Beat The GMAT

This is the latest in a series of “How To Analyze” articles that began with the general “How To Analyze A Practice Problem” article (click on the link to read the original article). This week, we’re going to analyze a specific Sentence Correction question. The GMATPrep® problem we’re using this week is one that we’ve already discussed how to solve in a previous article; click here to read that article and try the problem first.

Here’s the GMATPrep® problem again; if you didn’t read the first article and try the problem already, then try this problem now (1 minute, 15 seconds):

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One of our top community members, Richard (also known as money9111), has a written a comprehensive debriefing on his experiences visiting the Yale School of Management–a top MBA program. Check out his notes below from his day on campus:

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As a current full-time student in Columbia Business School’s executive MBA program and a full-time online marketing maverick for Knewton, I often get asked this question: Are you completely nuts? How can you balance the demands of school and a career without sacrificing one for the other?

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Welcome back to this week’s Challenge Problem! As always, the problem and solution below were written by one of our fantastic instructors. Each challenge problem represents a 700+ level question. If you are up for the challenge, however, set your timer for 2 mins and go!

Question

The tens digit of is
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The following is a guest post by Andre, a current MBA student and a blogger for The Dirt. Andre is writing a series for Beat The GMAT to share a bluntly honest perspective of life in business school. Beat The GMAT’s editorial staff purposely left his article in its original raw (and entertaining) form.

In today’s article, Andre discusses what spring break is like as an MBA student–apparently it’s no break at all. With out further ado, here is Andre:

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When talking to my students about their study plans to prepare for the GMAT, I always emphasize the need to take as many computer-adaptive practice tests as possible.  A test-taker needs to experience what the real GMAT is like, and there’s no better way to do that than to sit for four straight hours and experience the challenge (and joy?!) of facing progressively difficult questions.

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When students begin preparing for the GMAT, I always recommend that they take a GMATPrep practice test early in their studies. I do this for several reasons:

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Almost every top business school embraces the concept of the study group.  The study group is simultaneously one of the more frustrating and beneficial aspects of business.  This theme runs throughout the entire business school process, even beginning with your application.

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We’re happy to introduce the Knewton Weekly Math Challenge. Every Wednesday we’ll post a very difficult quant question. The first person to answer correctly in the comment field below will win the new Knewton T-shirt. After the right answer appears in the comments (you can only post one answer, and you must explain how you arrived at your answer — so take your time), we’ll post a full explanation. Here’s the first question. Good luck!

In a certain game, a player begins with a bag containing tiles numbered 1 through 10, each of which has an equal probability of being selected. The player draws one tile. If the tile is even, the player stops. If not, the player draws another tile without replacing the first. If this second tile is even, the player stops. If not, the player draws a third tile—without replacing either of the first two tiles—and then stops. What is the probability that at the conclusion of the game, the sum of the tiles that the player has drawn is odd?

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As discussed previously in this space, the authors of the GMAT have two primary goals when they write any GMAT question – they want you to have the potential to get the question wrong, and they also want to give you the opportunity to waste precious time as you arrive at your answer (so that you have the potential to get future questions wrong).  Cleverly, they have designed a style of Critical Reasoning question that is suited to serve both ends – the “Mimic the Reasoning” question.

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While the two essays on the GMAT require you to do completely different things, the approach and foundation of each essay is exactly the same.  In this blog article, I want to address two questions my students often ask:  “How long should I spend on planning the essay vs. writing the essay?” and “How long should the essay be?”

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There has been a lot of conversation about this topic over the past few years and I thought I would share some of my thoughts surrounding this GMAT/GRE debate, so you can consider the implications it may have for you if any.

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The summer internship is a big part in switching.  Not only will you be able to decide if this is in fact an industry you would like to be in, it is a long-term job interview.  If you like the job and you do well it in, your second year of business school could be a breeze if they make you an offer.  If you find out that you love it but they don’t love you, then at least you are part of the way home and now have good experience.  If you find out not only do they not want you, but you don’t want them, then you have a lot of work in front of you.

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Not sure whether you should take the time and money to visit the b-schools you plan on applying to? While some adcoms admit to awarding brownie points and some swear that whether or not you visit has no impact on your acceptance or rejection, I believe that if you have the opportunity to visit the b-schools on your list, then you should absolutely do so.

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It’s common to take the GMAT twice; some have gone as far as retaking the test three or four times! At the end of the day, we all have the same reason for retaking this test: to get a higher score. Perhaps you need a higher GMAT score to compensate for a weak area on your business school application. Or maybe you wish to strengthen your performance on one section of the GMAT to indicate competency to MBA adcoms.

So what is the best strategy for retaking the GMAT? Before answering this question, it is important to assess your options.

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