# GMAT Problem Solving: Roman Numeral Questions

March 7, 2014 by

Have you seen these problems as you study for the GMAT? You know the ones I’m talking about – they have so many components that you put up a mental block almost the second you see them. And to add insult to injury, they increase the visual clutter with Roman numerals.

What do you do when you see these questions? Do you tend to guess and move on?

We’ve got a strategy to help you master these Roman numeral questions, and we’re going to share it. However, for maximum learning value, we’re first going to have you try this practice question on your own.

Here’s a hint to help you out, though: plugging in numbers will help.

#### GMAT Problem Solving

##### Roman Numerals Question

If x, y, and z are consecutive odd integers, with x < y < z, then which of the following must be true?

I. x + yRead full post

# GMAT Critical Reasoning Practice Question & Explanation

March 6, 2014 by

You may not love doing GMAT Critical Reasoning practice, but it’s good for your score. We initially posted this stimulus and question on Facebook – give it a try:

While the average American reads only two books per year, researchers have recently concluded that by reading  two books per month, people can expect their memorizing capacity to double. The most effective way for Americans to begin to read two books per month – thus increasing their memory capacity – is to support Proposition 75, which will require students to read at least two books per month beginning in 2nd grade and through their senior year of high school.

Which of the following can be most properly drawn, if the statements above are true, about future reading habits and memorization capacity?

• A)  If Proposition 75 passes, all teen-agers will see a significant increase in their ability to memorize for tests.

# GMAT Success is in the Details

March 4, 2014 by

A little thing here or there doesn’t usually make a lot of difference.  But when you aggregate, knowing some of the little things about the GMAT can be a big help on Test Day.  In this blog post, I am going to highlight some unexpected or otherwise novel little tidbits.  This list is not comprehensive, of course, but I believe you’ll find it contributes to your GMAT success on test day.  If you have anything you’d like to add, please do so in the comments.

• Your photograph taken at the testing center on test day will be sent to schools.  That’s right, folks.  Just when you thought it was safe to wear your lucky shirt—you know, the one with the crass cartoon of a feral dog at a cocktail party—Big Brother steps in and spoils it for you.  According to GMAC’s website, your test day photograph as well

# Introducing the First GMAT Course eBook for Kindle

March 3, 2014 by

Great news for Kaplan students: we’ve collaborated with Amazon to bring the first GMAT course ebook directly to students enrolled in Kaplan courses using the Kindle reading apps and Kindle Fire tablets. This makes our GMAT course the first Kindle-compatible Kaplan course available for aspiring business school students. Kaplan GMAT students will have the ability to study across multiple devices—Kindle Fire and Android tablets, iPads, PCs and Macs—and take advantage of features such as note taking, highlighting, tracking progress, word look up, searching and syncing.

“Until recently, the adoption of tablets and eBooks for studying has lagged the adoption of eBooks for leisure reading, because studying involves engagement with the book through highlighting, note-taking and other tactile actions,” said Lee Weiss, Executive Director of Emerging Products, Kaplan Test Prep. “But as these functions became more user-friendly in eBook form and device ownership continues to grow, we’re now seeing a demand … Read full post

# Get Your Fresh GMAT Practice Question Here!

February 27, 2014 by

Yesterday, we posted a GMAT practice question on Facebook. It got a lot of attention and many responses. Here it is again:

What is the value of b if a = $\frac{b}{c^{2}}$ ?

(1) $ac^{2}&space;=&space;50$

(2) $c^{2}=&space;10$ and $a^{2}=&space;25$

Our Facebook audience mostly answered A, with a few votes for D. The correct answer is indeed A, and here’s why…

First, you can multiply both sides of the equation in the question stem by $c^{2}$ to make it clear that $ac^{2}&space;=&space;b$. Then, look for values a, c and $ac^{2}$.

