Gob Bluth is famous for his hatred of the word “trick,” (don’t call it that) in favor of the word “illusion.” Tricks he casts off as beneath him, whereas illusions seem more sophisticated for an elite magician. And you shouldn’t simply accept tricks, either – if you look deeper (as Tony Wonder would say, you can try to use your illusion) you’ll find that a more sophisticated, deeper understanding of tricks will help you gain acceptance from the Magicians Alliance or the business school of your choice. Here’s how:

Many a GMAT student will learn a rule from the solution to a problem and understand exactly how to apply it to *that* problem. But the GMAT – like a good magician – is a master of misdirection. You’ll seldom see that exact same problem structure again, so if all you know is how to apply that rule – that “trick” – in that one context you’ll be disappointed and frustrated when you see questions that look like nothing you’ve ever seen. But if you understand the rule and why it works – if you look deeper than the trick and see it as more than a single-use process – you’ll have fuller control of it in the future.

For example, it’s pretty common among GMAT students to memorize the “trick”: “If it’s an inclusive set you add 1″. And that’s because in a problem like:

What is the sum of all the integers between 10 and 50, inclusive?

You need to know how many terms there are. And the “inclusive” rule is that you take the difference (50 – 10 = 40) and add one to determine the number of terms. There are 41 terms, and the average of the terms is 30, so the correct answer is 41*30 = 1230.

But here’s where the trick can lead you astray. The word “inclusive” itself doesn’t always mean “add one.” There are many contexts in which a question could us the word “inclusive” and not be testing that rule/trick. Here’s why the rule works: Consider “how many integers are between 1 and 3, inclusive”. If you’re including both 1 and 3, you can just count them out: 1, 2, and 3 leads you to 3 integers. Because you’re including each of the endpoints, the range (2) will be one less than the number of integers (3). You have to add one to get from the range to the number of integers.

But here’s another “inclusive” question in which blindly adding one would lead you astray:

If m is the product of all the integers from 3 to 11, inclusive, how many different prime numbers are factors of m?

Notice – this problem is not asking you to determine how many integers are in that set!! The word “inclusive” just means that you have to include 3 and 11 in your work – 11 is a prime factor of m (whereas it wouldn’t be had the question said “exclusive”). To solve this one, you’ll want to check the primes of all the numbers that multiply to form m:

3 * 4 * 5 * 6 * 7 * 8 * 9 * 10 * 11

= 3 * (2*2) * 5 * (2*3) * 7 * (2*2*2) * (3*3) * (2*5) * 11

Then count up the different primes: 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11 lead you to the answer 5.

So what can you learn from this?

Simply memorizing rules as “tricks” can leave you vulnerable to GMAT misdirection. It’s not enough to simply memorize tricks – you should aim to understand them as principles so that you can determine when it’s helpful to apply them and when they may not apply. “Inclusive” doesn’t mean “add one” in all circumstances – the reason you’d add one is if you’re able to calculate the range and want to know the number of terms within it. “Inclusive” really just means “the first and last number are part of the calculation,” but since a couple of problems in the Official Guide for GMAT Review and other study resources allow you to use the “inclusive –> add one to find the number of terms” trick, many students simply memorize that trick as a knee-jerk reaction.

But like Gob Bluth protests, tricks are a little too juvenile and crude for someone with higher aspirations. Tricks can arrest your development, keeping you from being able to solve the higher-level, reasoning-based questions that higher scorers see plenty of. Don’t be satisfied simply memorizing tricks, but instead try to understand why the rules work conceptually and when they do/don’t apply. Transcend tricks and raise your score.

…and that’s why you always leave a note.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We run a free online GMAT prep seminar every couple of weeks. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

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)”

Why?

