GMAT Ninja Quant Ep 0: How to Approach GMAT Quant

Do you make mistakes in the GMAT quant section that leave you shaking your head, wondering what on earth you were doing? Is your process shaky and inconsistent? Alternatively, are you just starting your GMAT preparation and want to make sure you get off on the right foot?
In this video, Charles -- a veteran GMAT tutor with a perfect 800 score on the exam -- will help you develop a deep, intuitive understanding of how to approach GMAT quant. He'll show you the methods and processes that helps him score a perfect Q51 in the GMAT quant section, every single time.
This is not your typical GMAT Quant lesson. There will be no formulas to learn or results to memorize. The questions won't be difficult, but the lessons you learn here could be the difference between you reaching your target score and falling just short.
This is video #0 in our series of full-length GMAT quant lessons. For updates on upcoming videos, please subscribe!
This video will cover:
➡️ The four-step process to prevent silly quant errors
➡️ How to approach Data Sufficiency questions
➡️ 'Pushing the Question' in Data Sufficiency
This video is for you if:
➡️ You've just started studying
➡️ You make mistakes and don't know why
➡️ You make silly mistakes and want to stop
➡️ You want a Q50 or Q51
Want more GMAT test-prep tips and advice?
Subscribe to our KZbin channel: / gmatninjatutoring
For more information about GMAT tutoring: www.gmatninja.com/
For updates on this series and our other projects: / gmatninja
For more on Charles Bibilos and his love of international food and contributions to ornithology textbooks: www.gmatninja.com/charles-bib...
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
05:34 Question 1 - Problem Solving Question #1
16:22 Question 2 - Data Sufficiency Question #1
26:46 Question 3 - Data Sufficiency Question #2
33:21 Question 4 - Problem Solving Question #2

[@nasrins3810]

Hi GMAT Ninja, My first attempt for GMAT was in Nov 2022 and my score was 640 (Q43 V35). Was completely dejected and decided to give it another shot. Prepared for 4 months with your videos (the entire team did a great job). Took the test yesterday and got a 700 (Q48 V38). All thanks to you. I have a five year old and a full time job. Given my situation, I believe the GMAT ninja resources were the most effective bet for me to increase my scores. Thank you team 😊

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Congratulations, Nasrin! And welcome to the 700 club. I'm honored that we could help a little bit with our KZbin babble. ;) Have an absolute blast with your five-year-old, and good luck with your applications!

[@riridash]

Wow! Is that all you used or did you supplement some other things?

[@user-oc9du7wv4i]

thats great, well i wanted to know have they covered all the quant topics?

[@maikcampbell]

I’m planning to take my first GMAT within the next 6 months, I can’t afford that many resources so I really appreciate this content. Thank you.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

I'm glad that it helps a bit, and have fun studying!

[@allirobertson3159]

You are saving my life (and wallet) with these videos, thank you so so much

[@rudrakshjhala2242]

Hey im preparing for GMAT FE too can we connect? Maybe prepare together?

[@lcourt17]

i’m so grateful to be done studying for this exam, and to be able to unsubscribe from this channel. Good luck to all of you that are preparing to write it. Keep on grinding, you will have the greatest sigh of relief when you finish :)

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Haha, congratulations, Luke! I wonder if we're the only KZbin channel that actually gets excited when viewers have a good reason to unsubscribe. ;) Good luck with your applications, and have fun in grad school!

[@anishakapoor4689]

Hello Luke, can you please share if you took the official mocks? If yes, would you recommend purchasing them? Are the questions on there similar to what we might see on the exam?

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

@@anishakapoor4689 Luke sounds very excited to be disappearing from the GMAT, so I'd be surprised if he's offering GMAT advice on KZbin these days. :) In case it helps: the official practice exams consist entirely of retired, official questions, and they use the same algorithm as the actual exam. So they're 100% worth it, and no other practice exams are even vaguely as useful. For more on how to use those official tests wisely, check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/anTEXqBujK6pjsU I hope that helps a bit!

[@ahmarrashidkhan629]

Hi, as far as the first official mock is concerned, i found it typically toned down as they before it, they only taught the basics of every topics.

[@siddhantmukerjee2101]

Hey Charles! This is potentially a Game Changer for somebody like me who's restarting GMAT Prep after 6-7 Months, and this just boosts my Confidence so much! Thanks a lot Buddy!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Awesome, I'm glad that we nailed the timing with this one. Welcome back, and have fun studying!

[@asmithaamahesh3882]

I have been really struggling on how to prepare for the GMAT and you gave me the hope to stabilize my study! Thanks a bunch GMAT Ninja!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you so much for the kind words, @Asmithaa! Have fun studying, and keep us posted on your progress. We always like to hear good news. :)

[@shruthisrinivasan9175]

Thank you so much Charles and the GMAT Ninja team! I started with a 600 (GMAT classic) on my first attempt (despite enrolling in a prep course) and almost decided not to apply for my MBA. 6 weeks with your videos and I just scored a 710 and applied to my target Universities. Wish I found this content sooner

[@josaagrey4414]

Hey in which university you're from ? Actually I'm targeting mim in Essec France!

[@chanjanie2229]

I always don't know how to approach quant in a systematic way. Thanks for giving me the framework to work with, it's really useful! It's really awesome you made the content available for free, really appreciate that!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you, I'm glad that the content has helped a bit. Have fun studying!

