Engineers and GMAT

Question

I would like to hear how difficult did engineers find GMAT exam?Which part was the most difficult.

VeritasPrepRon · Answer

Hi pionir, I'm not an engineer (computer science) but I've helped about two dozen engineers increase their GMAT scores and I'd say the consensus winner is the "verbal" section. Engineers tend to be good at math, and the math on the GMAT is only high school level, so the major sticking point tends to be the less familiar verbal section. Granted, a huge hurdle in the quant section is interpreting the question, so it's far from a trivial endeavor, even for people used to doing triple integrals and FFTs. Within the verbal section, I'd say Sentence Correction is probably the section that is toughest for most engineers, but that will vary widely with people's innate strengths and preferences.

Thanks!
-Ron

nikkigomes12 · Answer

Hi, according to me Verbal section is the most toughest one because normally students finds difficulty in finding error section in English. In Error detection and correction many students finds difficulty. So, all the students should not neglect this and should focus on this.

penguinman · Answer

Im an Aerospace Engineer, Quant (DS) and Verbal (SC) are the toughest sections for me.

jeffdill · Answer

Despite being an engineer I'm having the most trouble with quant. I was pretty good at calculus back in school but I'm stuck around 44-45Q. It's not really about knowing how to do the algebra, I think the harder part is just knowing WHAT the question is asking you to do to set up the initial equations. I'm working on it pretty hard though!

I think Sentence Correction is probably the second hardest. CR and RC are pretty easy for me, but I'm a native English speaker.

I think Sentence Correction is probably the second hardest. CR and RC are pretty easy for me, but I'm a native English speaker.

pionir · Answer

I'm expecting the same problem as you guys, english is my second language.
Thank you all.

Skag55 · Answer

Another Computer Scientist graduate here.

Glad to hear once more that I'm not the only one who finds PS questions tricky. I get the old "aaaah, yes" whenever I see the solution to a problem that I'm asking myself "how the hell am I supposed to solve that?", and as people said, it's setting up the initial equations.

So, is there a golden rule on how to approach PS? Seems like for every problem that I solve, there's another 10 that are worded a bit differently or ask a different thing and every time it feels like back to point zero (quite depressing I must say). Or is it just a case of solving 1 million of them :lol:

and eventually learning how to solve any given problem?

and eventually learning how to solve any given problem?

gaukharaya · Answer

Phew, thank universe there are other engineers struggling with Quants out there. Math is easy. What is not easy, is the hidden meaning behind question stem, what information it is trying to provide you with. It is up to you to extract necessary information. Lately, whenever I have an urge to do a long calc and/or equation I stop and ask myself: "what's the trick". Still it is very hard to interpret the question correctly so I also get my share of aha! moments. SC is very easy for me, the software I use provides a comprehensive manual on dealing with Verbal section.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi gaukharaya,

The Quant section of the GMAT isn't really a 'math test' (like the ones that you would have taken in High School or College); it's more of a critical thinking test that involves fairly straight-forward calculations. As such, taking an 'all math, all the time' approach will likely make that section more difficult to deal with. To score at the highest levels, you need a mix of solid math skills (although you don't have to be a 'math genius') and the Tactics, pattern-matching ability and knowledge of the little 'secrets' behind the Quant section.

1) How long have you been studying for the GMAT?
2) What materials have you been using?
3) How have you scored on your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

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