Beat The GMAT

rajendran.kartik · Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:03 pm

Hi,

No this isnt a blow by blow account of my study or the process - a lot of people have given comprehensive debriefs which are really good and good enough. I would recommend you go through them , that should cover most of what you need to do, but im adding some material that helped me along the way.
In addition would be glad to answer ANY questions regarding prep .

I havent seen SOME of the following files on any previous post , so hopefully they'll be of use.

For those who want to practice quant , would HIGHLY recommend , the GMAT tough problems file.
The questions are really good and test your fundamentals.

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manju_ej · Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:19 am

Hi Raj,

I couldnt download the attachments.

The following error is displayed,

The selected Attachment does not exist anymore

404 File Not Found: The File files/probability_review_103.doc does not exist.

Note: I downloaded them from the GMAT resources.

Q1: How long did it take u to prepare for GMAT?
Q2: With difficult Q on the real test. did u attempt them all or made intelligent guesses and moved ?

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cornell · Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:36 am

Hi Raj,

Same here...

Thanks

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wawatan · Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:34 am

i got to take a peak at the hard quant questions and they were very good. but i forgot to save it on my computer and i tried to click on the attachments and it doesn't work now! please help!

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rajendran.kartik · Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:22 am

am uploading the files again , hope it works and you guys can download it this time.

Regarding my test :

1. I didnt get very difficult quant questions ,atleast i didnt think they were.
The thing is , that they did not test any new concepts or any deep logic...
That's the thing , what i did feel was that the depth level of thought was higher on the difficult questions and lesser on the easy ones.
Now what that means is that - the difficult questions had basically calculations at 2 or 3 levels. Say for ex. the following question type ( i didnt get this exact one , this is just an example) :
A table of tickets sold in different price ranges , ex : 10 tickets sold between 100-200 , 20 between 200-400 , 40 between 600-800 etc. until the last price range of 2000-4000.
Now the question is -- What percentage of the maximum amount that can be collected by the travel agent is the difference between the minimum and maximum amounts that he can make on tickets sold for less than Rs. 800.

So basically the questions were simple , just that you had to follow the wording closely , not be careless and just proceed logically.

2. I didnt have to guess on any questions , managed to solve all of them , although not necessarily correctly , but did have an approach for all of them.

3. Lastly , i did them the conventional way , wrote down the data on the notepad and solved them on paper.... I know you might think its time consuming , but i didnt suffer for time. I did this mainly to make sure i didnt make any silly calculation errors , which was a major source of my errors in the practice test. So if you do make careless mistakes , i would advise the same. However if it slows you down too much , then dont.

ONE FINAL TIP - AMONG THE CRITICAL ISSUES IN THE QUANT IS 'TIMING'. LEARN TO TIME YOURSELF... IF WE HAD 3 HOURS FOR THE QUANT , IM SURE EVERYONE WOULD GET A 60 SCALED SCORE. THE TRICK IS IN SOLVING ALL THE QUESTIONS IN ONE HOUR ODD.
And when you're short on time , your accuracy drops drastically.
So plan your time well.

Well guys , keep me posted if you have anything further to ask.
And would be glad to be of help.

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rajendran.kartik · Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:37 am

[quote="manju_ej"]Hi Raj,

I couldnt download the attachments.

The following error is displayed,

The selected Attachment does not exist anymore

404 File Not Found: The File files/probability_review_103.doc does not exist.

Note: I downloaded them from the GMAT resources.

Q1: How long did it take u to prepare for GMAT?
Q2: With difficult Q on the real test. did u attempt them all or made intelligent guesses and moved ?[/quote]

Hi ,

Ok didnt answer your questions completely , so am adding it here.

Well i took a total of about 6 months to prepare . The first 5 were just basically easy paced lazing about . i would do about say just 10-20 questions on an average in a week. I was working , so whenever i could i just sat for a couple of hours a week , do one topic. Just to keep everything fresh and in flow.

Serious study started only 20 days prior the test - couldnt afford to lose focus at work for too long. However at this time , due to all the infrequent brushing up , i just had to focus on practice and rectifying defects. Would put in about 3 hours everyday , with extra work on sundays.
For working professionals ,would advise them to plan well in advance. Start studying say six months before your exam at an easy pace. Just like reading a book at night before sleeping. Especially if your work is hectic , putting in long hours is often not feasible , so you will need a longer run-in than full time students. Once your foundations are laid slowly and steadily , then you can give it a final push during the last fortnight . That way your work wont suffer too much and neither will your preparation.
So if you're taking the test soon and have a strenuous job, my advice would be to adjust the test date accordingly.