• Statement (1) is exactly what is needed – it gives you a precise value for $ac^{2}$. Statement (1) is sufficient, so eliminate answer choices C and E.
• Statement (2) alone, however, leads to two possible values for b, because you’d have to substitute the square roots of 25 for a, and those square roots are BOTH positive AND negative 5 (remember this! The GMAT likes

# GMAT Strategy and Time Management: When to Guess

February 24, 2014 by

Guessing on the GMAT is a painful decision – especially for advanced test takers.  In the past, sometimes you were punished for guessing (like on the SATs) and sometimes you were made to feel like you weren’t fully prepared (remember college Spanish classes?). However, on the GMAT, while you want to minimize the amount of guess you do, realize that having a guessing strategy in place is important.  A guessing strategy is more important in the Quantitative sections since most test takers have a more difficult time finishing that section.  However, it is also important not to lose track of time on the Verbal section.  For sound GMAT strategy, primarily there are two distinct times when you want to guess:

#### When You Don’t Know the Concept

Let’s face it, on GMAT Test Day, you have a chance of forgetting one of the many equations you have memorized.  Additionally, sometimes … Read full post

# GMAT Study Tip: Slow Down to Improve

February 21, 2014 by

A great GMAT study tip is what I call The Slow Down Paradox: going slower on the GMAT can make you faster.

Recently, one of my GMAT tutoring students, an engineering undergrad at Penn, hit the test prep wall.  After a couple of months of study he was consistently scoring 670/680 on weekly practice tests, but he needed to do significantly better to qualify for Wharton’s sub matriculation program.  This student was a bright guy and a typical engineer, accustomed to attacking challenges and blowing through them.   His problem was quant – all kinds of quant.  This was surprising since, in our sessions together and his homework, he demonstrated mastery of high-level content and methods. But something was falling apart under test conditions. Together, we analyzed his situation and soon saw a pattern.  Specifically, he was making preventable errors, misreading the problems and falling into traps.  Meanwhile, he was regularly … Read full post

# What’s a Good GMAT Score and What Score Do You Need?

February 20, 2014 by

Quite simply, the GMAT score you need is the one that gets you into the b-school of your choice.

Let’s look at GMAT scoring in more detail to give this initial statement more context.

#### GMAT Scoring Basics

GMAT scores are used by business schools to provide a common yardstick to compare candidates for admission and to determine whether prospective students have the ability to contribute and perform well. On the GMAT, you will receive five scores:

• An overall score, ranging from 200-800
• A math subscore, ranging from 0-60
• A verbal subscore, ranging from 0-60
• A score for your AWA, ranging from 0-6
• An Integrated Reasoning subscore, ranging from 1-8

#### Your Percentile Rank

Each of the above scores will be accompanied by a percentile ranking. This ranking highlights what proportion of test takers scored lower than you on the test. The higher the percentile ranking, the better you did. For … Read full post

# GMAT Question of the Week: Data Sufficiency and Averages – The Explanation

February 13, 2014 by

If you haven’t already, visit our GMAT Data Sufficiency and Averages practice problem and give it a try on your own before reading the explanation.

To get this question correct, you must combine your knowledge of fundamental math concepts with use of the Kaplan Method and strategies for approaching Data Sufficiency and Averages. Here’s a breakdown:

The average formula is

$Average&space;=&space;\frac{sum&space;-of-&space;terms}{number-&space;of-&space;terms}$

The question stem asks  “Is  $\frac{\left&space;(&space;m+n&space;\right&space;)}{2}&space;<&space;50$?”

Remember, with a Yes/No Data Sufficiency question, you are looking at the statements and trying to determine whether they provide a consistent YES or NO answer to this question. A consistent answer of yes OR no is sufficient. An inconsistent answer (yes and no) is insufficient.

Statement (1): Sufficient. This statement says that $\frac{\left&space;(&space;3m+3n&space;\right&space;)}{2}&space;=&space;90$

Pull the 3 out of the numerator to get  $\frac{\left&space;(&space;3(m+n)&space;\right&space;)}{2}&space;=&space;90$

Multiply both sides by 2 to get  $3\left&space;(&space;m+n&space;\right&space;)=180$

Then divide both sides … Read full post

# GMAT Data Sufficiency and Averages

February 11, 2014 by

Who’s afraid of a little GMAT Data Sufficiency and Averages? Not you! Take this one step-by-step to get to the correct answer. Consider timing yourself to see how close you are to the 2 minute suggested average for GMAT DS questions.

Post your answer here in the comments, or on Facebook. We’ll provide a full explanation of this problem in a couple days. Happy practicing!

Edit: The explanation has been added.

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