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	<title>fractions &#8211; GRE</title>
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		<title>What&#8217;s Tested on GRE Math</title>
		<link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/whats-tested-on-gre-math/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Apr 2019 21:49:29 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GRE 101]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GRE Quant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Math]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Math Basics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taking the GRE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[absolute value]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[algebra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arithmetic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decimals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Divisibility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Executive Reasoning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Exponents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[formulas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fractions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Functions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[geometry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inequalities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Number Properties]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Percents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ratios]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sequences]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Statistics]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=12353</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>GRE Math is a bit like high school math, without some of the hardest parts: for instance, you don’t have to write proofs or show your work! Here’s a quick rundown of the GRE Math skills required to conquer the Quant section, along with some of our best GRE Math tips. GRE Math Rules to [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/whats-tested-on-gre-math/">What&#8217;s Tested on GRE Math</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-12356" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/whatstestedongremath.jpg" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - What's Tested on GRE Math by Chelsey Cooley" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/whatstestedongremath.jpg 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/whatstestedongremath-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/whatstestedongremath-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/whatstestedongremath-1024x536.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">GRE Math is a bit like high school math, without some of the hardest parts: for instance, you don’t have to write proofs or show your work! Here’s a quick rundown of the GRE Math skills required to conquer the Quant section, along with some of our best GRE Math tips. </span><span id="more-12353"></span></p>
<h4><b>GRE Math Rules to Memorize</b></h4>
<p>You can’t bring a <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/creating-your-own-gre-quant-cheat-sheets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cheat sheet</a> to the GRE, so you’ll need to memorize a number of GRE Math rules. This list isn’t exhaustive, but it does cover the different types of basic math rules and operations you’ll need to know on test day. It <i>doesn’t</i> cover problem-solving skills—we’ll look at those in a moment.</p>
<p><b>Arithmetic:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to add, subtract, multiply, and divide positive and negative numbers</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to round numbers</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to use the order of operations (PEMDAS) to simplify a complicated expression</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Algebra:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to simplify one or more equations and solve for the value of a variable or variables</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to find the solutions of a quadratic equation, and how to create a quadratic equation by multiplying binomials</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Inequalities and Absolute Values:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The meanings of ‘inequality,’ ‘absolute value,’ and related terms</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to graph absolute values and inequalities on a number line, and how to interpret what you see on a number line</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-for-people-who-hate-math-absolute-value/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to solve equations and simplify expressions containing one or more absolute values</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/manipulating-inequalities-and-absolute-values-on-the-gre/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to simplify an inequality and/or combine multiple inequalities together</span></a></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Functions, Formulas, and Sequences:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The definition of a function, such as f(x) = 2x, and how to use it</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The definition of a sequence, such as S</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>x</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> = S</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><sub>x-1</sub></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> + 3, and how to use it</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to find missing terms in a sequence</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Fractions and Decimals:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions and decimals</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to simplify a fraction</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to simplify a complex expression containing multiple fractions and/or decimals</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to convert back and forth between fractions and decimals</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Percents:</b></p>
<ul>
