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10 Oct 2016, 08:28
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi everyone,
Excited to announce my new 16-page PDF guide: Top 3 GMAT Arithmetic Shortcuts!
https://yourgmatcoach.withcoach.com/fre ... -shortcuts
I've excerpted it below so you can see what you're getting--any thoughts or comments much appreciated!
Rowan
The Problem
“How can anyone do math without a calculator?”
“I just don’t have the confidence that I can calculate it without a calculator.” “I’m too slow.”
“It’s just that I use Excel all the time at work so I’m not used to calculating...”
“I was always more of a humanities person. I didn’t get a degree in French Literature because I was good at math.”
Do any of these sound like you? You’re not alone.
It’s understandable to feel that--on top of the GMAT presenting the most fearsome math exam you’ve seen since high school-it has hamstrung you by denying you the use of a calculator!
Psychology Affects Performance
There’s a bit of truth to this: the GMAT often does things just to “psych you out.” Denying the use of a calculator is undoubtedly one of them.
However, there is a plus side to this. Unlike the exams you’ve seen previously, GMAT answers must always work out cleanly. They have to fit in to one of the five answer choices.
That is, it’s not like your high school teacher’s random exams where no thought goes in to making the questions approachable. The answers themselves might be horrible decimals, but what does it matter? Everyone is using a calculator.
The Real World
This is why Physicists and Engineers use calculators all the time. The Real World doesn’t provide “pretty” numbers and we need to get things pretty close to exact. If we don’t, the bridge doesn’t stand up or the airplane doesn’t fly.
Crunching arbitrary numbers and getting arbitrary answers is actually the name of the game.
Luckily for us, the GMAT isn’t the Real World.
Then What the Hell is It?
The GMAT isn’t really a math exam, per se. It’s a series of finely-tuned logic puzzles that are designed to work in a certain way and to be solved in two minutes or less. Always.
If you don’t have a two-minute method to solve the problem, you’re doing it wrong.
The way to do this is to assume there is a “trap door” or “clever trick” to solve each question. Sometimes even doing it the “long way” can be done in the two-minute time frame.
Nevertheless, there are a lot of ways to speed up calculation. That's what the rest of the guide is:)
https://yourgmatcoach.withcoach.com/fre ... -shortcuts
Excited to announce my new 16-page PDF guide: Top 3 GMAT Arithmetic Shortcuts!
https://yourgmatcoach.withcoach.com/fre ... -shortcuts
I've excerpted it below so you can see what you're getting--any thoughts or comments much appreciated!
Rowan
The Problem
“How can anyone do math without a calculator?”
“I just don’t have the confidence that I can calculate it without a calculator.” “I’m too slow.”
“It’s just that I use Excel all the time at work so I’m not used to calculating...”
“I was always more of a humanities person. I didn’t get a degree in French Literature because I was good at math.”
Do any of these sound like you? You’re not alone.
It’s understandable to feel that--on top of the GMAT presenting the most fearsome math exam you’ve seen since high school-it has hamstrung you by denying you the use of a calculator!
Psychology Affects Performance
There’s a bit of truth to this: the GMAT often does things just to “psych you out.” Denying the use of a calculator is undoubtedly one of them.
However, there is a plus side to this. Unlike the exams you’ve seen previously, GMAT answers must always work out cleanly. They have to fit in to one of the five answer choices.
That is, it’s not like your high school teacher’s random exams where no thought goes in to making the questions approachable. The answers themselves might be horrible decimals, but what does it matter? Everyone is using a calculator.
The Real World
This is why Physicists and Engineers use calculators all the time. The Real World doesn’t provide “pretty” numbers and we need to get things pretty close to exact. If we don’t, the bridge doesn’t stand up or the airplane doesn’t fly.
Crunching arbitrary numbers and getting arbitrary answers is actually the name of the game.
Luckily for us, the GMAT isn’t the Real World.
Then What the Hell is It?
The GMAT isn’t really a math exam, per se. It’s a series of finely-tuned logic puzzles that are designed to work in a certain way and to be solved in two minutes or less. Always.
If you don’t have a two-minute method to solve the problem, you’re doing it wrong.
The way to do this is to assume there is a “trap door” or “clever trick” to solve each question. Sometimes even doing it the “long way” can be done in the two-minute time frame.
Nevertheless, there are a lot of ways to speed up calculation. That's what the rest of the guide is:)
https://yourgmatcoach.withcoach.com/fre ... -shortcuts
Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Quantitative Questions Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
29 Sep 2017, 09:10
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi GMATters,
This was posted a while back but in case you missed it, this is a free 16-page guide detailing my favorite arithmetic shortcuts--let's face it, you're probably doing more calculation than necessary.
https://yourgmatcoach.withcoach.com/fre ... -shortcuts
Here's a sample:
The Three Techniques
There are three techniques that come up over and over to aid rapid calculation on the GMAT.
Remember that the question is a puzzle that is designed to fall apart if you press it in just the right place.
It’s perfectly acceptable to use anything that is given—including the answer choices themselves—as a way to guide you toward the correct answer.
Most importantly, that’s to get within 20% of the correct answer. Think about it like this: if you have five choices, each one is worth 20%.
As soon as you’re 81% sure it’s choice B, then it’s no longer a guess! 81% is as good as 100% when you’re limited by the answer choices.
That means there is a lot of dotting of Is and crossing of Ts that simply doesn’t need to happen on this exam.
Among these problems is most basic Arithmetic.
After all, this is a Management exam and you can always pay someone to count the beans for you. What the Management exam tests you on is conceptual flexibility and decision-making skill.
The numbers side of it is just a precise language used to describe the over-arching logic of the problem.
Once you see the shortcuts, it will make it easier to dig into the actual logic of the problem.
Let’s look at the three methods:
--Digits vs. Decimals --LTR vs. RTL Estimation --Pulling out Primes
Get the free PDF here: https://yourgmatcoach.withcoach.com/fre ... -shortcuts
This was posted a while back but in case you missed it, this is a free 16-page guide detailing my favorite arithmetic shortcuts--let's face it, you're probably doing more calculation than necessary.
https://yourgmatcoach.withcoach.com/fre ... -shortcuts
Here's a sample:
The Three Techniques
There are three techniques that come up over and over to aid rapid calculation on the GMAT.
Remember that the question is a puzzle that is designed to fall apart if you press it in just the right place.
It’s perfectly acceptable to use anything that is given—including the answer choices themselves—as a way to guide you toward the correct answer.
Most importantly, that’s to get within 20% of the correct answer. Think about it like this: if you have five choices, each one is worth 20%.
As soon as you’re 81% sure it’s choice B, then it’s no longer a guess! 81% is as good as 100% when you’re limited by the answer choices.
That means there is a lot of dotting of Is and crossing of Ts that simply doesn’t need to happen on this exam.
Among these problems is most basic Arithmetic.
After all, this is a Management exam and you can always pay someone to count the beans for you. What the Management exam tests you on is conceptual flexibility and decision-making skill.
The numbers side of it is just a precise language used to describe the over-arching logic of the problem.
Once you see the shortcuts, it will make it easier to dig into the actual logic of the problem.
Let’s look at the three methods:
--Digits vs. Decimals --LTR vs. RTL Estimation --Pulling out Primes
Get the free PDF here: https://yourgmatcoach.withcoach.com/fre ... -shortcuts
Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Quantitative Questions Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
