Want to Do Better on GRE Quant? Put the Pen Down!

by Cilidh Erickson Mar 17, 2016

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Lets do an experiment. This is one I do

with all of my GRE classes and tutoring
students. Grab a piece of paper, a pen, and
a stopwatch (or use the stopwatch
function on your mobile device).

When youre ready, click start on the stopwatch and begin the following multiple choice Discrete Quant problem

Solution A contains 20% alcohol by volume, and Solution B contains 50% alcohol by volume. If the two solutions are combined, the
resulting mixture of A and B contains 32% alcohol by volume. What percent of the total volume of the mixture is Solution A?

(A) 35%

(B) 40%

(C) 50%

(D) 60%

(E) 70%

Ok, write down the answer you got, and how much time it took you.

Right now, though, Im not interested in what answer you got. I just want to know 2 things:

At what point did you start writing on your paper? 5 seconds into the problem? 10? 30?
How long did you take on the problem overall?

Believe it or not, there is probably an inverse correlation between those two answers. Students who dive in and start writing
equations right away will often spend 2:30 to 3:30 on a question like this generally much longer than students who take their time
before writing things down. Theyre also much more likely to get the question wrong!

Savvy test takers dont dive in and start solving right away. They know that slowing down at first (even though it seems counter-
intuitive) can improve both timing and accuracy.

The savvy way to approach Discrete Quant questions is this:

1. Read the entire problem, pen down.

Its not Reading Comprehension, so you dont need to take notes! If youre writing while youre reading, youre much more likely to
miss key pieces of information. Think about the concept thats being tested, and what information the problem is giving you.
Heres what Id be thinking while reading the problem above: ok, this is a weighted average problem were mixing 2 things
together. Theyre each different amounts of alcohol, and then were given a total.

2. Define what the question is asking for.

Again, before writing equations down, just define the question. Is it asking us for a value, a sum, a difference, a proportion, a
variable in terms of another variable, etc.?

This is the best way to ensure that you dont accidentally solve for the wrong thing! The GRE loves to trick us into doing that. How
many times have you looked back to realize that your algebra was correct, but you just answered the wrong question?

My thoughts: The question is asking me about A as a percentage of the total of A and B. I bet theyll include a trap if I accidentally
solve for B!

3. Scan the answers & try to eliminate.

Before picking up the pen, do a common sense test first! This isnt high school, where you have to show all of your work before
picking an answer. Think of the answers as part of the problem itself!

Scanning the answers first can give you powerful clues for how to solve a multiple choice problem. For example, if a geometry
problem featured 3 in some of the answer choices, thats your clue to think about 30:60:90 right triangles. If a ratio problem
featured some ratios that were greater than 1 (e.g. 3:2) and some that were less than 1 (2:3), thats your clue to assess which portion
should be greater.

My thoughts on the problem above: I notice that some of the answer choices are less than 50%, one is 50%, and the others are greater
than 50%. If I can just figure out whether I have more A or more B in the mixture, I can narrow it down.

Since the 32% in the overall mixture is closer to As 20% than Bs 50%, that means that A must make up more of the overall mixture
in other words, more than 50%. I can eliminate (A), (B), and (C).

4. Look out for Traps

As I mentioned before, the GRE loves to set traps for us. If you become aware of those traps, you can narrow down answer choices
easily. Here are some common traps to watch out for:

Numbers in the Problem these are rarely right answers. The GRE imagines that if a student didnt know what to do, she would
just say, um, that number looks familiar. I guess Ill pick it. Dont do that! We could eliminate (A) and (C) (if we hadnt already)
since theyre in the problem.

One-Move Answers similar to the above. If you can get to one of the answers just by performing one operation (addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division) to 2 of the numbers in the problem, thats almost certainly a trap. 50 + 20 = 70, so (E) is
almost certainly a trap answer.

Evil Twins if we expect that the GRE is trying to trick us into answering the wrong question (for example, solving for B
instead of A here), we should look for answers that form a pair. We know that the percentage of A + the percentage of B will add
to 100%. So, look for 2 answers that add to 100: only (B) and (D) in this case. Since we know A has to be more than half of the
total, that means that (B) is probably an evil twin trap!

If we eliminate all of the likely trap answers, that just leaves us with (D).

5. Be Strategic

In a situation like this, the best strategic move would be to pick (D) and move on. Its a bad idea to get bogged down in a lot of algebra
just to prove what you probably already know to be true. The savvy test-taker would say 90% sure of my answer in 40 seconds is
better than 100% sure of my answer in 3 minutes.

Its an uncomfortable feeling not to know for sure, but the GRE is a time-constrained game! You dont have time to be 100% sure of
every answer.
If this question were different, and you werent able to eliminate all of the other answer choices, you would want to make a strategic
decision about which approach would work best. Dont just dive into doing algebra! Remember that there are other strategies that
can often be faster: picking smart numbers, working backwards from answer choices, estimating, etc.

On this problem, if we wanted to solve, we could do a combination of strategies. Since we dont have any concrete amounts given, we
can pick our own numbers. Lets say that the total mixture is 100 liters.

We could also work backwards from the answer choices, based on that 100L total. Since we suspect that the answer is (D), lets then
say A = 60 liters. The amount of alcohol in A would be 20% of 60, so 12L. If A is 60L, then B must be 40L. 50% of 40L would be 20L of
alcohol. Thus the total amount of alcohol is 12 + 20 = 32 liters of alcohol out of 100 32%.

That works! So (D) must be the right answer.

Saving time on Discrete Quant.

If you did long or complicated algebra on this question, you probably took well over 2 minutes to solve. Its also far more likely that
you got the answer wrong! Putting the pen down and thinking through the problem in the way we outlined above will improve both
your timing and your accuracy.

The next time youre doing a set of Discrete Quant problems, write this on a post-it note and keep it next to you as youre working:

1. Read the entire problem, pen down

2. Define what the question is asking for
3. Scan answers & try to eliminate
4. Look out for traps
5. Be strategic (either in solving, or in guessing & moving on)

Good luck!

Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely
free! Were not kidding. Check out our upcoming courses here.

Cilidh Erickson is a Manhattan Prep instructor based on New York City. When she tells people that her name
is pronounced kay-lee, she often gets puzzled looks. Cilidh is a graduate of Princeton University, where she
majored in comparative literature. After graduation, tutoring was always the job that bought her the greatest
joy and challenge, so she decided to make it her full-time job. Check out Cilidhs upcoming GMAT courses (she
scored a 760, so youre in great hands).

Published in GRE Quant, GRE Strategies, How To Study, Math, Taking the GRE
T A G S Discrete Math, Put the Pen Down
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