GRE Tips and Tricks!: Quantitative: Numeric Entry

The newest question type to the GRE is the Numeric Entry. You are given NO answer choices and must calculate and enter your answer. Pretty straightforward. I only have have a few basic tips to share with you on this question type.

Tip 1
READ THE QUESTION CAREFULLY. I cannot stress this enough as this is something I have difficulty with as well. Are you answering the question asked?

Tip 2
Estimate. Make a rough estimate just by reading the question as to whether the answer will be large or small.

Tip 3
DO NOT ROUND UNTIL THE END. Do all your calculations using exact answers until the very end. The instructions will sometimes include an instruction for rounding. Did you follow this? If no instruction as to rounding is provided (double check your answer) enter your exact answer.

Tip 4
Check your solution with Tip 2 above. Does the solution seem to "fit" what you expected the answer to be?

Until next time.

Cheers,

N. Riazi

GRE Tips and Tricks!: Quantitative: Quantitative Comparisons

Let's start with the basics of the Quantitative Section: you have thirty five minutes to answer twenty questions. There are four types of questions: Quantitative Comparison, Multiple Choice with one correct answer, Multiple Choice with more than one correct answer, and Numeric Entry. I will be walking you through each question type. Math isn't your forte? That's fine, we'll help you get prepared enough that when the time comes you'll be doing problems like its old hat. I would also like to mention that should you have any questions to feel free to post your question in the comments below and either Serena or I will get to it as soon as we can.

Ready? Take a deep breath, its go time. 

Quantitative Comparisons 

Quantitative comparisons are exactly what they sound like: comparisons using numbers. You are given two mathematical expressions in two columns, A and B. Your job is to compare them and you may be given additional information to help you with this. There are FOUR answer choices and they NEVER CHANGE therefore if will save you a bit of time memorizing them now so don't have to keep rereading them on test day.

The four answer choices are as follows:

A. quantity in Column A is greater

B. quantity in Column B is greater

C. the two quantities are equal

D. the relationship cannot be determined from the info given.

Not only do these answers not change but answer D can give you a hint to your answer. If both columns only have numbers (so no variables) that means that their relationship will not change in which case D will NEVER be correct. If you can show that there is more than one CORRECT relationship between the two columns then D will always be correct. Got it so far? So only numbers, can't be D. More than one answer, can only be D. 

So how do we go about answering these types of questions? I've put together a few tips that will help you answer the question quickly.

Tip 1: Estimate where you can

Often you can do not need to calculate an exact value. Estimate your values and solve from there, it will save you time and often eliminate most or all of the wrong answers. 

Tip 2: Make Column A like Column B

Yes I do realize that's a vague title. What I mean is that if column A is in fractions and B in decimals convert them both to fractions. This will make your math much easier. Same goes for percents and parentheses.

Tip 3: Treat the two columns as an inequality

Treat the two columns as two sides of an inequality and apply math to them to simplify them. For example if Column A says 3x+4 and Column B says 4x+4 subtract 4 from both sides to simplify. This can also help you get rid of fractions/decimals. NOTE: Remember we are treating this as an inequality so do not multiply or divide by a negative number unless you are SURE beyond doubt that both columns are positive. 

Tip 4: Pick Numbers

Easiest trick in the book. Can't figure it out? Pick random numbers (be careful that if given additional information the number you pick qualify) and plug them into the question to solve. Here's the catch, you have to do it AT LEAST TWICE. This is key. Say you plugged in only positive whole numbers the first time but when you use a negative your answer becomes false, you would have missed it if you hadn't checked again. So always for your second Set choose a negative, or an extremely large or small number, or a fraction, etc. The variables can be positive, negative, zero, or fractions.  I'm not saying pick the hardest numbers you can think of; on the contrary I'd suggest you pick easy numbers. Just make sure to be diverse with your choices.

Tip 5: Redo all diagrams if necessary

Unlike the SAT, diagrams on the GRE are NOT DRAWN TO SCALE. What may look like a ninety degree angle may not be one. If the diagram given confuses you in the least then just redraw the diagram to exaggerate the differences so that you have no chance of mistaking angles/sides/etc from one another. 

That's all for today but stay tuned for my next post!

Cheers,

N. Riazi

GRE Tips and Tricks!: Intro

So while most students have been enjoying their summers frolicking in the river and going tubing, I have been wiling away my time in coffee shops attempting to tune out the screams of young children somehow not heard by their ignorant parents. What can I say, summer wouldn't be summer without some ups and downs. I am currently sitting in my favorite coffee shop back home listening to some reggae and drinking a soy hot chocolate and reveling in the fact that while the afore mentioned students are in school, I still have more than two weeks left to enjoy myself.

So what have I been doing in these coffee shops besides drinking fancy drinks and flirting with cute baristas you ask? I have been studying up for the GRE. Standardized testing you see, is one of my strong points. It is not so much a test of knowledge so much as a test of strategy. So what's the best way to study for the GRE? Learn those strategies and practice them until they become second nature.

