A picture is worth a thousand words, or so goes the saying. That cannot be more true on the Gmat. Remember that on average, you have 2 min per Gmat Quant question, and just under 2 min per Verbal question. You do not have time to waste, and you must employ strategies that will increase your efficiency and accuracy. One of these strategies is visually presenting given data whenever possible.
It is essential that you begin practicing this habit early, and like with any other useful skills, it is not something that you can decide to start doing a few days before your Gmat test. If you can develop this strategy, you will be able to draw the conclusions necessary to solve the question much faster.
Gmat Quant example – Try out the next question
Before looking at the solution, give the following question a try, then compare the two solution methods below. One is more visually oriented than the other.
lets take one approach.
First, one that jumps straight into formulas:
Now, consider a more visual approach to solving this problem.
As you can see, a simple diagram makes a big difference. There is a clear context to what you are solving for, in this case ‘2y’. In addition, it is less likely to make careless mistakes, such as choosing y as the correct answer, instead of 2y. On the diagram, it is easy to remember that there are two trips, not just one.
In short: The Gmat rewards attention to detail and the ability to encompass all the relevant elements of a specific situation – a crucial skill for a business professional. A clear presentation of facts using a simple sketch will help you to paint the big picture, arrive at the correct answer quicker, and avoid careless mistakes in the process.