- Dec 12, 2000
- 25,385
- 9,955
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I mean, I'm of Indian origin for chrissakes!!! Why is math so hard for me???
I've been studying for the GMAT for the past month--I've pretty much nailed down the verbal section and my essays are great (given the amount of time I have to write them.) Even the Crit Reasoning has gotten easy for me. Yet the math section is as difficult as ever!!
Of particular concern are the 'data sufficiency' problems. These work like so: you are given an expression to evaluate or a short word problem to consider. You are then given two pieces of information, labeled (1) and (2). You then have five answer choices:
A) The info in (1) alone is sufficient to solve the problem.
B) The info in (2) alone is sufficient to solve the problem.
C) (1) or (2) alone are not sufficient, but together they can solve the problem.
D) Either (1) or (2) are sufficient to solve the problem on their own.
E) You guessed it, (1) or (2) are not sufficient to solve the problem, even when used together.
So basically you're being asked to figure out if the problem can be solved. The trick is figuring this out without actually solving any equations, since you only have at most 3-4 minutes to spend on any question (average 2 minutes per problem.) So a lot of it is knowing your proofs and properties and theorems and what not. This is where I especially am the suck
.
I want to blame my deficient math skills on my Catholic school upbringing in Canada. Maybe the situation has changed, but my school system (though ranked one of the best) did not place ANY emphasis on math or science education when I was growing up...it was all about reading and writing and singing about God. I used to be in the gifted program, and then I moved to the US and I placed into remedial algebra!!! :Q Of course, I can't blame it all on the parochial school because even in high school I somehow made As and Bs without knowing my sh*t (thank you graphing calculator with equation solver program!)
I'm really investing a lot of time into my math "re-education" though because I want to kick ass on this test. Its amazing how hard some relatively simple arithmetic, algebra and geometry becomes when you're forced to speed solve using only pencil, paper and brains!
Cliff's Notes:
A) I suck at math
B) I'm currently studying for the GMAT
C) Because of A) I'm not doing very well on B)
D) I came to an Internet forum for kind words and assurances from people I don't even know, most of whom I'd assume are pretty good at math and are secretly mocking me for my deficiencies.
I've been studying for the GMAT for the past month--I've pretty much nailed down the verbal section and my essays are great (given the amount of time I have to write them.) Even the Crit Reasoning has gotten easy for me. Yet the math section is as difficult as ever!!
Of particular concern are the 'data sufficiency' problems. These work like so: you are given an expression to evaluate or a short word problem to consider. You are then given two pieces of information, labeled (1) and (2). You then have five answer choices:
A) The info in (1) alone is sufficient to solve the problem.
B) The info in (2) alone is sufficient to solve the problem.
C) (1) or (2) alone are not sufficient, but together they can solve the problem.
D) Either (1) or (2) are sufficient to solve the problem on their own.
E) You guessed it, (1) or (2) are not sufficient to solve the problem, even when used together.
So basically you're being asked to figure out if the problem can be solved. The trick is figuring this out without actually solving any equations, since you only have at most 3-4 minutes to spend on any question (average 2 minutes per problem.) So a lot of it is knowing your proofs and properties and theorems and what not. This is where I especially am the suck
.I want to blame my deficient math skills on my Catholic school upbringing in Canada. Maybe the situation has changed, but my school system (though ranked one of the best) did not place ANY emphasis on math or science education when I was growing up...it was all about reading and writing and singing about God. I used to be in the gifted program, and then I moved to the US and I placed into remedial algebra!!! :Q Of course, I can't blame it all on the parochial school because even in high school I somehow made As and Bs without knowing my sh*t (thank you graphing calculator with equation solver program!)
I'm really investing a lot of time into my math "re-education" though because I want to kick ass on this test. Its amazing how hard some relatively simple arithmetic, algebra and geometry becomes when you're forced to speed solve using only pencil, paper and brains!
Cliff's Notes:
A) I suck at math
B) I'm currently studying for the GMAT
C) Because of A) I'm not doing very well on B)
D) I came to an Internet forum for kind words and assurances from people I don't even know, most of whom I'd assume are pretty good at math and are secretly mocking me for my deficiencies.
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