GMAT Tips

Today’s GMAT Tip comes from our friends at Knewton.  In this article, they share advice on how to ace the AWA portion of the GMAT.  Read on to see what they have to say! A lot of good folks argue that your GMAT essays are meaningless, but don’t forget that the essays can be a determining factor in the increasingly competitive admissions process. An extremely low score could set off flags, and raise doubts about your ability to complete graduate work. Additionally, admissions officers will use your GMAT essay as a check on your personal statements, to make sure they were authored by the same person. 1. Have a strong opinion In both Analysis of an Issue and Analysis of an Argument essays, it is important to pick a side in the intro/thesis and argue it persuasively throughout. Do not merely summarize—be an active advocate for a perspective. Read more

Today’s GMAT tip comes to us from Veritas Prep.  In this article, they provide helpful advice on how to study for the Sentence Correction section of the GMAT. Read on to see what they have to say! You know that the GMAT tests Modifiers in Sentence Correction. But the unasked question that you may want to ask is: Why? Why Modifiers and not the fact that you’re not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition? Why Modifiers and not something more obscure like “when assigning a possessive to someone whose name ends in ‘s,’ what is the rule for when you just put the apostrophe right after the ‘s’ (Russ’) and when you put another ‘s’ after the apostrophe (Russ’s)?” Ultimately, Modifiers have one massive advantage to GMAT administrators and the business schools who use GMAT scores in admissions: Modifiers are either logical or illogical. It is patently illogical to say that “like Bob Dylan, the music of Talib Kweli…”. Music just won’t be like Bob Dylan; one is an art or a sound, while the other is a human being. It’s not a logical comparison or description. Instead, you’d have to say “Like that of Bob Dylan, the music of Talib Kweli…” or “Like Bob Dylan, Talib Kweli makes music that…”. Those are logical — Dylan’s music can be like Kweli’s music, or Dylan can be like Kweli. They’re at least in the same realm. Read more

Today’s GMAT tip comes from test prep firm ManhattanGMAT. In this article, they provide helpful tips for how to identify and answer "strengthen" questions in the Critical Reasoning section of the GMAT.  Read on to see what they have to say! This week, we’re going to tackle a harder GMATPrep critical reasoning question from the Strengthen category. Let’s start with the problem. Set your timer for 2 minutes! * "Sales of telephones have increased dramatically over the last year. In order to take advantage of this increase, Mammoth Industries plans to expand production of its own model of telephone, while continuing its already very extensive advertising of this product. “Which of the following, if true, provides most support for the view that Mammoth Industries cannot increase its sales of telephones by adopting the plan outlined above? “(A) Although it sells all of the telephones that it produces, Mammoth Industries’ share of all telephone sales has declined over the last year. “(B) Mammoth Industries’ average inventory of telephones awaiting shipment to retailers has declined slightly over the last year. “(C) Advertising has made the brand name of Mammoth Industries’ telephones widely known, but few customers know that Mammoth Industries owns this brand. “(D) Mammoth Industries’ telephone is one of three brands of telephone that have together accounted for the bulk of the last year’s increase in sales. “(E) Despite a slight decline in the retail price, sales of Mammoth Industries’ telephones have fallen in the last year.” Read more

Today’s GMAT tip comes to us from Veritas Prep.  In this article, they provide helpful tips on how to answer Critical Reasoning questions on the GMAT. Read on to see what they have to say! Admit it: you are a critical person. When you’re in a long line at a store or DMV, you criticize the way the establishment runs things.  When you drive, you criticize the others on the road. Like anything, being critical is a matter of interpretation as to whether it’s a good or bad thing. Critical person? Bad. Critical thinker? Harvard material. And on the GMAT, it pays to embrace your inner critic. One of the least-used but most-useful ways of doing so takes place on Critical Reasoning questions that ask you to identify an assumption that an author makes when constructing an argument. True, the correct answer will strengthen, and not weaken, the author’s conclusion, but we’re much better at criticizing than we are at defending, and when given the option we should probably choose the former. Consider this argument and question: When it rains for more than an hour immediately before or during a baseball game, the game is canceled. Therefore, tomorrow’s game is sure to be canceled. The author of the argument above assumes which of the following? (A) The manager of the home team has already begun planning his pitching rotation around the impending cancellation. (B) The ticket office has issued a statement to ticketholders regarding the rain check policy. (C) It will rain for an extended period of time leading up to tomorrow’s scheduled game time. Read more

