GMAT Combinations Problems Demystified

May 2, 2012 by



GRE Quantitative SectionNot surprisingly, most GMAT test takers have a background in the business world.  As such, many readers have worked on a committee formed from a larger group of employees.  Every time a committee is formed in this fashion, you are, in fact, doing a GMAT problem.   More specifically, you are attempting one of the most dreaded question types on the GMAT quantitative section – combinations.

While these questions can be tough, by thinking about the real life experience of forming a committee, you can more easily understand exactly what a combinations question is asking you to do.  Let’s say that your business has ten employees and needs to create a committee of four people.  If you want to determine how many different possible committees you could create, you would use the combinations formula, n!/[k!(n

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A Kaplan GMAT Alum’s Success Story: Meet Jennifer Shoemaker

April 30, 2012 by



GMAT MBA

Going to business school is a means to an end.  We use b-school to help us reach our goals, advance in our careers, and become better people.  But the desire to get a graduate management degree is not enough.  We must take many steps and work very hard just to get in the door.  The GMAT is a significant obstacle along the road to b-school.  A lot goes into preparing for the test, and the result of that preparation has a direct impact on turning our aspirations into realities.

At Kaplan, we have thousands and thousands of success stories—stories of people who, just like you, made the decision to go to business school and did what they had to do to get there.  These folks had a clear image in their minds of

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Tough GMAT Problems: When Should You Just move on?

April 28, 2012 by



GMAT quantitative sectionOne of the biggest mistakes students taking GMAT practice tests make is spending too much time on quantitative problems.  This is especially true of problems they are unsure of how to solve.

Remember, the quantitative section of the GMAT asks you to complete 37 questions in 75 minutes.  This means that you have only two minutes per question.  That’s not much time as I am sure many of you already know.  Thus, it is important that you use your time in the most efficient manner possible.

While many test-takers feel they will not be able to complete the test in time, you should also keep in mind that the questions are designed so that it is possible to complete each one in an average of two minutes.  While

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GMAT Studying: How to Stay Motivated

April 23, 2012 by



I’ve been studying for the GMAT for some time now, and I’m fighting an uphill battle.  My score increases a little bit each week, but I’m still not hitting my goal.  Recently, I started to feel defeated, so I decided to take a break.  I closed my books and took some time to rest my mind.  As a result, I had to change my test date to the end of May.  I also decided that if I don’t get the score I want, I will go ahead and study the new Integrative Reasoning section of the test and retake the GMAT again in August.  I was so gung-ho in the beginning, I think I may have psyched myself out.  I’m sure many test-takers have had this happen.  I am writing this to let you

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Business School: An MBA’s Perspective

April 22, 2012 by



As you may know, I recently took a break from studying the GMAT, but I didn’t take a break from researching B-school programs. I had the pleasure of interviewing my friend, Cavaughn Noel.  He is a 2009 graduate of the NYU Stern full time program. Here are some of the golden nuggets he shared with me:

Candice: I know it’s been a while, but can you recall your experience preparing for and taking the GMAT?  Do you have any tips for those of us still in this stage of the B-school application process?

Cavaughn: It was hard (laughing) – we all know that!  I didn’t take a prep course beforehand, but looking back, I think it would have been a good idea.  I took a lot of practice CAT’s.  Repetition

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Translation on the GMAT

April 21, 2012 by



One of the big GMAT skills that is often overlooked by students is translation.  Any time you decide approach a word problem using algebra, you will need to translate the English in the question stem into an algebraic equation.  While this seems as if it would usually be fairly straightforward, the GMAT will often find ways to make it more difficult.  A translation error will often lead to a trap answer, so it is essential that you learn how to translate difficult statements before test day.

To understand why translation can be more difficult than it seems, think about translating a foreign language.  If you only need to translate one word, you can usually just find the equivalent word in English.  Similarly, if a GMAT problem uses the phrase “more than” you

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Absolute Value on the GMAT

April 19, 2012 by



Most students learn that absolute value is the positive version of a number.  Thus, the absolute value of 7 is 7 and the absolute value of -7 is also 7.  While these absolute values are correct, many GMAT problems will be more straightforward if you learn the true definition of absolute value, which is the distance a number is from zero on a number line.  Thus, the absolute values of 7 and -7 are 7 because both numbers are 7 away from zero on a number line.

To understand how absolute value works, imagine you live in a house right in the middle of a block.  The street has 5 houses to the left of your house and 5 houses to the right of your house.  Whether you walk two houses to the left or two

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GMAT Endurance

April 14, 2012 by



The GMAT is a marathon, not a sprint.

Okay, you’ve probably heard that before. It’s not exactly a well-kept secret, and it’s a fundamental piece of advice for anyone prepping for the GMAT (and for other standardized tests as well). But the real question is, what can you do about it? How can you prepare for the long haul and build endurance? Well, here are a few tips to help you out:

  1. Take CATs often. There is no better way to build endurance for Test Day than to take full-length practice tests; they are the cornerstone of any successful study plan.
  2. If you’re not sure what to study next, see rule 1.
  3. Practice with a clock. Even hour-long study sessions can seem ‘easy’ if you are going at a very relaxed pace. As the
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Solving GMAT Mysteries

April 12, 2012 by



I love a good mystery. It’s always fun to try to puzzle out the solution to contradictory clues, or to watch a genius detective like Hercule Poirot or Nero Wolfe crack a case wide open. So it should come as little surprise that Explain questions are one of my favorite question types on the GMAT.

If you aren’t familiar with these questions, here is the background. Explain questions are an uncommon subtype of Critical Reasoning questions. You can identify them by language in the question stem like “explain” or “accounts for,” and also by terminology referencing a “mystery,” “paradox,” or “apparent contradiction.”  Recognizing them is important. Unlike many other CR problems, such as Strengthen or Flaw question, Explain questions don’t have an argument. For most Critical Reasoning, the first step to solving is to find the

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Understanding Wrong Answer Choices on the GMAT

April 11, 2012 by



As you learn how to approach GMAT questions, most of your focus will be on the right answers and how to reach them.  However, on test day it is almost as important to be aware of the wrong answers.

First, if you are unsure of the solution for a problem, but you are able to eliminate four answers as definitely wrong, you know the remaining answer is correct.  This can be especially helpful on critical reasoning questions, but is useful on all question types.

Second, and what we will focus on today, are wrong answers in the quantitative section that are based on specific, common student errors.  The incorrect answers that are listed are not a random collection of options.  Rather, the test makers will consider what mistakes a student is likely to make on a problem

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