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FROM Veritas Prep Blog: Past Perfect without Past Tense on GMAT Sentence Correction Questions |
Recall the golden rule of past perfect tense – The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past. We often ignore the “something happened before a specific time in the past” part of the tense. For example, look at this sentence: Robin had never cooked pasta before last night. Here, we use past perfect “had cooked” without another verb in the past tense – why? Because we use past perfect to show that something happened before a specific time in the past i.e. before last night. Similarly, sometimes in GMAT too, you may see past perfect where it seems reasonable but you may not find a verb in past tense. It could be because an action happened before a specific time in the past or there is an implied action in the past. There is a reason why we brought up this point – check out the sentence given below: According to some economists, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a ‘soft landing’. The sentence is similar to a correct sentence given in Official Guide. Note the use of “had feared” – many people question the use of past perfect here. The reason past perfect is correct here is this: “According to some economists” implies an action in the past – something similar to “Some economists said” or in other words, it implies a specific time in the past – the time when the economists expressed their opinion. In the sentence, “earlier in the year” is a time before the economists expressed their opinion and hence it makes sense to use past perfect. In such cases, our use of common sense is more important than the mere retention of grammar rules. Another thing that helps in such situations is that all other options would have a major fault. Let’s show you the actual OG question: Question: According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a “soft landing,” followed by a gradual increase in business activity. (A) that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come (B) in the economy to avoid the recession, what many feared earlier in the year, rather to come (C) in the economy’s ability to avoid the recession, something earlier in the year many had feared, and instead to come (D) in the economy to avoid the recession many were fearing earlier in the year, and rather to come (E) that the economy will avoid the recession that was feared earlier this year by many, with it instead coming Let’s look at the errors in the other options: (B) in the economy to avoid the recession, what many feared earlier in the year, rather to come You cannot use “what” in place of “which”. Also, the use of “confidence in A to avoid” is not correct. It should be “confidence that A will avoid”. (C) in the economy’s ability to avoid the recession, something earlier in the year many had feared, and instead to come The placement of “earlier in the year” is incorrect here. It should come after “had feared”. (D) in the economy to avoid the recession many were fearing earlier in the year, and rather to come Again, the use of “confidence in A to avoid” is not correct. It should be “confidence that A will avoid”. (E) that the economy will avoid the recession that was feared earlier this year by many, with it instead coming “With it instead coming” doesn’t make any sense so this option isn’t correct either. So we see that all other options have fatal flaws. Hence, in this case, option (A) is our best bet even though the use of past perfect isn’t the way we usually see it. Karishma, a Computer Engineer with a keen interest in alternative Mathematical approaches, has mentored students in the continents of Asia, Europe and North America. She teaches the GMAT for Veritas Prep and regularly participates in content development projects such as this blog! |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: College Considerations: Location, Location, Location |
Many students create their college list based on the US News & World Report rankings or Associated Press Football Bowl. However, students are much better served by reviewing colleges and considering other important factors that may not be as glamorous as school prestige. Here are three that are often forgotten but play a major role in your day-to-day life on campus: Weather There are those who shrug off temperature change as irrelevant. This can be problematic and it is why it is important to consider weather in your decision making process. A lot of high school students from Los Angeles and San Diego are naturally used to sunny skies throughout the year. It’s certainly a change of pace to go to places that have four seasons or storms and snowfall during winter. The same could be said about those who love the snow or enjoy humidity and completely change climates. Studies show weather has a significant effect on people’s moods and behavior. If someone is used to the sunshine in December, and then have to trudge through freezing temperatures during their freshman, it can have adverse effects for one’s experience and even challenge you to get to class. Campus Clubs Clubs and student associations are huge in college. Outside of living in the dorms, clubs are the best way to make friends and find people with similar interests. Most big colleges have a plethora to choose from, and at least one or two will align with your passions. Keep in mind that just because they are listed on the school website doesn’t mean they have strong participation. It’s important to do a second level of due diligence to make sure that clubs of interest actually have student involvement. That being said, it’s always possible to start your own club! Look for opportunities for events or fairs on campus and see if you can recruit others who would be interested. Community Location is essential. If you are looking for that quintessential college town feel, an urban campus probably isn’t your best bet. However, if you want to be near professional sports teams and other big city attractions, going to a small town sixty miles from anywhere will negatively impact your experience. Be sure to keep in mind the type of community you want to surround yourself with when looking at prospective universities and be sure to note the local scene when going for campus tours. There is no perfect college, but there is a perfect fit for you! It’s always better to look for a college that suits your personality and interests as well as one that offers the curriculum you want to study. The above factors deserve consideration when thinking of your top 10 College List and ultimately, picking a University that works for you. Need more guidance in planning for college? Visit our College Admissions website and fill out our FREE College profile evaluation! Jake Davidson is a Mork Family Scholar at USC and enjoys writing for the school paper as well as participating in various clubs. He has been tutoring privately since the age of 15 and is incredibly excited to help students succeed on the SAT. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: 4 Factors to Consider When Determining if a Part Time MBA Program is the Right Choice for You |
Most MBA programs offer multiple options for business students to pursue a graduate education in business. For many people, the full-time, all-encompassing two-year commitment does not fit into current personal and professional realities. If you are interested in pursuing an MBA, one of the most efficient ways to balance out your professional career goals with the realities of life can be to pursue admission at a part-time program. A part-time MBA program allows students to take classes towards an MBA while still working. For some, this set-up is an ideal way to reach career goals. Let’s discuss a few reasons why a part-time MBA may be right for you. Timing On average, part-time programs tend to attract an older student body. For some older students, taking two years off from life and a career is not a realistic option. Factor in the greater likelihood of an older applicant having a family or children and a part-time MBA can become a much more attractive option. Financial For many applicants the burden of a full time MBA tuition with no incoming salary can be extremely challenging. As a part-time student you will have the option to generate income while simultaneously taking classes and moving closer to your career goals. In some instances, employers will pay tuition for these programs with the promise of the employee returning to the firm for a pre-determined timeframe. Both of these scenarios can lessen the financial burden of an MBA. Career Impact If leaving the workforce for two years in your career path would set you back, a part-time MBA may be a preferred option. Industries like technology where the rate of change moves extremely fast can make it difficult for budding business students to leave the workforce for two years. The ability to learn while doing and to implement classroom studies directly at a full time job is attractive for many candidates. Career Change If you are not trying to make an immediate career switch post-MBA then a part-time program may be the best fit. For applicants looking to make a major career switch a full-time MBA tends to be more appropriate given the summer internship. Many part-time students are also able to make career changes as well but this change is much easier to execute in a full-time program. Pursuing a part-time program is a great way to get an MBA, just make sure the program is a good fit for your current personal and professional situation as well as what your are looking to get out of your MBA experience. Which program is right for you? Call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. As always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! Dozie A. is a Veritas Prep Head Consultant for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His specialties include consulting, marketing, and low GPA/GMAT applicants. Find more of his articles here. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: Veritas Prep's Top-Rated Instructor Comes to India on March 29! |
