Do the 700+ guys use any "tricks"?

Question

I find some tricks i learned from Princeton review helpful especially in getting rid of trap answers and getting a reasonable guessing chance on questions i just dont know... Any tricks you guys use or it is just straightforward solving>?

megafan · Answer

Yes they do, it's called  HARD WORK !

Edit: The reason I said that is because I took Kaplan's GRE coaching and all they emphasized was on lame tricks like educated guessing and substitution. They do work, but not if you want to score 700+. Basically, you want to be in the top 5%, trust me the only way to be there is to work Hard, spend as much time as you can and try to solve as many problems as you can. And make sure to keep an error log and practice, practice, practice. It's not impossible to score 700+ but it's not easy as well - like using tricks.

Av · Answer

"Mental Math" is about as tricky as I get.

I suppose tricks might be helpful to bail you out of 1 question, but I wouldn't put much weight on them.

bb · Answer

700+ score is not about tricks at all - I would recommend you put trickery on the back burner and dive into some strong foundametals in math and grammar. It is easy to use "tricks" with questions that are made to be easily "tricked".

I would say there will only be 1-2 questions in each section that you will guess if you are getting 700+ score and GMAT is smart enough to know if you are guessing or not.

mohater · Answer

There are no tricks.

One problem I know people run into: not studying effectively. You could spend HOURS on HOURS studying and not benefit. Giving studying its due time requires both the correct amount of time and the correct approach. The key to using the strategies offered by the various prep companies is having the needed technical information supplementing the strategies (or the technical info is supplement by the strategy, either way).

Have you taken the free practice GMAT offered by MGMAT? If not, take it and use that to build your action plan.

shaselai · Answer

i understand that tricks can get one only so far. but surely not many people can answer every question correctly so i was just curious if they use any tricks etc. if they face a problem they cant figure out. guess POE?

kevincan · Answer

I'd like to point out that I, as a 750+ scorer, power my way through the exam, never stooping to pick numbers or resorting to backsolving. All questions can be solved within 40-60 seconds.

I'd be lying through my teeth!

I can't speak for all 700+ scorers, but I can say that  every  time I have done the exam, I have used methods that GMAC might not consider optimal (backsolving, picking numbers, estimating, focusing on the unit's digit, looking at consecutive choices). I get stuck on several questions each time I do the exam. The difference may lie in being able to get the rest of the questions right as quickly as possible, so it helps to be adept to using shortcuts.

Many problem solving questions (even hard ones ) can be solved by picking numbers. A question about areas of similar triangles may be made trivial by looking at the isosceles right triangle
You can sometimes use the answers to guide you: for example if a question requires that you calculate 14^4 + 14^3, you could look for an answer that has a units digit of 0.
If you are asked for which function f(a - b) = f(a) - f(b), you could narrow the choices down by choosing a = b = 1 or a= 1 and b= 0.
If a PS question doesn't say what Sally's salary is, try a salary of $1. If the salary were important, the question would have to state it.
For DS questions involving remainders, it is helpful to look at consecutive examples. 
Backsolving is often helpful, as is approximating.
Try to draw geometric figures to scale.
With  which of the following  questions, start with the choice that is easiest to evaluate, as doing so may well shed light on what is needed.
PLEASE don't stare at a geometric figure for 1 minute, hoping to come up with the answer. Draw it immediately!
Rather than write the information down, organize it or your paper! charts, venn diagrams, trees

In the 12th edition, look at PS 6, 11, 13, 16, 23, 26, 32, 34, 36, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 59, 74, 80, 82, 84, 112, 116, 117, 123, 127, 130, 138, 149, 163, 165, 170, 179, 185, 194, 206, 213, 224, 227. How many of these questions can you do using these alternative approaches?

As for SC, you get a sixth sense of things to look out for.

I always feel relief when I see one of the following words or symbols:

: (may precede a list- parallel structure)
; must separate two complete sentences

Although (check if but or while or however appears later, so you can eliminate)
,which
all of them/ all of which

it they its their (especially if not underlined)
due to
such as / like
consider (no as)
Regard (as)

subjunctive triggering verbs: urge, request, dictate, demand, mandate

either/only/not/not only/even/both placement
modifying phrases at the beginning of a sentence

so (adjective) that
such (noun) that

megafan · Answer

Thanks for the useful suggestions kevincan, I will bookmark this post.

shaselai · Answer

Are the ones above types to eliminate? Like ,which?

What about these? they the correct ways in a SC?

bb · Answer

Thanks Kevincan!!!
I've been fighting the "tricks" illusion for a long time. The issue is that when one sits at the test center - they realize that they suddenly forgot all the tricks and it is really down to what one knows.

kevincan · Answer

These are not to be eliminated automatically, as they are often correct and often wrong. It's good to know the rules governing them, so that you can work quickly and successfully through SC, saving time for RC and CR

sunainaluthra · Answer

ofcourse these tricks do help in saving time and are quite helpfull........ but sometimes, one just fails to get hold of these tricks at the right time.. nd the answer is just PRACTICE..

topher · Answer

kevincan you da man. Anywhere where I can find info on how you got your 790?

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Do the 700+ guys use any "tricks"?

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