Particularly on Problem Solving questions, the answer choices are often the most important assets you have in solving the problem. Some problems require you to plug in answer choices (“backsolve”) in order to solve; other problems embed clues in the answer choice (if there’s a square root of 3, you should be looking for a 30-60-90 triangle somewhere; if all the denominators in the answer choices are either 3 or 5, you should be thinking about divisibility rules). A higher-than-you’d-think percentage of Problem Solving questions reward users for glancing at the answer choices before they start their work, but a higher-than-you’d-think percentage of students never look past the question mark in the problem before they diligently start calculating. Let’s see a few examples to show you how looking at answer choices can drastically increase your efficiency and accuracy:

Which of the following is equal to 124/93?

(A) 6/5
(B) 5/4
(C) 4/3
(D) 3/2
(E) 8/9

If you were to try to factor out the common term between 124 and 93, you’d have a tough time identifying it on its own. 124 = 4(31) and 93 = 3(31), but very few people will quickly see “oh, they’re both divisible by 31″. Instead, you’re much more likely to make that determination by looking at the answer choices. Choices A, B, and D are clearly wrong because the denominator – 93 – is not divisible by 5 and not even, so it cannot factor down to have a denominator of 5, 4, or 2. And choice E should be clearly wrong because in the original, 124/93, the numerator is greater than the denominator, but choice E reverses that. So C is the only plausible choice, and if you test it it gives you a clue as to what to factor out. You’d need to divide the numerator, 124, by 4 (leaving 31) and then test the denominator to make sure it’s also divisible by 31 (and it is, producing that 3).

When you need to reduce a fraction as the last step of a problem, try looking at the answer choices for clues as to which factors to break out – after all, one of the answer choices MUST BE correct, and several should be impossible to begin to factor, thereby lightening your load.

Take a look at another example:

3^8 + 3^7 – 3^6 – 3^5 =

(A) (3^5)(2^4)
(B) (3^6)(2^5)
(C) (3^5)(2^6)
(D) 6^5
(E) none of the above

If you aren’t sure how to even start the problem, look at the answer choices – none of them has addition or subtraction, and most of them involve multiplication. So what’s your next move? Make your math look like the answer choices – you have to factor away that add/subtract to form multiplication (try it and see if you can D-termine the answer).

The takeaway – answer choices are an absolutely integral part of problem solving questions, so make sure to glance at them before you begin your work, and to lean on them if you’re struggling at any point of your calculation. Answer choices are assets!

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We run a free online GMAT prep seminar every couple of weeks. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

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

You see, Charles’s first couple sentences were, as GMAT students like to say, “out of scope”. He began the call by talking about his meal at McDonald’s:

Hey check this out, I just came from McDonalds right? And I’m on my porch eating my little food…

Now, in the grand scope of the situation – terrified women breaking out of a house, a 911 dispatcher trying to make sense of the situation and send officers to the scene – Mr. Ramsey’s Quarter Pounder and fries has nothing to do with anything. But in the next breath he tells the whole story and gives the dispatcher exactly what he needs to alert the proper authorities and rescue the women. Which is almost exactly how many Critical Reasoning answer choices are structured – where many GMAT students would eliminate a correct answer choice by thinking “McDonald’s? Why are we talking about McDonald’s? This is out of scope!” the astute test-takers and 911 dispatchers realize that “I’d better hang on the line to see if he’s going somewhere with this.”

Simply put, in Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension answer choices, the right answer often begins with 5-10 words that seem horribly out of scope. That’s bait – the testmaker wants you to eliminate the choice without reading further, and will reward those who are patient to see what the full answer has to say. Consider this example, from the Veritas Prep Question Bank:

Asset protection manager: This year, for the fifth consecutive fiscal year, we’ve managed to reduce the number of in-store thefts by more than 20% of the previous year’s figure, evidence that our store continues to profit from our vigilance against shoplifting.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the asset protection manager’s argument?

