{"id":7070,"date":"2026-09-25T10:15:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T10:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grockit.com\/blog\/gre\/?p=427"},"modified":"2026-09-25T15:18:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T15:18:51","slug":"simple-quantitative-strategies-for-the-gmat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/gmat\/simple-quantitative-strategies-for-the-gmat\/","title":{"rendered":"Simple Quantitative Strategies for the GMAT"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Before you review all that algebra and statistics you\u2019ve forgotten over the years, and before you practice with an endless sequence of practice problems, you should learn a few simple tips that well help you immensely on test day. Learn these early, and reinforce them during practice.<\/p>\n<p><div  style=' margin-top:30px; margin-bottom:4px;'  class='hr hr-custom hr-center hr-icon-no  0  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_iconlist  avia-builder-el-first '><span class='hr-inner  inner-border-av-border-none' style=' width:50px;' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><br><div  class='avia-icon-list-container   avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_hr  avia-builder-el-last '><ul class='avia-icon-list avia-icon-list-left av-iconlist-big avia_animate_when_almost_visible avia-iconlist-animate'><li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue816' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Know what the question is asking for<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>I can&#8217;t tell you how many times I&#8217;ve seen a question that requires you to solve for some unknown variable x, and then it asks you &#8220;What&#8217;s the value of x\/2?&#8221; or &#8220;What&#8217;s the value of 4x&#8221; or &#8220;What&#8217;s the value of sqrt(x)?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The test writers know that multiplying your final answer by 2 does not prove your mathematical prowess. Rather, it tests your test taking ability.<\/p>\n<p>Often, what happens is that students read a question, figure out what they must do to arrive at the answer (say, solving for variable x), and then stop once they&#8217;ve figured out said variable. Why go any further? I&#8217;ve just done the algebra.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve unlocked the problem; I&#8217;ve got the answer.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s that feeling of knowing the familiar process of solving for x that is dangerous; once you arrive at x, you feel finished. And, I guarantee that the value of &#8216;x&#8217; will be in the answer choice, further reassuring you that you&#8217;ve completed this question correctly.<\/p>\n<p>But, unfortunately, the answer is not x, but 4x (or some variation, arbitrary or not, invented by the test writers). To avoid this, consciously think about following directions more so than you usually do.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t assume you know the drill, even if you really do know the drill.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li>\n<div  class='avia-builder-widget-area clearfix  avia-builder-el-2  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '><div id=\"text-76\" class=\"widget clearfix widget_text\">\t\t\t<div class=\"textwidget\"><p><span data-sumome-listbuilder-embed-id=\"70f62512b89832cc8e7fcd96b9d03245c2794cf0b7170fa257f26acec72436d9\"><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><div id=\"text-77\" class=\"widget clearfix widget_text\">\t\t\t<div class=\"textwidget\"><p><span data-sumome-listbuilder-embed-id=\"71160db829b51adcc3539815988485f372b020407413c2957efe50cfe72ea639\"><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n<li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue816' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Ballparking<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>To &#8216;ballpark&#8217; is to roughly approximate. In terms of quantitative strategy, ballparking essentially means thinking about mathematical figures in a vague, imprecise, but nonetheless common sense manner.<\/p>\n<p>When we are overwhelmed by figures and calculations, it&#8217;s easy to make mistakes. Moving a decimal one unit could transform a correct answer into a wrong answer, no matter how many correct steps you painstakingly went through.<\/p>\n<p>This is where ballparking plays a significant role.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li><br><li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue816' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Avoid Traps<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>Nearly every multiple-choice math problem has trap answers or attractors. These types of answers catch your eye for one reason or another, often making the problem appear a little bit easier than it is. You may notice the anticipated answer in the choices and think that you won&#8217;t have to finish the problem, but remember that such a choice is probably a trap.<\/p>\n<p>Looks look at an example of what this might look like:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The price of a T-shirt was reduced by 20%. Then, during a special sale, the price was reduced another 20%. What was the total percentage discount from the original price?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>a. 25%<\/em><br \/><em>b. 36%<\/em><br \/><em>c. 40%<\/em><br \/><em>d. 42%<\/em><br \/><em>e. 50%<\/em><\/p>\n<p>You may read this question and think that a 20 percent discount plus another 20% discount equals a 40% discount.<\/p>\n<p>Seeing 40% as an answer choice, you may be inclined to choose it and move on.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, you&#8217;ve just missed a pretty easy question. Did you really think that the test would give you a question that required such minimal effort as adding 10 and 10? It&#8217;s nice to dream, isn&#8217;t it?<\/p>\n<p>First, why not imagine the shirt is 100 bucks to start.<\/p>\n<p>Take 20% off of 100, and you get 80.<\/p>\n<p>Take 20% off of 80 (80 \/ 5 = 16) and you get 64.<\/p>\n<p>We went from a 100-dollar shirt to a 64-dollar shirt.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s a difference of 100-64=36.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, the total discount is $36, B.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li><br><\/ul><\/div><br>These strategies may appear simple, but they can mean big points in a pressured testing environment. So, when you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/gmat\/free\/gmat-practice-test-options\">take a GMAT Practice Test<\/a>, think about these techniques. They will keep you from making careless mistakes on easy-to-mediate problems, which can end up making a huge difference on a computer adaptive test.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<h4 class=\"has-text-color\" style=\"color:#ab0c78\"><strong>FREE PREMIUM CONTENT<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"has-col-240-f-6-e-color has-text-color\">GMAT Math Quicksheet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlock access to our free GMAT Math Quicksheet<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ab0c78\" data-sumome-listbuilder-id=\"3dd243db-2e5a-4156-a79f-5a651d2fdb0d\">Get Access<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2>More GMAT Math Tricks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are a few more quick GMAT math tricks that could save you anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes on Exam Day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Number Properties Tips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The product of two consecutive integers is always divisible by two, the product of three consecutive integers is always divisible by three, and so on.