GMAT Tip of the Week As You Debate Over Answer Choices... Just Answer The Freaking Question!

If youre like many to the dismay of the NFL and the advertising industry youre planning to watch another presidential debate this coming Sunday. And just like Trump-Clinton I and Pence-Kaine earlier this week, this debate will provide plenty of opportunities to be annoyed, frustrated, and disappointedbut it will also provide an ever-important lesson about the GMAT. Its no surprise that candidate approval ratings are low for the same reason that far too many GMAT scores are lower than candidates would hope. Why? People dont directly answer the question. This is incredibly common in the debates, where the poor moderators are helpless against the talking points and stump speeches of the candidates. The public then suffers because people cannot get direct answers to the questions that matter. This is also very common on the GMAT, where students will invest the time in critical thought and calculation, and then levy an answer that just doesnt hit the mark. Consider the example: Donald has $520,000 in campaign money available to spend on advertising for the month of October, and his advisers are telling him that he should spend a minimum of $360,000 in the battleground states of Ohio, Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina. If he plans to spend the minimum amount in battleground states to appease his advisers, plus impress his friends by a big ad spend specific to New York City (and then he will skip advertising in the rest of the country), how much money will he have remaining if he wants 20% of his ad spend to take place in New York City? (A) $45,000 (B) $52,000 (C) $70,000 (D) $90,000 (E) $104,000 As people begin to calculate, its common to try to determine all of the facets of Donalds  ad spend. If hes spending only the $360,000 in battleground states plus the 20% hell spend in New York City, then $360,000 will represent 80% of his total ad spend. If $360,000 = 0.8(Total), then the total will be $450,000. That means that hell spend $90,000 in New York City. Which is answer choice Dbut thats not the question! The question asked for how much of his campaign money would be left over, so the calculation you need to focus on is the $520,000 he started with minus the $450,000 he spent for a total of $70,000, answer choice C. And in a larger context, you can learn a major lesson from Whartons most famous alumnus: its not enough for your answer to be related to the question. On the GMAT, you must answer the question directly! So make sure that you: Double check which portion of a word problem the question asked for. Dont be relieved when your algebra spits out a number. Make sure its the number. Be careful with Strengthen/Weaken Critical Reasoning problems. A well-written Strengthen problem will likely have a good Weaken answer choice, and vice-versa. In algebra problems, make sure to identify the proper variable (or combination of variables if they ask, for example What is 6x y?). With Data Sufficiency problems, pay attention to the exact values being asked for. One of the most common mistakes that people make is saying that a statement is insufficient because theyre looking to fill in all variables, when actually it is sufficient to answer the exact combination that the test asked for. As you watch the debate this weekend, notice (How could you not?) how absurd it is that the candidates just about never directly answer the questionand then vow to not make the same mistake on your GMAT exam. Getting ready to take the GMAT? We have free online GMAT seminars running all the time. And as always, be sure to follow us on  Facebook, YouTube,  Google+  and Twitter! By Brian Galvin.