GMAT Arithmetic Tricks

Arithmetic problems in GMAT will be simplified if you follow the below tricks.

1. Review your math basics

    The GMAT main math concepts include – arithmetic, algebra, geometry. All of your major GMAT study guides include a section on review so don’t rush through this section, take the time to really relearn the material. For those concepts that will take a little more time to solidify in your brain, create flashcards. Use them whenever you have a few extra minutes.

2. Practice, practice, practice!

Arithmetic is all about numbers. So careful approximation will help you eliminate choices that will save your time. For that, you need to practice and be acquainted with the format and patterns.

For example, if you have to multiply 98 × 103 for some reason, then just estimate 100 × 100 = 10000.

3. Learn the shortcuts:

As calculators are not permitted for the quant section, hence you will have to memorize the shortcuts to solve certain sums. Like you will have to learn the squares and cubes of the number.

Like for example, 

5^1=5; Remainder: 2

5^2=25; Remainder: 1

5^3=125; Remainder: 2

5^4=625; Remainder: 1

It seems as though every odd power yields a remainder of 2 when you divide by 3, and so since the exponent 31 is odd, we’ll guess (correctly): 2.

4. Read the question carefully:

The GMAT test-takers rely on power and root questions.

If b>0, then the equation x^2=b always has two solutions, the positive and negative square root of b.

For example, if one of the two equations in a Data Sufficiency problem is 

(x+1)^2 =25, (x+1)2=25, then that statement cannot be sufficient by itself (unless further information was given in the setup before the statements). Instead, you have to be aware that both x+1=5, x+1=-5 and x=4,−6 are the solutions.

5. Have a flexible approach:

You must know topics like number properties, fractions, rates, solving for x, and basic geometry beyond perfectly. Equally important are strategies such as plugging in, picking a number, and working backward, which can be used not only to save time but also to check your answers. Be flexible in your approach as the more you practice, the more you will be able to recognize the kinds of problems that are going to come on the finals. For arithmetic sequence GMAT you need more GMAT arithmetic practice questions.

6. Maintain timing:

You will have to solve 31 questions within 62 minutes which means you get 2 minutes per question. GMAT arithmetic practice is more to know the types of questions that tend to take you longer than others. In case you don’t have a clue about a specific question then guess or move on! You can’t get stuck on any one single problem for long.