GMAT Math help

Impact · #1 11-08-2007, 01:31 PM

Im studying for the GMAT. What pisses me off about it the most so far is the amount of math you have to do by hand. Do you have any advice for handling this, especially the division? I havent done math like this without a calculator in years(and im no genius) so its kinda overwhelming, especially considering the avg time of 2 minutes per question. I feel that trying to figure out how to solve the problem plus doing the math is going to be difficult within the allotted time frame.

Impact · #2 11-09-2007, 01:14 PM

bump

CrushinFelt · #3 11-09-2007, 01:35 PM

i woke up one morning and my dad called me and said "tomorrow go to [xyz building] and take the GMAT." I was like... uhh ok? I went and did pretty well. For the most part I wouldn't be too worried about studying for the math part of it. I took it and did well (not trying to brag, I do have a mind built for math), but I looked at my brother's study book after I'd taken it and I couldn't believe all the different stuff they tried to get you to remember.

Just think about the question overall, think about which pieces of info you need, and then figure out what's missing. From what I remember there's no actual math is there? Go into it thinking about math from a "Reading Comprehension" perspective is my advice (if that makes sense).

SunyD · #4 11-09-2007, 05:21 PM

Great site for discussing problems and advice on the GMAT, and B-schools in general:

http://www.gmatclub.com/forum/

Remember the GMAT isnt "everything" in your application to a business-school. They want to see your past experience, reasons for getting your MBA (essays), recommendations, etc.

stinkypete · #5 11-09-2007, 05:34 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I took it and did well (not trying to brag, I do have a mind built for math), but I looked at my brother's study book after I'd taken it and I couldn't believe all the different stuff they tried to get you to remember.

[/ QUOTE ]

at some point in time i thought i was going to take the GMAT, so i picked up a princeton review GMAT book. i found a serious fundamental error in there, that was clearly a result of the stupid book writers trying to use formulas that did not apply because they did not understand them. i found it pretty funny. then i threw the book in the garbage.

hotmark777 · #6 11-09-2007, 07:41 PM

96% math
60% english = 640
i got a 5.5 on essay though...

Took gmat maybe 6 years ago if not more, hardly studied but i definitely regret not studying for all that dumb english grammar, which easily cost me a 700+ score

To study properly i suggest just doing a few practice tests, that ought to suffice

Impact · #7 11-09-2007, 07:46 PM

[ QUOTE ]
96% math
60% english = 640
i got a 5.5 on essay though...

Took gmat maybe 6 years ago if not more, hardly studied but i definitely regret not studying for all that dumb english grammar, which easily cost me a 700+ score

To study properly i suggest just doing a few practice tests, that ought to suffice

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the responses everyone but my specific question is how you dealt with the "math without a calculator" in a timely fashion. Meaning you probably know how to solve the problem but you still gotta do like 124858 X 858585 and then .378348/904933 type of stuff to get the answer.

ahnuld · #8 11-09-2007, 07:59 PM

be good at eyeballing and approximating if its multiple choice?

Frogloks · #9 11-10-2007, 12:08 AM

Backsolving is the way to go for a lot of the GMAT math questions. Since the GMAT people usually list the choices in ascending order, start with C. From there you can usually eliminate 1/2 the remaining answers depending if the difference is too high or low.

JJSCOTT2 · #10 11-10-2007, 12:44 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Backsolving is the way to go for a lot of the GMAT math questions. Since the GMAT people usually list the choices in ascending order, start with C. From there you can usually eliminate 1/2 the remaining answers depending if the difference is too high or low.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup.

Also, I was pretty rusty on math as well before I did mine so I took one of those prep courses and they teach you a lot of shortcuts for specific types of problems. Of course I don't remember any of them now, but if you have a review book or something like that there should be at least some info in there on how to deal. Plus, I'm pretty sure I took the GMAT on a computer and there was a built in calculator so not sure why that's a problem.