<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Executive Reasoning – GMAT</title> <atom:link href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/tag/executive-reasoning/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat</link> <description>GMAT Prep Course, Best GMAT Class & Study Books | Manhattan Prep GMAT</description> <lastBuildDate>Fri, 07 Jun 2024 21:16:41 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2</generator> <item> <title>What the GMAT Really Tests</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/what-the-gmat-really-tests/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stacey Koprince]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 07 Jun 2024 09:24:47 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business Mindset]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT 101]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Taking the GMAT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[business mindset]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Executive Reasoning]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/?p=5539</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>The GMAT is not a math test. It’s also not a “school skills” test. Sure, you have to know certain facts and rules in order to get a good score. But this test is really testing your executive reasoning skills. You already have executive reasoning skills—use use them every day! Here are some examples: You […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/what-the-gmat-really-tests/">What the GMAT Really Tests</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-19316" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/08/what-the-gmat-tests-tested-on.png" alt="what-the-gmat-tests-tested-on" width="1200" height="628" /></p> <p>The GMAT is not a math test. It’s also not a “school skills” test. Sure, you have to know certain facts and rules in order to get a good score. But this test is really testing your <em>executive reasoning</em> skills.</p> <p>You already have executive reasoning skills—use use them every day! Here are some examples:<span id="more-5539"></span></p> <ul> <li>You arrive at work in the morning and think about all of the things that you could do that day. You can’t get it all done, so which things will have to wait until this afternoon, or tomorrow, or next week? Which one thing should you start working on first? (And, let’s be honest, what is just <em>never</em> going to get done? <img decoding="async" class="an1" draggable="false" src="https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/15.0/263a_fe0f/72.png" alt="☺" width="22" height="22" data-emoji="☺" aria-label="☺" />)</li> </ul> <ul> <li>You are faced with a list of 20 (or 40… or 100!) unread emails. Which ones do you read first? The oldest ones? The ones from your boss? The ones marked urgent? Are there some that you won’t even click on right now because you know, from the sender’s name or from the subject line, that those emails aren’t very important?</li> <li>You have a choice between working on Product X or Project Y. Project Y will result in about 5% more revenue to the company, but Project Y will also take 50% longer. Which do you do?</li> </ul> <p>None of those decisions are easy ones (and most would likely require more information than I gave in my bullets). This complex decision-making is exactly what a good executive needs to be able to do well—and <em>this is what the test writers and business schools actually care about</em>.</p> <p>The GMAT does test quantitative concepts, yes, but they are tools to allow the exam writers to test you on your <em>decision-making</em> ability.</p> <h4><strong>How does that help me take the GMAT?</strong></h4> <p>The first step is to internalize the fact that they don’t expect you to get everything right, any more than a CEO expects to clear everything in his or her inbox today. You have to prioritize.</p> <p>A great decision-maker has both expertise and experience: She’s thought about <em>how</em> to make various kinds of decisions, and she’s actually practiced and refined these decision-making processes. While the clock is ticking, she doesn’t hesitate to make a decision and move forward, knowing that she’s going to be leaving some opportunities behind.</p> <p>In order to do that successfully in the business world, you need to know the company’s goals and objectives, and you have to have a good idea of the kind of impact that various tasks or activities will have on the company. You also have to have a lot of practice in making these decisions and observing the outcomes. There’s never just one right way to make these decisions, so the more exposure you give yourself to how things work, the better you’ll be able to make good decisions in the future.</p> <p>The same is true for the GMAT: If you know how it works, and you know what kinds of trade-offs to think about when deciding how to spend your time, then you can learn how to make the best decisions to maximize your score.</p> <h4><strong>Okay, how does the GMAT work?</strong></h4> <p>I talk to GMAT students nearly every day who tell me that, when they “know” they can get something right, they might as well take the time to get it right, even when that means running out of time later on. Other times, they feel like they <em>should</em> be able to do something…and so they hang on to it much longer than is wise. (Sound familiar?)</p> <p>I put “know” in quotation marks in the prior paragraph because, well, you actually <em>don’t</em> know. First, you could make a careless mistake at any time. Second, if you need a lot of extra time to do a problem, then <em>something</em> is not going well. You might still get it right, but your odds go way down if something’s already not going well.</p> <p>So you need to train yourself away from your “old-school” mindset of trying to get everything right, no matter how long it takes. And you need to train yourself into the “executive” mindset—the same one that you already use in the working / real world today.</p> <p>What are the best opportunities sitting in front of you? Which ones should you prioritize over the others <em>right now</em>? Which ones should you save for the end (of the test / of your day) and you’ll do them if you have extra time? And which ones are just <em>never</em> going to be worth the investment? (On those: guess, move on, and never look back.)</p> <p>Here’s another difference between old-school and real-world: At work, if you think that your team is approaching a problem in the wrong way, then you can discuss that and change the mechanism or the scope of the work or whatever it is that you think is off. Try going to your undergrad professor and saying, “I know you assigned us these problem sets, but I think it’d be more productive if we worked in groups on a project instead.” <img decoding="async" class="an1" draggable="false" src="https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/15.0/1fae3/72.png" alt="🫣" width="22" height="22" data-emoji="🫣" aria-label="🫣" /></p> <p>In school, you just did what the professors assigned. At work, though, you’re supposed to think for yourself. The same is true on the GMAT. For example, a problem might ask you to calculate a certain percentage…but when you glance at the answer choices, you might see this:</p> <p>(A) 10%<br /> (B) 25%<br /> (C) 40%<br /> (D) 60%<br /> (E) 80%</p> <p>Does that give you any ideas about how to solve this problem (even though you don’t know what the problem is)?</p> <p>In school, your prof wouldn’t even give you multiple choice answers. They’d expect you to do <em>all</em> the math to show that you knew exactly how to get to the specific numerical answer. On the GMAT, though, not only are you always going to have answer choices, but the answers themselves will give you important clues about what the test is really expecting right now.</p> <p>When the percentages are spread that far out, you can just estimate. The answers are literally telling you: Hey, don’t bother actually calculating. I don’t care about the difference between 39% and 40%. I just want to know whether you understand the theory or the big picture well enough to be able to estimate your way to the one correct number out of these five numbers.</p> <p>Unless you’re working in accounting or similar, that’s going to be more than good enough for your job as well. Is this proposed new product going to add about 10% or about 25% to our bottom line? I don’t care about the exact number—it’s impossible to have an exact number now, anyway. I just want a ballpark figure so we can make a decision about whether to pursue this new product idea.</p> <p>When approaching the GMAT, don’t just accept what’s put in front of you and do it on rote / old-school. Instead, graduate to the real world. Focus on maximizing your executive reasoning / decision-making skills to succeed on the GMAT.</p> <h4><strong>Graduation Day</strong></h4> <p>How can you graduate to the business mindset? Create a free account on our site and sign up for our <a href="https://www.kaptest.com/gmat/free/gmat-practice">Free GMAT Starter Kit</a> (it really is 100% free, no gimmicks). As you work through your study tasks in the starter kit, you’ll be training yourself to make that mental switch and start using your exec mindset to get a great GMAT score.</p> <p>Happy studying!</p> <hr /> <p><em><strong>Attend the first session of one of <a href="https://www.kaptest.com/gmat/free/events" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our upcoming GMAT courses</a> absolutely free, no strings attached. Seriously. </strong></em></p> <hr /> <p><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/stacey-koprince/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=KoprinceBioLinkGMATBlog&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-9719 size-thumbnail" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2015/06/stacey-koprince-150x150.png" alt="stacey-koprince" width="150" height="150" /></a><em><strong><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/stacey-koprince/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=KoprinceBioLinkGMATBlog&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stacey Koprince</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.</strong> Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests. <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=KoprinceCoursesLinkGMATBlog&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog#instructor/86" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Stacey’s upcoming GMAT courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/what-the-gmat-really-tests/">What the GMAT Really Tests</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Top 9 GMAT Math Tips</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/gmat-math-tips/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2019 21:24:24 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business Mindset]]></category> <category><![CDATA[For Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT 101]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Resources]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Study Guide]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Quant]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Taking the GMAT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Executive Reasoning]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=16885</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Looking for GMAT Math tips that might earn you a few extra points on Quant? Every one of us can use these simple test-day GMAT math tips, no matter what Quant score we’re aiming for. 1. Never miss an easy question on GMAT Math. You’re going to miss lots of Quant questions on test day. […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/gmat-math-tips/">Top 9 GMAT Math Tips</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16940" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/gmat-math-tips.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Top 9 GMAT Math Tips by Chelsey Cooley" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/gmat-math-tips.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/gmat-math-tips-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/gmat-math-tips-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/gmat-math-tips-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Looking for GMAT Math tips that might earn you a few extra points on Quant? Every one of us can use these simple test-day GMAT math tips, no matter what Quant score we’re aiming for.</span><span id="more-16885"></span></p> <h4><b>1. Never miss an easy question on GMAT Math.</b></h4> <p><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-many-gmat-questions-can-i-miss/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">You’re going to miss lots of Quant questions on test day</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. That’s not one of the GMAT Math tips—that’s just a fact of life! The test is designed to force you to miss questions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/getting-gmat-problems-wrong-why/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">there’s more than one way to miss a Quant question</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. On test day, you can divide your GMAT Math mistakes into two categories: ones you couldn’t have gotten right and ones you could have gotten right.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you just don’t know a piece of GMAT Math, it’s beyond your control on test day. In fact, if you miss a question because you didn’t </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">know</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> something, pat yourself on the back. You recognized that the problem wasn’t going anywhere, and you moved on. That’s how you </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/gmat-approach-win-every-question/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">win those questions</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, there are a lot of GMAT Math questions that you </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">can</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> get right within two minutes on test day—problems where you already know everything you need to know. Our number-one GMAT Math tip is to </span><b>never get those problems wrong. </b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A lot of people</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> do</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> get those ‘gettable’ problems wrong. Why? Sloppy handwriting. Making assumptions. Not double-checking their work. Subtracting where they should have added. These are all within your control on test day! In most areas of life, when we do something hard, we slow down, and when we do something easy, we speed up. On the GMAT, that’s not a great idea. Slow down on the ‘gettable’ problems, because that’s where a few extra seconds and a little extra attention will make a difference. Feel free to speed up on the ‘not gettable’ ones—the problems that totally confuse you. There’s no reason to spend 3 minutes on those problems when you could spend 30 seconds instead!</span></p> <h4><b>2. Keep your handwriting large and clear.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Writing carefully will help you with GMAT Math in two different ways. One, it can prevent a few easy mistakes (ever look at a 2 and read it as a 7?). This is especially true on Geometry problems, where a mislabeled diagram can take you straight to the wrong answer. Two, if your handwriting is naturally a mess, writing clearly will force you to slow down and calm down. </span><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristine-maudal-even-fossen-brainwells/why-going-slow-will-make-you-go-faster_b_7062064.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Slowing down has a real effect on your thinking</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While you’re at it, </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/everything-know-gmat-time-management-part-3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">use this method to organize your whole scratch pad</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. It will help you control your GMAT Math timing and will keep your scratch work on different problems from running into each other. Try out the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-data-sufficiency-works/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">elimination method from this article for Data Sufficiency problems</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, too.</span></p> <h4><b>3. Don’t be an A student.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If the GMAT was a college exam, it would be the most unfair exam in the world. If you studied hard and got all of the questions right, the professor wouldn’t give you an A. Instead, she would take that test away and give you an even harder one. She’d keep doing that over and over until you ran out of time, or until your accuracy finally dropped to the C or D level. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">GMAT Math is tough for those of us who like to get As in class. You might know intellectually that you won’t get an “A” on the GMAT (because nobody does). But it’s still easy to go into the test thinking like this:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Oh, I know that other people will get questions wrong on the GMAT, but that’s for people who aren’t going to get a good score. I want a 700, so I’m</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">going to try to get them all right.” </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s not your smart, rational </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/executive-reasoning-gmat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">executive brain</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> saying that. It’s one of your </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/ignoring-gmat-gremlins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">GMAT gremlins</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. If you listen to it, you’ll end up with a score much lower than 700. If you want a great GMAT Math score, check out this data-based breakdown of </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-many-gmat-questions-can-i-miss/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">how many questions GMAT high-scorers really miss</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h4><b>4. Don’t panic about probability.