2. Regarding your other question , have replied in an earlier post.

Hope to have been of help and keep me posted if you need any further help.

p.s. : Regarding quant - use the pacer from 800 score. I found it helpful. Dont waste more than 3 minutes (max) on any quant question. The time lost will lead to a loss of 2 answerable questions atleast.
In case you're getting stuck , after around 2 minutes , try to put values and solve. If in the next minute this doesnt work , make a smart guess and move on.
Better to get one wrong and move on , rather than get 3 wrong in a row coz you didnt have the time.

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Canman · Fri Jul 11, 2008 6:03 am

What is the source of the GMAT tough problems file?

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envyramana · Fri Jul 11, 2008 6:06 am

[quote]Serious study started only 20 days prior the test

Hi Rajendran
It was a very good debrief from u. thank you for this. can you tell how did u prepare in that last 20 days, The material used for practice and the approach used to rectify them.

Ramana

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cubicle_bound_misfit · Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:14 am

This one seems wrong:

1. The sum of the even numbers between 1 and n is 79*80, where n is an odd number, then n=?
Sol: First term a=2, common difference d=2 since even number

therefore sum to first n numbers of Arithmetic progression would be

n/2(2a+(n-1)d)

= n/2(2*2+(n-1)*2)=n(n+1) and this is equal to 79*80

therefore n=79 which is odd...

because in a series 1 t0 n if n is odd there will be n-1/2 terms as even.

lets say x = n-1/2

then sum will be x(x+1) ==> n-1/2*(n-1/2+1) = 79*80 ==> n-1/2 =79
==> n= 79*2+1 = 159.

Please let me know if my approach is wrong?

Regards,

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hydgrr · Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:57 am

Hi Kartik,
I cannot download the Sahil's grammar notes.
Can you please upload them again.
thanks

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rajendran.kartik · Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:09 pm

[quote="cubicle_bound_misfit"]This one seems wrong:

1. The sum of the even numbers between 1 and n is 79*80, where n is an odd number, then n=?
Sol: First term a=2, common difference d=2 since even number

therefore sum to first n numbers of Arithmetic progression would be

n/2(2a+(n-1)d)

= n/2(2*2+(n-1)*2)=n(n+1) and this is equal to 79*80

therefore n=79 which is odd...

because in a series 1 t0 n if n is odd there will be n-1/2 terms as even.

lets say x = n-1/2

then sum will be x(x+1) ==> n-1/2*(n-1/2+1) = 79*80 ==> n-1/2 =79
==> n= 79*2+1 = 159.

Please let me know if my approach is wrong?

Regards,[/quote]

Hi,

Your approach is fine , but personally i find the
sum - n/2(2a+...) formula cumbersome.

I would preferably use
sum = n/2 (a+l) , a - first no , l - last no.

saves time.

P.S. ANSWERS GIVEN THERE ARENT MINE.

REGARDING THE ORIGIN OF THIS QUESTION SET , IM NOT SURE MYSELF. WAS FORWARDED THIS BY A FRIEND , FOUND THE QUESTIONS INTERESTING.

SOLVED ALL OF THEM BUT HAVENT CHECKED THE ANSWERS , BASICALLY USED IT AS A SHOCK TOOL , TO SEE IF I COULD HANDLE NEW TYPES OF PROBLEMS.

So sorry guys , cant help you with the authenticity or for that matter with any doubts regd. the explanations given !!

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senthil · Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:44 pm

1. The sum of the even numbers between 1 and n is 79*80, where n is an odd number, then n=?
Sol: First term a=2, common difference d=2 since even number

therefore sum to first n numbers of Arithmetic progression would be

n/2(2a+(n-1)d)

= n/2(2*2+(n-1)*2)=n(n+1) and this is equal to 79*80

therefore n=79 which is odd...

because in a series 1 t0 n if n is odd there will be n-1/2 terms as even.

lets say x = n-1/2

then sum will be x(x+1) ==> n-1/2*(n-1/2+1) = 79*80 ==> n-1/2 =79
==> n= 79*2+1 = 159.

Please let me know if my approach is wrong?

Regards,[/quote]Hi,

Your approach is fine , but personally i find the
sum - n/2(2a+...) formula cumbersome.

I would preferably use
sum = n/2 (a+l) , a - first no , l - last no.

saves time.

P.S. ANSWERS GIVEN THERE ARENT MINE.

