GMAT & MBA Admissions Blog

This blog post relates to question #114 from the Official Guide for GMAT Review, 2017.

This is a classic combined rate problem with a VIC (variables in choices) twist. The authors of the OG provide the straightforward algebraic solution, and, with the proper background in rates problems like this, you shouldn’t have any trouble understanding what they’re up to. However, VIC problems with only one or two variables are begging to be back-solved.

Many of our GMAT students are very intimidated by the quantitative section of the GMAT.  But they really don’t need to be.

We are quick to explain that it can often be easier to make rapid improvement in your score on the quantitative section of the GMAT, as a significant portion of the facts and concepts you need to know are easy enough to learn or re-learn and then begin to apply to GMAT problems. The verbal section, on the other hand, has a stronger element of required “intuition” and general comfort with the nuances of the English language. This intuition and the associated vocabulary and reading comprehension skills take longer to build, and variances across students in these types of skills are generally the result of over a decade of relative differences in number and complexity of books read, reading and writing coursework, and general interest in reading and writing.

All that said, students continue to be intimidated by GMAT quant. Our society has a large cohort of individuals who simply believe they aren’t really “math people.”

This leads to high levels of stress around the quantitative section of the GMAT, and at a certain point, enough stress and anxiety can result in scores on the quantitative section of the exam that don’t even come close to your true level of competence.

So, what are some foundational steps you can take to begin the journey to mastering the GMAT quant section. 

Let me suggest a two-step process to building a foundation for success on GMAT quant.