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Probability and combinatorics problems are a gift. Why? Because the GMAT doesn’t usually make it obvious which questions you should skip. But if you see a probability or combinatorics problem, that’s GMAT Math giving you permission to skip it right away! </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why do we recommend skipping these questions on test day? It’s not just because they’re often hard and time-consuming. There are two other great reasons to put them on your skip list. First, they don’t show up too often on the test, so skipping them is unlikely to hurt your score. Second, the math you need for these problems usually doesn’t work on other types of problems. So you might end up studying for hours just to get one more problem right on the test. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That said, if you have time before test day and your GMAT Math goal is a 45 or higher, you should spend </span><b>one or two hours</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> learning the following: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What makes a probability or combinatorics problem easy? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How do you solve easy probability or combinatorics problems? </span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/store/strategy-guides/number-properties/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Number Properties Strategy Guide</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is a good starting place, and so is </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/help-i-cant-handle-gmat-probability-and-combinatorics-part-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">this series of combinatorics and probability articles</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. You can also check out Khan Academy’s section on these topics.</span></p> <h4><b>5. Use uneducated guessing.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this article, </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/un-educated-guessing-on-the-gmat-problem-solving-edition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">instructor James Brock wildly guesses his way through a set of ten GMAT Math Problem Solving problems</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">—and he gets six of them right. If that doesn’t convince you to try his method, nothing will! You can learn to make smart and thoughtful guesses, but on test day, sometimes you just need to get through a problem in fifteen seconds and keep moving. This method will maximize the odds that you’ll get the answer anyways.</span></p> <h4><b>6. Watch your posture.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s a small trick, but it just might work. If you’re anxious about math, </span><a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180803160212.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">you may be more confident about your GMAT performance if you sit up straight while taking the test</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Or try </span><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2018/04/03/power-posing-is-back-amy-cuddy-successfully-refutes-criticism/#547b26603b8e" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">striking a power pose</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> before you walk into the testing center. This weirdly controversial, but extremely simple, technique might boost your GMAT Math confidence.</span></p> <h4><b>7. Hack your GMAT Math vocabulary.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As a GMAT instructor, my biggest GMAT Math pet peeves are two simple words: “move” and “cancel.” We often talk about simplifying equations in terms of moving and canceling. For instance, if you’re trying to simplify this equation, you might “move” the -2x to the other side:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">4x = 6y – 2x + 3</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The problem is, “moving” isn’t math. When you say you’re moving a term to the other side of the equation, you’re not actually thinking about what math you’re doing. Instead, you’re imagining yourself picking up objects and moving them around. That’s totally fine if you’re trying to work something out on the back of a napkin, but it also leaves you vulnerable to careless mistakes, like this one: </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">4x = 6y – 2x + 3</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">4x – 2x = 6y + 3</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To become more consistent and more precise, turn on your math brain and stop using the word “move.” Instead, think in terms of the math you’re actually doing. In this case, you’re </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">adding 2x to both sides of the equation</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. If you tend to make careless GMAT Math mistakes, it can even help to write out the actual math, line by line: </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">4x = 6y – 2x + 3</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">4x + 2x = 6y – 2x + 3 + 2x</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">6x = 6y + 3</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Cancel” is similar—you’re not just crossing off like terms! Instead, you’re adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.</span></p> <h4><b>8. Put the answer in a box.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Have you ever submitted your answer to a problem, then realized a second too late that you solved for the wrong thing? If this is you, build a habit of using the “answer box.” </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you start solving a problem, one of the first things you write on your paper should be what you’re solving for, in your own terms. It’s fine to write it in shorthand. You might write something like “number of students = ?” or “55% of x = ?”. Then, draw a box around what you wrote and leave it alone for the time being. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you think you’ve got the problem solved, look at the answer box again. Deliberately check to make sure that what you solved for matches what you wrote down. If it does, select your answer and move to the next problem confidently.</span></p> <h4><b>9. Breathe, read, think, write.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Humans are lousy at multitasking. It’s one thing to listen to the radio while driving or watch TV while washing dishes. But if you ask too much of your brain at once, things fall apart. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One example of this is </span><b>doing math while reading a problem</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. If you start setting up and solving equations the second you start reading, you’ll inevitably end up writing the wrong equations sometimes. Then, you’ll have to go back and ‘undo’ all of the work you’ve already done, just to get started on the problem. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some GMAT Math tips: Start each problem by taking a breath. Your brain needs oxygen! Then, read the entire problem from the very beginning all the way to the end of the answer choices. (Unless it’s Data Sufficiency. Then you should have the answer choices memorized!) It’s okay to jot down </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">facts</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> while you read the problem, especially if it helps you organize your thinking. But don’t try to do math </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">while</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> you’re reading.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Try not to choose a strategy for solving the problem until you’ve read all the way to the last answer choice. The clues for a couple of huge GMAT Math strategies (</span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-turn-algebra-into-arithmetic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Smart Numbers and Backsolving</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">) are usually found in the answer choices. If you start doing algebra before you even look at the answer choices, you’ll miss most of your opportunities to use these powerful techniques. ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GMAT gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" data-pagespeed-url-hash="1615980074" data-pagespeed-onload="pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality(this);" data-pagespeed-loaded="1" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> </em></i></b><i><em>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170/170 on the GRE. </em></i><i><em><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/#instructor/336" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here</a>.</em></i></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/gmat-math-tips/">Top 9 GMAT Math Tips</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>What’s Tested on GMAT Math</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/whats-tested-on-gmat-math/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2019 21:15:52 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business Mindset]]></category> <category><![CDATA[For Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT 101]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Resources]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Study Guide]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Quant]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Executive Reasoning]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=16869</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>GMAT Math is like middle or high school math, minus the hard parts. There’s no trigonometry, no calculus, and no proofs. Instead, the biggest value is in story problems, solving and simplifying equations, and some basic geometry and number theory. GMAT Math might test simple content, but it isn’t easy. Even though a lot of […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/whats-tested-on-gmat-math/">What’s Tested on GMAT Math</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16925" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/whats-tested-on-the-gmat-math.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - What's Tested on GMAT Math by Chelsey Cooley" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/whats-tested-on-the-gmat-math.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/whats-tested-on-the-gmat-math-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/whats-tested-on-the-gmat-math-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/whats-tested-on-the-gmat-math-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">GMAT Math is like middle or high school math, minus the hard parts. There’s no trigonometry, no calculus, and no proofs. Instead, the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/high-value-gmat-quant/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">biggest value</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is in story problems, solving and simplifying equations, and some basic geometry and number theory. </span><span id="more-16869"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">GMAT Math might test simple content, but it isn’t easy. Even though a lot of the math is middle-school stuff, there’s no way a middle-schooler could ace the GMAT. That’s because GMAT Math takes that simple content and uses it to test strategic thinking and logical reasoning at a high level. We’ll start off by looking at the math basics you need to learn—but we’ll also go over the problem-solving skills you’ll need.</span></p> <h4><b>What Math Rules Are Tested on GMAT Quant? </b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To conquer GMAT Math, you need to start with the basics. By the time you’re done studying for the GMAT, you should be totally comfortable with all of these math concepts. On their own, they aren’t enough to help you solve every GMAT problem. But each one will be useful during your test. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The links in this list go to various sources, such as articles from our blog or pages from Khan Academy. To get all of the info in one place, pick up our </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/store/strategy-guides/foundations-of-gmat-math/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Foundations of GMAT Math</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> book! </span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">GMAT math rules about numbers:</span></i></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/integer.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What is an integer?</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What is a positive or negative number, and how do they behave?</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What is an odd or even number, and how do they behave? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Adding and subtracting numbers</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Long division and multiplication</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/what-your-math-teacher-didnt-tell-you-about-pemdas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Simplifying expressions using PEMDAS</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/whats-the-deal-with-square-roots-on-the-gmat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finding the square root of a number</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reducing fractions</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions and decimals</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Converting between fractions, decimals, and percents</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/heres-the-safest-way-to-handle-gre-percentage-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finding a percent of a number</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-percentage-problems-part-2-percent-increase-and-percent-decrease/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Increasing or decreasing a number by a certain percent</span></a></li> </ul> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Algebra rules:</span></i></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Solving, simplifying, and combining linear equations, like 3x + 18y = 300</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Solving and simplifying exponents and roots</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Solving and simplifying quadratics</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/inequalities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Simplifying inequalities</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/absolute-value-gmat-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Solving and simplifying expressions with absolute values</span></a></li> </ul> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rules about divisibility and primes:</span></i></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What is a prime or composite number? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2016/10/06/land-your-score-divisibility-rules-for-the-gmat" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Check quickly whether a number is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Define factor, multiple, divisor, prime factor, and “divides evenly into” </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know how to find all of the factors of a number</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know how to find the prime factorization of a number</span></li> </ul> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Geometry rules:</span></i></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Areas of squares, rectangles, trapezoids, triangles, circles, and complex shapes</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Circumference, diameter, and radius of a circle</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Relationships between angles: supplementary, complementary, or angles that are part of the same shape</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The relationship between the sides and angles of a triangle</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The maximum and minimum lengths for the third side of a triangle</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Pythagorean Theorem</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The ratios of side lengths for 45-45-90 and 30-60-90 right triangles</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The properties of 3-4-5 and 5-12-13 triangles</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-geometry-three-ways-to-spot-similar-triangles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to identify similar triangles, and what properties they have</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Plotting a point on a graph, given its coordinates</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Approximating the coordinates of a point, given its location on a graph</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Plotting a line on a graph, given its equation</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Approximating the equation of a line from its graph</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finding the x-intercept, y-intercept, and slope of a line</span></li> </ul> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Special rules:</span></i></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/gmat-favorite-equation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The rate/work/time equation</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The definitions of average (mean), median, and range</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The formula for the number of integers in a list</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The formula for the sum of consecutive integers</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/ratios-box-em-up-or-just-pour-a-drink-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rules for simplifying and combining ratios</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rules for whether one number is divisible by another</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/cheat-sheet-positive-negative-numbers-2312519" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What happens when you multiply, add, subtract, and divide positive and negative numbers</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/even-odd.