What I will be doing over the next few weeks is sharing with you the knowledge I've gained over the dozens of GRE books I've looked over narrowed down to the KEY strategies, shortcuts, and tips that will benefit you the most. This does not mean that you should merely skim my notes and assume you're good to go. A good many people tried that in high school and it is no excuse to skirt work (plus it didn't work out so well for them. I have the handwriting of a 6th grade boy). Take those practice tests and put those strategies to use until you begin to do them without having to reference my posts.

Good luck future grad-students and I'll see you in the my post.

Cheers,

N. Riazi

Shigley Hauler

So I currently have a Mechanical Design class.  Our final project consists of creating a "Shigley Hauler", where Shigley is the author of our textbook. It's gunna be great! (Our team's goal is to haul at least 4 textbooks, each about 4.5 lbs per each).

The first day of class, our professor (who is absolutely crazy and awesome) gave us some materials.  Shall I introduce them? Of course!


I shall first introduce the MOTOR.  This little motor is supposed to be able to output a ton of torque with 2 AA batteries! Now we'll see about that :-/

The next component: gears! We have 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 tooth gears.  These should enable our team to take all the speed from the motor to carry a couple books up a ramp.  It's also great to note that these are made in CANADA :-)

 Okay background: our group is made up of 3 our of the 6 girls in our class (okay, there may be 7...I didn't quite count).  When we got the gears, Leann pointed out "Oh! Look at the Baby Gear!" ...Only the girls would say this, hehehe. However, I would argue that it IS small...

I'll be sure to update when we create our gear box....I'm so excited! Did I mention that we have to also write poems for this project? Talk about being well-rounded :-)

Scholarships: Getting Organized

A few days back, a friend from high school asked me about scholarships.  How do you even start? Well, this is the advice I gave her:

Method 1:

1. Set up an Excel spreadsheet. Have columns with scholarship title, website/source, deadline, materials needed (resume, transcript, letters of rec, etc.). 
2. Set up a word document (or even another tab on Excel) for criteria that YOU personally qualify for/interests. Have about 10-20 key words. So, you could put female, engineering, [your major], [hobbies], [place of study], [home city/metropolitan area], [interests- especially those in your major], [different industries...food, manufacturing, surgery, pharmaceutics], the list goes on and on Have some solid keywords. 
3. Go on Googling those keys words with the word "scholarship." Start posting potentials on your Excel spread sheet. Disregard those that you don't qualify for off the bat- unless you think you are so strong of a candidate...just remember that you may immediately go in the "NO" pile. You may also want to check off those key words that you've already used. 

This is the dirty way to do it. I'm not saying it's not effective, but it's a TON of work.


Method 2:
Check your financial aid office website.

• Davis already has a list, feel free to use it: http://financialaid.ucdavis.edu/scholarships/Outside.html
• I also know that UC Davis has combined all of their scholarships into 1 application. It was a little long, but it was one of the most successful instances of a scholarship for me.  

Method 3:
There are also a few scholarship search engines, which can help but be specific, and don't apply to the general "essay" ones. It's pretty much a waste of time because so many people apply to those.

Method 4: 
Also, tell people you are applying to  ____ scholarships!. Look into very LOCAL scholarships. Oooo even the professional societies!!!! These include ASME, BSME, AICHE, SWE (for engineering peeps).  Find your local chapter...sometimes these scholarships have trouble finding applicants because they aren't usually very well known.

Disclaimer: Many of these methods can be combined.  I'm also not saying you WILL get a scholarship...but applying locally and to many scholarships (at least 30) will definitely increase your chances.

That's pretty much the nitty gritty.
Good luck!

When you're feeling blue...

There are times where you are just feeling down. It could be related to school, life, work, or maybe nothing! Often your productivity gets shot, but you still gotta push on.  

My Go-To's: 

Coffee: Usually good if my productivity is down, and I need something to get a jump start.  I started drinking coffee lately, and my sad times have definitely decreased. Maybe they should start prescribing coffee for depression...

Saturn Rings/Peachy-O's: Just enough sugar to get me going, and think about how I got to NASA.  You look up at the stars and wonder, "Who am I in this vast universe?".  Just don't eat candy while you are hungry: It can cause major sugar crashes and headaches, which are never good.

Working Out/Dancing: Getting your adrenaline going often helps you to worry about something else.  I love coming back from my modern class feeling better and ready to tackle my homework problems.  

Chilling with Friends: Another diversion technique.  Resist the urge to rant about your classes or he or she.  Just sit around and watch stupid youtube videos.  Or watch a movie, and make fun of the characters.  Do something to get your mind off of school.

Sleeping can be evil sometimes.  I'll lie awake, worried about everything. And in the morning I'll feel even more anxious than I am now.

What are you favorite stress relievers/pick-me-ups?