Integer Method

[steven.sheph]

During the first week lesson (recorded) Whitney talking about the integer method. I have been studying diligently and not come across any such method in any of my studies. What is the integer method?

That leads me to my next question. Where was I supposed to learn this? Is there something major that I have been missing in my GMAT preparation? I have been using the syllabus to to all of my preparations. I have also been doing the advanced GMAT math book.

Thank you.

[jlucero]

I've never heard of this integer method, and after emailing Whitney, unfortunately neither has she. You have to be a bit more specific here about what part of the recording you were referring to or what question or method she was referencing.

[steven.sheph]

I just downloaded the first session. At about the 43 minute mark there is a problem example. Is n an integer. Forgive me for some reason the sound would not work. They start discussing this problem and solutions to the problem. At about the 58 minute mark they transition to a slide allowing for, and showing how to rewrite some of the clues.

Whitney then writes in the text box (for all to see).

I love the "int" method. There were even a few brief comments regarding it. You could get a general idea of what the "Int" method is from the conversation. However I have tried to apply it to other problems and sometimes it does not seem to work. So I kept waiting to learn more about this "method". I have seen nothing about it.

[RonPurewal]

I just downloaded the first session. At about the 43 minute mark there is a problem example. Is n an integer.

well, for starters, it would definitely help if you wrote out the entire problem. we're unlikely to be able to help if we don't even know what the problem was!

without seeing the problem, my only guess is that perhaps she was talking about writing "int" instead of, say, "k" for an arbitrary integer. if you do that, it gets a lot easier to think about whether certain expressions have to be integers.
for instance:
* if √n is an integer, does n have to be an integer?
write --> √n = int
square --> n = int^2
if you write it this way, it's pretty clear that n has to be an integer. (for me at least, it's a lot more clear than √n = k and n = k^2, whose meaning is nowhere near as evident to me at first glance.)

[steven.sheph]

Ron thank you for responding. However, the question I am asking is not about a specific question. My question is about a supposed method to answering a question. I agree the answer is pretty clear, for the part you wrote down, however you did not write the whole question. Regardless, the question is not the issue. The method is.

As I have gone through the first 85% of the class I have very rarely come across questions that say "is something an integer". More often, I see something that states something is an integer in the stem of the question. So, while this information is helpful it does not have the same applicability as this question.

Thus, why I asked the question in my original post. It is not the answer to any question I was hoping to find. It was some profound shortcut to some types of problems. I get the general idea from the question used in session 1, however I wanted to know its rules of applicability. Thus far in my work, I have not witnessed another reference to this method. Including when I Watch AG Archer videos on questions I struggled with.

[jnelson0612]

Hi Steven,
Thanks for your post. I wish that we could help, but I too do not know what the "integer method" is and if Whitney can't provide that information either then I'm afraid that we're at a dead end. Sorry that we couldn't be more helpful.

[steven.sheph]

Hi Steven,
Thanks for your post. I wish that we could help, but I too do not know what the "integer method" is and if Whitney can't provide that information either then I'm afraid that we're at a dead end. Sorry that we couldn't be more helpful.

Thank you everyone for attempting to assist. I was not trying to create a head scratcher or a "gotcha". But for some reason this was something from the first session that I just latched on to and never forgot.

I was hoping there was some profound trick to be used when given information in the question stem that that told you n (or x or whatever) was an integer. I seem to do well with these problems so I am not really concerned about my performance on questions like this. I was just hoping for something really neat.

Thanks again for the timely responses. :)

[jnelson0612]

Hi Steven,
Thanks for your post. I wish that we could help, but I too do not know what the "integer method" is and if Whitney can't provide that information either then I'm afraid that we're at a dead end. Sorry that we couldn't be more helpful.

Thank you everyone for attempting to assist. I was not trying to create a head scratcher or a "gotcha". But for some reason this was something from the first session that I just latched on to and never forgot.

I was hoping there was some profound trick to be used when given information in the question stem that that told you n (or x or whatever) was an integer. I seem to do well with these problems so I am not really concerned about my performance on questions like this. I was just hoping for something really neat.

Thanks again for the timely responses. :)

Tell you what--if you ever remember please do come back and tell us! :-) Thanks for your post and best wishes.

[diamond.john]

To anyone on MGMAT staff,

I recently stumbled across these forums and immediately started digging through any problem I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, I am now realizing that the new source of problems (specifically the GMAT prep problems) are from test sources that I was hoping to take right before my actual test.

I have gone through the first 3 or so pages of the GMAT prep forums and I have two questions.

1. Will these likely skew my scores when I take the GMAT prep tests (that is will the tests contain some of these problems?) or is it more likely that the database is so large that I won't come across them?

2. Should I dis-continue studying these?

Thanks.

[RonPurewal]

To anyone on MGMAT staff,

I recently stumbled across these forums and immediately started digging through any problem I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, I am now realizing that the new source of problems (specifically the GMAT prep problems) are from test sources that I was hoping to take right before my actual test.

I have gone through the first 3 or so pages of the GMAT prep forums and I have two questions.

1. Will these likely skew my scores when I take the GMAT prep tests (that is will the tests contain some of these problems?) or is it more likely that the database is so large that I won't come across them?

2. Should I dis-continue studying these?

Thanks.

hi,
my short answer is this: you'll benefit much more from doing the problems as exercises, which you'll then review thoroughly, than from "saving" them for a practice test. so, don't wait to use them.

yes, it's possible that your score will be skewed somewhat. even if so, i don't see why that would make a difference. if it's "right before your test", as you said, then it doesn't really matter what the score is -- you're going to take the test anyway, regardless of what happens!
the only reason to take a test within a week or so of your official test is to practice timing. when it's that close to an exam you're already scheduled to take, the practice-test score doesn't matter anymore.

if you have any more questions like this, please post them in the right place (the GENERAL QUESTIONS folder). this is a math folder; if anything else like this is posted here, we'll have to delete it.
thanks.