Strategies to crack Quantitative section of GMAT Test

Quantitative aptitude is the most difficult section in GMAT test. Solving 37 questions in 70 minutes is not an easy task. It is less than 2 minutes per questions. It is seen that candidates who solves all questions, scores higher than rest of candidates. Minimum score required to get admission in top-20 b-schools is increasing every year. High marks in quantitative is a key to 700+ mark in GMAT. Let me share some amazing tips that worked for me :-

Learn shortcuts

As time is a biggest constraint in GMAT test, you need to learn shortcut maths tricks. Try to learn basic vedic maths tricks. Another important trick that helped me to solve many difficult question within seconds is alligation. Let's take a simple example :-

A dishonest wine seller wants to earn 25% profit after selling 1 litre wine for $50. Cost price of wine is $60/litre. In what ratio he should add water to wine.

 By this simple trick, this question can be solved within 10 seconds.

Get all quantitative aptitude shortcuts here.

Learn to estimate the answers

There is no negative marking in GMAT test, so let's admit that guessing is an integral part of GMAT test. As you can't move on without answering a question, you need to answer every question. It's been seen that candidates completing the whole score high. How to answer 37 questions in 70 minutes. It's bit difficult but the best technique is by eliminating choices. Let's take a simple example :-

John bought 18 apples for $10 and sold 12 apples for $10. Calculate John's profit percentage

1) 33.333%

2) 50%

3 66.666%

4) Can't be determined

John saved 50% of what he sold. He saved 6 apples while selling 12. Clearly answer is 50%.

These type of questions (not that easy) frequently appears in GMAT test, which test candidate's ability to go beyond formulae and think logically.

Read my guide for quantitative aptitude here.

Do mental calculations

Doing every single calculation on paper reduces the problem solving speed. Speed matters a lot in GMAT exam. Solving 37 questions in 75 minutes is not an easy task. Try to do simple calculations mentally. Time taken in mental calculation is 50% lower than doing calculations on paper.

Few tips to speed up mental calculations :-

• Learn table up to 35
• Learn square, squareroot, cube and cuberoot for numbers upto 40.
• Learn vedic maths techniques of multiplication, division, finding square, squareroot, cube and cuberoot.
• Avoid using calculator and do day to day calculations mentally.
• Play chess
• Solve soduko 

Practise more

The more you practise, higher will be your problem solving speed. Try to solve more and more questions from every chapter. Check my recommended list of best GMAT books, you will find hundreds of questions of various difficulty level.

Download study material and question sets for practice.

Learn to skip

Many time candidates stuck on a difficult question or a topic in which they are not comfortable. If you don't have any clue about the answer, then try to eliminate options by above given methods.