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What happens when you multiply, add, subtract, and divide odd and even numbers</span></a></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you know all of these rules and techniques, you don’t have much memorization left to do. However, the GMAT isn’t just going to quiz you on the basics. It’ll ask you to solve problems, and solving a problem involves two more skills, beyond just knowing the rules: </span><b>knowing which rule to use</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and </span><b>knowing how to apply the rule</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. It’s one thing to know that work equals rate times time; it’s another thing to spot a work/rate/time problem and correctly set up and solve that equation. </span></p> <h4><b>GMAT Math Strategies and Processes</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To master GMAT Quant, you need a lot of problem-solving strategies in your toolkit. Some, but not all, of those strategies are listed here. </span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Story problems:</span></i></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/gmat-word-problems-equations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know how to translate a story into variables and equations</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-turn-algebra-into-arithmetic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know how to turn a math problem into an arithmetic problem using Smart Numbers or Backsolving</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Translate sentences about parts and wholes into equations that use fractions, decimals, ratios, and/or percents</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Translate sentences about time, speed, work, distance, etc. into rate/work/time equations</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-make-weighted-average-problems-easy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Identify problems that test weighted averages or mixtures, and use a mathematical or logical strategy to solve them</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Identify problems that test overlapping sets, and create and use an overlapping set matrix</span></li> </ul> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Data Sufficiency:</span></i></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.mba.com/exams/gmat/about-the-gmat-exam/gmat-exam-structure/quantitative" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know the Data Sufficiency answer choices</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know what ‘sufficient’ and ‘insufficient’ mean </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know how to prove that a statement is sufficient</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know how to prove that a statement is insufficient</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Use the process of elimination to find the right answer to a DS problem</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/why-do-we-care-about-yesno-data-sufficiency-questions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know about yes/no and value Data Sufficiency problems</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know the most common ways to miss a Data Sufficiency problem and how to avoid them</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Test cases to prove that a statement is sufficient or insufficient</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know which cases are most likely to work for which types of DS problems</span></li> </ul> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Number Properties:</span></i></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/cracking-gmat-code/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Be able to translate “GMAT code” into plain English</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/decoding-divisibility-and-primes-on-the-gmat-part-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know when to draw a factor table versus a prime factor tree</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know when and why to find the prime factors of a number</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Understand the relationship between prime factors and divisibility</span></li> </ul> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other problems:</span></i></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Be able to draw and label a geometry diagram based on a description</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know how to approach “must be true,” “must be false,” “could be true,” and “could be false” problems</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Recognize the special quadratics and know how to simplify them quickly</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Know how to simplify an exponent or root problem by breaking numbers up into their factors</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These definitely aren’t all of the problem-solving skills you’ll need for the GMAT, but they’re a good start! Notice that it’s a lot tougher to tell when you’ve mastered these skills, compared to the simple rules and facts from earlier. You mostly acquire these skills by doing—and more importantly, thinking deeply about—GMAT problems. </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/error-log-the-1-way-to-raise-your-gmat-score/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keeping an error log</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> will go a long way towards helping you know which rules to use when, and how to use them. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, GMAT Math involves skills that don’t really seem like math at all. However, these are some of the most important skills that the GMAT tests. And even if it doesn’t seem like it at first, you can improve these skills between now and test day!</span></p> <h4><b>High-Level GMAT Math Skills</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Above all, GMAT Math tests your </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/what-the-gmat-really-tests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">executive reasoning</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> skills. You don’t have enough time to give 100% on every Quant problem. However, the test doesn’t tell you which problems to go for and which ones to skip. </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/when-is-it-time-to-guess-on-quant/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s a decision you need to make on your own</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. One of the most important GMAT Math skills is whether you can figure</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">out, with limited information, how likely you are to get a problem right. If you master this skill, you’ll be able to guess on the toughest problems and devote your attention to the easier ones. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">GMAT Quant also tests your ability to avoid making mistakes on the easy stuff. One of the easiest ways to tank your GMAT Quant score is to make a lot of careless errors. While you study, search for </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/stop-careless-gmat-quant-errors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ways to avoid careless math mistakes</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Next, GMAT Math tests attention and focus. It’s not easy to pay full attention to one thing for 62 minutes straight, especially in the middle of a long, difficult test. (However, </span><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2016/08/12/7-brain-hacks-to-improve-your-focus-at-work/#61416da059a8" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">you can improve your ability to focus</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">!) Similarly, GMAT Quant tests your organizational skills. It also tests your long-term and short-term memory, and how good you are at managing test-day stress. It indirectly tests study skills, since you’ll need to study effectively to boost your score. Data Sufficiency, specifically, tests how good you are at analyzing evidence. If these sound familiar, it’s because a lot of these skills are ones you’ll need to draw on in business school and throughout your career. They can also be improved by practice. </span><a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/07-08/ce-corner.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">For instance, mindfulness practice may improve your working memory and reduce stress</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Memorizing the math rules is the easy part of studying for GMAT Math. If you’re rusty on the math foundations, go ahead and start there. But as you keep progressing, make sure you’re </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/juice-gmat-quant-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">getting as much as possible out of every problem you do</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">: not just math rules, but problem-solving techniques and high-level skills. That’s the secret to <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/700-on-the-gmat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hitting a 700 GMAT score</a>. ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GMAT gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" data-pagespeed-url-hash="1615980074" data-pagespeed-onload="pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality(this);" data-pagespeed-loaded="1" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> </em></i></b><i><em>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170/170 on the GRE. </em></i><i><em><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/#instructor/336" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here</a>.</em></i></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/whats-tested-on-gmat-math/">What’s Tested on GMAT Math</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>What’s Tested on GMAT Verbal</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/whats-tested-on-gmat-verbal/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2019 21:12:43 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Critical Reasoning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[For Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Resources]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Study Guide]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reading Comprehension]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sentence Correction]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Executive Reasoning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gmat verbal tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Grammar]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=16867</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Every GMAT Verbal problem tests reading and understanding text. But different problems test those skills in different ways, and GMAT Verbal also tests some other less obvious skills. In this article we’ll break down what you need to know for GMAT Verbal, one question type at a time. What’s Tested on GMAT Sentence Correction Sentence […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/whats-tested-on-gmat-verbal/">What’s Tested on GMAT Verbal</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16922" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/whats-tested-on-the-gmat-verbal.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - What's Tested on GMAT Verbal by Chelsey Cooley" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/whats-tested-on-the-gmat-verbal.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/whats-tested-on-the-gmat-verbal-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/whats-tested-on-the-gmat-verbal-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2019/02/whats-tested-on-the-gmat-verbal-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Every GMAT Verbal problem tests </span><b>reading and understanding text</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. But different problems test those skills in different ways, and GMAT Verbal also tests some other less obvious skills. In this article we’ll break down what you need to know for GMAT Verbal, one question type at a time. </span><span id="more-16867"></span></p> <h4><b>What’s Tested on GMAT Sentence Correction</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sentence Correction problems make up about 12 to 13 of the 36 Verbal questions on the GMAT. In this type of problem, you’ll have to choose the most correct sentence out of five similar options. To decide whether a sentence is right or wrong, you need to master </span><b>two different types of grammar</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">First, GMAT Verbal tests your knowledge of </span><b>grammar</b> <b>rules</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">—the same ones you learned in school. Grammar rules explain why these sentences are wrong: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Neither of my uncles live in Boston. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before 2001, I have seen </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Titanic</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> thirty-six times. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is a significant connection of GMAT performance and time spent studying.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And these sentences are right: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Neither of my uncles lives in Boston. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before 2001, I had seen </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Titanic</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> thirty-six times. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is a significant connection between GMAT performance and time spent studying.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sentence Correction tests whether you know these rules, and whether you can tell that a sentence is disobeying them. Here are some examples of rules you should be familiar with: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Subject-verb agreement</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/gmat-grammar-pronoun-rules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pronoun agreement</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Verb tenses</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(A few) idioms</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What makes a complete sentence</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What makes a run-on sentence (or a “</span><a href="https://www.economist.com/johnson/2012/01/10/the-dreaded-comma-splice" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">comma splice</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">”) </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What makes a </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/whats-parallel-to-what-parallelism-and-meaning-in-gmatprep/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">grammatically-correct list</span></a></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The GMAT is also interested in</span><b> the way that grammar changes a sentence’s meaning</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Grammar isn’t just about whether sentences are right or wrong. It also helps us ensure that our words mean what we want them to mean. These two sentences are very similar, but because of a small difference in grammar, they have different meanings: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Travis, who hates losing, lost six games of chess to Stefan. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Travis lost six games of chess to Stefan, who hates losing. </span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Neither of these sentences is incorrect, but they mean two different things. In the first sentence, Travis hates losing; in the second, Stefan does. This meaning change is caused by a grammar change: the modifier, “who hates losing,” is in a different place in each sentence. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On GMAT Verbal, some sentences will have illogical meanings. The second part of your job is to know how a sentence’s grammar determines its meaning, so that you’ll notice when a sentence doesn’t make sense. Here’s an example: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Travis lost six games of chess, who hates losing, to Stefan. </span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A GMAT Sentence Correction expert knows that “WH modifiers,” such as “who hates losing,” typically describe the closest major noun. Since “chess” is right next to the modifier, this sentence actually means that </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">chess</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> hates losing. That meaning is illogical, so this sentence is wrong. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A number of grammar rules will change what a sentence means. Here are some grammar changes that also cause meaning changes: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Putting a modifier in a different location</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Using a different type of modifier</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Using a different verb tense</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Changing the main subject or main verb of a sentence</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Comparing different things to each other</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you know how these grammar changes influence a sentence’s meaning, you’ll be able to spot bad sentences on GMAT Verbal. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you master all of the grammar in the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/store/strategy-guides/sentence-correction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sentence Correction Strategy Guide</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, you’ll be well on your way. However, you should also spend some time doing Sentence Correction problems. That’s because Sentence Correction isn’t just a grammar quiz. To solve a problem, it isn’t enough to decide whether one sentence is right or wrong. Instead, you need to choose the right option out of five similar-looking ones, in under 90 seconds.