[@meliksahemanet7679]

Really grateful for all the hard work! Thanks GMAT Ninja!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you so much for this, @Melikşah! Have fun studying.

[@parthmittal8955]

Kudos to the GMAT Ninja team for sharing these awesome videos! Thanks to you, I was able to score a 770 in my GMAT, a massive improvement from 650 in my previous attempt. Recommending GMAT Ninja to everyone now!!!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Holy smokes, that's amazing, Parth! I'm honored that we could help a bit, but if you got a 770, you're obviously an incredibly talented fellow, and I'm not sure that we can take much credit. :) Congratulations on the absolutely epic score! And thank you so much for posting this -- it made my day. Please let us know where you land for grad school! - Charles

[@pratikverma6812]

Hi Parth, did you base your entire quant preparation on this videos?

[@parthmittal8955]

@@pratikverma6812 Hi Pratik, yes, indeed. I even watched a couple of videos 2 days before the exam to revise the strategies recommended for solving 50-51 level questions.

[@pratikverma6812]

@@parthmittal8955 Thanks for your response. Sorry I might be asking too much but since my initial GMAT attempt got screwed due to low quant score (640; V36,IR 8 & Q42). Quant is one area I am scared of... The videos you are saying for 50-51 questions are also part of this 20 videos series on GMAT Ninja portal? What else were aspects you covered for improving your quant score (where did you practice questions from). So your preparation for quant was this 20 video series by GMAT Ninja and questions which you would had practiced. I wont be mimicking your preparation but want to get a direction of how to prepare quickly and achieve the desired score. Considering you're an Indian and got 770, you're quant score must have been either Q50/Q51

[@ariyanakhan1816]

Thank you so much for this GMAT Ninja! I used the approach you outlined above and my accuracy in a set of 15 hard quant questions jumped from 50% to 90%. However, the time constraint remains. Takes me 40 minutes to complete instead of my target 30 mins. Hope to be able to improve on this. Really grateful for your content.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you so much for the kind words, Ariyana! I'm glad that the videos have helped a bit. Have fun studying, and keep us posted on your progress!

[@MuchiriRef]

Thank you Charles, this is actually almost as important as the content.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you so much, @Muchiri! These process-based videos aren't usually as popular as, say, probability or number properties, so I'm glad that you found it useful. Have fun studying, and keep us posted on your progress!

[@MuchiriRef]

I actually did my Gmat today and was able to get the score I needed. I'm sure at some point this video was playing in my mind. Again, thanks.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

@@MuchiriRef That's awesome, congratulations! And thank you so much for letting us know. It put a smile on my face to hear that it all worked out. Good luck with your applications, and let us know where you land for grad school!

[@shreyashgupta3903]

I like how you taught the mindset while approaching the question

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you, Shreyash! Much appreciated. Have fun studying!

[@user-cj1eo8lm9z]

You're incredible. I am a fan of all of your videos :)

[@AlishaAFoster]

Great lesson! Thank you!

[@GRENinjaTutoring]

Thank you, Alisha! Glad to hear that it helped a bit.

[@zoeyk1999]

Hi i didn't think this was the least exciting video. I loved this one and learned so much! My strategy was the thing that lowered my score. But these tips and methods will help me!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Haha, thank you, Zoey! I'm glad that it wasn't TOO excruciating. :) Have fun studying, and please keep us posted on your progress!

[@zoeyk1999]

Thank you so much! I need it.. @@GMATNinjaTutoring

[@keshabpoudel3126]

great vedio....

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you so much, Keshab!

[@Nothingisfinal]

Thank you so much. Great staff. I watch this as I go.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you for taking the time to write this! I'm glad that the videos have helped a bit. Have fun studying, and keep us posted on your progress!

[@Student01256]

Thank you tutor we need that I'm in 1st year in my graduation I want to clear GMAT thank you sooo 🥰 much keep it up 👍

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

You're awesome, thank you so much for the positive vibes. Have fun studying, and keep us posted on your progress!

[@indiacharliesierra]

Thank you for this goldmine! It is a life saver! Please bring more such videos for GMAT FE. 🤩

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you again for the kind words! The videos in the current quant playlist still work for GMAT Focus, even though we refer to the "old" GMAT in many of them -- we're updating the videos anyway, just to make it obvious that they're aligned to the GMAT Focus, and you'll see those trickle out over the next month or two. And our verbal and Data Insights videos are 100% GFE-ready. I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!

[@indiacharliesierra]

@@GMATNinjaTutoring Thank you so much!

[@divyanshpathak521]

thank you so much sir for making this amazing video!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you so much!

