GMAT Exam Prep

118 flashcards by MentisLibrary

The GMAT Focus Edition end to end: section structure, scoring and pacing, the arithmetic and algebra behind Quant, data sufficiency and the Data Insights question types, critical reasoning and reading, and the grammar rules that decide precise answers.

What three sections make up the GMAT Focus Edition, and how long is each?
Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Data Insights. Each is 45 minutes, for a total testing time of 2 hours 15 minutes, with one optional 10 minute break.
What is the score range of the GMAT Focus Edition?
The Total Score runs from 205 to 805 in 10 point increments and always ends in 5. Each of the three sections is scored from 60 to 90.
How is the GMAT adaptive?
It adapts question by question within each section. A correct answer tends to bring a harder next question, and your score reflects the difficulty of what you answered as well as how many you got right.
What does the Question Review and Edit feature allow?
You may bookmark as many questions as you like during a section and, at the end of that section, revisit them and change up to three answers, using whatever time remains in the section.
What is tested in the Quantitative Reasoning section?
Problem solving questions drawing on arithmetic and algebra. Geometry is not tested in the Focus Edition, and no calculator is allowed in this section.
What is tested in the Verbal Reasoning section?
Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning only. Sentence Correction was removed when the Focus Edition replaced the classic exam.
What question types appear in Data Insights?
Data Sufficiency, Multi-Source Reasoning, Table Analysis, Graphics Interpretation and Two-Part Analysis. An on-screen calculator is available in this section only.
Where does Data Sufficiency appear on the Focus Edition?
In the Data Insights section. It is no longer part of the Quantitative section as it was on the classic exam.
How long are GMAT scores valid, and how often may you retake?
Scores are valid for five years. You must wait 16 days between attempts, and you may take the exam up to five times in a rolling 12 month period and eight times in a lifetime.
What happened to the analytical writing assessment?
It was removed in the Focus Edition. There is no essay, and no separate writing score.
What can you do with your score at the end of the test?
You may preview your unofficial section and total scores and decide whether to accept or cancel the attempt. A cancelled attempt is not reported to schools.
How much time do you have per question in each section?
About 2 minutes 8 seconds in Quant, about 1 minute 57 seconds in Verbal and about 2 minutes 15 seconds in Data Insights, on average.
Why should you never leave questions unanswered at the end of a section?
Unanswered questions at the end of a section carry a penalty beyond simply being wrong, so a blind guess is always better than a blank.
When should you abandon a question and guess?
When you are about 30 seconds past your target time and still have no clear method. Pick the best available answer, bookmark it and move on.
What is an error log, and how do you use one?
A record of every practice question you miss, with the question type, the reason you missed it and the correct method. It converts practice into diagnosis.
What is backsolving, and when is it useful?
Substituting the answer choices back into the problem to see which one satisfies the conditions. It works when the choices are simple numbers and the algebra is messy.
What is picking numbers, and what numbers should you pick?
Substituting concrete values for variables to test expressions or eliminate answer choices. Choose small, easy numbers, and test 0, 1, a negative, and a fraction when the question allows them.
How should you use official practice exams?
Take them full length, timed, in your chosen section order, at your usual test time, and use each one to test your pacing plan as much as your content.
State the divisibility rules for 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9.
A number is divisible by 3 if its digit sum is divisible by 3, by 9 if its digit sum is divisible by 9, by 4 if its last two digits form a multiple of 4, by 8 if its last three digits form a multiple of 8, and by 6 if it is divisible by both 2 and 3.
How do you count the factors of an integer from its prime factorization?
Write the prime factorization, add 1 to each exponent, and multiply. For $n = p^a q^b$, the number of positive factors is $(a+1)(b+1)$.
What is the relationship between the greatest common factor and the least common multiple of two integers?
For positive integers $a$ and $b$, $\gcd(a,b) \times \operatorname{lcm}(a,b) = a \times b$.
What are the parity rules for sums and products?
Even plus even and odd plus odd are even; even plus odd is odd. A product is even if at least one factor is even, and odd only when every factor is odd.
How do you express a division with a remainder algebraically?
For a dividend $n$ divided by divisor $d$ with quotient $q$ and remainder $r$, $n = qd + r$ where $0 \le r < d$.
How do you find the units digit of a large power?
Find the cycle of the units digit of the base. Most bases cycle with period 4, so divide the exponent by 4 and use the remainder to select the position in the cycle.
What is the percent change formula?
Percent change equals the change divided by the original value, times 100: $\frac{\text{new} - \text{old}}{\text{old}} \times 100$.
How do successive percent changes combine?
Multiply the factors, do not add the percentages. A rise of $a\%$ followed by a rise of $b\%$ gives a total factor of $(1 + \frac{a}{100})(1 + \frac{b}{100})$.
How do you handle a ratio in a word problem?
Introduce a common multiplier. If two quantities are in the ratio 3 to 5, write them as $3k$ and $5k$ and use the other condition to solve for $k$.
State the main exponent rules.
$a^m \cdot a^n = a^{m+n}$, $\frac{a^m}{a^n} = a^{m-n}$, $(a^m)^n = a^{mn}$, $(ab)^n = a^n b^n$, $a^0 = 1$ for $a \ne 0$, and $a^{-n} = \frac{1}{a^n}$.
How do fractional exponents relate to roots?
$a^{1/n} = \sqrt[n]{a}$ and $a^{m/n} = \sqrt[n]{a^m}$, so every root can be rewritten as a power.
When does a fraction produce a terminating decimal?
When the fraction is in lowest terms and its denominator has no prime factors other than 2 and 5.