breadcrumbs

What’s Tested on GMAT Math

by

Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - What's Tested on GMAT Math by Chelsey Cooley

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 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.

What Math Rules Are Tested on GMAT Quant?

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.

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 Foundations of GMAT Math book!

GMAT math rules about numbers:

Algebra rules:

Rules about divisibility and primes:

Geometry rules:

  • Areas of squares, rectangles, trapezoids, triangles, circles, and complex shapes
  • Circumference, diameter, and radius of a circle
  • Relationships between angles: supplementary, complementary, or angles that are part of the same shape
  • The relationship between the sides and angles of a triangle
  • The maximum and minimum lengths for the third side of a triangle
  • The Pythagorean Theorem
  • The ratios of side lengths for 45-45-90 and 30-60-90 right triangles
  • The properties of 3-4-5 and 5-12-13 triangles
  • How to identify similar triangles, and what properties they have
  • Plotting a point on a graph, given its coordinates
  • Approximating the coordinates of a point, given its location on a graph
  • Plotting a line on a graph, given its equation
  • Approximating the equation of a line from its graph
  • Finding the x-intercept, y-intercept, and slope of a line

Special rules:

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: knowing which rule to use, and knowing how to apply the rule. 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.

GMAT Math Strategies and Processes

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.

Story problems:

Data Sufficiency:

  • Know the Data Sufficiency answer choices
  • Know what ‘sufficient’ and ‘insufficient’ mean
  • Know how to prove that a statement is sufficient
  • Know how to prove that a statement is insufficient
  • Use the process of elimination to find the right answer to a DS problem
  • Know about yes/no and value Data Sufficiency problems
  • Know the most common ways to miss a Data Sufficiency problem and how to avoid them
  • Test cases to prove that a statement is sufficient or insufficient
  • Know which cases are most likely to work for which types of DS problems

Number Properties:

Other problems:

  • Be able to draw and label a geometry diagram based on a description
  • Know how to approach “must be true,” “must be false,” “could be true,” and “could be false” problems
  • Recognize the special quadratics and know how to simplify them quickly
  • Know how to simplify an exponent or root problem by breaking numbers up into their factors

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. Keeping an error log will go a long way towards helping you know which rules to use when, and how to use them.

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!

High-Level GMAT Math Skills

Above all, GMAT Math tests your executive reasoning 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. That’s a decision you need to make on your own. One of the most important GMAT Math skills is whether you can figure 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.

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 ways to avoid careless math mistakes.

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, you can improve your ability to focus!) 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. For instance, mindfulness practice may improve your working memory and reduce stress.

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 getting as much as possible out of every problem you do: not just math rules, but problem-solving techniques and high-level skills. That’s the secret to hitting a 700 GMAT score. ?

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. Check out our upcoming courses here.

Chelsey CooleyChelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington. 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. Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here.