Getting worked over by long word problems with percents

[byuwadd]

Okay so I'm in my final 2 weeks before the big exam and I'm working some timed sets to get ready. Things are going pretty well, but I keep running into extremely long word problems with percents that are destroying me. PS 198, 177, and 182 are a few that I've run into in the last couple of days.

I've spent about 8 hours trying to get better at this type of problem, but I just can't seem to break through. The videos on MGMAT are helpful, but these problems are tough and arithmetic intense.

It usually takes me about 2 minutes just to understand what the question is saying and asking for. Then it's another 2-3 minutes of arithmetic to find the answer.

When I ran into my first one of these I thought to myself, "I'll just skip this if I see it on the real test." Since the time I said this, I've run into two more of this type of problem in the last two days of timed sets. I'm getting nervous that there might be too many of this type of problem on the real test.

Any advice?? Can I skip these on the test? Is there a chapter that covers this type of question more in depth? I've gone over the percents chapter twice already, but nothing in there compares to these long worded percent problems.

[tim]

on the test, skip anything you're not ready to solve in a reasonable amount of time. if you want a really high score, you should only schedule your test once you've eliminated such issues. since you've already scheduled a test before you're ready, you should be prepared to skip some questions if needed. if you've got some time to work on this, either before or after your GMAT, focus on pulling out the important pieces from a long problem rather than trying to read every detail. and it sounds like you could use some work on crunching numbers faster; the drills in the foundations of math book are good for that..

[byuwadd]

Thanks for the advice Tim. I tried focusing just on the pertinent information and that helped quite a bit. I've still got a ways to go though. If I don't see some dramatic improvement in the next couple of days on these problems, I'll just skip them on exam day.

Right now I'm absolutely floored that anyone can solve a problem like that in 2 minutes! Makes me laugh when the answer explanation takes up almost two whole columns in the Official Guide.

[jnelson0612]

Thanks for the advice Tim. I tried focusing just on the pertinent information and that helped quite a bit. I've still got a ways to go though. If I don't see some dramatic improvement in the next couple of days on these problems, I'll just skip them on exam day.

Right now I'm absolutely floored that anyone can solve a problem like that in 2 minutes! Makes me laugh when the answer explanation takes up almost two whole columns in the Official Guide.

As Tim said, skipping things you just can't handle is the smart move on the GMAT. Also, yes, some of the explanations given by the OG are very loooooooong and not the most efficient way to handle the problems. That is where our Official Guide Companion book can be quite a help. :-) In fact, whenever I see a crazy long answer I always look for an alternative method.

Good luck with your test!