<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;">How to find a certain 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;">How to find a number that is a certain percent higher or lower than another</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to convert between percents, fractions, and decimals</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Ratios:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-for-people-who-hate-math-ratios/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The ratio between two given numbers</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to find unknown values, given information about their ratio with other values</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Divisibility:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The definitions of divisibility terms, such as ‘divisible,’ ‘divisor,’ ‘factor,’ ‘prime factor,’ ‘multiple,’ ‘integer,’ etc. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to find divisors, prime factors, and multiples of a number</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-for-people-who-hate-math-remainder-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to find the remainder when one number is divided by another</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to determine whether one number is divisible by another</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Quick rules for divisibility (such as the rules for whether a number is divisible by 3 or 9)</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-prime-factorization-and-divisibility-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The relationship between divisibility and prime factors</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first 10 prime numbers</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Exponents and Roots:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/lets-have-fun-with-gre-exponents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to add, subtract, multiply, and divide various combinations of numbers and variables with exponents</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The rules about negative versus positive numbers and exponents</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to find the square root of a given number</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The perfect squares up to 20</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">2</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Number Properties:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What happens when you add, subtract, multiply, and divide positive and negative numbers</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What happens when you add, subtract, multiply, and divide even and odd numbers</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Methods to find the units digit of a large unknown number</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Statistics:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The definitions of mean, median, range, mode, quartile, percentile, and standard deviation</span></li>
</ul>
<h4><b>Geometry Rules for GRE Math</b></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Geometry gets its own section, because it involves a lot of rules! Make your geometry flashcards early in your GRE Math studies, and review them often. Here are the basics.</span></p>
<p><b>Basic Triangles:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The area of a triangle</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rules regarding the side lengths and perimeter of a triangle, and the relationship between angles and side lengths</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The definition and properties of isosceles and equilateral triangles</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The sum of the angles of a triangle</span></li>
</ul>
<p><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-for-people-who-hate-math-right-triangles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b>Right Triangles:</b></a></p>
<ul>
<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 ‘special right triangles’ which have integer side lengths, such as the 3-4-5 triangle</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The properties of 30-60-90 and 45-45-90 triangles</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Circles:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The relationship between the radius, diameter, circumference, and area of a circle</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Quadrilaterals:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Identifying different types of quadrilaterals</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The area and perimeter of a square, rectangle, and parallelogram</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Other Shapes:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to break down a complex shape into smaller shapes to find its area or perimeter</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The relationship between the number of sides of a polygon and the sum of its angles</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to find the volume and surface area of basic 3-dimensional figures</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to find the area of the border surrounding another shape</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Coordinate Geometry:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to draw points and lines in a plane based on their equations</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to identify the approximate equation of a line or the coordinates of a point based on a graph</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to use algebra to determine whether a particular point is on a particular line</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which points appear in which quadrants of the coordinate plane</span></li>
</ul>
<h4><b>GRE Math Problem-Solving Skills</b></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Knowing the rules is only the first part of mastering GRE Math. You’ll also need to learn certain methods for solving different types of problems—and how to recognize those problems in the first place. Here are a few of the most important problem-solving techniques for GRE Math.</span></p>
<p><b>Overall GRE Quant Skills:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to quickly predict whether you’re likely to get a problem right or wrong, so that you can decide whether to guess</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to make quick, reasonable guesses on tough problems</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How often to look at the clock during each Quant section, and what to do if you’re behind on time</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Discrete Quant/Word Problems:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-word-problems-tricks-traps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to translate text into equations</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-for-people-who-hate-math-what-is-a-variable-really/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to identify unknown values in a problem and turn them into variables</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Strategies for common specific types of word problems, such as overlapping sets, rates, weighted averages, and </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-percent-change-questions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">percent change</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/a-step-by-step-guide-to-multiple-workers-gre-rates-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to translate a problem about rates and work into a rate/work/time equation</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to