Some review books (Princeton Review) say that 99% of the geometry questions on the GMAT exam will involve circles and triangles. However, the official GMAT review book covers a much broader range (polygons, etc.). Any advice/comments?

Thanks!

1/15/2008 10:51:11 AM

Is there really a problem with those two conflicting reports? It's not like you'll study up and nail those triangles, then get hit by a dumptruck when a trapezoid shows up. Know the basics of angles, sides, and geometric terminology and I don't really think you can go wrong.

1/15/2008 11:53:39 AM

Anyone that has taken the exam notice the ratio of triangle/circle probs to other geometry problems?

1/15/2008 1:41:12 PM

Chief - No, but I'd rather concentrate on studying for material that will be tested the most rather than try to memorize properties of stuff that I won't be tested on (or as much).

1/15/2008 1:42:22 PM

i actually dont remember. nothing stood out to me as being used over and over again, but i dont see why the princeton review would just make something like that up. if you're really concerned, take one of the practice GMAT tests you get when you sign up for it and make a note about how often those kinds of questions come up.

i think chief's point was that if you understand the basics well enough, it won't mater what kind of geometry "shape" you get.

1/15/2008 1:45:10 PM

^exactly. Normal stuff like polygon's interior angles, basic symmetry, areas or volumes of standard shapes.

Hell, I looked to see if they provide basic area and volume equations and I found this. This should help tremendously, if you didn't know them already. They're not gonna throw some crazy-ass calc 3 or diff. eq. shit at you that takes half an hour for one problem.

Quote :

"GEOMETRY on the GMAT TEST One-fourth of the math problems on the GMAT involve geometry. (There are no proofs.) Fortunately, except for Data Sufficiency section, the figures on the GMAT are usually drawn to scale. Hence, you can check your work and in some cases even solve a problem by "eyeballing" the drawing. Following are some of the basic properties of geometry. You probably know many of them. Memorize any that you do not know. 1. There are 180 degrees in a straight angle. 2. Two angles are supplementary if their angle sum is 180 degrees. 3. Two angles are complementary if their angle sum is 90 degrees. 4. Perpendicular lines meet at right angles. 5. A triangle with two equal sides is called isosceles. The angles opposite the equal sides are called the base angles. 6. The altitude to the base of an isosceles or equilateral triangle bisects the base and bisects the vertex angle. 7. The angle sum of a triangle is 180 degrees. 8. In an equilateral triangle all three sides are equal, and each angle is 60 degrees. 9. The area of a triangle is bh/2, where b is the base and h is the height. 10. In a triangle, the longer side is opposite the larger angle, and vice versa. 11. Two triangles are similar (same shape and usually different size) if their corresponding angles are equal. If two triangles are similar, their corresponding sides are proportional. 12. Two triangles are congruent (identical) if they have the same size and shape. 13. In a triangle, an exterior angle is equal to the sum of its remote interior angles and is therefore greater than either of them. 14. Opposite sides of a parallelogram are both parallel and congruent. 15. The diagonals of a parallelogram bisect each other. 16. If w is the width and l is the length of a rectangle, then its area is A = lw and its perimeter is P=2w + 2l. 17. The volume of a rectangular solid (a box) is the product of the length, width, and height. The surface area is the sum of the area of the six faces. 18. If the length, width, and height of a rectangular solid (a box) are the same, it is a cube. Its volume is the cube of one of its sides, and its surface area is the sum of the areas of the six faces. 19. A tangent line to a circle intersects the circle at only one point. The radius of the circle is perpendicular to the tangent line at the point of tangency. 20. An angle inscribed in a semicircle is a right angle. "

http://www.majon.com/testprep/strat-gmatm.html

[Edited on January 15, 2008 at 5:04 PM. Reason : .]

1/15/2008 5:04:19 PM

My thanks

1/15/2008 5:26:50 PM

"I wanna be a triangle"

1/16/2008 7:17:50 PM