Kaplan GRE & GMAT Exams Math Workbook, Third Edition (Paperback)

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Are You Ready for the Math on the GRE® or GMAT® exams? You Will Be.

Kaplan's GRE®& GMAT® Exams Math Workbook, Third Edition immerses you in all the math concepts you need to know. With comprehensive review and powerful strategies for every type of question, this intensive workbook provides you with the targeted math training you need to score well on the GRE® and GMAT® exams. You will be prepared. You will score your best. We guarantee it. (See details inside.)

Intensive Practice
Question after question, practice set after practice set, you will build the skills you need to master every math subject, every math concept, and every math question type.

Targeted Review
GRE® & GMAT® Exams Math Workbook provides you with comprehensive, step-by-step training on everything from math basics to the most advanced concepts on the tests, including graphs, word problems, and data sufficiency problems.

Powerful Strategies
To round out your review, you will learn how to apply Kaplan's exclusive graduate math strategies, allowing you to maximize your time, effort -- and score!

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Chapter One

Been there, done that. If you're considering applying to graduate school or business school, then you've already seen all the math you need for both the GRE and the GMAT. You would have covered the relevant math content in junior high. In fact, the math that appears on the GRE and GMAT is almost identical to the math tested on the SAT or ACT. You don't need to know trigonometry. You don't need to know calculus. No surprises -- it's all material you've seen before. The only problem is, you may not have seen it lately. When was the last time you had to add a bunch of fractions without a calculator?

No matter how much your memories of junior high algebra classes have dimmed, don't panic. The GRE and the GMAT test a limited number of core math concepts in predictable ways. Certain topics come up in every test, and, chances are, these topics will be expressed in much the same way; even some of the words and phrases appearing in the questions are predictable. Since the tests are so formulaic, we can show you the math you're bound to encounter. Some practice on testlike questions, such as those in the following chapters, will ready you for the questions you will see on the actual test.

Here is a checklist of core math concepts you'll need for the GRE and GMAT. These concepts are vital, not only because they are tested directly on every GRE and GMAT, but also because you need to know how to perform these simpler operations in order to perform more complicated tasks. For instance, you won't be able to find the volume of a cylinder if you can't find the area of a circle. We know the math operations on the following list are pretty basic, but make sure you know how to do them.

GRE and GMAT Math Basics
Add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions. (Chapter 2)
Convert fractions to decimals, and vice versa. (Chapter 2)
Add, subtract, multiply, and divide signed numbers. (Chapter 2)
Plug numbers into algebraic expressions. (Chapter 3)
Solve a simple algebraic equation. (Chapter 3)
Find a percent using the percent formula. (Chapter 2)
Find an average. (Chapter 2)
Find the areas of rectangles, triangles, and circles. (Chapter 5)

How Math is Scored on the GMAT

The GMAT will give you a scaled quantitative score from 0 to 60. (The average score is 30.) This score reflects your performance on the math portion of the test compared to all other GMAT test takers.

You will also receive an overall score that reflects your performance on both the math and the verbal portions of the test. This is a scaled score from 200 to 800.

How Math is Scored on the GRE

The GRE will give you a scaled quantitative score from 200 to 800. (The average score is 500.) This score reflects your performance on the math portion of the GRE compared to all other GRE test takers.

Test Overview

The GRE and the GMAT are pretty similar in terms of the math they test. However, there are significant differences in the way the tests are administered. The GMAT and GRE are now available only as a Computer Adaptive Test, or CAT. You take this test on a computer at special centers. Here's a quick overview of the math sections of the GRE and GMAT CAT.

Problem Solving Questions on the GRE and GMAT
Problem Solving questions are the simplest you will see on either test. You are given a question (and sometimes an accompanying chart or diagram) and asked to choose the correct answer from a list of five answer choices.

Quantitative Comparison Questions on the GRE
Quantitative Comparisons are found only on the GRE. You are given two quantities, one in Column A, and one in Column B, and you must decide if one in particular is larger, whether they are the same size, or whether you need more information to make the comparison. There are four answer choices, which are the same for every Quantitative Comparison question. Sometimes you will be given additional information about the quantities being compared. This will be centered above the columns.

Data Sufficiency Questions on the GMAT
Data Sufficiency questions are found only on the GMAT. In Data Sufficiency, a question is followed by two statements containing certain data. Your task is to determine whether the data provided by the statements are sufficient to answer the question. All Data Sufficiency questions have the same five answer choices.