translate a problem about parts and wholes into equations involving percents, fractions, decimals, and/or ratios</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/using-smart-numbers-to-avoid-algebra-on-the-gre/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How and when to use Smart Numbers to solve a Discrete Quant problem</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-for-people-who-hate-math-backsolving/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How and when to work backwards to solve a Discrete Quant problem</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How and when to test cases</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Quantitative Comparisons:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to simplify the quantities and the given information</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/heres-how-to-know-which-cases-to-test-on-gre-quantitative-comparison-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to choose appropriate cases</span></a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Strategies to prove answer choice D</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Data Interpretation:</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-for-people-who-hate-math-data-interpretation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to interpret information from various types of graphs, including line graphs, bar graphs, and pie charts</span></a></li>
</ul>
<h4><b>Polishing Your GRE Math Skills</b></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Memorizing math rules and mastering problem-solving strategies are starting points for GRE Math. However, even if two people know exactly the same list of math techniques, they can end up with very different GRE Math scores. The difference lies in what the GRE is </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">really</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> testing: executive reasoning skills.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Executive reasoning” refers to the type of high-level thinking you use when you have to make tough decisions, quickly, with limited time and information. You’ll need to do that, over and over again, as you take the GRE! You don’t get to spend all the time you’d like on every GRE Math problem. You also don’t get to test out multiple approaches to each problem until you find the perfect one. You need to set priorities and make the strategic moves that will maximize your score—even though that sometimes means guessing on ones you might be able to get right.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Don’t think that memorizing math rules is the main goal of your GRE Math studies. You should also spend plenty of time doing problems. And when you do problems, at least some of the time, do them in </span><b>timed, random sets</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><b>use a timer while you practice</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Also, when you fill out your </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-problem-log-quant/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">problem log</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, review problems that you spent too much time on, or where you picked an inefficient approach, even if you got them right in the end. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are other GRE Math skills, too. One GRE Math skill is your ability to handle test anxiety and mental fatigue. GRE Math experts are those who improve their test-taking stamina ahead of time so that they won’t get worn out on test day. They also address test anxiety head-on, rather than ignoring it and hoping that it goes away! Check out our </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/managing-gre-anxiety-before-test-day/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">GRE anxiety reduction tips</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for some ways to do this yourself. The GRE Math section also tests focus: can you pay careful attention to every single problem and avoid missing details and making careless mistakes? Luckily, </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/your-attention-please/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">focus can be trained</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and there are many ways to </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/careless-gre-math-mistakes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">avoid careless errors on test day</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You might not need geometry and inequalities in graduate school or in your career. However, you’ll definitely need some of the core GRE Math skills: executive reasoning, decision-making, focus, attention, and the ability to stay relaxed under pressure. Studying GRE Math is a unique chance to push yourself, grow, and hone your skills. ?</span></p>
<hr />
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<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&#038;utm_medium=blog&#038;utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&#038;utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" 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-pin-nopin="true" /></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 170Q/170V on the GRE. </em></i><i><em><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/48" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GRE prep offerings here</a>.</em></i></p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/whats-tested-on-gre-math/">What&#8217;s Tested on GRE Math</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p>
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			</item>
		<item>
		<title>This Fraction Problem Is Harder Than It Looks</title>
		<link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/this-fraction-problem-is-harder-than-it-looks/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Stacey Koprince]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:41:11 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Math]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fractions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[quant]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/?p=4859</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve spoken with multiple students lately who received a disappointing (lower than they were expecting) score on the quant section and who all said that the quant felt relatively easy or straightforward. How is that possible? First of all, thinking that a test like the GRE is easy is actually a warning sign: unless you [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/this-fraction-problem-is-harder-than-it-looks/">This Fraction Problem Is Harder Than It Looks</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" src="//cdn.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2000/iStock_000019272066XSmall.jpg" alt="hard GRE problem" align="right" style="margin: 5px;padding: 0;border: 0">I&#8217;ve spoken with multiple students lately who received a disappointing (lower than they were expecting) score on the quant section and who all said that the quant felt relatively easy or straightforward. How is that possible?</p>