For some time now, Veritas Prep team member Ravi Sreerama has been regarded as the best GMAT instructor in the industry (see for yourself!) Whether he’s leading GMAT courses in Los Angeles or training students worldwide in our Next-Generation Live Online GMAT Course, Ravi keeps growing his legion of loyal followers. They want to score in the 99th percentile on the GMAT, and Ravi knows how to help them do it. No, for the first time ever, Ravi will take his show on the road: Starting March 29, Ravi will lead a seven-day Immersion Course in New Delhi! Our Immersion Course format is entirely unique — you cover all 36 hours of the traditional Veritas Prep Full Course GMAT curriculum, but do so over seven straight days. Six of those days feature six hours of GMAT instruction each, with a break in the middle of the week. The schedule is as follows:
And, of course, you get all of the other benefits of being in a Veritas Prep Immersion Course, including the camaraderie that comes from spending seven days with a group of like-minded, ambitious GMAT students. You also receive:
By Scott Shrum |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: SAT Tip of the Week: Here is How You Solve ANY Circle Problem |
Circle problems are one of the toughest things for students to master on the SAT math section. Moreover, geometry as a topic is always a cause for concern. Any type of question that brings in circles is difficult. Part of this stems from the fact that when you learn Geometry in school, you focus on a wide variety of quadrilaterals, proofs, and other concepts. But the SAT includes more circles and triangles, and less proofs and parallelograms. While the reference to simple shapes may bring you back to Pre-K, the complexity of some of these problems is anything but simple. Here is how the radius makes all circle problems easy to solve. The best thing you can do is to treat the radius like your north star. It will guide you in the right direction no matter what the question asks. Understanding the radius and knowing how to manipulate it in a variety of different problem structures will make mastering circles a piece of cake. Radii are used to find both the area and perimeter of a circle. The area of a circle is pi multiplied by the radius squared. The perimeter is two multiplied by pi multiplied by the radius. The radius is also half the diameter of a circle, so knowing the measure of the radius can basically tell you anything you need to know about the circle. There are tough questions that deal with triangles in circles, or circles related to squares. This is where knowing the radius comes in handy. Sometimes, the radius will also happen to be the measure of one of the sides of the triangle or half of the square. From here, you are able to derive almost anything about the square or triangle as well. While it may not seem obvious at first, looking for the radius in any type of problems related to inscribed or circumscribed circles will point you in the right direction. It is always the best place to start. The final way in which the radius is helpful is in proportion problems with circles that ask you to find the measure of an arc or sector within the circle. A lot of times the radius will play a major role in these problems, helping find the total area or perimeter and creating proportions again. No matter what the situation is, when circles are involved, the first thing you should do is find the radius. After that, it is entirely dependent on what type of problem it is. As long as you start with the radius, it will always guide you, just like the north star. Still need to take the SAT? We run a free online SAT prep seminar every few weeks. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! Jake Davidson is a Mork Family Scholar at USC and enjoys writing for the school paper as well as participating in various clubs. He has been tutoring privately since the age of 15 and is incredibly excited to help students succeed on the SAT. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: Seemingly Contradictory Advice for Increasing Your Score on Reading Comprehension GMAT Questions |
“Trust, but Verify” is an important piece of advice for diplomatic relations. It seems a contradiction at first: if you trust, why do you need to verify? The answer is that some things are important enough to take the extra time and effort to check. Even the small chance that your trust is misplaced is reason to investigate the situation in enough detail to confirm that what you believe to be true is actually true. Reading comprehension on the GMAT does not rise to the level of international trade pacts, or arms reduction agreements, but the same principle applies. In most instances, when you think you know the answer to a reading comprehension question, take the time and effort to go back to the passage and verify. After all, the correct answer to most reading comprehension questions on the GMAT is based closely on something actually written in the passage. While an extra minute spent on a sentence correction question may not make the sentence any clearer, an extra minute spent going back to the passage to verify a reading comprehension answer can drastically improve your chances of answering correctly. Two Types of Reading Comprehension Questions Reading Comprehension questions can be broken down into two broad categories: 1) Questions with a specific enough question stem to guide you back to a particular portion of the passage, which you can then re-read to find the answer. For the first type of question, you should almost always use the question stem to guide you back to a single paragraph and then to a particular portion of that paragraph. Even if you feel that you remember that portion of the reading well enough to simply answer the question, it is still in your best interest to take a few moments to return to the passage and make sure that you have the answer to the actual question that is asked.
The second type of question has a more general question stem and it is not as clear where in the passage to return to confirm your answer. An example of the more general question stem is, “the author of the passage would most likely agree with which of the following?” You can see that there is nothing in the question stem to guide you back to a particular portion of the passage.
Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have GMAT prep courses starting all the time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! David Newland has been teaching for Veritas Prep since 2006, and he won the Veritas Prep Instructor of the Year award in 2008. Students’ friends often call in asking when he will be teaching next because he really is a Veritas Prep and a GMAT rock star! Read more of his articles here. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: What the White & Gold, Blue & Black, Periwinkle & Whatever Dress Can Teach You About the GMAT |
Over the past week, the online world has been consumed with discussions about one of the most mundane topics anyone could conceivably imagine. Indeed, for several days, the only discussion reasoned people seemed to be having was: “What color is this dress”? Doctors, lawyers, engineers, (GMAT geeks), people of all walks of life were discussing the same basic concepts that toddlers learn in kindergarten. Is this dress blue and black, or white and gold? It seems preposterous even as I type it out, and yet people entrenched themselves into one camp or another with such certainty and vitriol that it seemed the other faction must be comprised of color blind philistines. Reportedly, some people saw the same picture differently in the morning and at night. Indeed, what was happening is that people were seeing the same thing from different perspectives. People habitually see the same thing and reach different conclusions. If the middle-aged man next door buys a new sports car, some people assume he got a big raise, while others attribute it to a midlife crisis. Other people might surmise he’s trying to impress someone new or perhaps he inherited a significant windfall. While seeing things from different perspectives is normal in everyday life, it is rare for multiple people to see the same thing and describe it completely differently. If I showed you the new red sports car, you wouldn’t likely tell me it’s a green bicycle or a blue toaster. At some point very early in our lives, we learn to associate certain words with certain elements, be they nouns, adjectives or colors. Colors are such a fundamental part of life because so many things depend on them. We go on green lights, we stop for yellow school buses, we wear dark colors to appear more professional, and we wear our favorite team’s colors to show our support. Disagreeing about colors seems as basic as disagreeing that 2+2=4 (or 5 if you’re Orwellian). However the same thing can be seen from many different perspectives, and the variable is simply who is actually observing the phenomenon. This happens a lot on the GMAT, and I wanted to discuss a problem that many people see one way, but others see in a completely different way: The number of baseball cards that John and Bill had was in the ratio of 7:3. After John gave Bill 15 of his baseball cards, the ratio of the number of baseball cards that John had to the number that Bill had was 3:2. After the gift, John had how many more baseball cards than Bill?
