All posts tagged: GMAT PS

GMAT Quant Skills – Tackling Word Problems

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One of the big reasons why the those who have good language skills do well on the GMAT is that even the Quantitative section has a lot of English comprehension. The Quantitative section of the GMAT has quite a few Word Problems or problems involving barely any symbols and lots of language in both the Problem Solving and the Data Sufficiency formats. This is especially challenging for non-native speakers of English who take the test since they tend to put English and Math or Verbal and Quantitative skills into separate compartments. Asian test-takers, especially those from India, are used to thinking of Math problems in terms of notational or algebraic language rather than English. So the skill to convert English into either Logic or Algebra is something that test-takers have to master if they aim to score a 50 or more on the Quant section. This post will deal the steps involved in mastering this skill and solving these seemingly lengthy problems faster.

GMAT PS: You will never need to do heavy calculation

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One of the reasons why the GMAT is my favourite test of all is that it is so well defined in terms of the skills tested and consistently so. One of the things that is absolutely essential to remember on the GMAT Problem Solving (PS) is that the test-setters do not want you to do donkey work with respect to calculation. The leading companies in the world are not paying thousands of dollars to hire graduates from premier b-schools to do what a calculator can do!

Problem Solving – Logic Not Formulae

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A lot of test-takers feel that like for other tests for the GMAT Quantitative as well they need to learn a lot of formulae. They often come and tell us they are revising all the formulas in the last few days before the test; nothing could be more superfluous since very few GMAT problems actually test your knowledge of formulas apart from problems involving Geometry. What is evaluated your ability to reason in a quantitative context as this question from the Official Guide (OG) illustrates. If s and t are positive integers such that s/t=64.12, which of the following could be a remainder when s is divided by t? (A) 2 (B) 4 (C) 8 (D) 20 (E) 45 Many test-takers are flummoxed by this problem because they do not know what to do with it! They quickly realize that there is no formula they can apply and that they only have their wits to rely on. So how does one approach it?