[@JR-id6jx]

Hi Charles thanks again for all this helpful advice. I was curious if you could illuminate some light on how to analyze/interpret one's official mock results? Like should we categorize our mistakes, re-attempt? For example on mock 1 should we not look back at mistakes so we can use this exam as a re-take later on? Or is it worthwhile to wait a bit then go back and analyze mistakes? I combed through GmatClub and your channel and couldn't find much on this topic. Also is it silly to cram verbal in a short period of time? My quant is hovering around 47 while verbal as low as 34. :( I have made the ol Native speaker mistake by focusing all of my time on quant instead of a healthy balance. I went thorugh all the SC/CR/RC vidoes on your channel which were a massive help but I think my timing strategy is bad, as my pace was all over the place. When I have all the time I can go 100% accuracy on RC. but on the exam i got destroyed.. thanks in advance!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Apologies for my slow response, @J R! These are pretty big questions (in a good way), and I don't know that I can answer them very usefully in a comment-length rant, but I'll do my best. Some of your questions about practice tests are answered in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/anTEXqBujK6pjsU. Take a look at that, and see if it helps at all? I don't think the video directly addresses the question of whether it's better to avoid looking back at mistakes in case you decide to retake the test later, though. And I don't think there's a clear answer to that question, anyway. In a perfect world, those six tests should be enough, and you won't need to retake any. In practice, I think it just depends on your situation: if you're starting to run out of tests and you still have a long ways to go, I would be very, very careful about reviewing questions. If you're in that situation, you'll probably want to skim through your exams for broad takeaways, and try to resist the urge to study individual questions. And yeah: for the most part, verbal really isn't knowledge-based, so you can't cram for it. If you need to improve on verbal (especially CR and RC), all you can really do is take a good, hard look at your process for tackling questions, and then practice until you've developed a consistent, efficient approach (and consistent, efficient results). That takes time, and it's hard to rush through it -- cramming obviously won't help, and you can only do so many RC or CR sets in any given week before your eyes start to glaze over. So it's probably too late to help you much, but in general, we encourage our students to start working on CR and RC from the very beginning, unless they're already spectacular at it. Sometimes students can make a big leap quickly, but in most cases, slow and steady wins on verbal. I hope that helps a bit!

[@brisafrausto7725]

excellent video, thank you so much!!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you so much for the kind words, and have fun studying!

[@Jontasjun]

amazing, thank you

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@funtamania]

Hello Charles and everyone who has used the content here. I have already spent a good chunk of money on buying a costly online course material for my first attempt only to score a 630 (Q42 V34) I was wondering if the quant and verbal playlists cover all content, all strategies and tricks to prepare for the retake? Because I can’t really afford another prep material. I will be clubbing the course content here with my OG 2022 guide, GMAT advanced questions book. I have also purchased GMAT Forum quiz and test subscriptions. I am guessing this should be enough to reach 700 in 2.5 months time. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

[@helenabegum5595]

man is a lifesaver❤

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you, Helena! 🩷

[@Alappavan]

Good work man, I liked it ❤

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you! ❤️

[@dhruvpratapsingh9100]

Thank you!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@aryahamze4329]

great man

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank so much, Arya!

[@josephhosannanakkala7730]

Very helpful

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you!

[@ariyidhightower5548]

If I missed all of the questions to the point that I was frozen..... do I need to go back to the basics? This you said is pretty basic questions, but I have no idea where to start.... Not blaming you, just asking if I should go even more basic.

[@johnybrave78]

Only last question was the one I did correct in 1st attempt Superb video Very very helpful These were the silly mistakes I were doing an scoring very low I wish i could get this channel earlier

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Awesome, I'm glad that the video was useful! You sound like exactly the sort of student that we were thinking of when we created this: talented at quant, but prone to those little mistakes that can cause all sorts of trouble. :) Have fun studying, and please keep us posted on your progress!

[@JR-id6jx]

Hi Charles thanks so much to you and your team for the channel videos. Have been a massive help. As I am reworking my Quant I noticed you already have a series up for quant, are you starting a new series now? If so, what is the difference between this course versus the old one? And do you have any estimated timeline as to when the new course of videos will be done? Last question. Could you give any insight into how to effectively use the GMAC / Official Guide / Advanced questions in your prep. How to split up the questions to do / when to take official mocks. Just seems really overwhelming and not sure best approach. I am sitting for my exam soon, that's why I would really appreciate any clarity. Thanks so much!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you for the kind words, @J R! I'm honored that the videos have helped a bit. This video (Quant "Episode 0") is actually just an extension of our original quant series. We realized that a lot of students could use broad guidance on how to approach quant (particularly the art of avoiding careless errors) before they get too deep into topic-specific content, so we added this one to the existing series. We don't have any more GMAT quant videos in the pipeline at the moment, though -- this series is pretty thorough as-is. :) For the question about practice tests, try this video, and see if it helps at all: kzbin.info/www/bejne/anTEXqBujK6pjsU. After you've watched that one, I would probably recommend thinking about the official practice questions (OGs, online mba.com question banks, etc.) in a similar spirit: official questions are the best resource out there, so you want to use them thoughtfully, spread more or less evenly throughout your prep. Generally speaking, it's best to start with the easier questions first from each book, mostly to make sure that you're free of silly errors before you move on to the harder ones. And as you improve, you can rotate back through the books to finish off the medium and hard questions. For a bit more on how to best use official quant questions, check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmm0qmiFmt15l8k. I hope that helps a bit!