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To do so, you’ll need to eliminate multiple answer choices at once, by finding several answer choices that have the same grammar or meaning error. That task tests whether you can </span><b>spot the similarities and differences among the answer choices</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and whether you can </span><b>decide which differences are important. </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">The GMAT loves to test your ability to decide what’s important—<a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/whats-tested-on-gmat-math/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it’s a key part of the Quant section as well</a>! </span></p> <h4><b>What’s Tested on GMAT Critical Reasoning</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">GMAT Critical Reasoning problems represent about 9 or 10 of your 36 GMAT Verbal questions. That makes Critical Reasoning the least common problem type on GMAT Verbal. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This type of problem has three parts: a short paragraph (usually a few sentences in length), a single question about that paragraph, and five answer choices. The paragraph is almost always in the form of an argument: it’s written by someone who’s trying to convince you of something, using evidence and logic.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first thing that GMAT Critical Reasoning tests is whether you understand this argument. It tests whether you can figure out what position a person is arguing, why they hold that position, and what their evidence is. Often, you’ll also need to find the flaws or loopholes in the argument. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is the same skill you use when you read the news or watch a debate. You’re being tested on whether you can quickly follow someone’s reasoning and make your own judgments about it without getting confused by details. Want to quickly try it out? </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/want-a-750-do-this-critical-reasoning-question-in-less-than-60-seconds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Read this article, in which GMAT instructor Stacey Koprince analyzes a full Critical Reasoning problem</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Critical Reasoning also asks you to answer certain types of logical questions correctly. GMAT Critical Reasoning problems come in a small number of flavors: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Describe the Role</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: what’s the point of a certain part of the argument? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Find the Assumption</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: find an underlying, unspoken assumption the author is making.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Strengthen/Weaken/Evaluate the Argument</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: what extra evidence would make the argument stronger or weaker? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Draw a Conclusion</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: in this problem type, the paragraph isn’t an argument at all—it’s a series of facts, and you need to make your own argument by using them.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Explain the Discrepancy</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: there’s not really an argument here, either. Instead, the paragraph tells you about something surprising that happened, and asks you to figure out why it might have occurred.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Because the GMAT is a standardized test, each of these problem types has </span><b>rules</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The GMAT has its own sense of what makes an argument strong or weak or what counts as a valid conclusion. Luckily, the test is very consistent, so you can learn these rules yourself. (Start with the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/store/strategy-guides/critical-reasoning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Critical Reasoning Strategy Guide</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">!) </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The downside is that the rules might not always line up with your own intuitive sense of what makes a good argument and what makes a bad argument. So these GMAT Verbal problems also test your ability to let go of your own biases & preconceptions and use a standardized definition of what makes an argument strong or weak. </span></p> <h4><b>What’s Tested on GMAT Reading Comprehension</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">GMAT Reading Comprehension problems start with a </span><b>passage</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. When you do Reading Comprehension on test day, you’ll read one passage and answer three or four questions that relate to that same passage. In total, you’ll see about four passages and about 12 to 14 problems. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first thing Reading Comprehension tests is how effectively you read the passage. While Critical Reasoning passages are like a news blurb or a clip from a debate, Reading Comprehension passages are more like articles from a news magazine or passages from a textbook. They’re typically several paragraphs long and can be extremely dense. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some Reading Comprehension passages involve an argument, but others don’t. In fact, part of what GMAT Verbal tests is whether you can figure out—in three minutes or less—what a long passage is really all about. It’s not about reading </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">quickly, </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">since you don’t have to be a speed reader to master Reading Comp. </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/read-faster-on-the-gmat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s more about reading efficiently, skimming when you need to, and slowing down when you spot something important</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Indirectly, it’s also testing your note-taking skills!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some Reading Comprehension questions will ask you for the main point of the passage, or a part of the passage. That’s just another test of your GMAT reading skills. Other questions will ask you about specific details from the passage. Those questions are testing your ability to skim a long passage to find something specific, even if you don’t know exactly what words you’re looking for. They’re also testing whether you get thrown off by long and complex sentences. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The trickiest type of Reading Comprehension question is the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Inference</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> question. This type of question isn’t actually asking you to make a deep inference. It’s asking you to take something stated in the passage and apply just a tiny bit of logic to it to turn it into a new conclusion. </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/boring-is-sometimes-best-on-gmat-verbal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Part of what you’re being tested on is your ability to not jump </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">too far</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">—to avoid making statements you can’t back up</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">! </span></p> <h4><b>Everything that GMAT Verbal Tests</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now that we’ve looked at each GMAT Verbal problem type, here’s a summary of the skills that GMAT Verbal tests. </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Knowing the grammar rules</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Knowing how grammar can change a sentence’s meaning</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Quickly spotting differences and deciding whether they’re meaningful</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Understanding someone else’s written argument: knowing what they’re arguing for and how strong their argument is</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Quickly translating a long, complex piece of writing into simple terms</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Learning and applying the GMAT’s rules for what makes an answer choice correct</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These are the skills that are tested by the various GMAT Verbal problem types. There are also a few other skills that are tested throughout the Verbal section. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just like GMAT Quant, </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/what-the-gmat-really-tests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">GMAT Verbal tests your executive reasoning skills</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. You need to do all of the above things in an environment where you have very little time, and where you have to make difficult choices about which problems to prioritize.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In other words, GMAT Verbal doesn’t just test whether you can answer a Verbal problem correctly. It tests whether you can </span><b>tell how likely you are to get a problem right before trying it</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. That’s a tough skill to develop, and it requires doing and thinking deeply about a lot of problems! But it’s worth developing, since you should only invest your limited time in problems you have a chance of getting right. The other problems? Let them go!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">GMAT Verbal also tests your reading skills. The </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-improve-your-reading-skills-for-reading-comprehension/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">best way to improve your reading skills is to read a lot</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Use your GMAT studies as an excuse to do more, higher-quality reading! </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, GMAT Verbal tests </span><b>pattern recognition</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. It might not look like it, but GMAT Verbal questions test the same exact things, over and over again. The GMAT is just really good at hiding it, because there are an infinite number of different sentences, arguments, and passages they can write! But, under the surface, a lot of those are just testing the same old grammar rules, the same old argument structures, and the same main ideas, over and over. What matters isn’t what the passage says. What really matters is how it’s put together under the surface. Start comparing different Verbal problems to each other, and see if you can catch the GMAT testing the exact same thing twice! ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GMAT gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" data-pagespeed-url-hash="1615980074" data-pagespeed-onload="pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality(this);" data-pagespeed-loaded="1" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> </em></i></b><i><em>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170/170 on the GRE. </em></i><i><em><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/#instructor/336" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here</a>.</em></i></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/whats-tested-on-gmat-verbal/">What’s Tested on GMAT Verbal</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Trick-or-Treaters Are Using the Executive Mindset</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/executive-mindset-gmat-halloween/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Tyrrell]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 08 Oct 2018 18:42:22 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business Mindset]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Challenge Problem]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Critical Reasoning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Data Sufficiency]]></category> <category><![CDATA[For Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Geometry]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT 101]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Resources]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Study Guide]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Quant]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reading Comprehension]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sentence Correction]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Taking the GMAT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Absolute Value]]></category> <category><![CDATA[combinatorics]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Executive Mindset]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Executive Reasoning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Functions]]></category> <category><![CDATA[inequalities]]></category> <category><![CDATA[probability]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Quadratics]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Rate Problems]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sequences]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Subscripts]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=16391</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Haaaappy Halloweeeeen, dear reader. What’s that? You’re already annoyed by the trite conceit of this conveniently-timed piece about trick-or-treating? (INTERNET: “Did Patrick stumble upon this trick-or-treating metaphor organically, or did he just think about the post date of the blog and reverse-engineer something safe—and topical for fifth graders?!”) Easy there, Bub. We don’t need a […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/executive-mindset-gmat-halloween/">Trick-or-Treaters Are Using the Executive Mindset</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16419" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/10/trick-or-treaters-using-executive-mindset-patrick-tyrrell.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Trick-or-Treaters Are Using the Executive Mindset by Patrick Tyrrell" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/10/trick-or-treaters-using-executive-mindset-patrick-tyrrell.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/10/trick-or-treaters-using-executive-mindset-patrick-tyrrell-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/10/trick-or-treaters-using-executive-mindset-patrick-tyrrell-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/10/trick-or-treaters-using-executive-mindset-patrick-tyrrell-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Haaaappy Halloweeeeen, dear reader. What’s that? You’re already annoyed by the trite conceit of this conveniently-timed piece about trick-or-treating?</span><span id="more-16391"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">INTERNET</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: “Did Patrick stumble upon this trick-or-treating metaphor organically, or did he just think about the post date of the blog and reverse-engineer something safe—and topical for fifth graders?!”)</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/uhDDQ9UNoXISQ" width="480" height="352" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/halloween-horror-uhDDQ9UNoXISQ"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Easy there, Bub. We don’t need a heckler.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If Hallowed Eve’s sacred thirty-first night of Octobreth weren’t so nigh, I would have called this “Kids at Amusement Parks Are Using the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2016/05/26/develop-a-business-mindset-to-maximize-your-roi-on-the-gmat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Executive Mindset</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.” Ya happy? It’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">kind of </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">a</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">well-thought-out metaphor. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The underlying dilemma of amusement parks, trick-or-treating, and GMAT is that you have a lit fuse: a finite, insufficient amount of time to cash in on all the available opportunities. So you have to strategize where to invest your time and where to just say “skip it.”</span></p> <h4><b>Trick-or-Treating Executive Mindset Dilemma #1</b></h4> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you go for the homes of wealthy people?</span></i></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/HChtj3gzcVsXK" width="480" height="480" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/rich-the-simpsons-laughing-HChtj3gzcVsXK"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pro: the candy’s usually more luxe (rich people have never even heard of fun size).</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Con: the yards are so large that the commute time to the next house is brutal.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The opposite pendulum is an apartment complex. Door density reaches peak levels, but so does the risk of receiving unfamiliar treats. (“Sorry, sir, you said this Blartz bar is from… </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Latvia</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">?”)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If I may presumptuously speak for everyone (</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">INTERNET</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: “You may not!”), I think we can all agree that the best value trick-or-treating neighborhood is middle-class.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Similarly, on GMAT (</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">INTERNET: </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Oh, how rewarding, the completely-expected GMAT segue…”),</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">we get the best score our current ability level will allow when we invest our time in modest but rewarding challenges. Looking for solutions that are too quick will leave your score with the acrid taste of a Blartz bar in its mouth. Walking super-long driveways to hopefully get a premium reward will leave you huffing and puffing to the next house, forcing you to go home long before you get a chance to visit the whole neighborhood.