Math on the GMAT CAT
One Quantitative section:

There are 37 questions to be done in 75 minutes.

Approximately two-thirds of the questions will be in the Problem Solving format, and the remaining questions will be in the Data Sufficiency format.

About 10 of the questions in the GMAT CAT math section will be experimental questions. These are questions that are being tested for use in future tests, and are not scored. However, there is no way of telling the experimental questions from the scored questions around them, and so you should treat all questions as if they are scored.

Math on the GRE CAT
One Quantitative section:

There are 28 questions to be done in 45 minutes.

Approximately half of the questions will be in the Quantitative Comparison format and the remaining questions will be in the Problem Solving format. About a quarter of the Problem Solving questions will ask you to interpret a set of charts or graphs.

Math Content
The GMAT and GRE test similar skills and knowledge. As we mentioned, it's basically junior high school level math. The emphasis is slightly different between the tests, though. Most test takers find the math on the GMAT to be slightly more challenging.

Here's how the approximate number of questions break down by content area for the two tests. (By the way, this book contains chapters devoted to each of these subject areas, so you can focus on the most relevant material.)

GMAT Math by Subject Area
Arithmetic -- About half of all questions.

Algebra -- About a quarter of all questions.

Geometry -- About a sixth of all questions.

Graphs, logic questions, and other miscellaneous question types occur from time to time.

About half of all questions are presented in the form of word problems.

GRE Math by Subject Area
Arithmetic -- About a third of all questions.

Algebra -- About a sixth of all questions.

Geometry -- About a third of all questions.

Graphs -- About a sixth of all questions.

About a quarter of all questions are presented in the form of word problems.

Computer Adaptive Testing
The GMAT and GRE CATs are a little different from the paper-and-pencil tests you have probably seen in the past.

You make your way through the GMAT and GRE CATs by pointing and clicking with a mouse -- in fact, the tests are mouse-only. You won't use the keyboard in the math portions of the tests. Each test is preceded by a short tutorial that will show you exactly how to use the mouse to indicate your answer and move through the test. If you have used a computer and mouse before, you will probably find the procedure to be very simple.

How a CAT Finds Your Score
These computer-based tests "adapt" to your performance. This means the questions get harder or easier depending on whether you answer them correctly or not. Your score is not directly determined by how many questions you get right, but by how hard the questions you get right are.

When you start a section the computer:

Assumes you have an average score.

Gives you a medium-difficulty question. If you answer a question correctly:

Your score goes up.

You are given a harder question. If you answer a question incorrectly:

Your score goes down.

You are given an easier question. After a while you will reach a level where most of the questions will seem difficult to you. At this point you will get roughly as many questions right as you get wrong. This is your scoring level. The computer uses your scoring level in calculating your scaled score.

Another consequence of the test's adaptive nature is that for the bulk of the test you will be getting questions at the limit of your ability. While every question is equally important to your final score, harder questions generate higher scores and easier questions lower scores. You want to answer as many hard questions as possible. This is a reason to concentrate your energies on the early questions. Get these right and you are into the harder questions, where the points are. The sooner you start to see harder questions, the higher your final score is likely to be.

There are a few other consequences of the adaptive nature of the test that you should consider.

There is no preset order of difficulty; the difficulty level of the questions you're getting is dependent on how well you have done on the preceding questions. The harder the questions are, the better you are doing. So, if you seem to be getting only hard questions, don't panic: It's a good sign!

Once you leave a question, you cannot return to it. That's it. Kiss it good-bye. This is why you should never rush on the CAT. Make sure that you have indicated the right answer before you confirm it and move on. The CAT rewards meticulous test takers.

In a CAT you must answer a question to move on to the next one. There's no skipping around. If you can't get an answer, you will have to guess in order to move on. Consequently, intelligent guessing can make the difference between a mediocre and a great score. Guess intelligently and strategically -- eliminate any answer choices that you can determine are wrong and guess among those remaining. The explanations to the questions in this book will demonstrate techniques for eliminating answer choices strategically.

One final, important point. There is a penalty for unanswered questions on the CAT. Every question you leave unanswered will decrease your score by a greater amount than a question that you answered incorrectly! This means that you should answer all the questions on the test, even if you have to guess randomly to finish a section.

Copyright © 2002 by Kaplan, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan; 3rd edition (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743233549
• ISBN-13: 978-0743233545
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #274,321 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

152 of 155 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Went from 39 (57%) to 50 (96%) for a 760 GMAT finish., November 8, 2002

By A Customer

My quant score killed me the first time I took the test--57 percentile. I had thought I was prepared with the general Kaplan GMAT book with CD-ROM. Wrong.