The initial ratio, before the gift, can be describes as J / B = 7 / 3. The final ratio, after the gift, would then be J – 15 / B + 15 = 3 / 2. Note that we are defining J and B to be the initial values of John and Bill, so we’ll have to keep that in mind for the final calculation. Cross-multiplying the first equation gives us 3 J = 7 B. This should make sense as John has many more cards than Bill. Cross-multiplying the second equation gives 2 (J – 15) = 3 (B + 15), We can expand this to 2J – 30 = 3B + 45. Finally we can move the constants to one side and get 2 J = 3 B + 75 You can use either the elimination method or the substitution method to solve for the two variables. I prefer the elimination method so I’d multiply the first equation by 2 and the second equation by 3 to isolate J. 6 J = 14 B 6 J = 9 B + 225 Since the left hand sides are the same, we can simplify to 14 B = 9 B + 225. Subtracting 9 B from both sides gives 5 B = 225. Dividing 225 by 5 gives 45. If B is 45, and 3 J = 7 B, then 3 J must be 315, and so J is equal to 105. We’re still not done, because these are the initial values: 105 and 45. If John gave Bill 15 cards, then the new totals would be 90 for John and 60 for Bill, which is where the 3/2 ratio comes in. The difference in cards is 30 after the gift, so the answer is B. Other people see this ratio problem and don’t even think about the algebra, they solve it using the underlying concept (the blue-and-black approach). To illustrate this concept, suppose I had 199 cards and you had 101 cards. Since no simplification is possible, the ratio of our cards would be 199:101. But if you then gave me one card, our ratio would suddenly be 2:1. This reduced fraction does not change the fact that I still have 200 cards and you have 100. Simply because the fraction can be simplified, that does not mean that the totals have changed in any way. Let’s apply that same logic here. The ratio was 7:3. After the gift, the new ratio is 3:2, but the total number of cards has stayed the same. This means that if I can get a new ratio that’s in the same proportions as the old ratio, the problem will seem much simpler. The ratio 7:3 has 10 total parts. The ratio of 3:2 has only 5 total parts, so they are not in the same proportions. However, if I recognize that I can simply multiply 3:2 by 2 to get a ratio of 6:4, I discover a shortcut that can help on ratio problems. If the ratio used to be 7:3 then became 6:4 after a transfer of 15 cards, then each unit of the ratio must represent 15 cards. This would mean that 7 would drop to 6 and 3 would increase to 4 because of the same 15 card transfer. Thus the old ratio was (7×15): (3×15), or 105:45. The new ratio is similarly (6×15): (4×15), or 90:60. The difference in cards after the gift is still 30, answer choice B, but for some it’s much easier to see using a little logic than a lot of algebra. On the GMAT, similar to the chameleon dress, your perspective is what’s going to dictate how you approach problems. Not every question will have a shortcut or an instant solution, but every problem can be approached in multiple ways. The only limit is your understanding of the concepts and your skill at analyzing the presented problem. Hopefully, on test day, these strategies will help you avoid feeling blue (and black). Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have GMAT prep courses starting all the time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! Ron Awad is a GMAT instructor for Veritas Prep based in Montreal, bringing you weekly advice for success on your exam. After graduating from McGill and receiving his MBA from Concordia, Ron started teaching GMAT prep and his Veritas Prep students have given him rave reviews ever since. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: 3 Ways to Highlight Your Analytical Skills in Your Business School Applications |
Of all the power grad degrees (law school, medical school, etc.) business school tends to put the biggest focus on analytical skills. These skills tend to be focused on numbers, and in particular the ability to manipulate and make numbers tell a story. The MBA has historically been known to place a high percentage of graduates in analytical careers like finance and consulting, operating as a feeder system for these industries. As competition has increased for spots in elite business schools, candidates are expected to come to business school with analytical skills or some proof of competency. So how do you make sure your analytical skills shine bright in your application? Focus on these three areas to stand out from the competition. Transcript If you scored a high GPA in undergrad well you’re in luck, as MBA programs look at GPAs as an indicator of future performance in business school. Not so fast though, what schools are really focusing in on is your grades in analytically based courses. These tend to be similar to what you can expect in your core classes during your first year in business school. Examples of analytical classes in undergrad include classes like Calculus, Finance, Accounting, Statistics, Economics, etc. If you have performed well in this area this will really help your candidacy. If you have not, take some additional coursework at your local university or Community College to show admissions you have what it takes. GMAT The GMAT is another great way to show off those fancy analytical skills. Schools will look at your overall score but tend to focus in on the Quant side of the GMAT report. Strong performance here can help you skyrocket to the top of the acceptance pile. Admission teams see the GMAT as a strong indicator of future academic performance in business school; so spend some additional time on the quant side during your GMAT prep. Work Experience Your work experience is another way to prove you have the requisite skills to compete at a top business schools. Some applicants have it easy where their career function or industry signals analytical competency to admissions. Pre-MBA experience in investment banking, consulting, accounting, or engineering give off the impression to admissions that the candidate is facile with numbers. Even if your pre-MBA experience does not fall into the obvious analytical bucket, highlight projects, work products or responsibilities that are analytical in nature. Do you manage the P&L for a major consumer brand? Did you raise capital to launch your start-up? Find the pockets of analytical experience you have had and make sure you highlight them on your resume and in your essays. Don’t miss the chance to highlight your analytical skills in your application, follow these tips to avoid any red flags come decision day. Want to craft a strong application? Call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. Click here for a Free MBA Admissions Profile Evaluation! As always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! Dozie A. is a Veritas Prep Head Consultant for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His specialties include consulting, marketing, and low GPA/GMAT applicants. Find more of his articles here. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: GMAT Tip of the Week: LLC Reasoning |
In a time-honored tradition here at Veritas Prep, March is Hip Hop Month in the GMAT Tip of the Week space, and no cutting-edge hip hop blog in 2015 would be complete without mentioning the hottest thing from this year’s Grammys: LL Cool J Really? It’s been more than 20 years since LL had to start an album with the phrase “don’t call it a comeback; I’ve been here for years.” And yet as America’s favorite award show host and the star of either NCIS or CSI (all we know is that the man loves initials and acronyms), LL Cool J remains a household name in a young man’s game. Which should draw attention to his rather unique moniker: LL Cool J Which, of course, stands for Ladies Love Cool James, and also stands as an important Critical Reasoning lesson. When you think about it, LL Cool J’s name is kind of absurd. It’s three initials and a full word, and it forms a complete sentence (L = subject; L = verb; Cool = adjective; J = object). And he somewhat arbitrarily chose to spell out what, in the sentence, is the least important part. Ladies love James is the operative part of the sentence. “Cool” doesn’t add a ton of real value. So why did LL Cool J (James Smith, for those keeping score at home) choose to spell out what seems like the least critical word in the sentence? Because LL Cool J is a marketing and Critical Reasoning genius. Think about it: Ladies LCJ would be a terrible name. So would L Love CJ. And LLC James has a nice businessman ring to it, but lacks the kind of street cred it took to rise through the early NYC rap ranks in the 1980s. It had to be LL Cool J. And what’s more: LL Cool J is telling you how you can master Critical Reasoning by calling attention to the modifier or adjective that adds specificity. Consider these two arguments. 1) The Something Like a Phenomenon award each year goes to the highest selling album of the year. This year, the highest selling album of the year was LL Cool J’s Mr. Smith, so Mr. Smith will be awarded the Something Like a Phenomenon award. 