those who have that extra instinct to GO GET THE BALL. They attack aggressively, not sit back passively. They get the rebound. And they’d be able to put that same technique to use on GMAT critical reasoning.

On the GMAT, an exam about reasoning and logic, there are few things more frustrating than long sentences punctuated by a host of modifiers, particularly prepositional phrases, participial phrases and appositive phrases, to say nothing of relative clauses. Sentence correction questions are about making sure there are no mistakes in a given sentence, and the more commas and modifiers a sentence has, the more difficult it is to ascertain whether or not it is structured correctly (hint: ~80% of the time, it’s not).

Is anyone else as obsessed with the BBC’s Sherlock as I am? In addition to the amazingly well-plotted stories and the awesome performances in this latest carnation, Sherlock Holmes is a character we can’t seem to get enough of. From the prime-time CBS version “Elementary” to the Guy Richie movies starring Robert Downey Jr., the deer-stalker-wearing sleuth is everywhere! So how can we apply his powers of deduction to even the most dreaded GMAT Critical Reasoning question? By following this famous Sherlock quote:

GMAT students often get CR problems that use words like “EXCEPT” or “NOT” in their question-stems wrong, and it definitely makes sense why. If we can’t really understand what a question is asking, how can we even begin to solve it? Let’s break down a tough one together.

A greater number of sports magazine subscriptions are sold in Town A than are sold in Town B. Therefore, the citizens of Town A are better informed about international sporting competitions than are the citizens of Town B.

The new GMAT Integrated Reasoning section contain four question-types, several of which require the interpretation of data given in graphs and tables. Data analysis is not a skill required on the GMAT Quant section, so this is new to many students. What skills can we bring to these 12 questions? Here are some hot tips!

Another issue of assumption questions that merits discussion is the inference vs assumption confusion. On some questions, people find it hard to type the question as inference or assumption. Such questions often have the words ‘must be true’. Let’s discuss the two different cases:

The sports news story du jour is an amazing one – 14 year old Tianlang Guan spent yesterday not doing math homework (like you presumably are) or household chores like a normal 14-year old on a Thursday.  He spent it shooting an incredibly impressive round at the Masters, arguably the world’s most prestigious golf tournament.  His score of 73 beat the defending champion by two strokes and kept him in the hunt for another day.  And it should also have taught you a lesson about the GMAT:

I spend a disproportionate amount of time thinking about the GMAT. It’s a very interesting exam that can be thought of from multiple angles. Most people see it as an obstacle to be surmounted in an effort to get into the business school of their choice. Some people see it as an unfortunate barrier to their future plans. Personally, I like to think of it as an opportunity to test your reasoning skills against an unseen test maker (who you can think of as the Wizard Oz from the namesake movie). Your goal is to stay one step ahead of the test and predict the traps that will be laid out for you as you answer questions.

Fans of the “Harry Potter” franchise know that the Sorting Hat magically determines which of the four school houses each new student is to be assigned at Hogwarts. This Hat has to take into account data on every new Hogwarts student, and somehow be able to tell a Gryffindor from a Slytherin! Similarly, on the “Table Analysis” questions in the Integrated Reasoning section on the GMAT, you are required to sift through data and draw conclusions. We may not have magic to help us, but sorting data isn’t as complicated as it sounds.