</span></p> <h4><b>Trick-or-Treating Executive Mindset Dilemma #2</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now that we’ve established the right rhythm for trick-or-treating (moderate walks, not sprints or marathons), let’s talk house selection.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are a few houses we’re probably going to want to avoid:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Ol’ Man Squirrel Whisperer</b></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>The House Where the Teenage Boys and Maybe the Dad Never Have Their Shirts On</b></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>The Dunphys (not literally from </b><b><i>Modern Family</i></b><b>, but your local overachievers)</b></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>The Green Party Birkenstock’d Couple Who Consider Flax Wafers a Non-Insult</b></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>The House That’s Probably a Cult Because Their Clothing is at Best Perplexing</b></li> </ul> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/5xtDarEXlXBmnOuTh0k" width="480" height="267" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/puppy-corgi-pumpkin-5xtDarEXlXBmnOuTh0k"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Similarly, there are a few </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">GMAT</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> “houses” we’d like to avoid.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">INTERNET</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: [groan] “Stop this overwrought metaphor. I mean, I was about to say, ‘You’re better than this,’ but then I thought to myself, ‘</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Is </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">he?’ and deleted my comment.”)</span></p> <h4><strong> The House of Mirrors (Inequalities / Quadratics / Absolute Value)</strong></h4> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/3ov9kaQ40mXaLb98dO" width="480" height="360" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/halloween-scared-scary-3ov9kaQ40mXaLb98dO"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s easy to get turned around in these worlds, because you see the image of a number, but you can’t tell whether it’s on the positive or negative side of the mirror.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When we see something like “xy > xz,” we do </span><b>not </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">divide by ‘x’ to get “y > z.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you multiply or divide an inequality by a negative number, you have to flip the sign. Is “x” negative or positive? We don’t know. It’s exactly like shooting a gun at something in a house of mirrors.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When Data Sufficiency asks us, “</span><b>What’s the value of x?</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">” and Statement 1 says </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(1) x²</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> = 25, it is insufficient, because we don’t know whether x is 5 or -5.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Incidentally, a lot of people don’t realize that when you square root that </span><b>quadratic</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, √x²</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> = √25, we get the </span><b>absolute value </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">of the square root when a variable is involved. |x| = 5</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You know the magnitude, but you don’t know whether it’s positively or negatively charged.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When we get an absolute value equation or inequality, such as |x – 3| = 10 or |x – 3| > 10, we solve for the positive and the negative version of what’s in the absolute value: (x – 3) = 10 </span><b>and </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">-(x – 3) = 10 or (x – 3) > 10 </span><b>and </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">-(x – 3) > 10.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">…Sort of like when you’re trying to shoot someone in a hall of mirrors: ideally, you have two guns that can be pointed in opposite directions, just to cover your bases. Well, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">ideally</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and if money is no object, you’d have to say the Omni-Gun is the obvious choice for covering all polygonal permutations of halls of mirror.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">INTERNET</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: “Nice sensitivity, Patrick. What if someone gets triggered by your violent hall of mirrors metaphor?”)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That would make me very sad, Internet. I hope this is a farcical enough example that it only triggers Bruce Lee’s character in </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Enter the Dragon</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h4><strong>Gross-Looking Monsters (Sequences / Functions)</strong></h4> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/ObBurbVUbOqMo" width="480" height="372" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/monster-art-ObBurbVUbOqMo"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You wanna tell whether someone’s mathphobic? Put a problem involving </span><b>subscripts</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or </span><b>functions </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">in front of them and monitor their swallowing for any hints of tiny, vomitous reactions when they first see the problem.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Doesn’t this look lucid and welcoming?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the sequence a</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>1</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>2</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>3</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, … a</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>n</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, …., where n >2, a</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>n</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> = 3(a</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>n-1</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">) – 4(a</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>n-2</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Those subscripts are risin’ from the GRAVE, I tellz ya!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In reality, sequence problems can be tamed, once we learn to read a sequence equation as a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">process</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: a set of instructions to follow for figuring out the next term in a sequence. All that gobbledygook was saying was, “This is a sequence problem. Here is your process: a</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>n</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> = 3(a</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>n-1</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">) – 4(a</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>n-2</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">). That means, “To find a term, multiply the previous term by 3 and the term before that by 4, and subtract one from the other.” Hey, Internet… I almost tried to make a goblin pun on “gobbledygook,” but I refrained. Proud much?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">INTERNET</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: “Sighhhh… I’ll tell you what… Good job. It’s a start.”)</span></p> <p><b>Function </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">problems also present a process, but whereas sequences always have that same subscript look, functions get dressed up in a lot of different costumes.</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/5vCWii3HEE75e" width="480" height="360" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/halloween-dance-5vCWii3HEE75e"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">INTERNET</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: “I can’t believe we started to believe in you.”)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just because we haven’t seen a function before doesn’t mean we’re unprepared. They are novel tasks that we simply have to patiently read and follow.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For example: If </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">the nightmare on x street </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">means the smallest prime number greater than half of x, what is </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">the nightmare on 16 street +</span></i> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">the nightmare on 30 street</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">?</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The nightmare on 16 street </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">= the smallest prime that’s bigger than ½ of 16.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The nightmare on 30 street </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">= the smallest prime that’s bigger than ½ of 30.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The smallest prime bigger than ½ of 16, or 8, is 11.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The smallest prime bigger than ½ of 30, or 15, is 17.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">the nightmare on 16 street +</span></i> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">the nightmare on 30 street</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> = 11 + 17 = 28.</span></p> <h4><strong>The Foggy Night (Rate Problems and Geometry Problems)</strong></h4> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/l3q2EceFe6B0xomFG" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/fog-foggy-l3q2EceFe6B0xomFG"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These can take a while to wade through, and you often can’t envision how you’re getting to the finish line when you begin. It’s very important to take these one step at a time.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Rate problems, ask yourself, “1 hour later, what has happened? 2 hours later, what has happened?” Once you paw at the air in the dark for a couple seconds, you ultimately find something to hold onto.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Geometry problems, you keep yourself calm by forcing yourself to write out known formulas. Once you have a formula on your page, e.g. area = ½ (base)*(height), those three parts of the formula act like Ghostbuster containment units for the ideas in the problem. You can see which of those unknowns the problem gave you values for or algebra for and write them into their place in the formula.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">INTERNET</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: “Hey, old man, despite the recent all-female reboot, we don’t know what </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ghostbusters</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is.”)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You know what, Internet? I don’t think I’m welcome here anymore. While I’d love to keep expounding on these horror show topics, I would have to write so much that I’d be forcing Thanksgiving wordplay on you.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Let’s switch to the lightning round of Haunted Topics:</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/jpbAaUG7cjkZy" width="480" height="351" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/halloween-skeleton-jpbAaUG7cjkZy"></a></p> <h4><b>Combinatorics and Probability</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If it’s easy, do it. If you’re great at them, do it. Otherwise, skip it! You’ll probably only see one of these on your test and it will usually be a difficult-ranked problem that is harmlessly missed.</span></p> <h4><b>YES / NO Data Sufficiency</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Make sure you have consistent habits on your paper of differentiating between a legal number that answers the question NO and an illegal number that violates a constraint and therefore cannot provide any possible answer to the question.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You might want to enact a habit of check-marking your numbers when you test cases (like verifying their Twitter accounts) to show that their creds have been vetted. They comply with the constraints. And when you accidentally consider an illegal number, scratch that work out.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A legal NO case should have a checkmark that shows the number fits the constraint and the answer NO circled proudly nearby. An illegal case should just be scratched out.</span></p> <h4><b>Critical Reasoning</b></h4> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Assumption</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> – The task here is really “which answer, if negated, most weakens,” and because of that, people often struggle to apply the right mindset. (When in doubt, remember that about half of all correct answers contain the word ‘not.’)</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Describe the Role of Bold</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> – The answers are completely abstract, so students are often lost in the terminology. Remind yourself when you’re initially searching for the conclusion that it will usually appear </span><b>earlier </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">in the paragraph than its supporting ideas (on this question type only). Try to pre-phrase each bold as either Main Conclusion, Supporting, Opposing, or Neutral.</span></p> <h4><b>Reading Comprehension</b></h4> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Inference</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> – The question stem may use “inferred”, “implies”, “suggests”, or “most likely to agree.” All of those formulations tend to sound ‘loose’ enough that students typically assume they have the freedom to speculate, and students too frequently assume that the correct answer should reinforce the main point of the passage.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In reality, we’re just looking for whichever answer is the most provable idea, given the text in the passage. The correct answer usually reinforces a single line reference, but sometimes it involves pulling together details from two different lines of the passage. The test writers go out of their way to find an unexpected way to rephrase something we were told.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Told that “George Washington was the first president of the U.S.”? This suggests that “Not all nations choose Banksy as their inaugural leader.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Told that “Mailing my ex-girlfriend dead flowers gave her the creeps”? We can infer that “My ability to make people uncomfortable is not limited to my ability to invert my eyelids.”</span></p> <h4><b>Sentence Correction</b></h4> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pronouns and Complex Tenses </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">– These are guilty until proven innocent. </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">When we see “it / its / that of,” we need to find if there’s a singular noun in the sentence to which this pronoun clearly refers.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">When we see “they / them / their / those of,” we need to find if there’s a plural noun in the sentence to which this pronoun clearly refers.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">When we see “has/have,” we need to ask whether we can justify using the complex present perfect tense (‘is it referring to an </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">ongoing time period </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">or an </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">unspecified time period</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">?’).</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">When we see “had,” we need to ask whether we can justify using past perfect (‘is this referring to something that’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">deeper in the past</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> than some other part of the sentence that’s in the past?’)</span></li> </ul> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Being</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> – 97% of the time we see this word in an answer choice, the choice is wrong. It’s very frequently inserted into an answer choice to give it that “wordy, awkward, un-idiomatic” complaint that GMAT often uses in its explanations. It </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">can </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">be right, but seeing ‘being’ should lead to fleeing</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">INTERNET</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">:</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think that was clever? I don’t even know what I like anymore.”)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In summary, if you’re hoping to apply the wisdom of efficient trick-or-treating to your next GMAT:</span></p> <p>1. Overall, plan to work moderately hard for your answers. If you’re guessing too quickly or taking too long, you’re browsing in the wrong neighborhood.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">2. Keep an eye out for a handful of haunted topics that generally aren’t a great value. Consider hitting them up briskly or not at all.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I hope you’ll join me next month for what will surely be an overwrought attempt to relate the GMAT to the midterm elections.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">INTERNET</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: “Can this ‘Internet’ character come back too, or is Jim Gaffigan going to come after you for stealing his ‘Audience Guy’ character?”)