<p>First of all, thinking that a test like the GRE is easy is actually a warning sign: unless you are poised to get a perfect score, chances are you&#8217;re missing something. Some of the questions are really very challenging and they should feel hard even to someone like me (who did get a perfect score on this test! <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> ).</p>
<p>Second, the test writers are phenomenal at writing questions that don&#8217;t seem all that complicated but are in fact your worst nightmare. My worst nightmare is not an impossible question “ I know I can&#8217;t do it, so I just pick an answer and move on. My worst nightmare is a question that I think I can do, and I spend a decent chunk of time doing it, and then I get it wrong anyway “ even though I&#8217;m sure I got it right!</p>
<p>The problem I&#8217;ve chosen is actually a GMAT problem; I chose it because it perfectly illustrates the point that I&#8217;m trying to make, and it is actually in the same form as GRE problems. Try this GMATPrep problem and you might see what I mean. Set your timer for 2 minutes. and GO!</p>
<blockquote><p>*  Of the 3,600 employees of Company X, 1/3 are clerical. If the clerical staff were to be reduced by 1/3, what percent of the total number of the remaining employees would then be clerical?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(A) 25%<em></em></p>
<p>(B) 22.2%</p>
<p>(C) 20%</p>
<p>(D) 12.5%</p>
<p>(E) 11.1%</p></blockquote>
<p>What&#8217;s hard about this one? It looks completely straightforward!</p>
<p><span id="more-4859"></span><br />
Hmm so I have 3,600 employees and 1/3 are clerical. That&#8217;s easy: 1,200 are clerical. Then I need to take 1/3 of that, so that&#8217;s 400. They want the percent of the total, so 400/3600 = 4/36 = 1/9 = ugh. Let&#8217;s see, a little quick long division right, 1/9 is 11.1%. Answer E. Done!</p>
<p>Where&#8217;s my mistake? Go find it. (Actually, find both of them.) Also note that my wrong answer was right there in the answer choices!!</p>
<p>Oh, I see what I did! I correctly found 1/3 of 1,200, which is 400, but that&#8217;s how many are getting laid off. The remaining number is 1,200 “ 400 = 800. Argh! Okay, 800/3600 = 2/9 = 22.2%. The answer is B.</p>
<p>Sigh. Nope. Still wrong. Nightmare!</p>
<p>Okay, let&#8217;s try this again, step by painful step. Before I show the correct solution, see if you can figure out how to calculate the other two incorrect solutions. I&#8217;ll explain at the end.</p>
<blockquote><p>Of the 3,600 employees of Company X, 1/3 are clerical.</p></blockquote>
<p>There are 3,600 employees. 1/3 of the employees are clerical. (3600)(1/3) = 1200. So far so good: there are 1,200 clerical employees.</p>
<blockquote><p>If the clerical staff were to be reduced by 1/3</p></blockquote>
<p>Okay, this was one of my mistakes. The clerical staff is reduced by (1200)(1/3) = 400, so the remaining staff equals 800.</p>
<blockquote><p>what percent of the total number of the remaining employees would then be clerical?</p></blockquote>
<p>What is the total number of the remaining employees? Oh. The <em>remaining</em> employees. I started with 3,600, but I just laid off 400, so there are only 3,200 remaining. Here&#8217;s my second mistake. So the actual calculation should have been 800 / 3200 = 8 / 32 = 1/4. The correct answer (for real this time!) is 25%, or answer A.</p>
<p>Note to those who got this one right: you can see how easy it would be to make any of those other mistakes, right? Imagine the pressure of test day, you know this is the real thing, you&#8217;re worried about the timing&#8230; and all those things just make these little mistakes even more likely. So, just because you got it right <em>this </em>time doesn&#8217;t mean that you&#8217;re immune to making these kinds of mistakes in general.</p>
<p>One more note before we talk about the other two wrong answers. When working directly with students, I notice repeatedly that the most common time for careless errors comes towards the end of the problem when the student feels that s/he has already cracked it. I do the same thing: we know now that we&#8217;re going to get it right, so we want to finish it off as quickly as possible, and we sort of start to look forward to the next problem already. And then BAM! Careless error. (And, of course, the wrong answer is usually in the mix of answers, because the test writers have done their homework and figured out what errors we&#8217;re most likely to make!)</p>
<p>Did you figure out how to get to wrong answers C (20%) or D (12.5%)? Answer D is a result of a mistake we&#8217;ve already seen: incorrectly using 400 instead of 800 for the remaining clerical employees. In this case, though, we would use the correct figure of 3,200 for the denominator: 400/3200 = 4/32 = 1/8 = 12.5%.</p>
<p>For C, 20%, I didn&#8217;t find a really obvious way to get to that error. In looking at the mix of answers, though, I think it&#8217;s possible that the question-writer thought, Hmm, the correct answer is 25% and then the 3 wrong answers are all weird numbers with decimals. So I&#8217;d like to have another normal answer in the mix. Then, nobody will pick 25% just because it looks nice, since 20% will also be there. And maybe people will actually think that it must be one of the weird numbers, since there are three of those, so test-takers who have to guess will be less likely to guess 25%. Perfect! I&#8217;m done writing this problem.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Key Takeaways for This looks pretty easy! Problems:</strong></p>
<p>(1) Be alert: there&#8217;s a pretty good chance that the problem is not as easy as it looks. The GRE test-writers have mastered the art of making a problem look easier than it is.</p>
<p>(2) Take the problem step-by-step. Write out ALL of your work. (You should be doing this anyway on all quant problems “ it doesn&#8217;t take less time to write <em>while you&#8217;re thinking</em>, and you will save yourself many careless mistakes if you do actually write out your work.)</p>
<p>(3) Watch out for the I&#8217;ve got this / I&#8217;m almost done! distraction. When you think you&#8217;ve cracked the problem, then focus in even more “ I&#8217;m going to get this and I&#8217;m not going to make a last-minute mistake! Don&#8217;t start thinking about the next problem, or where you are in the section, or whether you might not need to save a little bit of time by speeding up now that you know what you&#8217;re doing, or I can&#8217;t wait till this stupid test is over!! No. Finish this problem. Then move to the next one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>* GMATPrep questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/this-fraction-problem-is-harder-than-it-looks/">This Fraction Problem Is Harder Than It Looks</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p>
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