General Q

Hey guys,

Speaking of the "reduced form" fractions and "one less thing to worry about", let me just add a quick strategic tip.

Because the answer choices are overwhelmingly-usually (probably "always", but I try not to commit to that unless I know for certain) in their reduced form, you can use the answer choices to help you reduce any fractions in your calculations.

For example, say that your calculations lead you down to 124/93.

This is an ugly reduction...you probably won't notice right away that you can factor a 31 out of both numerator and denominator. But you don't have to - there are answer choices in front of you, such as:

A) 6/5
B) 5/4
C) 4/3
D) 3/2
E) 11/9

Instead of working on the initial fraction, you can look at the answer choices to determine that A is wrong (the denominator 93 clearly cannot be broken into 5*something); B is wrong (same reason - the numerator can't be broken out into a 5, and the denominator is odd so it won't break into a 4); C is possibly okay (numerator is even and denominator is divisible by 3...it could work); D is wrong (the denominator can't factor into 2*anything) and E is wrong (the denominator doesn't break out into a 9). Therefore, because C is the only "plausible" choice by a quick glance at the answer choices using quick-glance divisibility rules, C must be correct.

The same will be true of roots, too - the GMAT will put its answers in their reduced form, but your non-reduced numbers are still "correct" - you can then use the answer choices to guide you as you factor them down to the form in which they'll match the possible choices.