[@JR-id6jx]

@@GMATNinjaTutoring Again you guys prove to be the best out there. I cannot believe all this stuff is free, thank you for the quick and thorough response! Hate to be annoying but I do have one more question. What does your team think about the new GMAT format? For someone in the midst of studying its a little disappointing to hear all my hard work on sentence correction may go to waste if its about to be removed from the exam. Is there some strategy in "waiting it out" till the new exam is released? Might be asking you an impossible question as you'd have to read a magic crystal ball to answer. But would love to hear your thoughts anyways.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

@@JR-id6jx We're very carefully following the news about the new GMAT format, and the bottom line is that it's a terrible idea -- at least right now, in March 2023 -- to make any changes to your plans based on the new GMAT. GMAC has been tight-lipped about some key details so far, and it's impossible to guess whether any particular student will be better or worse off with the new format. We do know that the current GMAT will still be available until early 2024, and the new one will be released sometime in Q4 2023. So you have TONS of time before the current GMAT disappears -- and the two formats will coexist, at least for a little while. So please don't change anything that you're doing right now. If you get a score that you're happy with, great -- you're done. If you're still struggling with the (old) GMAT when the new format is released, then maybe switching will be advantageous. But that's still a very long ways off, and hopefully you'll conquer the GMAT by then, anyway. We'll have plenty more to say about the new GMAT Focus Edition as we get closer to the release date, but for now, I would just ignore all of the noise about it. :) I hope that helps a bit!

[@mattpat4417]

AD/BCE is a great technique! However, does the order of the options ABCDE remain the same every time you take DS questions? They could trick the students by changing the ABCDE order.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Yup, the Data Sufficiency answer choices are identical every time. And the GMAT really isn't out to trick you -- it can certainly feel that way sometimes, but they're trying really hard to deliver a fair test of your "reasoning skills." The questions often feel "tricky", to be completely honest. But they aren't trying to victimize you with gimmicks like switching out answer choices -- the test is hard enough without resorting to dirty stuff like that. ;) Have fun studying, Matt!

[@shubhshinde4438]

I do have a serious problem in understanding quants questions (maths english) and I don’t really understand what the question is asking but I know the concepts and solutions. Please tell me how can I fix this and really understand the mathematical language ? also thank for a lot for providing free videos.

[@sadeqalmoayed7807]

Hey Charles! Should I watch your playlists on GMAT Club too or do these ones suffice? Should I watch both or do each serve a different purpose? What is your advice? Thanks! Great video btw!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you for the kind words, Sadeq! Pretty much all of our instructional videos on GMAT Club were filmed live, so they have a very different feel to them. Some of them were organized into series of some sort, but many of them weren't -- so they're less cohesive than these videos, which are designed specifically as a comprehensive GMAT video course. If you really like the "rawness" of our live videos on GMAT Club, cool -- you could focus on those if you prefer, and use the ones on this channel to fill in any holes, or reinforce weaker topics. But if you're looking for a comprehensive treatment of, say, quant, this video series is a little bit more carefully constructed, and the videos are generally a bit more efficient, since there's some minor editing involved. I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!

[@sadeqalmoayed7807]

@@GMATNinjaTutoring Thank you for the prompt reply! I really appreciate it!!

[@shubhshinde4438]

can you please tell me whether buying online paid courses are really worth it?

[@tomershk4924]

Hey GMAT Ninja! I have a quick question I was hoping you could help me with. I wanted to do the corresponding OG questions after watching your videos. The questions are split into the following sections and I am struggling to match up the episodes with the different categories. I'd appreciate your help in filling the rest out. Counting/Sets/Series: 13, 16 Equalities/Inequalities/Algebra: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Geometry: 1, 2, 3 Rates/Ratio/Percent: 9, 10, 14, 15 Value/Order/Factors: Is what I have so far correct? I am missing 11, 12, 17, 18, 19. Thanks in advance! You guys are the best.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you for the kind words, Tomer! I'm glad that the videos have helped a bit. For better or worse, we categorize quant topics VERY differently than GMAC does. Since we've been teaching this stuff for a really long time, we group questions and concepts based on what we think is the most effective for students. GMAC categorizes things based on a different process and a different set of principles than we do. And more generally, GMAT questions often encompass more than one topic, so any effort to categorize them is going to be imperfect -- including GMAC's own efforts to do so. That's a long-winded way of saying that I'm not sure that many of our videos are going to map nicely onto the categories that you see in the OGs. But if I had to guess, I would think that videos 11, 12, 18, & 19 would probably fit best in the "value/order/factors" category -- it's just that they're unlikely to fit perfectly. I'm less clear about #17 -- I suspect that the concepts in that video will fit into either the first or last category on your list, or a combination of both. I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!

[@raniamediouni5579]

Hello GMAT Ninja, First, thank you so much for the high quality of your content and the free resources that we can use, thanks to the team member's effort. I have an issue with time management during the GMAT and due to the lack of time I find myself miss-reading the question because I rushed to respond in ~ 1min 14. Any advice on this matter?

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you for the kind words, Rania! If you're struggling to finish the quant section on time, it's probably a sign that you're getting stubborn on a few questions, and you'd be better off guessing on those and moving on. That idea is embedded in our overall approach to quant, as shown in this video -- if you don't see a good path forward on a question, you'll want to guess, "flag" the question, move on to the next one. (Keep in mind that you can change up to three answers on the GMAT Focus quant section, so in theory, you could circle back after you finish all 21 questions, and revisit some of the questions that gave you trouble.) For more on how to think about time management on the GMAT, check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHKrdH-FZ9-BZq8. I hope that helps!