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Probably the latter. G’night, sweet prince. ?</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/3mJSsgvBGp1tNbpskE" width="480" height="360" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/alice-cooper-welcome-to-my-nightmare-3mJSsgvBGp1tNbpskE"></a></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want some more GMAT tips from Patrick? Attend the first session of one of his </i></b><b><i><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/#instructor/270" target="_blank" rel="noopener">upcoming GMAT courses</a> </i></b><b><i>absolutely free, no strings attached. Seriously.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-15335 size-thumbnail" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/03/patrick-tyrell-150x150.png" alt="patrick-tyrrell" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/patrick-tyrrell/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patrick Tyrrell</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Los Angeles, California.</strong> He has a B.A. in philosophy, a 780 on the GMAT, and relentless enthusiasm for his work. In addition to teaching test prep since 2006, he’s also an avid songwriter/musician. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/#instructor/270" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Patrick’s upcoming GMAT courses here!</a></em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/executive-mindset-gmat-halloween/">Trick-or-Treaters Are Using the Executive Mindset</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests (Part 4)</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-4/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stacey Koprince]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 27 Aug 2018 19:01:24 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business Mindset]]></category> <category><![CDATA[For Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Resources]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Study Guide]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Practice Tests]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Products and Services]]></category> <category><![CDATA[4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Analyze Practice Tests]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Buckets]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Executive Reasoning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Strengths and Weaknesses]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=16185</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Welcome to our fourth and final installment on how to get the most out of your GMAT practice tests! In the first three installments of this series, we talked about: Part 1: Global executive reasoning and timing review Part 2: Per-question timing review Part 3: Strengths and weaknesses by question type or major content area If […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-4/">4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests (Part 4)</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16210" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/08/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-4-stacey-koprince.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - 4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests (Part 4) by Stacey Koprince" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/08/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-4-stacey-koprince.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/08/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-4-stacey-koprince-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/08/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-4-stacey-koprince-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/08/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-4-stacey-koprince-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Welcome to our fourth and final installment on how to get the most out of your GMAT practice tests! </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the first three installments of this series, we talked about:</span><span id="more-16185"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2018/07/18/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Part 1:</a> Global executive reasoning and timing review</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2018/07/26/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Part 2:</a> Per-question timing review</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2018/08/08/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Part 3:</a> Strengths and weaknesses by question type or major content area</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you haven’t already, start with part 1 of this series and work your way back here.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, we’re going to dive even deeper into the content areas to further refine your list of strengths and weaknesses on your GMAT practice tests.</span></p> <h4><b>Run Your Reports—Again</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So far, you’ve been checking the data for just one practice test. Now, you may want to consider re-running the reports using your last </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">two</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> GMAT practice tests. We’re diving deep into the details with these final two reports, so there will be lots of categories with only one or two questions unless we add more data to the report.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If your last test was more than about six to eight weeks ago, though, then the data might be too old. If that’s the case, you may want to look at these last two assessment reports based just on the last test first, and then run the reports again using your last two GMAT practice tests—your choice. If you use only one test, be aware that your analysis may need to be flexible for those sub-categories with only 1 question. If you get 0% of 1 question right, that doesn’t (necessarily) mean that area is a big weakness!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You’re looking for the 2</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">nd</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Quant and 2</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">nd</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Verbal reports, both of which are labeled Analysis by Content Area and Topic. These show all of the questions broken out by question type and sub-type or sub-topic. You’re going to use these reports, coupled with everything you’ve learned so far, to complete the 4</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and final step of your analysis.</span></p> <h4><b>Fill Your Buckets</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You are going to place all of the problems from the test (or tests) selected into one of three (3) buckets. These buckets roughly correspond to (1) Great, (2) Prioritize This, and (3) Ugh. Note that the guidelines I give are approximate. If something is only slightly higher or lower than it should be, and you feel comfortable with it, then you can still count that in a “better” bucket.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Okay, run the reports with whatever data you’ve decided to include and go to the second report for Quant: Analysis by Content Area and Topic.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are 5 “sub-reports” here, organized by the 5 main Quant areas tested:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fractions, Decimals, & Percents</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Algebra</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Word Problems</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Geometry</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Number Properties</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do those names look familiar? They’re the names of our Strategy Guides. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/263a.png" alt="☺" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The tabs in the report correspond to the above names; click each tab name to see the relevant data for that area. Here’s an example of the data under the Fractions, Decimals, & Percents tab for two tests taken by one of my students:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16188" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/08/sk-476-image-1.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - 4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests (Part 4) by Stacey Koprince" width="587" height="264" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/08/sk-476-image-1.png 587w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/08/sk-476-image-1-300x135.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 587px) 100vw, 587px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Within each sub-report, you’ll see sub-categories (e.g., FDPs includes Fractions and Percents). These sub-categories correspond to the chapters in our books—so you know exactly where to look if you want to review a particular area.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, see how the sub-categories are in red? They are actual links! For instance, if you click on Fractions, a new page will pop up that lists the 3 questions that fell into that category for the tests included in the report. Those pop-up lists themselves also contain links: The title of each individual problem is a link to that problem, so you can go look at it again right then and there.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, go look at my student’s data. What do you notice?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She rocked Percents: 4 out of 5 right and an average time of only 1.5 minutes! But she’s struggling with Fractions. And she’s spending a lot of time on Ratios, regardless of whether she gets it right or wrong. Fractions and ratios are pretty closely related, so she may need to go back and do some foundational work around those two areas. (She also spent about 3 minutes on one FDPs problem. It was a much harder problem, though, relative to the other areas—and she did get it right. If she got it right legitimately—she can click the link to check—then that kind of trade-off can be an appropriate decision, as long as it doesn’t happen too often.)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’m curious —let’s click on Fractions to see what was going on there.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16190" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/08/sk-476-image-2.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - 4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests (Part 4) by Stacey Koprince" width="618" height="238" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/08/sk-476-image-2.png 618w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/08/sk-476-image-2-300x116.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ooh, I’m glad we did this! I’ll talk more about this data down below; for now, what do you think this data is telling you?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Verbal report works in pretty much the same way—organized by book and by chapter of the book for SC and CR. Reading Comp is a bit different; the RC guide organizes problem types into two broad categories, General and Specific, while the test report labels by the individual question types that can be found in each of those two chapters.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Okay, let’s talk about how to organize your data into one of 3 buckets.</span></p> <h4><b>Bucket 1: Great! These are my strengths.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You mostly get these questions right roughly within the expected timeframe for that type (or faster)—my student above should definitely put Percents in Bucket 1. If your average for a sub-category is no more than about 20-30 seconds longer than the average for that type, you can still count that category here.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Make sure that you actually knew what you were doing for each problem and didn’t just get lucky! Going forward, problems in this bucket are not high on your priority list—since you can already do them accurately and efficiently—but there may still be things you can learn: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">even faster ways to do the problem</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ways to make educated guesses (so that you can use the thought process on harder problems of the same type)</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">how to quickly recognize future problems of the same type</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may want to move on to more advanced material in these areas.</span></p> <h4><b>Bucket 2: Prioritize this.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These problems comprise three broad categories:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(A) Careless mistakes. You knew how to do the problem but made some kind of error along the way. Figure out </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">what</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> error you made, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">why</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> you made it, and </span><a id="bloglink" href="http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index.php/2012/10/24/how-to-minimize-careless-errors-when-taking-the-gmat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">how you can </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">minimize</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the chances of repeating that type of error</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(B) Efficiency. You get these right but take too long to do so—but only about 30 to 60 seconds too long. (If you took </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">way</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> too long, put this in bucket 3 instead.) Which part took too long? Where did you get hung up? Find a more efficient way to solve this kind of thing. (My student above would put Ratios here.)</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(C) Holes in foundation. You missed the problem </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">and</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> it was lower in difficulty than problems you usually get right. (Check the difficulty rating on your problem list.) You need to return to the fundamentals—the rule, the formula, the process, the strategy, whatever it is that caused you to miss this problem. (The problem Painting Airplane Hangars—300 to 500 level—from above needs to go right here.)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In general, prioritize the above three categories over all others. These represent the best areas for your potential improvement. As you get better, some of these will move up to Bucket 1, leaving you room to add more things to Bucket 2.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is important: DO NOT put nearly everything into Bucket 2. Put here what you can reasonably try to improve over the next several weeks. Leave the rest for after your next practice test.</span></p> <h4><b>Bucket 3: Ugh. At least for now, get these wrong faster.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These were legitimately wrong—weaknesses or just too hard for you. Often, you spend too much time getting these wrong. Alternatively, you sometimes get these right but spend WAY too long to do so. (My student needs to put the VICtorious problem here—hard, nearly 4 minutes, and still wrong.)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you’re doing your job, the GMAT </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">should</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> be offering you questions that are too hard or will take too long to solve. You will always receive too-hard questions; your task is to recognize when this happens so that you can literally get these wrong faster. I’m entirely serious. </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2016/05/26/develop-a-business-mindset-to-maximize-your-roi-on-the-gmat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maximize your ROI on the GMAT</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(A) During timed / testing situations, know how to recognize your “Ugh” problems so that you can guess right away.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(B) During the test, re-allocate that time to questions from one of the other buckets, where additional time is more likely to make a positive difference.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(C) During your studies, leave these items </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">off</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of your study plan. Literally do not study them for the next few weeks. You can decide after your next practice test whether some of these might move up to Bucket 2.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As you make more room in Bucket 2, you will decide to move some material up from Bucket 3 to Bucket 2. But you’re still going to have several “My goal is to get problems like this wrong fast” categories, even by the time you get to the real test. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Let me repeat that: There are things that will stay in Bucket 3 forever and you will never study them. I took my first GMAT 20 years ago and my last one about a year ago—and I still refuse to do combinatorics or cylinders (among other things) on the real test. And yet I still hit my goal score and qualify in the 99</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> percentile to teach for this company! ?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">P.S. I didn’t place the Golf Balls problem anywhere in my analysis. I’d need to know more about my student’s analysis to feel confident about where to place it. She spent a little less than 2 minutes on it. Any mistakes? Did she think she was getting it right? Then maybe it goes in Bucket 2. Or did she know that she didn’t know and so she cut herself off? In that case, it goes in Bucket 3.