(A) Six years ago the store had the highest number of thefts of any store in the region.
(B) The store’s gross sales dropped by nearly 8% from the previous year’s figure.
(C) By utilizing motion-controlled cameras and digital imaging software, similar stores have reduced theft by more than 50% over the same time period.
(D) As the store’s clientele has become more affluent, the dollar value of items reported stolen has more than doubled over the last five years.
(E) Punishments for shoplifters in the city in which the store is located have been steadily becoming more lenient over the last five years.

The correct answer choice begins with a phrase that looks out of scope – why should it matter that the store’s clientele has become more affluent? We’re talking about shoplifting, not about the socioeconomic status of the surrounding community. But wait – that lead-in gets to the point after the comma: the affluent clientele have led the store to stock higher-priced items, meaning that while the number of thefts has gone down the dollar value of those thefts has still risen. That directly weakens the conclusion that the store is profiting from the decrease in thefts.

The correct answer is (D).

So much like the 911 dispatcher this week could have written off Mr. Ramsey’s call as “why do I care about McDonald’s… click,” the patience to let the answer choice finish even if it takes its sweet time getting there will help you make productive decisions on test day. As you learn to Think Like the Testmaker to better avoid Critical Reasoning traps and pitfalls, you may want to think like Charles Ramsey.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We run a free online GMAT prep seminar every couple of weeks. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

1) Squares mean that all prime factors are doubled

The definition of a square is that it’s the same thing times itself. Which means that you have two of everything. Take 6^2 – it’s 6 * 6, and if you broke those 6s down to their prime factors you’d have (2*3) * (2*3), meaning that you have two factors of 2 and two factors of 3. If you’re squaring an integer, that means that each of its prime factors are doubled – those factors must come in pairs.

How can this be helpful? The GMAT tends to ask questions such as: For positive integers x and y, if 75x = y^2, which of the following must be a factor of x?

And in this case, if you prime factor out the only given number, 75, you’ll see that you have: 3*5*5*x = y*y

This means that x MUST contribute a factor of 3 to the pairing, since you need to have two of each factor and right now you only have one 3. So x MUST BE divisible by 3 (but since y could be even bigger than 15, you don’t know that x is exactly 3…the setup could be 2*3*5*2*3*5 = y*y. But you do know that x must have a factor of 3).

When you’re dealing with integers squared, know that the prime factors must then come in pairs.

2) Squares have an odd number of factors.

When thinking in terms of factors of integers, you should recognize that every factor of a number x must multiply by another number to produce x. So factors come in pairs – take 42: Its factors are 1 and 42; 2 and 21; 3 and 14; and 6 and 7. Each factor has a pair with which it multiplies to 42. But squares have an interesting property in that one of their factors doesn’t have a *different* pair – it multiplies by itself to produce the square. Take 36: its factors are 1 and 36; 2 and 18; 3 and 12; 4 and 9; and 6 and…well, 6. So squares break that mold of “all factors come in pairs”, because one of the factors goes solo and multiplies by itself.

Perhaps more unique – squares of prime numbers have exactly three unique factors: Itself, one, and the square root. Take 9 – its factors are 1, 3 and 9. So if a number is designed as having exactly three factors, you know it’s the square of a prime number.

3) To get to the next square, “square it off”

This is a relatively rare property but understanding it can help you unlock many difficult number properties problems. Before you take the GMAT, you should absolutely know the squares from 1-15, and you should know that 25-squared is 625. But much past that the ROI on memorization gets pretty low. But here’s a way to think about larger squares if you do ever need to calculate them. Take 41-squared. You should quite easily know that 40*40 is 1600. How do you get from there to 41*41? Well, 41*40 is going to be 40*40 + 40 – if you already know what forty 40s looks like, forty-one 40s is just one more 40. So that takes you to 1640. And since you now have 41*40, or forty 41s, in order to get to forty-one 41s, you just add one more 41. So you go from 1640 to 1681, and that’s 41-squared.