[@namratahedaoo3148]

Hello Charles, I am new to GMAT so I wanted few books to prepare for all sections. Please recommend.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

If you're looking for practice questions, there's nothing better than the GMAT official guides. Here's a link to the 2022 edition of the three-book series: amzn.to/41D7HPV. If you're looking for something more like an instructional textbook, my first thought is that textbooks don't generally include much content that isn't found in free KZbin videos. If you learn better from a book than from a video, there are plenty of resources available from different companies. I don't think it's appropriate for us to endorse any of them in particular, but it's not too hard to find samples online, and you can see if the writing style resonates with you. I hope that helps, and have fun studying!

[@asmausalahudeen8216]

Hello GMAT ninja. I just watch this video and am convince with your explanation. However, I am wondering how long can I learn and can I get materials to learn very fast ?

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

I'm not sure that I understand your question. You're trying to figure out how long it takes to improve, and what you need to do in order to improve? Friend, there's no easy answer to that, unfortunately. It all depends on far too many factors: your underlying skills, your starting score, your target score, how quickly you learn, and so on. And there are no magic bullets that can speed up the process: if you're trying to make a huge score improvement (of, say, 100+ points) or if you're trying to achieve a super-elite score, it will take quite a few months of hard, consistent work. On average, GMAT test-takers only improve by about 30 points when they retake the exam. This article features a bit of data from GMAC on this issue: www.gmatninja.com/gmat/articles/how-to-improve/gmac-says-you-probably-wont-improve-your-score. Different students will benefit from different GMAT materials, but the quick bit of advice is that you'll ideally want to stick with official questions (such as the official guides -- amzn.to/457DivH) and practice tests as much as possible. Our quant and verbal video playlists cover all of the content you'll need, but I don't want to pretend that watching the videos will be a magic bullet -- you can't really learn to ride a bike from watching KZbin, so practicing is the most important thing. I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!

[@hn-ca24]

When we are working through TTP Quant, how do we retake the tests to ensure we understand the methods instead of just memorizing the answers?

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

We're not affiliated with TTP, so I can't offer anything terribly useful about how to use their tests, unfortunately. But I like the way you're thinking: practice tests can very easily get warped by repeated questions. Even if you don't consciously remember seeing the questions before, you'll answer repeated questions much faster when you see them again, and that will completely change the time pressure of the exam. So I don't know if this helps at all, but use the six official mba.com tests very, very carefully. And depending on what you're trying to accomplish with those quant tests, maybe it would make sense to use quant tests from other sources (GMAT Club or Manhattan or something) instead of retaking familiar ones. Just don't use any non-official verbal tests -- they're too far from the actual GMAT to be useful, and they can sometimes do more harm than good. I'm not sure if came anywhere close to answering your question, but I hope that helps a bit!

[@neonlights4937]

@@GMATNinjaTutoring Thank you 🙏 for your valuable advice 💐

[@hn-ca24]

@@GMATNinjaTutoring thx for the answer I must have commented wrong video. It does. Appreciate the vids and comment

[@frederickkingjnr]

I took my mock exams yesterday and today, both times my scores were (Q47 V37) and i scored 680 and 690 respectively. I wish i had more time to study so that my score can be improved further but unfortunately, my exam is tomorrow. Wish me luck

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Hey, not bad at all! If you can score in that range again, you're going to have some good options for business school. Good luck tomorrow, Frederick! It's been a pleasure seeing your progress here over the past month or two, and I'm excited to see what happens. Enjoy the exam! Worst-case, you're going to learn a ton from taking the real thing, so the experience is going to be incredibly valuable, one way or another. Keep us posted!

[@frederickkingjnr]

@@GMATNinjaTutoring well I kind of feel ashamed coming back here with bad news… during my exam check in, I found out that I was not allowed to use my personal hotspot on my computer. An hour plus later of stressing and trying to get a router, I began my exam and ended up with a 580(Q42 V28). I am still shocked and devastated at the score as it’s such a massive difference from my mocks.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Sorry to hear the bad news, Frederick! Seriously, please don't feel ashamed. This sort of thing happens all the time. If you're stressed out when you start the exam, it becomes really, really hard to think clearly and do the things you've practiced doing. One of the worst things about adaptive tests like the GMAT is that it punishes you disproportionately for missing easier questions -- and when you're stressed out, you're almost certainly going to make errors that you wouldn't normally make. Honestly, the circumstances you're describing sound awful, and I think it would hard for pretty much anybody to perform well after that. If you're concerned about test anxiety in general, this article will lead you to some resources that might be useful food for thought: shorturl.at/aiqU9. But again, I can't blame you one bit for what happened under the circumstances. Keep up the fighting spirit, Frederick! And thank you again for all of the updates.

[@shanicesegolenemaatchideku770]

