Hello GMAT Magoosher's! My name is Derrick, I'm a GMAT test prep expert here at Magoosh and here we're going to talk about
the quantitative reasoning section on the GMAT but before we begin uh click subscribe on this
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GMAT quantitative reasoning section is a section that is very deceiving to most people most people
look at the question types and see the similar the very familiar problem solving style of question
and they immediately think about doing math right and focusing on math if this was a math test it
would be called the math section of the GMAT but it's actually quantitative reasoning and
so you want to be very methodic in the way that you think about problem solving and and going
about answering the questions we all through our lives of learning uh math skills learn through
pattern recognition and the GMAT picks up on this it actually preys upon you to make a lot of simple
mistakes because you see certain math patterns and then you immediately associate that with a
correct answer and so what the GMAT does is create question types with these little small nuances
that really change you from getting the correct answer to the selecting one of the wrong answers
and so we want to make sure we're thinking very methodical through our
answering of the questions and really focusing on what is the reasoning skills we can use coupled
with our Quant backgrounds to get ourselves to that successful answer while preparing for the
exam it's very uh well known the key to really doing well on the GMAT is practice, practice, practice
maybe even practicing the same question twice what you want to be aware of is that even though you've
had a lot of practice on a certain question type and you have vowed never to make the same mistake
twice uh honestly I've done it many of times you want to be very thoughtful about just how
you approach the question type and using all of the materials and all of the skills that
you've learned uh being very thoughtful about how you create your how you work your scratch
paper and also how you manage your time and the sense of understanding when to let a question go
so you're not making a silly mistake or error and wasting too much time but also how to uh
first you know approach a question whenever you see that there's a certain question type such
as data sufficiency right which is a question type that's very unique to the GMAT and you've probably
never seen it before until you start studying. one idea that I always bring to the Forefront when
we're approaching data sufficiency questions especially working with uh many of our
Magoosh students is understanding how data sufficiency Works you're not looking for a specific right
answer you're looking to see that you have all the data and information you need to get to get
to that right answer so one tactic and one and one skill that I always bring uh to the Forefront
is identifying if it's a value question or a yes or no question right what are they seeking
what is the answer that they're seeking value questions are very straightforward in the sense
that there is one value that is the answer to this question uh if you get multiple values for a and b
or if you adjust a few parts of the question you can get a different answer uh then you will that
will be insufficient the yes no questions are really a tricky one right because if you can
answer no definitively for A and B then that is sufficient information then you will choose
d as both answer as both uh statements give you enough information to have a definitive no answer
answering yes will also be a definitive yes answering that's sufficient and you can select
those answer choices as well what really tricks people up is the maybe area and using the two
statements and getting like a maybe response that maybe response is insufficient so you
want to not choose those statements that give you that maybe uh maybe answer so that's key
when it comes to data sufficiency understanding whether the question is asking for a value or
yes or no and then when you get to that yes or no understanding that a definitive no means that the
answer is the information is sufficient for you to answer that question but also understanding
that that maybe that little go between where you could answer it or you can't is actually
insufficiency so making sure that that's clear and being able to connect with that is very
important to know especially in the beginning of your GMAT studies it'll save you a lot of time
in conclusion the GMAT quantitative reasoning section is really special what it does is it
makes you think about the section in two specific ways and bringing them together you one have
your quantitative ability that you have been building over the years of of school but also
it takes into account thinking outside of the box right and bringing those two together many
problems that I have seen on the GMAT could be solved with using the out of the box thinking but having
that quantitative background and merging those two together will help you bring greater success
on the GMAT quantitative section and before we go let's think about a few tips to go into your study
so one take note of your limitations where are the areas of the quantitative section that are
foreign to you that you have not maybe worked with I would say from experience the math of
quantitative reasons section stops a little bit in early High School even touching on some Junior
High School you won't have any high levels of calculus or imaginary numbers but there are
nuances to uh converting a fraction decimal and percent that you may be rusty on identify those
limitations and practice on them next as you go through your study and using the Magoosh platform
make note of your errors it's not one thing to just know what questions you got wrong but also
documenting using the notes of saying hey how did I get this question wrong why did I get this
question wrong what will I do next time and then also creating a Time documented space where you
will actually revisit that question right so it could be seven days from now it could be 14 days
from now but making sure there is a time when you revisit that question and you can see how much you
have grown problem solving on a GMAT is unique in the fact that it brings both analytical rigor but
also mental flexibility and so take the time to really harness that as you're going through your
GMAT studies not only just look at quantitative reasoning in the sense of getting the right number
but how to get to that right number in multiple different ways there are many different ways you
can solve a problem and being able to be open to the fact that you may not always have the right
answer or the quickest answer may not be the right to put sorry the quickest process may not be lead
you to the right answer it's all ways to help you become more analytical inclined and more flexible
to open understanding of quantitative reasoning the GMAT really test writers want to force you
to break out of pattern recognition and take on this approach of flexible thinking that is crucial
to Future Business Leaders that's why I think the quantitative reasoning section on the GMAT
is my favorite and it really uh touches upon many aspects of understanding uh problem solving
and even uh leadership of understanding that taking a complex problem bringing it in and
then approaching it from a way that most people wouldn't because taking that Uncharted path may
lead you to that solution While others may fall for the traps so keep an open mind continue to
build your analytical rigor and please reach out to us at help@magoosh.com for any other
questions or Insight that you're seeking from the GMAT quantitative reasoning section but
the GMAT test in general again I'm Derrick test prep expert here at Magoosh and look
forward to working with you on and joining you along your GMAT Journey take care