This property – a quick way to calculate larger squares – derives directly from the term “squared”. If you think of 3*3 visually, it’s three rows of 3:

X X X
X X X
X X X

And if you want to go from 3×3 to 4×4, first you have to add a fourth row:

X X X
X X X
X X X
X X X

But now it’s a 3×4 rectangle, so you need to “square it off”. You’ve added three more already, but now you need to add a column of 4 to square it off:

X X X X
X X X X
X X X X
X X X X

So what you’ve done to get from 3×3 to 4×4 is add 3 (to get to 3×4) and then add 4 (to get to 4×4). So 3^2 (which is 9) is 7 away from 4^2 (which is 16).

Note that the GMAT likes to test exponents, factors/multiples, geometry (squares are big in the Pythagorean Theorem and in the shapes squares themselves) and unique number properties, so squares have plenty of opportunities to come into play on the exam. Better understand squares and you’ll find…it’s hip to be square.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We run a free online GMAT prep seminar every couple of weeks. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

It’s good to be young and naive.

It happens frequently in sports and perhaps even more frequently on the GMAT (your author is a prime example), where a young talent seems to rise above the pressure of the moment beyond everyone’s expectations – mainly because that young talent doesn’t yet have enough perspective to have expectations or feel pressure.  They’re just doing what comes naturally, focusing on the task at hand and not the context that surrounds it.

The road to 700+ on the GMAT is littered by the torn-up score reports of those who had outstanding practice test scores, knew all the material forward and backward, but succumbed to the stress of test day and made silly mistakes, botched their pacing, or lost their nerve and unraveled completely.  But this isn’t a “be afraid” post – it’s more of a “be naive” post.  You, too, can be Tianlang Guan – here’s how to keep your nerve on test day:

1) Know that only your best score matters.

In the vast majority of cases, schools will only care about your top score, and in many cases schools only go to the official score report (which lists your other scores) to confirm what you self-report, meaning that they’re not analyzing the report but rather just double checking.  Even when they do see your score history, they’re very rarely swayed by anything other than your top score – they know this is a hard test, and one in which many (if not most) applicants do have to retake! So know that the GMAT is an opportunity to post a high score, but not a disaster if you don’t.

2) Smile.

Admit it – the GMAT isn’t much different from other puzzle-style logic games (crosswords, Sudoku, chess, etc.) that you might enjoy playing.  So while you should take it seriously, let yourself smile when you’ve caught that trap answer or found a clever shortcut.  Smile even when the test just threw that one topic (“I hate Reading Comp about astronomy!”) at you that you hoped you wouldn’t see.  ”Touche, GMAT” – if you can let yourself get into the game and not think about the pressure that (mostly artificially) surrounds it, you can set yourself up for prime disposition and peak performance.

3) Know that you always have a retake fallback.

Much like Tianlang Guan, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to “win” at the GMAT – it’s $250 to retake it but considering that you’re looking to spend near $100,000 on business school it’s more of a nuisance than a catastrophe if you do need to retake.  There’s something comforting about knowing that this isn’t your only chance – and those who can use that confidence to their advantage are more likely to not need that safety net, after all.

4) Know that pressure is adrenalin, and adrenalin leads to peak performance.

There are two ways to see those nerves in your stomach – one as a threat, and one as an asset.  Your body uses adrenalin to gear up for peak performance – it’s part of that fight-or-flight response that’s been evolving in your DNA for thousands of years.  Adrenalin tells your body “it’s time to shine”, so it’s not a bad thing at all.  Everyone feels pressure, but those who succeed typically handle it by seeing it as an opportunity, by being excited to show their stuff and not panicked that they might have to show it.  Remember – you’re only nervous when you think you have a chance of success (first dates, job interviews, big performances) and not when you have zero chance (lottery tickets, tweeting Kate Upton), so the fact that you feel pressure at all is evidence that you should do well.  Use it to your advantage.

5) Don’t wait until you’re absolutely, positively, no-doubt-about-it ready to take the GMAT.

