Articles by Brent Hanneson
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The following is a metaphor for how students often respond to a particularly tough GMAT question: It’s a dark, moonless night, and you find yourself alone in a haunted house. Blood drips from the ceiling, and the words … Read More
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In my last article, we examined the importance of considering mathematical strategies other than those we learned in school. So, rather than approach a question as though our former teachers will be checking (and … Read More
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The good news: the GMAT Quantitative section tests concepts that you already learned in school. The bad news: if you insist on always solving GMAT math questions using the same techniques you learned in school, you’ll … Read More
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On test day, you’ll need to know the difference between if and whether, so let’s begin by considering these two sentences: A) No one knows if weatherman Will Withers will return to work. B) No one knows whether … Read More
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After reading a few solutions in Beat The GMAT’s Data Sufficiency forum, one notices that sometimes people plug in values to test sufficiency and sometimes they use a different approach. So, how do we identify those … Read More
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In a recent article, I discussed my concern regarding the term “permutation.” In this article, I’ll discuss my concern regarding the question, “Does order matter?” People often use this question to help … Read More
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In my previous article, I mentioned that the Fundamental Counting Principle (FCP) can be used to solve most GMAT counting questions. The FCP says: If a task can be completed in stages, where one stage can be accomplished … Read More
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I’ve never been a big fan of the phrase “Combinations and Permutations.” It suggests that all counting questions can be solved using either combinations or permutations, when this is not so. Compounding the … Read More
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Most GMAT students don’t spend enough time considering the mindset they’ll need on test day. In my very first article for Beat The GMAT, I suggested that the simple act of smiling can increase your performance. In … Read More
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To set up this article, please consider a forum post from some fictitious wrestling forum: The state wrestling tournament is 1 month away, and I want to win the 184-pound weight class. To lose enough weight to qualify … Read More
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Welcome to part three of a three-part series on common mistakes that students make when answering GMAT Data Sufficiency questions. In this article, we’ll examine two mistakes related to equations. Mistake #1 – … Read More
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Welcome to part two of a three-part series on common mistakes that students make when answering GMAT Data Sufficiency questions. In this article, we’ll examine mistakes related to assumptions about number … Read More
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Welcome to part one of a three-part series on common mistakes that students make when answering Data Sufficiency questions. In this article, we’ll examine two kinds of mistakes that GMAT newcomers often make, and in … Read More
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Many GMAT questions involving percent require us (at some point) to convert a fraction to a percent. In this article, we’ll examine some techniques to consider when making these conversions. To set this up, let’s say … Read More