2) The Something Like a Phenomenon award each year goes to the highest selling rap album of the year. This year, the highest selling album of the year was LL Cool J’s Mr. Smith, so Mr. Smith will be awarded the Something Like a Phenomenon award. What’s the difference? Like the name LL Cool J itself, it really comes down to an adjective. In #2, the first premise has an adjective qualifier – to win the award, it has to be a rap album. And since the second premise doesn’t tell us that Mr. Smith was a rap album, that argument is now vulnerable to criticism…that one adjective that made things a little bit more specific left a hole in the argument for us to attack. And noticing that hole is everything on Strengthen and Weaken CR questions. If it’s a Strengthen question and we’ve noticed that gap, you should be looking for something that demonstrates that Mr. Smith was a rap album. And if it were a Weaken question, you’re looking for a reason to believe that it wasn’t. But either way, by finding that hole in the argument you now know what you’re looking for. So the lesson? Train yourself – like the man who could have just been called LLJ did – to spot those extra adjectives or modifiers that make the conclusion or major premise of an argument that much more specific. Look for things like: “Def Jam Records must find a way to reduce its costs.” vs. “Def Jam records must find a way to reduce its distribution costs.” “Mr. Smith was host of the Grammys.” vs. “Mr. Smith was host of the 2015 Grammys.” “LL Cool J proclaimed himself the greatest.” vs. “LL Cool J proclaimed himself the greatest of all time.” and “I need a girl.” vs. “I need an around-the-way girl.” So step one is to notice those (cool) qualifiers that lend themselves to gaps in arguments, in which a more-generic premise just can’t connect to that more-specific statement. Once you’ve identified that potential for a gap in logic, check the other statements to see if they match the specificity. If they don’t – as they generally won’t in GMAT Critical Reasoning – well, then get critical. As mama says…knock it out. Are you studying for the GM Admissions T? We have free online GMAT seminars running all the time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! By Brian Galvin |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: The Art of Showing Up |
One of the best kept secrets about succeeding in college is that it’s pretty simple: Show up. Much like the director Woody Allen famously said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” In college that same rule applies. Show up to class. Show up to office hours. Show up to review sessions. Of course, this alone won’t guarantee you an A in organic chemistry, but it certainly goes a far way in advancing your cause. Students are granted the freedom for the first time in life to make the choice of whether or not they will attend class. While some teachers do take attendance, there is a large majority of professors across the country who run the honor system. This is in contrast to the conventional high school education system where students are penalized severely if they are absent. There is a reason for these penalties. Being present in class is paramount to one’s success as a student. There is no true way to replicate the dynamics of a classroom or lecture hall. There is no way to interact with a professor and clarify a complex concept or review a problem set. Too often students get so enticed by the novelty of being able to miss class with no explicit repercussions that they remain oblivious to the adverse effects it has on one’s grade at the end of the semester. It’s definitely not enough to just go to class, sit in the back, and surf the web on your laptop or phone. Instead, sitting near the front where you aren’t as tempted to zone out is very helpful. It’s a good idea not to tempt yourself in class by bringing a phone or laptop. What works for many students, myself included, is to hand write notes in a notebook. While it’s harder to transcribe notes at the same speed, the distraction free presence of a notebook ultimately outweighs any possible advantages a laptop may have. Sitting near the front of class and staying off your phone will help the material will start to settle in your mind. Couple this with reading the textbook and visiting the teacher assistant (if there is one) or professor during office hours, and you will be way ahead of your peers. Showing up is 80% of the battle in college. If you don’t miss a class, use office hours wisely, and “show up” you will be well ahead of the game. Best of luck in your College Applications! Need more guidance in planning for college? Visit our College Admissions website and fill out our FREE College profile evaluation! Jake Davidson is a Mork Family Scholar at USC and enjoys writing for the school paper as well as participating in various clubs. He has been tutoring privately since the age of 15 and is incredibly excited to help students succeed on the SAT. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: Full Time MBA vs. Executive MBA: Which Program is the Best Fit for You? |
Choosing which type of MBA program to apply to is a big decision. There are a variety of options available for candidates who are interested in pursuing a graduate education in business. One common set of choices comes down to pursuing a full-time MBA vs. an Executive MBA. Both programs offer different things and cater to different audiences so it is important to enter this decision with all of the information. Asking yourself a few key questions can help you decide if an EMBA is right for you: Experience Do you have the experience required to contribute to an EMBA program? These programs attract a more seasoned caliber of applicants with the average student being in their mid 30’s. Programs are looking to bring students into this program who have a lot of leadership and management experience. Make sure other program types are not more appropriate given your experience. Development Needs What do you really want to get out of your MBA? EMBA programs tend to be less focused on activities outside of the classroom. If you are looking to recreate the traditional college experience an EMBA may not be exactly what you are looking for. Full time MBA programs tend to be a more social and immersive experience since so much time spent in the program is not exclusively focused on academics. Also, on the career side if you are looking to make a major career switch an EMBA may be the wrong program for you. With no summer internship and a common reliance on sponsorship restrictions by the paying employer most EMBA programs are predominantly focused on students who want to grow within their firm and not leave in the short term. Sponsorship Will your firm sponsor you? The vast majority of students in EMBA programs are sponsored by their employer. This is great not only because EMBA tuition is very high, but also because this is a strong sign of confidence an employer has in the applicant. Each employer has different rules and restrictions when it comes to sponsorship so make sure you are clear on the expectations. Typically the sponsoring firm will expect the student to return for a pre-determined time once the EMBA is completed. An EMBA is not the right fit for everyone; utilize the information above to help determine if you are applying to the right MBA program. Want to find out which program is right for you? Call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. As always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! Dozie A. is a Veritas Prep Head Consultant for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His specialties include consulting, marketing, and low GPA/GMAT applicants. Find more of his articles here. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: SAT Tip of the Week: Don't Read Too Much on Critical Reading? |
Don’t read too much on Critical Reading? That’s right! Passages are many students’ least favorite part of the SAT, and understandably so. Many, especially the longer ones, are dense and full of detail. It’s harrowing to spend five or ten minutes trying to absorb everything, only to have to read parts of it over again in order to answer the questions. One great way to save time: Remember that your ultimate goal is not to understand the whole passage, but to answer the questions correctly. Many of the details in the passage aren’t relevant to the questions, or won’t help you answer them. Some passage details will even distract you from the correct answer. Therefore, it is neither productive nor efficient to approach passage sections by picking slowly through every line of text before moving on to the questions. Instead, read selectively. Pay special attention to the introduction, topic sentences, and conclusion, because those parts of the passage are most likely to contain its main idea. You should slow down or restart if you find that you can’t make sense of anything you’re reading, but as long as you’re confident that you understand the general gist, there’s probably no need to worry. If you run into a few lines you don’t understand, skip them and come back. It is helpful to read the passage before tackling the questions, but only for the purposes of grasping the passage’s main idea, which will give you useful context so that you can better understand what the questions are asking. Once the questions tell you which parts of the passage you should focus on, then you can take time to comprehend details. Too many students waste valuable time by reading too much and too carefully before moving on to the questions. So remember – Don’t Read Too Much! Save energy. Boost your score. And slow down only when you need to. Happy Test Taking! Still need to take the SAT? We run a free online SAT prep seminar every few weeks. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! Courtney Tran is a student at UC Berkeley, studying Political Economy and Rhetoric. In high school, she was named a National Merit Finalist and National AP Scholar, and she represented her district two years in a row in Public Forum Debate at the National Forensics League National Tournament. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: 4 Ways Your Career Goals Factor into Your MBA Admission |