That day just about never comes – there’s always more prep you can do – but in waiting for it you build up the pressure of test day, as you’ve invested too much in it.  The longer you wait, the more the pressure builds and instead of “let’s see how this goes” it becomes “today simply must be the day”.  There’s value to naiveté, staying calm because you haven’t built up an undue level of pressure.  Make sure to be prepared, but don’t let your preparation turn the GMAT into the 18th hold of the Masters.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We run a free online GMAT prep seminar every couple of weeks. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

The curveball in baseball is a pitch that looks to be heading toward one point, but that toward the last second moves dramatically to a different point, baffling the batter in one of two ways. It either looks like it’s going to be a strike, but dances away from the batter’s bat out of the strike zone as the batter swings hopelessly at thin air. Or it looks like it’s safely away from the plate for a ball, but then drops right into the strike zone leaving the batter looking. In either case, the misdirection causes the batter to make a bad decision – he either swings at a ball or doesn’t swing at a strike.

The GMAT is a master of misdirection, and particularly on the verbal section it throws a mean curveball that forces you into bad decisions – either you “swing” at a wrong answer or you “get caught looking” at a right answer.

Consider this example:

Citizen: Each year since 1970, a new record has been set for the number of murders committed in this city. This fact points to the decreasing ability of our law enforcement system to prevent violent crime.
City Official: You overlook the fact that the city’s population has risen steadily since 1970. In fact, the number of murder victims per 100 people has actually fallen slightly in the city since 1970.

Which one of the following, if true, would most strongly counter the city official’s response?

A. The incidence of fraud has greatly increased in the city since 1970.
B. The rate of murders in the city since 1970 decreased according to the age group of the victim, decreasing more for younger victims.
C. Murders and other violent crimes are more likely to be reported now than they were in 1970.
D. The number of law enforcement officials in the city has increased at a rate judged by city law enforcement experts to be sufficient to serve the city’s increased population.
E. If the health care received by assault victims last year had been of the same quality as it was in 1970, the murder rate in the city last year would have turned out to be several times what it actually was.

In this example, the City Official’s conclusion is essentially to refute the citizen’s claim that “you’re not doing an adequate job preventing violent crime”, and he bases that refutation on the fact that, actually, the murder rate has decreased. His argument is essentially:

Premise: The murder rate is down
Conclusion: We’re doing a better job preventing violent crime

So in order to weaken that conclusion, you should be looking for a choice that exploits the gap “murder is only one type of violent crime” – you want a choice that shows that another type of violent crime, or violent crime overall, is up.

And here’s where the curveball comes in:

Answer choice E gives you exactly what you’re looking for, showing that people are being violently assaulted at a high rate, they’re just not dying. The murder rate is down, but not because violent crime is down. But most examinees miss that point because they see “If the health care…” and think that this answer choice is way out of the strike zone. Health care? Why are we talking about health care? That has nothing to do with violent crime!

The answer is (E). 

And that’s the curveball. The GMAT item writers know that test takers are vulnerable to quick judgment – if an answer “looks wrong” after 3-5 words, many students will eliminate it immediately. “Caught looking” just like a batter facing a nasty curveball. How can you avoid the curveball?

• Read more than just the first few words of CR and RC questions. Be patient, particularly if you haven’t yet seen a perfect answer choice. That perfect choice might just be hiding behind a curve.
• If you can’t provide a commonly-tested reason (verb tense, subject-verb agreement…) for eliminating an SC answer choice based on the first few words of an answer choice, look at the last few words. Often SC questions try to curveball you with an awkward-sounding beginning of an answer choice, but the crystal-clear decision can be made on the last few words.
• Pay attention to curveballs when you miss questions in practice. As you start to see how they’re executed you’ll develop more of a sense for them for test day.