Today’s GMAT tip comes to us from Veritas Prep.  In this article, they provide helpful tips on how to study effectively for the GMAT. Read on to see what they have to say! As a demographic group, GMAT students are among the most driven and hardworking people on the planet, but often those positive qualities manifest themselves in the most brute-force of study strategies: do more practice tests; solve more practice problems; spend more hours/days/months “studying”.  What these practices tend to miss is that the GMAT is by nature an analytical exam, designed to reward those who think critically, analytically, and efficiently not just about each problem, but about the entire process as a whole.  Browse a GMAT study forum and you’re likely to read countless comments and threads such as: “I’ve been studying x hours per week for y months and my score has stagnated.  What do I do?” “I’ve used the Official Guide 11th and 12th editions and the verbal and quant supplements in addition to three other books; where can I find more practice problems?” These comments certainly don’t lack for motivation – the authors are clearly committed to putting in the work necessary to succeed.  Given that the GMAT isn’t a test of one’s capacity for hard work, however, but rather a test of one’s ability to efficiently solve problems, these comments miss the boat entirely. Read more

Today’s GMAT tip comes from test prep firm ManhattanGMAT. In this article, they share helpful tips on how to solve critical reasoning problems that require you to evaluate a conclusion.  Read on to see what they have to say! This week, we’re going to tackle a harder GMATPrep critical reasoning question from the Evaluate A Conclusion category. Let’s start with the problem. Set your timer for 2 minutes! * ”Capuchin monkeys in Venezuela often rub a certain type of millipede into their fur. Secretions of these millipedes have been shown to contain two chemicals that are potent mosquito repellents, and mosquitoes carry parasites that debilitate the capuchins. The rubbing behavior is rare except during the rainy season, when mosquito populations are at their peak. Therefore, the monkeys probably rub the millipedes into their fur because doing so helps protect them against mosquitoes. “Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in order to evaluate the argument? “(A) Whether the two chemicals provide any protection for the millipedes against their own predators “(B) Whether the type of millipede used by the capuchin monkeys in Venezuela is found in other parts of the world “(C) Whether animals other than capuchins rub insects of any kind into their fur “(D) Whether the only time the millipedes are readily available to the capuchins is during the rainy season “(E) Whether secretions of any other insects accessible to the capuchins contain chemicals that repel mosquitoes” Read more

Today’s GMAT tip comes from Veritas Prep.  In this article, they provide helpful advice on understanding the concept of remainders. Read on to see what they have to say! Unless you teach math, chances are that you haven’t used a remainder in years. Remainders in division are basically placeholders for kids who haven’t yet learned decimals or mixed numbers; as soon as you learn what to do with the remainder, you tend to never touch a remainder again…until of course you take the GMAT. Consider the problem 11/3. 3*3 is 9, but then there are 2 left over that will not divide evenly. So in this case, 11/3 = 3 remainder 2. Read more

Today’s GMAT Tip comes from our friends at Knewton.  In this post, they give helpful advice on how to use formal logic on the Critical Reasoning section of the GMAT.  Read on to see what they have to say! GMAT Critical Reasoning questions test your ability to use logic. In most cases this means making inferences, identifying details, and understanding arguments. Occasionally, however, you will have to apply formal logic to understand what a CR paragraph implies. Formal, or, classical logic, has its own set of rules, and questions that make use of it will try to trip you up with wrong answer choices that contradict those rules. Consider the example below: Studies have shown that a large percentage of car accidents are caused by aggressive driving. To help reduce the number of accidents and to promote traffic safety in general, insurance companies have begun to issue discounts to drivers who take defensive driving courses. Research shows that people who practice defensive driving are considerably less likely to get into a car accident. Therefore, the insurance company’s plan should help reduce the number of accidents. Read more

Today’s GMAT Tip comes from our friends at Knewton.  In this post, they provide helpful hints on how to tackle particularly complex math problems.  Read on to see what they have to say! Here is a rather challenging GMAT math problem. Give it a shot: For every positive EVEN integer n, the function h(n) is defined to be the product of all the even integers from 2 to n, inclusive. If p is the smallest prime factor of h(100) + 1, then p is (A) between 2 and 10 (B) between 10 and 20 (C) between 20 and 30 (D) between 30 and 40 (E) greater than 40 So, where do you start? It is difficult to figure out how to approach a question like this one, since it’s a mix of so many different concepts: properties of even numbers, prime numbers, factors, and functions. No one wants to see a complex question like this on the GMAT, especially when you’re struggling to keep up your pace and finish the section on time. Read more