REGARDING THE ORIGIN OF THIS QUESTION SET , IM NOT SURE MYSELF. WAS FORWARDED THIS BY A FRIEND , FOUND THE QUESTIONS INTERESTING.

SOLVED ALL OF THEM BUT HAVENT CHECKED THE ANSWERS , BASICALLY USED IT AS A SHOCK TOOL , TO SEE IF I COULD HANDLE NEW TYPES OF PROBLEMS.

So sorry guys , cant help you with the authenticity or for that matter with any doubts regd. the explanations given !!

HI

The answer given in the doc is 79 .. that is where the confusion is ! .. any approach that strikes u first is the best !!!
n is 159 is the correct answer .. the answer n =79 as per karthiks approach just says there are 79 even numbers so to determine n , 79*2 +1 =159 is the answer ....

let me know if I am wrong

Thansk
Senthil

And karthik could you repost ur question about tickets ... i dont find a series in it .. 10,20,40 ..? could you please repost the question clearly thanks in advance

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ngufo · Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:49 pm

Congratulations! That is a score to be proud of!!

I am not sure if the links to the files you have uploaded work? I tried to download the files, and I get the following error:

The selected Attachment does not exist anymore
404 File Not Found: The File files/probability_review_103.doc does not exist.

Would be great if you could doublecheck and upload the files again (will be useful, to a bunch of the readers in the forum)

Thanks,
-ngufo

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rajendran.kartik · Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:49 pm

hi guys,

ok there's been a lot of discussion regd. question 1 , so hopefully this will lay all doubts to rest.

** PLS NOTE : THE SOLUTIONS GIVEN IN THE FILES HAVENT BEEN DONE BY ME !!! I GOT THE FILE AS IT IS , AND FORWARDED THE SAME. SO I REALLY CANT SAY !!!

however regd question 1 , dont see the confusion but anyway here's my soln :

n - odd , therefore
sum of even nos 1 - n = (n-1)/2 [n-1/2 + 1]/2 = (n-1)(n+1)/4=79*80
therefore (n-1) = 79 * 2
this gives n=159. THIS IS THE CORRECT SOLUTION.

As regards the soln given , if its incorrect , just ignore it !!! As long as your working / logic is correct , that's what matters.

ONE CAN EASILY DERIVE A GENERALISATION FOR THESE TYPE OF SERIES PROBLEMS :
1. SUM OF EVEN NOS FROM 1 TO N :
if n is odd => sum = (n-1) * (n+1) / 4
if n is even => sum = (n) (n+2) / 4

2. SUM OF ODD NOS FROM 1 TO N
if n is odd : sum = [(n+1)^2 ] / 4
if n is even : sum = (n^2)/4

*** THE POINT HERE IS THAT THESE ARE BASIC DERIVATIONS , WHICH OCCUR FREQUENTLY - THEREFORE WHENEVER YOU HAVE SOME FREE TIME , JUST SIT AND DERIVE A SET AND LEARN THE FORMULAE. WILL HELP YOU SAVE A LOT OF TIME ****
in addition you can also check the net , there are several shortcut formulae for percentages , AP , number systems , etc. which help you save loads of time.

Hope this helps....

REGARDING AN EARLIER POST ABOUT A TICKET PRICE QUESTION THAT SOMEBODY ASKED FOR :
That was just an example , but here's the actual question

A TRAVEL AGENT SELLS TICKETS IN THE FOLLOWING RANGES :

100-200 : 10 TICKETS
200-400 : 20 TICKETS
600-900 : 40 TICKETS
1000-1200 : 50 TICKETS

QN : WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE REVENUE THAT CAN BE EARNED BY THE AGENT , IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM REVENUES THAT CAN BE EARNED BY THE AGENT ON TICKETS SOLD FOR LESS THAN 900.

*** the question is simple , its just the wording that's a little ambiguous.
Soln : What he wants to ask is : if i were to subtract the minimum possible earnings for tickets less than 900 from the max possible earnings for tickets less than 900 , what percentage would this be of the total maximum possible earning. ****

ANYWAY VIA THIS QUESTION THE POINT I WAS TRYING TO MAKE WAS --- IN MY GMAT EXAM , THE TOUGH QUESTIONS DIDNT TEST MY LOGIC OR KNOWLEDGE , THEY ONLY WERE ABOUT UNDERSTANDING THE QUESTION THOROUGHLY AND NOT OVERLOOKING QUESTION PARTS.

well guys , nice to hear from you and keep me posted.

Glad to be of help.

Regards

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