With all of the various components of an MBA application, the primary reason most candidates apply tends to get overlooked when it comes time to discuss the application process. Career goals are at their core the root of why most applicants apply to business school. In some form or fashion the desire to improve the state of ones career is why business schools exist. Career goals factor into MBA admissions in a few key ways: Hire-ability As stated above a major part of pursuing an MBA is improving your career. As schools review your application they are putting your hopes and dreams through a vetting process. Schools need to determine that given your background and aptitude the academic training provided by the program will allow you to reach your short term and long term goals. If they feel they cannot address this very basic business school mandate then your chances of receiving admission at that specific program are low. Career Trajectory With your career trajectory, schools are tasked with determining how realistic your career goals are given your background. Does your desired career story make sense? How well connected are your short term and long term goals? These are just a sample of questions that admissions teams will use to scrutinize your career goals. Maturity The maturity of a candidate also plays a role in the process. The type of goals that are referenced in an application, particularly for younger applicants, can help determine the maturity level of a candidate. This measure is a major part of the decision process. In particular, candidates should make sure their goals are clear and consistent with current industry norms. Program Alignment Each MBA program has their own specialty, both academically and professionally, when it comes to campus recruiting. Top candidates will target MBA programs that offer the best opportunities to reach their own career goals. Situations where this alignment between the candidate and the program does not exist can represent a red flag for your chances at admissions. If the alignment is not clear, candidates should offer up specific courses, academic programs, and recruiting opportunities that highlight the tight fit between their goals and the target program. Your career goals are a major factor in how admissions teams make admissions decisions. Make articulating clear and consistent goals a key aspect of your application package. Want to craft a strong application? Call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. As always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! Dozie A. is a Veritas Prep Head Consultant for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His specialties include consulting, marketing, and low GPA/GMAT applicants. Find more of his articles here. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: Solving Inference Questions in Reading Comprehension on the GMAT |
One of the most common things you’re going to do on the GMAT is to infer things. Inferring things is something we inherently do on a daily basis as human beings. If your friend tells you they’re preparing for a big presentation, you generally automatically infer they’re presenting to an audience and are nervous about public speaking. However, on the GMAT, inferring carries a little more baggage than in your everyday life. What if your friend is in charge of logistics for the presentation, or running the slideshow behind the presenter? Perhaps they are being presented in the debutante ball definition of the term? (niche, I know). On the GMAT, inferences have a high threshold they must always attain: the inferences must be true. After preparing countless Critical Reasoning inference questions, this “must be true” mantra should already be indoctrinated into most GMAT test takers. However, this type of question also shows up in Reading Comprehension, offering a rare opportunity to excel at two different question types using the same concept. By the same token, it’s a concept that’s sure to show up on your test, and you shouldn’t lose easy points because you assumed something that wasn’t explicitly stated. The approach I always use with students is to ask them: “Is this always true?” If it’s Thursday or a solar eclipse or you pass on the 1 yard line or Venus is in Scorpio… is this still true? Imagine every obscure, unlikely scenario, and make sure the answer choice still holds in that situation. (Seriously, who passes on the 1 yard line?) If this is the case for any scenario you can dream up, your inference holds. If you can imagine even one nice corner case (e.g. a prime number being even) where this doesn’t hold, then it cannot be the correct answer. Let’s delve into this further using a Reading Comprehension passage. (note: this is the same passage I used previously for function and specific questions) Nearly all the workers of the Lowell textile mills of Massachusetts were unmarried daughters from farm families. Some of the workers were as young as ten. Since many people in the 1820s were disturbed by the idea of working females, the company provided well-kept dormitories and boarding-houses. The meals were decent and church attendance was mandatory. Compared to other factories of the time, the Lowell mills were clean and safe, and there was even a journal, The Lowell Offering, which contained poems and other material written by the workers, and which became known beyond New England. Ironically, it was at the Lowell Mills that dissatisfaction with working conditions brought about the first organization of working women. The mills were highly mechanized, and were in fact considered a model of efficiency by others in the textile industry. The work was difficult, however, and the high level of standardization made it tedious. When wages were cut, the workers organized the Factory Girls Association. 15,000 women decided to “turn out”, or walk off the job. The Offering, meant as a pleasant creative outlet, gave the women a voice that could be heard by sympathetic people elsewhere in the country, and even in Europe. However, the ability of the women to demand changes was severely circumscribed by an inability to go for long without wages with which to support themselves and help support their families. The same limitation hampered the effectiveness of the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association (LFLRA), organized in 1844. No specific reform can be directly attributed to the Lowell workers, but their legacy is unquestionable. The LFLRA’s founder, Sarah Bagley, became a national figure, testifying before the Massachusetts House of Representatives. When the New England Labor Reform League was formed, three of the eight board members were women. Other mill workers took note of the Lowell strikes, and were successful in getting better pay, shorter hours, and safer working conditions. Even some existing child labor laws can be traced back to efforts first set in motion by the Lowell Mill Women. The author of the passage implies that the efforts of the women workers at the Lowell Mills ________________? (A) Were of less direct benefit to them than to other workers. (B) Led to the creation of child labor laws that benefited the youngest workers at the Lowell mills. (C) Forced the New England Labor Reform League to include three women on its board. (D) Were addressed in the poetry included in the Offering. (E) Were initially organized by Sarah Bagley. The question is phrased in such a way that you must complete the sentence. Looking over the sentence, the active verb is “implies”, which means that we’re dealing with an inference question. This means that the correct conclusion to this sentence must be unimpeachable with regards to the passage. We must go through all the answer choices because inference questions inherently have multiple answers that could be correct. Our advantage is that four of the answer choices will be flawed and only one unassailable choice shall remain. Let’s begin with option A. It essentially reads: “…the efforts of the women workers at the Lowell Mills were of less direct benefit to them than to other workers”. This seems about right because the passage states that the Lowell Mills workers couldn’t go on strike for long (paragraph 2). Conversely, it is also mentioned that “other mill workers took note of the Lowell strikes, and were successful in getting better pay, shorter hours and safer working conditions”. This makes it pretty hard to argue with answer choice A, but let’s continue and see if any other answer choices seem like contenders. Answer choice B reads “…the efforts of the women workers at the Lowell Mills led to the creation of child labor laws that benefited the youngest workers at the Lowell Mills.” This seems like it could be correct, because the passage ends with a sentence about how some child labor laws can be traced back to the efforts of these women. However, there is no indication that these laws benefitted anyone at the Lowell Mills, and in