As baseball players know, your first season in the big leagues, you struggle to hit the curveball, but as you get more experience your eye can recognize it much more quickly. The GMAT is similar – pay attention to curveballs as you practice this April and you’ll have an eagle eye as the admissions season progresses to “the Fall Classic”, round one deadlines in October.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We run a free online GMAT prep seminar every couple of weeks. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Turn that 62* to 125, 125 to a 250
250 to a half a million, ain’t nothin’ nobody can do with me

(*clearly this is a sequence that doubles every term, so Jay’s leaving out the .5 for artistic reasons)

While you’re driving and singing along, you’re probably thinking “and the next term is a million, then two, then four, then eight”, and you may even be fixating on that line “ain’t nothing nobody can do with me” the way that GMAT item writers are. What can they do with it? They can ask a question like:

In Jay Z’s sequence, where a(1) is 62.5 and all terms a(n) are equal to a(n-1) * 2, by what percent is term a(10) greater than a(8)?

And they’d make it hard because you’d say “of course you just double a(8) to get to a(9) and then double it again to get to a(10), so it’s 4 times difference, so 400%”, when really it’s a 300% increase. (4 is 300% greater than 1 – the key is that the question is not asking “what percent OF” but rather “what percent GREATER THAN”.

…which is all just a long way of saying that as you look around they don’t do it like your GMAT study clique, a group of musicians (and friends here at Veritas Prep) to help you gear your mind toward the GMAT through song. Your study clique includes:

Notorious B.I.G., who can teach you valuable lessons about inequality problems on the GMAT.

Lil Wayne, who knows a few things about what makes the GMAT difficult, about Problem Solving strategies, and about how to score right above 700.

2Pac, who sees through the most common Data Sufficiency trap answer.

Ice Cube, who wants to make sure test day is a good day for you.

Vanilla Ice, who appreciates subtlety in Sentence Correction.

Macklemore, who shows you how to be thrifty with Data Sufficiency statements.

As you study for the GMAT, you have a big team behind you and opportunities to sharpen your mind. Ain’t nobody fresher than your GMAT study clique…until you add your colleagues from your new b-school to your Linked In clique, of course.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have online GMAT prep courses starting all the time! And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Biggie’s most timeless classic, Juicy, may tell the rags-to-riches story you’re hoping to live out once you grab that top tier MBA: “and my whole crew is lounging, celebrating every day no more public housing.” But first you need to get into b-school, and that’s where this lyric can prove helpful:

“Damn right I like the life I live, ’cause I went from negative to positive … and if you don’t know, now you know.”

What secret is Big Poppa passing along? It’s a critical message in two parts:

“…went from negative to positive” is a word of caution. When you’re dealing with inequalities on the GMAT, you need to remember that when a number goes from negative to positive – when you multiply or divide by a negative number to change the sign from positive to negative or from negative to positive – you must also change the direction of the inequality:

If 10 > 5, then -10 is LESS THAN -5
If x > 10, then -x < -10

The lesson: Be careful when going from negative to positive – if you’re working with inequalities and need to multiply or divide by a negative, you MUST change the direction of the inequality.

Perhaps more useful is the next line, however:

“And if you don’t know, now you know.” If you don’t know whether a variable is positive or negative, here’s what you need to know: The GMAT is baiting you into assuming that it’s positive. If you’re asked to multiply or divide by a variable in an inequality question, it’s almost always a trap, as the testmaker knows that negative numbers are our blind spots – we tend to overlook them until they’re made absolutely explicit. So as Biggie said, if you don’t know (whether a variable is positive or negative)…now you know that there’s a high likelihood that that distinction will be important. Consider this Data Sufficiency example:

Is a > 3b?