</span></p> <h4><b>One More Thing: Frequency</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For all of the above, don’t forget to think about the frequency with which the material is tested. You might be terrible at 3D geometry (as I am), but that category is so rare that it’s not even worth studying. If, on the other hand, you’re also not so great at exponents and roots, you will need to do some studying; those topics are common. (If you’re not sure what is more or less frequently tested, ask your teacher or ask on the forums.)</span></p> <h4><b>No, Wait, One More One-More-Thing: The 2</b><b>nd</b><b> Level of GMAT Prep</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now that you know where to concentrate, how should you study? Go back to your books or lessons for any fundamental content issues. For any strategy or technique issues (e.g., how to know what the problem was actually testing), learn about </span><a id="bloglink" href="http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index.php/2013/07/22/the-second-level-of-learning-to-take-the-gmat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the 2nd level of learning to take the GMAT</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h4><b>The 4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(1) Start with a global executive reasoning and timing review. Where did you make good decisions about where to spend your time and mental energy? Where would you make different decisions next time? How will you know which decision to make when?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(2) Dive deeper into your Problem Lists to analyze your per-question timing. Bad timing can kill your score no matter how good you are with the actual material.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(3) Understand your strengths and weaknesses at the big-picture level. Run the reports to dive into the content and question types. It’s critically important to evaluate your performance across all three main axes at once—percentage correct, timing, and difficulty.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(4) Dive deep into your strengths and weaknesses to build your study plan for the next 2-3 weeks. Fill your buckets, then concentrate on Bucket 2. Every time you take a test, you’ll re-do your buckets; you’ll be able to see your progress and adjust accordingly, moving things “up” your bucket chain as you go (and leaving the worst stuff down in Bucket 3 forever!). ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong>Can’t get enough of Stacey’s GMAT mastery? Attend the first session of one of <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">her upcoming GMAT courses</a> absolutely free, no strings attached. Seriously.</strong></em></p> <hr /> <p><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/stacey-koprince/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-9719 size-thumbnail" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2015/06/stacey-koprince-150x150.png" alt="stacey-koprince" width="150" height="150" /></a><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/stacey-koprince/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stacey Koprince</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.</strong> Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/#instructor/86" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Stacey’s upcoming GMAT courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-4/">4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests (Part 4)</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Executive Reasoning on the GMAT</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/executive-reasoning-gmat/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ryan Jacobs]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 02 Aug 2018 15:59:50 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business Mindset]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Taking the GMAT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Executive Reasoning]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=16054</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Pop quiz: The GMAT is a test of __________ (fill in the blank). If you said “executive reasoning,” you’re a step ahead of where I was when I took my first GMAT! If, on the other hand, you said “8th-grade nightmares,” you’re not alone. Officially, though, the GMAT is indeed a test of executive reasoning […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/executive-reasoning-gmat/">Executive Reasoning on the GMAT</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16114" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/executive-reasoning-gmat-ryan-jacobs.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Executive Reasoning on the GMAT by Ryan Jacobs" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/executive-reasoning-gmat-ryan-jacobs.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/executive-reasoning-gmat-ryan-jacobs-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/executive-reasoning-gmat-ryan-jacobs-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/executive-reasoning-gmat-ryan-jacobs-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pop quiz: The GMAT is a test of __________ (fill in the blank).</span><span id="more-16054"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you said “executive reasoning,” you’re a step ahead of where I was when I took my first GMAT! If, on the other hand, you said “8</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">-grade nightmares,” you’re not alone.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Officially, though, the GMAT is indeed a test of executive reasoning skills, and most relevantly, that means it’s not a math test. Why is the distinction important? Consider the following problem:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A batch of widgets costs </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">p</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> + 15 dollars for a company to produce and each batch sells for </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">p</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">(9 – </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">p</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">) dollars. For which of the following values of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">p</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> does the company make a profit?</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(A) 3<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(B) 4<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(C) 5<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(D) 6<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(E) 7</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The student solutions to this problem that I’ve seen over the years fall basically into two camps. One camp of students, “camp algebra,” solves the problem by setting up an inequality, noting that if the company makes a profit, then the production cost must be less than the sales revenue. Mathematically, this results in the following chain of algebra:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>p</em> + 15 < <em>p</em> (</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">9 – <em>p</em>)<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>p</em> + 15 < 9<em>p</em> – </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>p</em>²<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>p</em>² </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">– 8<em>p</em> + 15 < 0 (</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>p</em> – 3) (</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>p</em> – 5) </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">< 0 3 < <em>p</em> < 5</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">p </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">is between 3 and 5, these students determine that 4 must be the correct answer, as it is the only one in that range. Suffice it to say that this solution, though perfectly acceptable and mathematically sound, is a bit of an 8</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">-grade nightmare.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The other camp of students, “camp just-get-the-answer,” solves the problem by simply calculating the necessary values:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16055" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/rj-7-image-1.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Executive Reasoning on the GMAT by Ryan Jacobs" width="643" height="143" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/rj-7-image-1.png 643w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/rj-7-image-1-300x67.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px" /></p> <p>This is a strategy that many 6th-graders could execute comfortably, and it also gets you the right answer. It’s almost certainly faster than the prior strategy too, assuming you’re as quick as you should be with your times tables.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The most interesting question here, though, is what distinguishes the two camps? I’m not 100% sure, but I do have a theory: I believe that camp algebra is paying attention to the words “costs,” “sells,” and “profit,” as well as the two expressions. Camp just-get-the-answer, however, pays careful attention to the phrase “For which of the following.” That phrase tells you something very important: that the answer is not unique. Rather, it is one of a set of numbers, any of which could have been the correct answer. In other words, you’ll eventually need the answer choices anyway, so you may as well start there.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In simple terms, in many problems the phrase “For which of the following” is a dead giveaway that working backwards from the choices is probably a good idea.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If the GMAT were a math test instead of an executive reasoning test, this is the question they would ask:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A batch of widgets costs </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">p</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> + 15 dollars for a company to produce and each batch sells for </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">p</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">(9 – </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">p</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">) dollars. Set up and solve an inequality for all values of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">p</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> wherein the company makes a profit. Show your work.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">See the difference? This is the question your 8</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">-grade math teacher asked on the final exam. It’s a question you would never see on the GMAT. That’s because the GMAT isn’t a math test, it’s a test of executive reasoning. And of the executives I’ve met in my life, nearly all of them fall firmly into camp just-get-the-answer.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So next time you take a GMAT practice test, or even the real thing, think like an executive. Math is certainly an essential tool, but at the end of the day, it’s just one of many tools that good executives use. Your goal on the GMAT isn’t to show off your math skills, or to solve problems elegantly. Your goal is to get the answer, by any means necessary. Remember: Harvard will never see your scratch work. ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GMAT gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-15202 size-thumbnail" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/02/ryan-jacobs-e1501597417957-150x150.png" alt="ryan-jacobs" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/ryan-jacobs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ryan Jacobs</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in San Francisco, California.</strong> He has an MBA from UC San Diego, a 780 on the GMAT, and years of GMAT teaching experience. His other interests include music, photography, and hockey. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/#instructor/288" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Ryan’s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/executive-reasoning-gmat/">Executive Reasoning on the GMAT</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests (Part 1)</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-1/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stacey Koprince]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 18 Jul 2018 18:42:33 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[For Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT 101]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Study Guide]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Practice Tests]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Products and Services]]></category> <category><![CDATA[CATs]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Executive Reasoning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Timing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[practice tests]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Problem List]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=16024</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>How many GMAT practice tests have you taken so far? Are you satisfied—or frustrated—with your progress? One of the biggest mistakes I see students make is also relatively easy to fix: they don’t learn what they should be learning from their practice tests. This is exactly what we’re going to talk about in this series. […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-1/">4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests (Part 1)</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16035" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/4-steps-analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-1-stacey-koprince.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - 4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests (Part 1) by Stacey Koprince" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/4-steps-analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-1-stacey-koprince.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/4-steps-analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-1-stacey-koprince-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/4-steps-analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-1-stacey-koprince-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/07/4-steps-analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-1-stacey-koprince-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How many GMAT practice tests have you taken so far? Are you satisfied—or frustrated—with your progress?</span><span id="more-16024"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One of the biggest mistakes I see students make is also relatively easy to fix: they don’t learn what they should be learning from their practice tests. This is exactly what we’re going to talk about in this series.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today, we’re going to talk about a global review of your GMAT practice tests: How did you do on executive reasoning and timing?</span></p> <h4><b>You Don’t Get Better <em>W</em></b><em><b>hile</b></em><b> Taking a Practice Test</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wait, if you don’t get better </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">while</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> taking a practice test, then why are we starting here? Read on.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Have you ever done this? You take a test, but aren’t happy with your score, so a few days later (or even the next day!), you take another exam. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bad move! First, your data from that first test already tells you what you need to know; your skills aren’t going to change radically in a week. Don’t waste 3 hours of valuable study time (not to mention, one of your limited GMAT practice tests!) in order to get the same data that you already have.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alternatively, have you read online that someone out there took 14 GMAT practice tests in a 6-week period and swears by this method of studying because he then got a 760? If you do just what he did, you’ll get a 760 too!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sadly, that’s unlikely to work either. Do you remember that one kid from your school, the one who was always excited when standardized test days came around? She was super annoying because she just did well on these tests “naturally” and she actually </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">liked</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> taking them. (Yes, that was me. Sorry.)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here’s the thing: for people like me, sure, the brute force approach seems to work. But we are, in fact, extensively analyzing our own data; we just do so more quickly than most. </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Everyone</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> needs to use this data to figure out how to get better.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You’re going to use your GMAT practice tests to:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(1) practice what you’ve already learned,</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(2) provide data to help you build a roughly 2-3 week study plan prioritizing certain things based on what your analysis told you, and</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(3) figure out how to get better at </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2013/06/03/what-the-gmat-really-tests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">executive reasoning</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Go ahead and click that link now. I’ll wait.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ready? Let’s go!</span></p> <h4><b>Use Your GMAT Practice Tests to Learn Your Strengths and Weaknesses</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Within the first roughly 2 weeks of your study, take a practice test. (Seriously! Don’t put this off!) Also: the gap between practice test 1 and 2 will be on the longer side—say 6 to 8 weeks. After that, you’ll settle into a more regular cycle of about 2 to 3 weeks.