fact were likely only instituted many years later. This answer choice affords a positive outcome to the situation, but is unfortunately unsupported by the passage. Answer choice C reads “…the efforts of the women workers at the Lowell Mills forced the New England Labor Reform League to include three women on its board.” This might be the easiest answer choice to eliminate. Three members of the Reform League were women, but it is not guaranteed that this is due entirely to the worker strife. It is likely correlated, but it is impossible to defend that it is caused by the conflict. If we’re looking for bulletproof arguments, this one is full of holes. Answer choice D reads “…the efforts of the women workers at the Lowell Mills were addressed in the poetry included in the Offering”. This is another strong candidate. The Lowell Offering was established as a journal written by the workers that contained at least some poetry in the first paragraph. Would it then be logical that the Offering would address worker malcontent during a strike? Likely, yes, but not guaranteed. Furthermore, would worker dissatisfaction necessarily show up as poetry versus an opinionated peace or an invitation to protest? It is likely that this happened, but there is no guarantee, and therefore this type of answer is incorrect for a GMAT inference question. Answer choice E reads “…the efforts of the women workers at the Lowell Mills were initially organized by Sarah Bagley”. This answer choice is similar to answer choice D. It is quite possibly true, as Sarah Bagley seemingly had a powerful voice at the Lowell Mills, but there is no indication that she spearheaded the movement in any way. Had this been mentioned somewhere, it would have been unsurprising given the situation. However, on its own, it’s plausible at best, speculation at worst. Since we’ve systematically eliminated answer choices B through E, the correct answer must be answer choice A. This makes sense because answer choice A seemed completely supported by the passage. Inference questions are typically exercises in process of elimination. If four answer choices can be purged (:anarchy), the remaining answer choice must be correct. If you can accomplish this task on the GMAT, you can infer with absolute certainty that you’ll select the correct answer. Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have GMAT prep courses starting all the time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! Ron Awad is a GMAT instructor for Veritas Prep based in Montreal, bringing you weekly advice for success on your exam. After graduating from McGill and receiving his MBA from Concordia, Ron started teaching GMAT prep and his Veritas Prep students have given him rave reviews ever since. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: Use Anxiety to Your Advantage on Test Day |
At some point during the first session of each new class I teach, I’ll write my phone number on the board and mention that I take emergency calls. When I first started doing this, I figured that every now and again I’d get a call from a frantic student the night before the exam because he or she was running through some practice problems and was stumped on a concept that had previously been clear. I could then talk the student through a concept or strategy as a kind of pre-test boost. It turns out, these emergency calls happen far more often than I’d suspected, and they’re never about content. They’re always about anxiety. And the refrain is always the same. “When we’re doing the questions in class, I understand them. When I’m working on my own with no pressure, I’m fine. But when I see the timer…” The implications are clear: the issue often isn’t the content of the question, but the psychological mindset of the test-taker when he encounters it. In fact, the link between anxiety and standardized testing is so prevalent that a Google search of ‘test anxiety’ yields well over 100,000,000 results. You want to make a parent nervous? Say something about Common Core. Want to freak out a high school student? Invoke the SATs. And if you’re reading this article, you are likely well acquainted with the pernicious effects that the GMAT can have on the ‘ol nervous system. It isn’t hard to see why. These tests not only have tangible academic and professional consequences that can reverberate for years, but they shape our fundamental self-perceptions. Someone who scores in the 98th percentile on a standardized test will, no matter what he says, walk out of that test feeling different about his abilities than someone who scores in the 7th percentile, despite the fact that there are literally dozens of variables in play that have little or nothing to do with underlying intelligence. (And this supposes that there is such a thing as underlying intelligence, as opposed to a host of complexly intersecting domains of intelligence, all of which may be difficult to measure with any kind of accuracy or consistency.) This is all to say that testing anxiety is both real and inevitable. It’s impossible to talk about preparation for an exam like the GMAT without addressing it. Though this connection isn’t new, much of the science behind how the brain works under pressure is quite novel, and as we learn more, this knowledge will invariably seep into how teachers and tutors prepare their students for the exam. First, consider the physiological process by which stress makes it make more difficult to perform well on exams. We enter what psychologists call a threat state. Here is a relevant quote from Barry Mendes, an associate professor of psychology from UC San Francisco, culled from a New York Times article on the subject. (The article is itself well worth a read). “The hallmark of a threat state is vasoconstriction — a tightening of the smooth muscles that line every blood vessel in the body. Blood pressure rises; breathing gets shallow. Oxygenated blood levels drop, and energy supplies are reduced. Meanwhile, a rush of hormones amplifies activity in the brain’s amygdala, making you more aware of risks and fearful of mistakes.” And it turns out that the physiological processes in play are even more complicated than we’ve thought. Recent research has revealed that there is a gene that codes for the speed at which enzymes remove dopamine from various regions in the brain. Some remove dopamine quickly. Others remove it more slowly. In and of itself, this isn’t terrible interesting, but what is fascinating, and relevant to this discussion, is that those who had the gene that coded for the enzymes that removed dopamine more slowly did better than the other group on IQ tests in normal conditions, but worse than the other group on tests with significant time constraints. In other words, the gene that makes you smarter in a low stress environment causes you to underperform in a stressful situation. Suddenly, we have a scientific explanation for the dozens and dozens of students I’ve had over the years who maintained a 3.9 GPA in college, but could not, for the life of them, understand why they struggled on standardized tests! The implications from the above discussion may sound fairly straightforward. Stress is bad. It can hurt test performance. But it isn’t that simple. It turns out that stress is one of those maddeningly elusive phenomena that we actually alter by focusing our attention on it. (Fans of quantum mechanics will recognize this as a version of the Observer Dilemma. In the quantum world, observing a particle alters the very characteristics we’re attempting to observe, so there’s no way to derive uncontaminated data. Scientists and philosophers have been puzzling over this for the better part of a century, and the phenomenon is no less strange now than it was when it was codified). This is best illustrated by a study conducted at Harvard. Half of the subjects were simply told that the purpose of the study was to examine the effect of anxiety on test-taking. The other students, however, were told that the anxiety during a test could actually boost performance. Sure enough, the group that was told that anxiety could boost performance did significantly better than the control group. In other words, when we think stress is bad for us, it is. And when we think stress can be beneficial, it is. How we frame the issue in our minds has a direct and material impact on our response to trying conditions. Moreover, there are things we can do to improve our performance in stressful situations. Pilots, for example, will practice dealing with artificial problems during test runs, and this practice yields benefits when these same problems happen during commercial flights. I’ll often encourage students to create a simulated stressful environment during a practice exam so that if a similar situation should befall the student during the real test, she’ll have an experience to draw on when attempting to adapt. For example, you can allow 10 minutes to elapse during a practice test so that if there is a time crunch on the real test, you’ll have already practiced how to address this potential crisis. Last, you can practice mindfulness in the weeks leading up to the exam. A study performed last year demonstrated that students who began a mindfulness practice for only two weeks demonstrated improvements in working memory and concentration, benefits that translated to significantly higher scores on standardized tests. (The students in the study took the GRE, but there’s every reason to believe that mindfulness meditation would confer comparable benefits on the GMAT.) Here is an article distilling the main points of the study. There is no avoiding stress on test day, but there is a lot we can do to reshape how we perceive this stress, and this reshaped perception can actually serve to improve our performance. Takeaways:
