Three grades of milk are 1%, 2%, 3% fat by volume

[Dienekes]

^^ Awesome, thanks a ton for that advice Ron! I'll try to follow that drill approach with both number plugging and back-solving one by one and hopefully as you said, my process might improve.

[RonPurewal]

^^ Awesome, thanks a ton for that advice Ron! I'll try to follow that drill approach with both number plugging and back-solving one by one and hopefully as you said, my process might improve.

No problem. And good luck.

[Dienekes]

No problem. And good luck.

Hi Ron, I watched your recorded session from 2010 on the back-up methods and it was a great, informative and valuable session. It really helped me understand the various methods as well as their nuances.

I have one question - When I reach the medium and hard difficulty level questions in OG and for the actual GMAT/mock CATs too, based on the question stem/answer choices I can figure out that I have at least two ways to solve them (textbook and a backup one) but how do I decide which approach to go with in order to answer effectively and efficiently? Is that judgement something that will just come with practice or should I always be going one way or another based on either signals/hints or difficulty level in order to decide.

Thanks for the help. You are awesome! :)

P.S. Yesterday night when I found/watched your backup methods recording, it was so interesting and easy to follow that even my wife who is not even studying for GMAT got plugged in and started solving problems along. :D

[RonPurewal]

When I reach the medium and hard difficulty level questions in OG and for the actual GMAT/mock CATs too

You will NEVER be able to determine "difficulty levels". Do not EVER think about them. Ever.

There is no possible benefit to thinking about "difficulty levels". None. No possible benefit at all, of any kind, whatsoever.

In my opinion, it's a mistake to include them in the CAT exams at all. But the unfortunate reality of business is that people want to buy things that have "difficulty levels" indicated in them ... and, well, we have to keep the lights on.

[RonPurewal]

but how do I decide which approach to go with in order to answer effectively and efficiently?

Basically, this is pretty simple:

1/
Think of something that might work.

2/
Do it.

Really, that's it.

• Don't give yourself a bunch of decisions to make BEFORE starting a problem.
• If you have a possibly workable method in mind, NEVER, EVER, EVER sit there and think about whether you can find a "better" method. Just do the one you have in mind.

[RonPurewal]

If you have trouble coming up with approaches in the first place, you can always just put the various kinds of approaches into some order, and make a "checklist". Then, if you get stuck on a problem, just go down your list and try the approaches that are on it.

E.g., I might make the following list for multiple-choice questions:
1/ plug in my own numbers
2/ backsolve
3/ make a list (for problems based on patterns or counting)
4/ "textbook" methods
5/ estimate
6/ guessing methods

I'd imagine that most people would have "textbook methods" as #1, but I'm lazy and I hate algebra, so I have it as #4. (It comes before estimation only because estimation may leave you with more than one choice; the first 4 methods, if they work, will solve the problem completely.)
It really doesn't matter, as long as you're following my two cardinal rules:
• Do something.
• Don't NOT do something.

[Dienekes]

Thanks for those golden words, i'll try to keep those in mind! And seriously appreciate you taking out time from your weekend to respond to the post.

/I had watched this thread like 100 times since I posted to check for your response. :P

[RonPurewal]

"Weekend" is one of those terms that's open to interpretation, really, in this modern world.
(:


When you post messages, there should be an option to "watch" the thread. If you select that option, you should receive updates by e-mail. (I think this is a non-default option, i.e., you'll have to actively select it every time.)

[Dienekes]

"Weekend" is one of those terms that's open to interpretation, really, in this modern world.
(:


When you post messages, there should be an option to "watch" the thread. If you select that option, you should receive updates by e-mail. (I think this is a non-default option, i.e., you'll have to actively select it every time.)

Lol.. I did had that watch option checked, but the natural tendancy to look forward to get motivated by reading your reply overruled it. :P

[RonPurewal]

I don't understand. You were excited to read updates ... so you turned off the notification feature?

Anyway, not important enough to continue derailing the thread with it.