For the quant-challenged, there are two general prep strategies. One, you can dish out a couple grand for Kaplan tutoring. Personally, I recommend the following three-book approach, assuming you have time. Get the ARCO GRE-GMAT Math Review. It is basic, but trust me, if you don't know/review the basics cold, you are done. This book would also be a fine starting point for people who would score less than 57%, so don't let that put you off. The section on word problems was particularly helpful. Each topical area (such as factoring) has practice problems, and each section (such as Algebra) has a practice test to reinforce what you are reviewing (or learning).

The second book I recommend is the Kaplan GRE-GMAT Math Workbook. It will take you the next step, assuming that you know the basic math and getting more into how to manipulate certain figures and math concepts to get the answer you need. Test taking strategy is also addressed in this book, which it is not in the ARCO. There are far more practice problems in the Kaplan than in the ARCO, and they are divided into "Basic", "Intermediate" and "Advanced."

I used only these two books, and my quant score went from 57 percentile to 96 percentile. I reviewed for two weeks, one book a week, about 4 hours per day.

I called this a three-book approach; the third book is one that I wish I had bought--GMAC's current edition of previous tests. Practicing in this book would probably have increased my confidence a bit more going into the test--I must admit that I did not fully trust Kaplan's problems to be truly representative of the real GMAT. Judging from my results, this mistrust was unfounded. I did use GMAC's PowerPrep software, which you get when you register for the GMAT. A big drawback with PowerPrep is that it uses the questions from a paper test, and just levers them into the CAT format. The questions don't really get harder if you answer them correctly (as of November 8, 2002). Use them for math practice, but keep in mind that the CAT is designed to challenge you by offering you harder and harder questions as long as you keep getting them right. Don't learn a time managment strategy on the paper tests and expect to use it on the CAT. Don't expect your CAT to be as easy as the paper tests.

I also got Kaplan's GMAT 800 at a local bookstore, and returned it two days later. After the other two books, I could not see that it was helping me much at all. I don't recommend that one. Not for math anyway--I am not addressing verbal anything in this review.

One final note--none of the books address probability, which exists on the GMAT in rudimentary form. I didn't need to know permutations or combinations either time I took the test, but that's not to say that you will not--I just don't know. I did need to know basic probability calculation, and that's not in any of the books above. So, spend an hour at the library and nail that down--it's not difficult.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Review of GRE Math Concepts, November 6, 2002

By A Customer

This book provides an excellent review of most of the math concepts covered on the GRE. Each chapter begins by clearly explaining a concept, and continues by offering TONS of practice exercises and tests. Using this guide and the questions from "GRE: Practicing to take the General Test" by ETS, I was able to score 780 on the GRE Math.

One warning about this book: It does not address some of the more advanced concepts that may appear on the GRE CAT when you are scoring in the 700-800 range. For example, I encountered several questions about probability and statistics, two topics that I did not find in this guide.

The great thing about this book in comparison to the Kaplan GRE Exam 2003 is that it's not just about Kaplan test-taking strategies. Instead, the author goes to great lengths to make sure you are prepared to handle the vast majority of the actual math concepts found on the GRE.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! I raised my score almost 200 points!, September 5, 2003

By A Customer

Before I began reviewing for the GRE, I had not used many mathematical concepts since high school (almost 4 years ago). After reviewing with a General Test review book, I took a practice test and scored a 440 and almost gave up my dreams of going to grad school for clinical psychology. Fortunately, I bought the Kaplan GRE-GMAT Math Workbook.

The book consists of 5 main sections (arithmatic, algebra, word problems, and geometry) and a section that is geared toward sections specifically on the GRE or GMAT (like quatitative comparisons, data sufficiency, and graphs). Each of the main sections is divided into subsections, focusing on specific mathmatical concepts such as triangles, percentages, ratios, etc. Each subsection begins with approximately 3-5 pages of clear and useful tutorial on each of the topics. Following the tutorial section are many practice problems at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels with explainations.

I especially recommend this book if you learn the best by applying your knowledge. General books seem to give a brief explanation, but very little practice. Because this book containes many, many practice problems that are similar to the problems on the actual GRE, it is a very good form of preparation. An extra bonus is that if you are pressed for time, you can probably finish it in a weekend if you are committed. Yesterday I took the GRE and scored a 620 on Quatitative and now have a good shot at going to grad school.