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15 Apr 2015, 22:07
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I'm still struggling on quant problems and I've been working the Magoosh lessons. I notice that one of the methods that are used to solve problems is the table method (not sure if it has an official name). That's where you plug in values for variables and test them to see if you can prove insufficiency.
I understand that this may be the best method to arrive at an answer for certain types of problems... but my question is, is this practical? When you are trying to answer a question in two minutes, my first instinct is to avoid anything as time consuming as this method. Especially since the method is best to prove insufficiency, but doesn't do so well at proving sufficiency.
I haven't tackled a whole lot of practice problems yet, I'm still trying to learn some of the math concepts of the exam. On easy problems, I see how you might be able to do the table method in your head, but for 700 level problems, do students do these in their heads or do they create a full table like how it's done on the explanation videos?
I ask this because it would be good to know if I need to get better at doing this in my head, or do I need to find strategies to use the table method faster?
I understand that this may be the best method to arrive at an answer for certain types of problems... but my question is, is this practical? When you are trying to answer a question in two minutes, my first instinct is to avoid anything as time consuming as this method. Especially since the method is best to prove insufficiency, but doesn't do so well at proving sufficiency.
I haven't tackled a whole lot of practice problems yet, I'm still trying to learn some of the math concepts of the exam. On easy problems, I see how you might be able to do the table method in your head, but for 700 level problems, do students do these in their heads or do they create a full table like how it's done on the explanation videos?
I ask this because it would be good to know if I need to get better at doing this in my head, or do I need to find strategies to use the table method faster?
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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
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16 Apr 2015, 11:44
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Hi meshackb,
You're discussing a number of differing ideas in this post, so I'm going to break everything down in the order that you mentioned the various topics:
1) TESTing VALUES is a great tactic to use during the Quant section as it works on over half of the questions that you'll see on Test Day. You might not be an expert at this approach just yet, but you should WANT to become one because having that 'weapon' will help you to score at a higher level. It's a viable approach to many PS and DS questions (you just have to understand how to adapt the tactic to the given question that you're facing).
2) Your goal should NOT be to answer every question in 2 minutes. That's silly. The AVERAGE time per question is about 2 minutes, but that's because you have to answer 37 questions in 75 minutes. Certain questions can be answered relatively quickly (in under a minute), others are designed to take longer (up to 3 minutes). Your goal is to be efficient with your work and not waste time - that does NOT mean '2 minutes or less.' Your speed will very likely improve as you continue to practice.
3) Since you admit to not having practiced much, you're just not an expert yet. You have to develop (and hone) certain skills to score at a high level on this Test. Questioning those tactics before you've really practiced them is not a good use of your time - if you 'fight' the process, then everything will take longer (and likely cost more) than you anticipate.
4) You are NEVER expected to do work 'in your head', so you shouldn't try to. The silliest mistakes that you will ever make during your studies (and on Test Day) will occur when you decide not to write things down.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
You're discussing a number of differing ideas in this post, so I'm going to break everything down in the order that you mentioned the various topics:
1) TESTing VALUES is a great tactic to use during the Quant section as it works on over half of the questions that you'll see on Test Day. You might not be an expert at this approach just yet, but you should WANT to become one because having that 'weapon' will help you to score at a higher level. It's a viable approach to many PS and DS questions (you just have to understand how to adapt the tactic to the given question that you're facing).
2) Your goal should NOT be to answer every question in 2 minutes. That's silly. The AVERAGE time per question is about 2 minutes, but that's because you have to answer 37 questions in 75 minutes. Certain questions can be answered relatively quickly (in under a minute), others are designed to take longer (up to 3 minutes). Your goal is to be efficient with your work and not waste time - that does NOT mean '2 minutes or less.' Your speed will very likely improve as you continue to practice.
3) Since you admit to not having practiced much, you're just not an expert yet. You have to develop (and hone) certain skills to score at a high level on this Test. Questioning those tactics before you've really practiced them is not a good use of your time - if you 'fight' the process, then everything will take longer (and likely cost more) than you anticipate.
4) You are NEVER expected to do work 'in your head', so you shouldn't try to. The silliest mistakes that you will ever make during your studies (and on Test Day) will occur when you decide not to write things down.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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!