Hey Charles, I took the GMAT about 6 years ago and my score was so low that I am ashamed of it. I am planning on taking it again but my self confidence is so down. I don't know where to start from, my biggest pb is quant. I can't solve most of the easy arithmetic questions but once we move to a medium level I just can't. I've watched almost all your videos but I still a lot of difficulties especially when it comes to the "which of these must be true questions" and data sufficiency questions. Any tips for me please ? I am working at a big 4 so I have limited time to really study consistently. I am really aiming for a top school for my MBA.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Sorry to hear that the GMAT has been giving you such a rough time, Shanice! Full disclosure: it's really hard to give truly useful advice in a situation like yours, just because I don't know what's happening in your head when things go badly on the GMAT. I don't know how shaky your quant foundations are, or whether anxiety is getting in the way of your performance, or whether there's something funky with your process that's undermining your accuracy... just to take a few examples. Here's my first instinct, though: start by trying to figure out whether the issue on quant is your fundamental math knowledge (such your ability to solve algebraic equations, or manipulate fractions, or understand exponent rules -- that sort of thing) or whether the problem is in applying the math knowledge to GMAT-style questions. If the problem is your underlying math skills, then you'll want to forget about the GMAT for a little while, and focus on rebuilding your quant foundations. I'd love to tell you exactly how to do that, but it just depends on where your skills are, exactly. Something like Khan Academy might be a good fit -- or maybe not. This book from Manhattan Prep on GMAT math foundations isn't perfect (nothing is, right?), but it might be a good starting point: amzn.to/3pBL2pX. The bad news: if the quant foundations really are the issue, it's hard to rush through them. It takes time to get better at all of that stuff, and if you get impatient and try to do hard GMAT questions when your foundations are shaky, bad things happen. It just gets demoralizing and frustrating. If your quant foundations aren't actually part of the issue, then... well, then it's much harder for me to guess where the disconnect is happening. One possibility: if you've decided (consciously or subconsciously) that you're bad at quant, you're going to psych yourself out, over and over again. Another possibility: maybe you're struggling on harder questions than you think, and your skills might actually be good enough to get the score you need. Yet another possibility: your process for tackling questions is erratic, and leading to all sorts of errors on questions that you're otherwise capable of getting right (for more on how to approach quant, check out this video if you haven't already: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHuZnadpi7KBmbc). I could go on, but I'm not sure how much it will help. Hopefully this gives you some food for thought, though. Have fun studying, Shanice! We're rooting for you.

[@shanicesegolenemaatchideku770]

@@GMATNinjaTutoring thanks a lot. I really appreciate.

[@corrayatom]

Hi, did GMAT change in 2023, J heard sentence corrections are no more, or is it a rumour? Can you make a video on it please?

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Nope, the GMAT hasn't changed yet! The current version of the GMAT will be available until early 2024. The new version of the GMAT -- the GMAT Focus Edition -- will be ready in Q4 2023. So if you're studying for the GMAT right now (May 2023), I wouldn't worry about the changes at all -- just keep doing what you're doing, and ignore the noise for now. For what it's worth, the biggest changes are that geometry and SC are disappearing, and the IR section (which will be rebranded as Data Insights) will count toward your composite score. A whole lot of things will get rearranged and repackaged, but in terms of what you need to actually study, it's not that huge of a difference, other than the SC/geometry/IR stuff. We'll have plenty of videos on the new GMAT as we get closer to the release date, including a comprehensive video course for the new Data Insights section. In the next week or two, we'll also post a video that explains the changes, and how to think about them in the short run (in the middle of 2023). So please keep an eye out for that one, and if it doesn't answer your questions, you know where to find us. :) Have fun studying, Tom!

[@MenelikLewis]

Hi GMAT Ninja, This is great content, thank you for providing it! I'm still struggling with question 3 - I'm hoping you can help. Since the question didn't state that x & y are integers, I tested non-integers (1/4) when evaluating the second statement (xy

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

It's not so much about whether x and y are integers or non-integers as about whether x and y are positive or negative. We can't have x = 1/4 and y = 1/4 AND have xy < 0 as then x*y = (1/4)*(1/4) = 1/16 which is greater than zero and not less than zero. If x and y have different signs (x < 0 and y > 0 OR x > 0 and y < 0), then xy < 0. If we combine this with the information given in the question that |x| = |y|, then we know x = -y. From this, we can say that x + y = (-y) + y = 0. It doesn't matter whether x and y are integers or non-integers, as long as we know x and y have different signs and |x| = |y|, then x + y = 0. This is why statement (2) is sufficient to answer this question. I hope that helps!

[@MenelikLewis]

@@GMATNinjaTutoring Got it! Thank you! Now that I've gotten some rest, of course 1/16 is greater than zero. Silly mistake. Thank you for explaining it, I appreciate it.

[@nikitajit641]

Hi Charles. I am very new to GMAT. Can you please suggest me how I can prepare everything for free. I mean the resources and everyting. Are all these youtube videos enough to prepare??

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

That's a much harder question to answer than it might sound. The short (but imperfect!) answer is that these videos will cover all of the content and processes that you'll need for the GMAT, but you'll still need to practice. And if you need to make a really large score improvement to reach your goals, you might need to practice quite a bit, depending on your exact situation. Obviously, our free video course doesn't actually include any of those practice materials, so you'll need to purchase those. The GMAT official guides are absolutely indispensable, as are the official mba.com practice exams. If you need more than that, the official question banks sold via mba.com are good, and as you'll hear in our CR and RC videos, we love LSAT tests for an extra challenge on CR and RC. It's always possible that you'll need more supplemental materials, but those official GMAT and LSAT questions are the best starting point. I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!

[@user-om3wq9rp9x]

how would you suggest preparing for a GMAT exam in 1 month and half? (Made a kind of last-minute decision) is it possible to get at least 600-680)

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

There's no great answer to that, unfortunately. It just depends on your starting point -- some people are fortunate enough to roll out of bed and get a score in the 600s without any studying. Some people aren't so fortunate. Six weeks isn't very much time for making a big leap on the GMAT, but if you're starting reasonably close to your target score, good things can happen. I hope that helps a tiny bit, and good luck with your studies!

