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Few businessmen have a stronger reputation as an innovator than does Steve Jobs. Jobs, a co-founder of Apple and its current CEO, is recognized with some of the most forward-thinking ideas in business: the personal computer, the iPod, the iPhone, the iTunes music distribution platform, Pixar’s CGI film capabilities, and the list goes on… If you are reading this article and want to go to business school, chances are you want to be just like Steve Jobs. You should also know, with complete certainty, that business schools are all competing to admit the next Steve Jobs, too. That is why the GMAT uses the Data Sufficiency question format, which may well be the standardized test world’s greatest tool to discover the next great innovator.
To understand why Steve Jobs would crush the quant section, consider the question:
What is the value of x?
(1) x2 = 9x
(2) 25 < x3 < 30
You’re likely tempted to select D, feeling that either statement means that x = 9, but Steve Jobs wouldn’t. The man who found a way to incorporate his calligraphy training into his computer programming would note that:
x2 = 9x means that x could be 9…but x could also be 0.
25 < x3 < 30 means that x could be 9, but it could also be a noninteger very close to 9.
Because both statements together are necessary to guarantee a value of x, the correct answer is C.
Jobs is praised throughout the business world for thinking outside the box, and Data Sufficiency is intended to reward you for doing the same. While human nature is to almost always think in terms of positive integers unless specifically instructed otherwise, Data Sufficiency will punish you for doing so, and reward you for thinking of all of the possibilities for a particular variable.
To promote that kind of Jobsian thinking, make sure you’re not vulnerable to making assumptions. You may want to write the following words at the top of your noteboard to help with Data Sufficiency:
Negative
Noninteger
0
Remind yourself to consider each of these types of numbers unless they are specifically prohibited, as those are numbers that you tend not to think about in day-to-day life, but that also have unique enough properties as to play a major role in Data Sufficiency questions.
The GMAT is designed to reward those who can think like effective CEOs and managers, and then report those candidates to business schools so that they can make appropriate admissions decisions. To become a stronger candidate, think like those top CEOs and consider all the options before making a decision. I rest my case.
Read more GMAT advice on the Veritas Prep blog. Ready to sign up for a GMAT course? Enroll through GMAT Club and save up to $180 (use discount code GMATC10)!