By David Goldstein, a Veritas Prep GMAT instructor based in Boston. |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: Do AP Scores Really Matter When it Comes to College Admission? |
One of the most common questions we get during our free college profile evaluations is “will my AP scores count?” If you’ve done any research on the topic, you’ll find that the opinions are varied and there is no clear answer. Veritas Prep breaks it down for you. Should I take AP courses versus honors or regular courses? The hierarchy of courses is regular courses, honors courses, AP courses, and then college courses. Colleges will be looking at your transcript to see 1) what courses are offered at your high school, 2) what courses you took, 3) how academically rigorous your course schedule is compared to the courses offered at your high school, and 4) how you did in those classes. Your high school academic course load represents a snapshot of your academic potential in college. It shows the type of academic rigor that you might be able to handle and that you’re not afraid of challenging yourself. Taking AP classes shows that you’re taking advantage of the toughest academics your school has to offer. If I take the class and do well, do I have to take the AP exam? Yes. If you take an AP class, you should automatically plan to take the AP exam. Taking the test and getting a score can verify that your grades are not inflated (i.e.: you got an A in the class, but a 2 on the exam vs. you got a B in the class, but a 4 on the exam) and that you can handle big exams (think college midterms and finals). Not taking the exam can be a flag for colleges and may prompt them to ask the question “well, why didn’t they take the exam?” Okay. I took the exam, but I got a 2. Am I not going to get into college? Don’t worry. The actual AP score will not affect your admissions. Then why does it even matter? There are several benefits to taking the AP exam and doing well. For most public universities and select private universities, you can receive credit for your AP exams. Usually, you need to score a 4 or 5 to get credit; sometimes there is a limit to how many total credits you can get. Earning credits can mean that you can enter college with sophomore or junior standing which ultimately means that you may be able to cut the cost of your education significantly since you could potentially spend less time overall in college. Even if your college does not accept AP exams as credit, they may use your AP scores for placement or to fulfill general education requirements. For example, if you got a 4 on the AP statistics exam and your college has a quantitative reasoning requirement, you may be able to use your AP score to fulfill the requirement. Or, if you got a 5 on the AP English Literature exam, you may be able to start taking upper level English classes without having to take the introductory classes. AP tests may help you to cut the cost of your education by helping you advance more quickly through your coursework, but it can also free up time for you to take classes that you really enjoy or may not otherwise have time to take. Finally, some colleges may offer scholarships for scoring high on a designated number of exams. This will vary from state to state, but this would be another source of extra funding for your education. In addition, for students who receive an AP Scholar Award, you could include this on your college applications under (academic) awards and honors. What can I do if I’m not doing well in my AP class? Your AP teacher can be one of your greatest resources if you’re struggling with your class. Talk to your teacher to find out how you can do better and see if your school offers any additional tutoring for the classes. You will find that this also applies when you get to college; talk to your professors or teaching assistants and find out of there are extra tutoring sessions you can attend. If you’re able to study in a social setting, consider creating or joining a study group with a couple of your classmates. Studying with your peers can help reinforce the information as well as troubleshoot areas where you might get stuck. This is a resource that you can take to college as well since many college students also find study groups essential for doing well in their classes. If you still find that you need help, consider working with a Veritas Prep private tutor who can help focus on your specific needs and excel in the class and on the exam. With the exams less than 2 months away, this would be the time to ask for help! If you think an AP tutor might be what you need, check out our private tutoring packages or call us for more information. Need some AP help or still have questions about college admissions? Visit our College Admissions website and fill out our FREE College profile evaluation! Jennifer Sohn Lim is Assistant Director of Admissions at Veritas Prep. Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts at Wellesley College, followed by her Master of Education and Certificate of Advanced Study in Counseling at the Harvard Graduate School of Education |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: GMAT Tip of the Week: Slow Motion Is Better Than No Motion |
Welcome back to Hip Hop Month in the GMAT Tip of the Week space, where 3-13 isn’t just a day to honor Eminem’s group “Three and a Third” from 8 Mile (we’ll save that for 10/3). It’s also Common’s birthday, so what better day to let one of the most intellectual rappers in the game help you take your game toward his South Side neighborhood (Chicago-Booth isn’t all that far away) or, we suppose, to the North Side and Kellogg? Now, while you’re in the thick of the quant section looking for an un-Common-ly high score, the only Common lyric in your head is probably “Go!”. But particularly when you get to dense word problems, you’ll likely have more success if you heed his advice from the beginning and the refrain from “The Food“: Slow motion better than no motion. What’s Common trying to tell you about how to approach the quant section? Essentially this: most examinees hurry through their initial read of a problem, taking ~20 seconds to read the entire paragraph prompt, only to get to the question mark, sigh, and go back to the top to get started. That’s “no motion” on your first 20 seconds – which, if you’re holding to an average of 2 minutes per problem, is almost 17% of the time you have to get it done. What should you do? Slow motion, which is better than no motion. What does that mean? Start writing and thinking while you read. For example, consider this problem: Working in a South Side studio at a constant rate, Kanye can drop a full-length platinum LP in 5 weeks. Working at his own constant rate, Common can drop a full-length platinum LP in x weeks. If the two emcees work together at their independent rates, they can drop a full-length platinum compilation LP in 2 weeks. Assuming no efficiency is lost or gained from working together, how many weeks would it take Common, working alone, to drop a full-length platinum LP? (A) 3 and 1/3 weeks (B) 3 weeks (C) 2 and 1/2 weeks (D) 2 and 1/3 weeks (E) 2 weeks Now, while your instinct may be to Go! and speed through your initial read of this rate problem, remember: slow motion (is) better than no motion. As you read each sentence, you should start jotting down variables and relationships so that by the time you get to the question mark you have actionable math on your noteboard and you don’t have to read the question all over again to get started. You should be thinking: Working in a South Side studio at a constant rate, Kanye can drop a full-length platinum LP in 5 weeks. Rate (K) = 1 album / 5 weeks Working at his own constant rate, Common can drop a full-length platinum LP in x weeks. Rate (C) = 1 album / x weeks If the two emcees work together… I’m adding these rates, so their combined rate is 1/5 + 1/x …they can drop a full-length platinum compilation LP in 2 weeks. And they’re giving me the combined rate of 1 album / 2 weeks, so 1/5 + 1/x = 1/2 Assuming no efficiency is lost or gained from working together, how many weeks would it take Common, working alone, to drop a full-length platinum LP? I’m using that equation to solve for Common’s time, so I’m solving for x. Now by this point, that slow motion has paid off – your equation is set, your variable is assigned, and you know what you’ve solving for. Your job is to solve for x, so: 1/5 + 1/x = 1/2, so let’s get the x term on its own: 1/x = 1/2 – 1/5. and we can combine the two numeric terms by finding a common denominator of 10: 1/x = 5/10 – 2/10 1/x = 3/10, and from here you have options but let’s cross multiply: 10 = 3x, so divide both sides by 3 to get x alone: 10/3 = x, and that doesn’t look like the answer choices so let’s convert to a mixed number: 3 and 1/3 (there’s that number again), for answer choice A. What’s the real lesson? It’s like Common says: slow motion (is) better than no motion, so you should read just a little slower but have some scratchwork to show for your initial read of the prompt. If you can: -assign variables -jot down relationships or equations -write down which variable the answer wants You’ll have a lot more to show for your initial 30 seconds with each problem, and you’ll find that you solve problems much more quickly this way because you have less wasted time. So heed Common’s uncommon wisdom (which is really just common sense): the best way to Go is to remember that slow motion > no motion. Are you studying for the GMAT? We have free online GMAT seminars running all the time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! By Brian Galvin |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: This is How You Can Be Successful on the SAT! |
