GMAT Data Sufficiency: Get 5 Extra Minutes
What if I told you that you could have five extra minutes on the quantitative section of the GMAT? Would you be interested?
Good, because this is going to get a little technical. I’m also going to assume you’ve had some experience with Data Sufficiency problems on the GMAT Math section. You should also have practiced testing cases to solve these problems: here’s a good introduction to that strategy in case you’re unfamiliar.
GMAT Rate Problems
If this post is 1500 words long, and you can process 120 words per minute, then how long will it take you to read this whole post? If you could read 20% faster, then what effect would that have on how long it takes you to read the whole thing? If I were adding 80 words per minute to the blog post, then how long (at your original speed) would it take for you to reach the end?
Those questions were a taste of the often daunting world of GMAT Rate problems. Before we get any deeper, we should acknowledge that Rate problems do not seem to be tested as frequently on GMAT Quant nowadays as they once were. So while you’ll see plenty of Rate problems in the Official Guides and on Manhattan Prep’s practice GMATs (take a free one), you might not see many or any of these on your real GMAT.
Quick GMAT Math Hacks
Here are a few of the most useful quick GMAT math tricks I’ve learned over the years. They won’t show up on every problem, or even on every Quant section. But, if you happen to use one of these GMAT math hacks on test day, it could save you anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.