iliavko wrote:
Hi everyone!
My Gmat is in 10 days and I have a problem. It's called "word problems"..
I am ok on other topics of GMAT, by OK I mean I am decent, sometimes I can solve, sometimes I can guess and it work fine. But when it comes to word problems, I am a dead man. Anything above 650 level is unsolvable for me. I just can't understand the situation, the formulas I have to use, how to set up the variables (I tend to set up 10 variables instead of 2) and of course, I have no clue on the correct equations. WPs below 650, I have perhaps a 50%-40% accuracy. If I am "lucky" to understand the situation when I see the question, maybe I will solve it. If I don't get it, it's not even worth trying, I will not understand it, it's a sure rule for me by now.
So is there any way to guess at 33% or 50% chance and not randomly guessing? Any blog\website you know? Google give me a gazillion links, but they all say the same techniques and honestly I couldn't find anything specific for word problems. A way to at least be able to set up the variable the right way would be nice! With 10 days to go I think it's too late, but I can give it a shot.
How many word problems are we likely to see on the exam? is it fine if we get like half of Word problems wrong?... (maybe 75% wrong?...) I am aiming for a 45 on quant and I will try to compensate it with a strong verbal.
Thank you for any advice!
Dear
iliavko,
I'm happy to respond.
Recently, I published these two blogs that you may find helpful.
1)
Intro to GMAT Word Problems, Part 1: Translating from Word to Math2)
Intro to GMAT Word Problems, Part 2: Assigning VariablesEach one of those has a set of practice problems with OE provided, so you may find those helpful.
I will say that, as in all math, it's hard to give general advice, because all real math happens in the details. Even guessing is very specific to the situations. It's important to know about strategies such as
backsolving, for example, and
estimation.
Here's what I'll say. For every word problem that you have gotten wrong, search for it here on GMAT Club. If it has never been posted, then you could start a new thread in the Quant section, but make sure that it is not anywhere to be found before you post a brand new thread. Find those problems, and read the expert approaches. If you don't find what you need there, feel free to ask how to guess on that particular question: you are more than welcome to solicit my help on such a page, using the "mention this user" button. If you get advice on enough problems, I think this will help you.
Does all this make sense?
Mike