The following interview comes from Test Prep Store. Test Prep Store recently had the opportunity to conduct a Q&A session with Eric Fischer, one of Veritas Prep’s expert SAT instructors, to inquire about the SAT and get his take on the questions that many college applicants would like to ask with regards to SAT prep courses and how to be successful at achieving their desired SAT score. What motivates you to be an SAT instructor? I enjoy helping students improve on an exam that can have an enormous impact on their lives. It can help get them into college of their choice and save them thousands of dollars on tuition if they do well. I believe that any student can score well on the SAT too, which is another motivating factor. It just takes time and dedication, like anything else. Is there a common misconception of the SAT or of what is a realistic SAT score? I think any student can score well on the SAT. The common misconception is that the SAT measures your intelligence or college-readiness. The SAT, I think, really only measures your ability to take the SAT—so put in the time and dedication and you can achieve your goal. What is the largest SAT score increase you have seen? I have seen students improve from a score in the 1700’s to a 2200+ score. And I have seen that multiple times. That’s a student going from limited college options to an SAT score suitable for any university, not to mention lots of scholarship money. Read the rest of the interview here! Still need to take the SAT? We run a free online SAT prep seminar every few weeks. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! By Shay Davis |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: What Figure Skating Can Teach You about GMAT Sentence Correction Questions |
Like many Americans, I get caught up in figure skating for exactly two weeks every four years. It’s a fascinating sport, but because I don’t follow it consistently, as I do with the NBA and NFL, I really have no idea how the figure skaters are being judged. I see what appears to a be hiccup in the routine; the announcer says that it was a flawless set-up for an impressive jump. I see what appears to be a perfect routine; the scores come back and the skater is firmly in 13th. When you see a GMAT question, you need to know exactly what criteria to use to “judge” a question, even if your first instinct is not correct. Check out the following question from a GMAC practice pack: At first, I thought “We do need the structure to be parallel!” Why did I think this? Because I saw the word whereas. When I see a comparison word like that, the first thing I look for is consistency between the two things we’re comparing. “Language areas” comes after the comma and is not underlined; like it or not, that phrase is not going anywhere. Wanting to retro-fit my comparison to match my non-underlined portion, I hope and pray that I see something like, “Whereas language areas in adult brains are X, language areas in a child’s brain are Y.” Clearly, we can compare language areas to other language areas, so my next thought is that I’ll eliminate any answers that don’t satisfy this rule. However, a quick scan of the underlined terms of comparison in each answer choice reveals that we don’t have such an opportunity.
What’s really going on here? “Whereas in some situations X happens, there are other situations in which Y occurs.” We aren’t comparing a thing to a thing; we’re comparing a situation to an analogous situation. So, what do I focus on next? Simply making a complete sentence that comes right after a semicolon, and eliminating any answer choice that fails to make a sentence. If the answer doesn’t make a grammatical sentence anyway, then why should we care what it’s comparing? Answer choice B just blows through the existence of a two-part comparison: “Whereas Situation X is a thing and Situation Y is a thing.” That’s not a sentence! We need it to say “Whereas Situation X is a thing <COMMA> Situation Y is also a thing.” Answer choice C misuses a pronoun by having the plural word “they” refer to the singular noun “language.” Answer choice D wrongly employs the past tense “occupied,” as the language ceased to exist before the study ended. (Or the adults all tragically died during the study.) Answer choice E wrongly tries to pass off “Incomplete sentence + comma + AND + Complete sentence” as a grammatical structure to put after a semicolon. Nope. So let’s recap. In a question that seems to be about comparisons, we just eliminated four answer choices on the basis of No Verb, Bad Pronoun, Bad Verb Tense, and Bad Sentence Structure. None of the wrong answers had anything to do with comparisons! Meanwhile, I haven’t yet said a word about the correct answer A, and that’s because truthfully, I didn’t love A when I read it for the first time. When you don’t love A, but you can’t identify a tangible error, you just let it hang around. If you can drop four answer choices like the bad habits they are (as we did in B through E), then Mr. Lingering Around Answer A becomes your default champion. Congrats, Answer Choice A. You’re the “Only Figure Skater Who Didn’t Fall on His Butt So He Wins By Default” of answer choices. I don’t know much about figure skating, but I know that falling on your butt is not ideal. Are you studying for the GMAT? We have free online GMAT seminars running all the time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! By David Ingber |
FROM Veritas Prep Blog: Applying for Your MBA as an Older Applicant |
MBA programs are often seen as a place where the world’s top young business professionals go to finish their academic training in subjects like finance, marketing, and operations. However, business school is not only for the young; many more seasoned students can extract a tremendous amount of value from the experience. The approach for every applicant should be unique, but this is even more so the case for older applicants. Before we delve into specific tips, let’s determine what an older applicant actually is. Now there is not a universal cutoff that determines what an older or younger applicant is, but rather there is more of a guideline. Generally you want to base this determination off of the average age of the student body. For most schools the average age ranges from 26 – 28 of course with any average there are people who fall above and below to create this average. Generally candidates above the age of 30 are considered older candidates, as mentioned earlier this is really a school-by-school determination. To complicate it further work experience is also considered a qualifier when reviewing this aspect of an applicant’s profile. As an older applicant a major key is clearly articulating why “right now” is the ideal time for you to apply. This is your chance to communicate directly to admissions why now and not 3 or 5 years ago is the perfect time for you to apply. It is important to be clear and thoughtful and truly express what you can get out of the business school experience. A negative perception of older applicants is that there may not be much that they can gain from the business school experience. Attack this perception head on and be transparent with the impact an MBA can have on your professional career. Other factors include your GPA and GMAT score. As an older applicant and being further removed from academia, schools are less reliant on these scores to make decisions than they would be for a younger candidate. Now of course in the very competitive world of MBA admissions every data point matters but the value older candidates will bring to the student community stems from their work experience. Finally, program choice can be a factor. This is largely dependent on the amount of experience the older candidate has. The decision whether to apply to a part-time, full-time, or EMBA program tends to be correlated tightly with age. Think through which program makes the most sense for where you are at in your life and career and what you desire out of your MBA experience. Generally the part-time and EMBA programs attract an older applicant pool given the structure and set-up of the programs. With whatever program makes the most sense for you make a strong case for how the offerings best align with your development needs. Business school is a wonderful experience for people of many ages. Understanding how age and relative experience factor into the process will ensure success come decision day. Want to craft a strong application? Call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. As always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! Dozie A. is a Veritas Prep Head Consultant for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His specialties include consulting, marketing, and low GPA/GMAT applicants. Find more of his articles here. |
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