(1) a/b > 3
(2) b > 3

A) Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked
B) Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked
C) Both statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked; but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient
D) EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked
E) Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed

The trap on this question is to select A, thinking that you can simply multiply both sides of that inequality by b:

a/b > 3 –> a > 3b

But you don’t know whether b is negative or positive. The above technique works if, say, a = 4 and b = 1 –> 4/1 is greater than 3, and 4 (a) is greater than 1 (b). So you get “yes”. But the situation also encompasses a = -4 and b = -1, as -4/-1 is 4, which is greater than 3. But in this case -4 (a) is LESS than -1 (b). So you get “no”. The trap is to get you to blindly multiply both sides by b…but as Biggie cautions: If you don’t know, now you know (to be careful). Statement 2 isn’t much value on its own, but as it guarantees that b is positive, when you take both statements together, now you know that you can multiply both sides by b. So the correct answer is C, but the takeaway is most important here:

When dealing with inequalities, if you don’t know (the + or – sign of a variable) now you know that the question probably hinges on that point. Heed Biggie’s sage advice and you’ll be on your way to one of the world’s most notorious b-schools.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have online GMAT prep courses starting all the time! And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

“Thrift Shop” may well be the first monster hip hop hit of 2013, and does so like few others have ever done – eschewing bling for savings, Thrift Shop is all about “looking for a come up”, finding a great deal that has more value than initially meets the eye. Which is absolutely crucial on Data Sufficiency – Data Sufficiency questions by their very nature are about value and efficiency, and they frequently come with massive rewards for those who find that come up.

Want proof? Try this sample question, and while you look at it pretend you only have “20 dollars in your pocket” – you don’t want to pay for more statements than you need.

Four GMAT students visited Macklemore’s thrift shop yesterday. Did any of the four purchase at least three shirts?

(1) No two students purchased the same number of shirts.

(2) Together they purchased a total of 8 shirts.

(A) Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked;
(B) Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked;
(C) Both statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked; but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient.
(D) EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked;
(E) Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed.

How’d you do? Did you find that come up? Statistically, on this question (well, not *exactly* this question…the official question has a little less soul but the intent is exactly the same) more than 50% of examinees select C and only about 20% select A, the correct answer. Why? Most test-takers don’t see the reason to be frugal – they like having both statements together and don’t immediately see that one alone is sufficient, so they fall back on “let’s buy both statements”. And keep in mind – that’s really what you’re doing on the GMAT – you’re “buying” statements. If you don’t need both statements but you pick C, you’re wrong – you “spent” too much. This is a test for aspiring business managers – those who can control costs and maximize value will win. If you only need to buy statement 1 (A is correct) but you take both of them (you pick C), you’re wrong. When an answer like C or E comes easily, you *must* consider whether you could have approached the question more frugally.

And here you can – while there’s no single formula that you’d think to set up with statement 1, it guarantees the answer “yes”. If none of the four bought the same number of shirts, then the lowest total is 0, 1, 2, and 3 – which means that someone bought at least 3.

But most don’t see to to that immediately – they see statement 1 as “not mathematical”, then they try to set up an equation with statement 2 and realize they need a little extra information, so they pick C. Statement 1 is a classic “come up” in the Thrift Shop sense of the term – it’s sneaky valuable. And so that’s your job on many Data Sufficiency questions – like Macklemore you’re out there looking for a come up with a reminder that you have to be frugal. Much like most rappers like to make it rain and spend as much (or more) than they have, we all have a predisposition to selecting C – we love having more information, second opinions. But GMAT Data Sufficiency is written specifically so that you can’t take both pieces of information if just one alone will suffice. It pays to be frugal.

So how do you succeed on Data Sufficiency? Recognize that before you pick E or C, particularly if that answer comes to you quickly without much work, you must take a second to consider whether you’re leaving a “come up” statement on the table: Is there any value you’re not applying? The GMAT hides value in many DS statements (or in the question stems), setting up a reward for those who seek to cleverly apply it. One man’s trash – “no, this statement doesn’t say much” – is another man’s come up. Learn to see value in Data Sufficiency statements the way that Macklemore sees value in your granddad’s clothes and you’ll get to echo his famous line when you see your GMAT score report. “This is (pretty) awesome.”

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have online GMAT prep courses starting all the time! And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

The winner is…your GMAT verbal score.