&nbsp;<\/li><li>To check whether a complicated expression is even or odd, plug in 0 and 1. For instance, try the expression 2<em>x<\/em>3 + <em>x<\/em>2 + <em>x<\/em>. If you plug in 0, you get 0, which is even. If you plug in 1, you get 4, which is also even. So, this expression is always even.&nbsp;<\/li><li>If you want to find all of the factors of a number by guessing and testing, you can stop when you reach the square root of that number. For instance, if you\u2019re finding all of the factors of 228, you can stop checking numbers when you hit 15, since that\u2019s approximately the square root of 228.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Geometry Tips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>If you double the side length of a shape (such as a square or triangle), its area quadruples. If you halve the side length, its area is quartered.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Learn the three ways to spot similar triangles, so you\u2019ll instantly recognize that two triangles are similar without having to prove it from scratch.&nbsp;<\/li><li>If a problem tells you a shape is a rectangle, don\u2019t forget that the shape could be a square! In fact, a square is often a good case to test on Geometry Data Sufficiency problems.&nbsp;<\/li><li>If a GMAT math problem asks you whether a point is on a line, plug the coordinates of the point into the equation for the line. If you get a valid result, then the point is on the line. For example, the point (2, 6) is on the line y = 2x + 2.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Word Problems Tips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The average of a set of numbers always has to be somewhere in the middle of that set. It can\u2019t be larger than the largest number in the set, or smaller than the smallest number. This is useful for weighted average problems: if you average the weights of 6 cats that each weigh 10 pounds, and 8 dogs that each weigh 30 pounds, the result will be somewhere in the middle in between 10 and 30. The more evenly spread the numbers are, the closer the average will actually be to the middle.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Only use a Venn diagram for rare \u201c3-group\u201d overlapping set problems. For almost all overlapping sets, the Overlapping Set Matrix is quicker and easier.&nbsp;<\/li><li>You\u2019ll sometimes see rates problems that look like this: if it takes four people twelve days to sew eight jackets, how long does it take ten people to sew ten jackets? A quick trick for approaching these is to start with the original statement, and then \u201cscale\u201d it upwards or downwards. Here\u2019s what that might look like:&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It takes 4 people 12 days to sew 8 jackets.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>1 person will take 4 times as long to do the same amount of work, so it will take 1 person 48 days to sew 8 jackets.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If that 1 person sews \u215b as many jackets, it will take \u215b as many days. So, it takes 1 person 6 days to sew 1 jacket.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If a person takes 6 days to sew a jacket, then it will take 10 people 6 days to sew 10 jackets (one per person). The answer is 6.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Fractions, Decimals, and Percents Tips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>When a fraction has zeroes on the end of both the numerator and the denominator, chop off the same number of zeroes from each (just make sure you count carefully!). 1,000,000 \/ 5,000 simplifies to 1,000 \/ 5.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Likewise, if a fraction has decimals in both the numerator and denominator, you can simplify by moving both decimal places by the same amount and in the same direction. For instance, 0.0007 \/ 0.14 = 0.007 \/ 1.4 = 0.07 \/ 14 = 0.7 \/ 140 = 7 \/ 1,400.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Use this technique to directly translate percent problems from English into math without having to convert between decimals and percents.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Working with Numbers Tips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>You can use a similar \u2018scaling\u2019 technique to calculate percents, fractions, or decimals. For instance, if you want to find 0.1% of 50,000, start like this:&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>10% of 50,000 is 5,000.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>So, 1% of 50,000 is a tenth of 5,000, or 500.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>So, 0.1% of 50,000 is a tenth of 500, or 50. The answer is 50.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>To quickly divide a number by 5, divide it by 10 first, then multiply by 2. For example, 1,880\/5 = 1,880\/10 * 2 = 188 * 2 = 376.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Arithmetic can be easier if you \u201csplit up\u201d or rearrange the numbers before you do the math. Suppose that you need to calculate 117 \u2013 98. Rewrite this as 117 \u2013 100 + 2, or 17 + 2, which equals 19.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Use a similar technique to quickly calculate the square of a number that\u2019s close to an easy value.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>79\u00b2&nbsp;= (80 \u2013 1)\u00b2&nbsp;= 80\u00b2&nbsp;\u2013 2(80) + 1 = 6,400 \u2013 160 + 1 = 6241<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>To find a good common denominator, think of a value (if there is one) that both numbers are divisible by. Divide <strong>one<\/strong> of the two numbers by that value. Then, multiply that by the other number.\u00a0<ul><li>For example, to find a common denominator between 25 and 15, note that both are divisible by 5. So, divide 25 by 5, which gives you 5, then multiply that by 15, giving you 75. 75 would be a good common denominator.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>It can be useful to memorize the approximate square roots of 2 and 3: \u221a2\u22481.4 and\u221a3\u22481.7. To remember this, at least if you\u2019re in the US, think of two dates: Valentine\u2019s Day is on 2\/14 and St. Patrick\u2019s Day is on 3\/17.\u00a0<\/li><li>To estimate other square roots, think of a perfect square that\u2019s as close as possible to the value you\u2019re dealing with. (You have your perfect squares memorized, right\u2026?) Estimate based on that\u2014so, for instance, \u221a79 is a bit smaller than \u221a81, which equals 9.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before you review all that algebra and statistics you\u2019ve forgotten over the years, and before you practice with an endless sequence of practice problems, you should learn a few simple tips that well help you immensely on test day. Learn these early, and reinforce them during practice. These strategies may appear simple, but they can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[55],"tags":[56,80],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7070"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50193,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7070\/revisions\/50193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}