[@dardihava6860]

Greetings Mr. Charles, I have scheduled my exam within a month from now. Since I am under a time constraint, do the 19 videos cover everything within the Quant Section? Many thanks!

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Yup, the videos cover every major topic on the GMAT. Just keep in mind that the GMAT is creative in their question-writing, and they always find all sorts of new ways to test the same math concept. So while we cover the content pretty throughly in these videos, you'll definitely want quite a bit of practice with official GMAT questions to develop a feel for what the exam is REALLY like. I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!

[@dardihava6860]

Thank you so much for the prompt response and the advice! You are much appreciated for providing such valuable information for free! @@GMATNinjaTutoring

[@elhombre2996]

Hello GMAT Ninja! 1) At 9:15, of the usual 5 to 6 number of paths, how many are typically best? 2) Are all questions on the GMAT only made up of principles and techniques? Are these two your preferred word choices and if so, why? Please be exact because this idea has been bothering me for a while. When I hear someone say approach/method/process/strategy/plan/skill, I am not sure if I can treat it as a synonym of technique, general or specific or maybe there are more types of techniques. Similarly, if I hear someone say rule/concept/knowledge, I am not sure I can map it to principle. My intention is not to be picky, my goal is to better define why I miss questions by learning what they are made of so that I can learn more from my mistakes. Thanks

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

I wouldn't take that figure of 5-6 solution paths TOO literally, to be honest. It's the right general concept, and it's a useful way of thinking about GMAT or EA quant: you'll have a bunch of choices to make, and the exam is very interested in your ability to choose wisely among those choices. But that number is just an illustration. Nobody at GMAC headquarters is sitting there counting the number of solution paths -- and it would be a very slippery slope to try to define what, exactly, makes one path "distinct" from another. So there's no way to say how many are "best" -- all of these things are relative. The important thing is recognizing that flexibility is incredibly valuable on quant, and all else being equal, the better you are at choosing efficient solution paths, the better you'll do on the exam. Regarding your second question, it sounds like you're desperately stuck on definitions that aren't necessarily going to help you on the exam. I'll do my best to give you some context on how we think about it, but it sounds like you're looking for a type of specificity that simply doesn't exist for this sort of thing. Personally, when I use the word "process" or "technique" in the context of GMAT quant, I'm referring to the four steps that I discussed throughout this video -- and that's really it. As discussed throughout this video (and many of our other videos), you'll get torched on the GMAT (or EA) if you make careless errors, and I think it's crucial to have an overarching process that helps you prevent those errors (the four steps discussed in this video, or something else that accomplishes the same goal). That's all I mean when I use the words "process" or "technique." Beyond that... well, it's a quantitative reasoning test, so you need to know some fundamental things about math, and you need to reason your way through the problems using that math. Focus on those things, and ignore the rest of the jargon. I hope that helps a bit!

[@shehram6644]

Hi ninja i need advise, I only have 8 weeks to prepare for my test? Given that my analytical skills and basic arithmetic are good please advise on how to prepare well

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

That's an incredibly broad question, and I'm not sure that I could possibly say anything in a little KZbin comment that's likely to help, unfortunately. The short version is that you'll definitely want to take a practice test if you haven't already, and see what it tells you about your weaknesses. Use the practice tests wisely, though -- more on that can be found here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/anTEXqBujK6pjsU. From there, I don't think I can offer any specific advice, but if you identify a weak spot, hopefully our videos will help a bit, even on a short timeline. I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!

[@baralakash]

How well does this fit for Focus Edition ?

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

The language we use here is outdated, since Data Sufficiency is now part of Data Insights, and not part of the quant section. But all of the same principles in this video still completely apply to the Focus Edition -- it's just that they now apply to two separate sections, and not just one. :) That said, we're working on updates to the videos, and will start releasing those in the next month or two. The content will be mostly unchanged, but we'll be clearer about the role of Data Sufficiency, among other things. I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!

[@finnbalor1090]

Can you kindly make a series on argument and issue essay approach

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Are you referring to AWA? We'll produce a video on AWA later this year for our GRE channel, but since AWA is such a minor part of the GMAT -- and all but irrelevant for MBA admissions -- we don't have any plans to release a GMAT-specific AWA video, unfortunately. Also, AWA won't be part of the new GMAT format, for better or worse. For now, this article might be worth a look: www.gmatninja.com/gmat/articles/ir-and-awa/nobody-reads-your-essays-part-2. If we were to produce a GMAT AWA video, it would probably look quite a bit like this article. :) Sorry for the bad news, and I hope this helps a bit, Finn!

[@finnbalor1090]

@@GMATNinjaTutoring Thank you for your response

[@ryankoech]

Hello Tutor, i have done my Gmat twice scoring 680 and 710 respectively, my target score is 750+. Do you recommend i take a third test?

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

It just depends on what you're trying to accomplish. A 710 is an excellent score, and if you think it'll be enough to get you into the graduate programs that you're interested in, great -- then there's no need to retake. But if a few extra points would help your odds meaningfully -- and if you can identify specific ways to improve your score -- then a retake might be worth the energy. I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!

[@ryankoech]

@@GMATNinjaTutoring Thanks, I'm planning to take the exam early next month.