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’ll base my discussion on the metrics that are given in Manhattan Prep GMAT practice tests, but you can extrapolate to other tests that give you similar performance data. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You will likely need </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">at least</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> 60 minutes to do this analysis, not counting any time spent analyzing individual problems. If that sounds like a lot, split this into smaller tasks. Plan to spend 30 minutes each for your initial analysis of Quant and Verbal.</span></p> <h4><b><i>Where Should I Start?</i></b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I know you’ll want to look at your overall scores first. But don’t do what so many people do—immediately become demoralized because you think your score is too low. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Right now, your score is what it is—but this isn’t the real test. You’re going to use this to get better. That’s the real focus here.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So, let’s put those scores into some context. First, how confident can you be that they reflect your current ability level?</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Did you run out of time in any section and either guess randomly to finish or just not finish the section at all? </span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">If so, your score will be pushed down, so your actual ability level is likely higher than your score reflects. (But you do need to fix the timing problem.)</span></li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Conversely, did you use the pause button or otherwise use extra time to solve anything? Did you take much longer breaks than the real test would allow or look something up? </span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">If so, your score may be artificially inflated. (This is why we recommend sticking strictly to test conditions when taking a practice exam.)</span></li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Did you take the exam after a long day at work when you were already pretty mentally fatigued? </span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">If so, your performance might have dropped as a result.</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Next, pull up the problem list for Quant or Verbal. The problem lists show each question, in order as you took the test, as well as various data points about those questions. </span></p> <h4><b><i>“Correct / Incorrect” Column</i></b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Any strings of 4+ questions wrong?</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">If so, look at time spent. Were you low on time and rushing?</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alternatively, were they really hard? Maybe you’d done well on the prior problems, so got a few really hard ones…and maybe you should have gotten these hard ones wrong.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Did you happen to get a string of things that you just didn’t know how to do at the time, but looking at them now, you think you can learn (at least some of) this?</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>The “I did well! And then I didn’t…” scenario</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first one or two in a string were really hard, so you spent extra time. You got them wrong (because…they’re hard). You knew you spent extra time, so you sped up on the next couple and made careless mistakes, getting those wrong as well. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If this happened to you, what do you think you should do to remedy the issue?</span></p> <p><strong>The “I didn’t study this yet and/or this is a weakness” scenario</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You ran up against a little string of things that you haven’t studied yet—or maybe it was a mix of things you don’t like and things you haven’t studied yet. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What should you do about this?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the first scenario, you probably need to train yourself to bail quickly on the stuff that’s too hard even when you spend extra time. Then, you won’t be behind on time when you get a question at a level you can handle, and so you’ll be able to get that one right next time.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the second scenario, which of these things is a good opportunity for you to learn? Add a couple of things to your study plan for the coming week or two—but don’t add </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">every</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">thing. There’s only so much you can do in a couple of weeks, so be choosy.</span></p> <h4><b><i>“Cumulative Time” vs. “Target Cumulative Time”</i></b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Go back up to the top of the Problem List. The Cumulative Time column tells you how much time you spent to that point in the section. The Target Cumulative Time column indicates how much time you’d want to have spent based on the timing averages we need to hit for the exam. Compare the two columns.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How closely did you stick to the expected timeframe? It’s completely normal to be off by +/- 2 minutes, and I’m actually not too concerned as long as you’re within about 3 minutes of the expected timeframe.</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Are you 3+ minutes behind (too slow)? If so, where was that extra time spent? How well did you really do on those problems? </span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">They should be all or mostly correct, since you chose to allocate extra time to them! </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the ones you’re getting wrong even with extra time, start cutting yourself off when faced with a similar problem in future.</span></li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Are you 3+ minutes ahead (too fast)? If so, where are you picking up that time? How well did you do on those problems? </span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you know you don’t know how to do a problem, it’s a great idea to guess fast. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you were going quickly because you did know how to do it, though, and then made a careless mistake, you’ll want to remedy the overall timing problem so that you don’t make that kind of mistake next time.</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h4><b><i>Pause and Reflect</i></b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We’re about halfway through our analysis of the Problem List. What have you figured out so far? What are your hypotheses about what went well and what didn’t go as well? Are there any particular things you want to look out for to help confirm or deny those hypotheses as you continue analyzing?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Join us next time for <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2018/07/26/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Part 2</a>, where we’ll dive more deeply into a timing analysis of individual problems on GMAT practice tests. </span></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong>Can’t get enough of Stacey’s GMAT mastery? Attend the first session of one of <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">her upcoming GMAT courses</a> absolutely free, no strings attached. Seriously.</strong></em></p> <hr /> <p><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/stacey-koprince/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-9719 size-thumbnail" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2015/06/stacey-koprince-150x150.png" alt="stacey-koprince" width="150" height="150" /></a><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/stacey-koprince/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stacey Koprince</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.</strong> Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/#instructor/86" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Stacey’s upcoming GMAT courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/analyze-gmat-practice-tests-part-1/">4 Steps to Analyze Your GMAT Practice Tests (Part 1)</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Does the GMAT Really Just Test Your Test-Taking Skills?</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/gmat-measures-test-taking-skills/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 01 Feb 2018 22:46:09 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Business Mindset]]></category> <category><![CDATA[For Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT 101]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Study Guide]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Taking the GMAT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Executive Reasoning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Skills]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Tricks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Test-Taking Skills]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=15125</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here. There are a lot of things the GMAT can’t measure. It can’t measure your intelligence, your value as a person, or your ability to succeed. […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/gmat-measures-test-taking-skills/">Does the GMAT Really Just Test Your Test-Taking Skills?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15180" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/01/gmat-test-taking-skills-chelsey-cooley.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Does the GMAT Really Just Test Your Test-Taking Skills? by Chelsey Cooley" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/01/gmat-test-taking-skills-chelsey-cooley.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/01/gmat-test-taking-skills-chelsey-cooley-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/01/gmat-test-taking-skills-chelsey-cooley-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/01/gmat-test-taking-skills-chelsey-cooley-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><b><i>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i></i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are a lot of things the GMAT can’t measure. It can’t measure your intelligence, your value as a person, or your ability to succeed. But is it really </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">just</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> about your test-taking skills? And if you’ve always done poorly on tests, are you doomed to GMAT failure? </span><span id="more-15125"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first time I really studied for a standardized test, I resented having to learn the “tricks.” By “tricks,” I mean things like </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2016/04/21/think-like-an-expert-how-when-to-work-backwards-on-gmat-problem-solving/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">plugging in the answer choices</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2016/04/28/boring-is-sometimes-best-on-gmat-verbal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">picking the most “boring” answer on a Verbal problem</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. In my mind, the test wasn’t rewarding me for being good at math or good at English. It was just rewarding me for memorizing a bunch of silly, useless test-taking tricks that I’d never use anywhere else. And that didn’t seem right to me. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now that I’ve been teaching standardized tests for close to a decade, I think about them a lot differently. I now think that the GMAT </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">does</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> do a very good job of measuring certain test-taking skills. If you reduce those skills to “silly, useless tricks,” you’re selling yourself and your learning short. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My mistake, when I started studying, was to think that admissions committees cared about whether I was great at math and English. Sure, the schools you’re applying to would like you to be comfortable with numbers and with formal, written English. That’s one reason that you need a basic level of math and verbal skill to succeed on the GMAT. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the content on the GMAT doesn’t go beyond a high-school level. That means that just about everyone who’s applying to business school, even those of us who hate math or grammar, can learn all of the math and grammar that the GMAT asks for. (And if you’re struggling to get started, why not check out </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/store/strategy-guides/foundations-of-gmat-math/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Foundations of GMAT Math</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/store/strategy-guides/foundations-of-verbal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Foundations of GMAT Verbal</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">?) In that sense, the GMAT is a fair test: it doesn’t expect you to understand concepts, like quantum physics, that ordinary people can’t wrap their heads around. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I resented having to learn “test-taking tricks,” I mistakenly thought that the test </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">really</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> wanted to evaluate my math and English skills, but the “tricks” were muddling everything up. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. The tricks </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">are</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the test, and succeeding on the “tricks” means developing test-taking skills that matter in business school. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take estimation, for instance. Every time you estimate the answer to a Quant problem, you’re demonstrating two skills. First, you’re demonstrating that you know</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> how</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to estimate. We aren’t born with that ability. But the ability to estimate is vastly more useful in life (and in business school) than the ability to, say, algebraically solve for the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle. Second, you’re demonstrating that you know </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">when</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to estimate, and when you really need an exact answer. That kind of high-level decision-making—</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">how precise of an answer do I really need?</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">—is a hallmark of people who are great at solving problems in general, not just on the GMAT. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Or think about time management. A lot of people will make GMAT time management sound like a trick: “you’ll get a higher score if you take more time on the first ten questions.” “You should never skip more than three questions in a row.” However, the reality is that there isn’t just one simple trick to managing your time on the GMAT. Good time management requires strong </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2013/06/03/what-the-gmat-really-tests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">executive reasoning skills</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Someone who successfully manages their time on the GMAT is someone who can make difficult decisions, with limited information, while under stress, even though the consequences of those decisions aren’t immediately obvious. Doesn’t that sound like the kind of person who would succeed in business school? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Sure, the GMAT isn’t really about math or English. But that doesn’t mean it’s just about how good you are at taking tests. It’s really about a whole constellation of skills, some of which you already have, and some of which you’ll need to develop. They include:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/articles/managing-stress-tips.cfm" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Stress management</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Resource management</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2013/06/03/what-the-gmat-really-tests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Executive reasoning</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2017/12/14/gmat-didnt-trick-you/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Humility</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2017/04/20/error-log-the-1-way-to-raise-your-gmat-score/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Self-reflection</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Patience</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Creative problem-solving</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are dozens of other life skills that will help you on the GMAT. (And the GMAT, in turn, will help you develop many of these skills!) We’re not talking about tricks like “always guess C” or “pick the shortest answer choice” here—we’re talking about test-taking skills that will actually serve you well in business school and beyond. So take some time to cultivate them, and don’t get too bogged down in learning more and more GMAT content. Once you’ve studied the basics, it’s really more about what you do with your knowledge than about how much you know. ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GMAT gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" data-pagespeed-url-hash="1615980074" data-pagespeed-onload="pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality(this);" data-pagespeed-loaded="1" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> </em></i></b><i><em>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170/170 on the GRE. </em></i><i><em><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/#instructor/336" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here</a>.</em></i></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/gmat-measures-test-taking-skills/">Does the GMAT Really Just Test Your Test-Taking Skills?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>