How can this year’s Academy Awards improve your performance on GMAT Sentence Correction? Let’s look at the odds-on favorite to win Best Picture, Argo. The title alone, Argo, brings up two important points about GMAT Sentence Correction:

1) Are

The very presence of the word “are” in the answer choices should get your mind thinking about subject-verb agreement. Verbs make for great decision points – differences between verbs in the answer choices (are vs. is; are going vs. went; etc.) should lead your eye toward a major decision – is the subject singular or plural, and is there a logical timeline for the verb tenses in this question?

When you’re forced to make a distinction between “are” and “is”, you have some work to do. In order to make this type of question difficult, the GMAT will likely throw a bunch of nouns and modifying phrases in between the subject and the verb to try to get you to incorrectly identify the subject. But knowing that you have to make this decision gives you an advantage – you now know that you have to spend some time focusing on the true subject of the sentence. Consider this example:

A recent research study of worldwide cellular penetration finds that there are now one mobile phone for every two people, more than twice as many than there were in 2005.

(A) there are now one mobile phone for every two people, more than twice as many than there were
(B) there is now one mobile phone for every two people, more than twice as many than there were
(C) there is now one mobile phone for every two people, more than twice as many as there were
(D) every two people now have one mobile phone, more than twice as many than there were
(E) every two people now has one mobile phone, more than twice as many than there were

Note the difference between A, B, and C – “are” vs. “is” – this tells you that it’s time to thin out the modifying phrases to make sure you’re using the correct subject. And if you do so, you can whittle the sentence down to:

A study finds that there are one phone.

In your own words you can make this decision pretty efficiently – you’d certainly say “there is one phone” (phone is subject, and it’s singular), so you can eliminate A and make your way toward the correct answer, C.

Most importantly, being highly attuned to differences like “are vs. is” (or “have vs. has” or “was vs. were”) can immediately direct you to a binary decision – find the subject via eliminating modifying phrases and you can determine whether you need the singular or the plural.

2) Are going

When answer choices feature multiple verb tenses, like “are going” vs. “has been going”, your job again should become clear – you need to look for signals in the sentence that determine the sequence of events. And one of the more-clever ways that the GMAT can reward shrewd examinees is to employ words like “since” or “from”. Consider this example:

The Academy of Motion Pictures has found that, since stadium-style seating became widespread in cinemas in 2002, over 80% moviegoers are going to modern theaters even when the cost is as much as twice that of the old auditorium-style theaters.

(A) are going
(B) have been going
(C) will go

First, recognize that “are going” (remember the Argo theme…) difference from the other verb tenses in the answer choices. You’re being asked to select the proper verb tense here. The key? Check out the word “since” earlier in the sentence. That word tells you that the action “going” started in the past and has yet to finish – so you must use the “have been going” tense. Signal words like “since” (which leads to the present perfect tense “have been”) or “from” (when you get two past-tense dates “from 2002 to 2006″ that requires the past tense) often reside far from the underlined portion, but control the timeline of the sentence and help you to determine which tenses are allowed and which cannot be used. Your clue? The presence of multiple verb tenses in the answer choices should direct you to seek out such signals. If you glossed over the word “since” in your initial pass through the sentence, you’re not alone; but once you knew that you were being asked to determine the correct verb tense as one of the differences between answer choices, you should know to look for time signals and the word “since” should jump off the screen at you.

To summarize, we don’t know whether movies like Argo are going to sweep the Academy Awards, or whether Ben Affleck will finally win another Oscar to pair with his trophy from Good Will Hunting. But we do know this – focusing on words like “are” and phrases like “are going” is a wicked smart idea. The speeches this weekend may be verbose, but if the Oscars help you better direct your attention toward verbs in Sentence Correction answer choices, the next time you hear “the envelope please…” it may well contain that acceptance letter you’ve been hoping for.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have online GMAT prep courses starting all the time! And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!