[@ratand4619]

Hi GMAT Ninja, Im 20 and i just finished my graduation final exams and i come from liberal arts background and i want to dedicate 6 to 7 months on preparation. And im starting with this one for my quant. Any suggestions?? Btw i absolutely love you guys because of your hard work put into this. I have purchased gmat official focus edition 2024 book.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Happy graduation! And thank you for the kind words. It sounds like you're 100% on the right track with this. You might consider taking an official mba.com practice test sooner rather than later, just to see where you stand, but don't overdo the practice tests early in the process -- there are only six of them, and most are best saved for closer to your exam. It's very possible that quant is your biggest weakness -- or at least the one that might take the longest to remedy -- and if that's the case, this video series is a great starting point for understanding the content of the quant section. If one (or both) of the other sections are a problem, don't wait too long to start addressing those weaknesses. And yes, the GMAT official guides are the best source of practice questions, since those books consist of retired exam questions. Make sure you get all four books in the bundle, not just the OG itself. Full bundle is available here: amzn.to/3Kx2aUA. Have fun studying!

[@ayushbothra2232]

I have a doubt with the first sum, where a>60 and b

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

The key is in the question itself. We're looking for the MAXIMUM possible value of ab. So if we're maximizing b, we'd want to choose the largest two-digit number possible -- and that's 99, not 10. I hope that helps a bit!

[@catchingfeelings2691]

Does this apply to GMAT Focus Edition too?

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Yup! The quant-related content of the GMAT hasn't changed much, other than the removal of geometry. So everything in this video (and our entire quant playlist) is equally applicable to the new version of the GMAT. The only thing is that we refer to Data Sufficiency as part of the quant section in these videos, and it's now part of Data Insights. The question format is pretty much unchanged though, and these videos still address the right tactics for tackling both the quant section and DS questions. We're working on updates to the videos to reflect this, but the content in the new videos won't be substantially different from the current versions. I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!

[@aryannakhawa9342]

good

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Thank you!

[@miguelpedersen4773]

Question 3, Statement 2: Could X & Y be positive decimals less than 1? The question doesn't specify that they are integers.

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

X and Y could both be decimals. You're absolutely right that the question doesn't specify that they are integers. However, only one of X or Y could be a positive decimal less than 1 since they can't both be positive. Statement (2) tells us XY < 0. This tells us one of the variables is positive and one of them is negative since a positive number multiplied by a negative number will give us a negative number. I hope that helps!

[@asmausalahudeen8216]

Also, after I learn how can I write the exam and the certificate

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

I'm not sure what you mean by "certificate", but here's the link to register for the exam: www.mba.com/exams/gmat-exam/register. I hope that helps a bit!

[@asmausalahudeen8216]

@@GMATNinjaTutoring okay. I want to apply for scholarship GRE or GMAT is among the requirements and compulsory.

[@rafarayeeda5411]

What if the question was the smallest instead of the largest? in the end. will the answer be C?

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

You're referring to Q4 in the video? (B) is actually the smallest of the five options, but changing the question to "smallest" instead of "largest" radically changes it, and probably makes it unrealistic as a GMAT question. In the original version of the question, you don't need much arithmetic to find the largest value -- a bit of logic is all you need, as shown in the video. The trouble with calculating the SMALLEST value is that (B) and (C) are awfully close to each other, and you end up grinding through some pretty annoying fractions to figure out that (B) is smaller. That's not usually something that interests the GMAT much -- yes, you'll do plenty of arithmetic on this exam, but logic and reasoning are more important, and you're not going to see many questions that rely so strongly on "brute force" arithmetic. So don't worry about this too much. I hope that helps!

[@U_lingo]

in Q 1 I fell into ALL the possible traps in the question 😆😆😆

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

Perfect! You're getting all of those mistakes out of your system now, so that you won't make them on your actual exam. I like it. :) Have fun studying !

[@nikitarashivade9211]

Hello sir it's Nikita here from India and the problem is it's been 5 years I haven't came in contact with mathematics 😅and I'm literally clueless. My mind went blank when I read any mathematical question it seems like OMG that's not my cup of tea 🙂so please suggest me some tips and tricks to get on track as fast as possible

[@GMATNinjaTutoring]

You're not going to love this answer, but if your math skills are as shaky as you're suggesting, there might be no fast way to improve. Think of it this way: most GMAT test-takers studied math from a very young age until sometime in university -- so something like 15 years of math education, depending on the student. If you've lost quite a bit of that knowledge, it's going to take time to rebuild it -- and there aren't a lot of "tips and tricks" that will get you there quickly, unfortunately. Of course, I'm not sure just how shaky your skills really are. Our quant video series is pretty comprehensive in terms of covering GMAT-like questions on each topic, but they don't necessarily start at the most basic level. If, for example, you struggle to solve a basic set of linear equations or basic quadratics, these videos might move a bit too fast for you. If that's the case, there are plenty of other resources online to help you with those basics. Khan Academy is one obvious place to start. Manhattan Prep offers this book on the foundations of GMAT math, and it may or may not be the right fit for your level: amzn.to/3Re3eR6. They're also releasing a new edition in July 2024. I hope that helps a bit, and good luck with your studies!

[@nikitarashivade9211]

Thanks sir I will start from basic once again so could you please suggest me what topics I should clear first to move further. Again there's a lot of material available on internet. I just need right guidance to get on right path. Please help me 🙇‍♀

[@neonlights4937]