GMAT Quantitative Skill Groups
The GMAT Enhanced Score Report provides detail about your performance on particular quantitative skills.
Geometry
This group includes the following types of questions:
3-Dimensional Geometry
The geometry of lines, planes, and solids (cubes, pyramids, cones, etc.) in ordinary 3-dimensional space.
Angles In The Plane/ Lines And Segments
Geometrical settings in the plane for which the primary focus is on one or more angles between various lines or line segments.
• A point is a location, shown by a dot - it has no size i.e. no width, no length and no depth.
• A line is defined as a line of points that extends infinitely in two directions.
• A line is a straight set of points that extend in opposite directions without ending.
• A plane extends infinitely in two dimensions.
• A ray is a part of a line that has one endpoint and extends in one direction without ending.
• A line segment is a part of a line between two endpoints.
Circle/Area
Geometrical settings in the plane for which the primary focus is on the area, circumference, or arc lengths of one or more circles.
Combo: Circle/Quadrangle/Area/Perimeter
Geometrical settings in the plane that involve a combination of circles and polygons, such as area or perimeter relationships for circles inscribed in, or circumscribed about, a polygon.
Coordinate Geometry
The use of algebraic methods to describe positions and properties of geometrical figures in the coordinate plane.
Polygon (5 Or More Sides)
Geometrical settings in the plane for which the primary focus is on a polygon of 5 or more sides, such as its perimeter, area, diagonals, interior angles, etc.
Pythagorean Theorem
In a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
Quadrilateral Area
Geometrical settings in the plane for which the primary focus is on one or more quadrilaterals. Properties such as area, perimeter, diagonal lengths, etc. could be involved.
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Rates/Ratio/Percent
This group includes the following types of questions:
Conversion - fractions/decimals/percentages
Conversions between fractions, decimal and percentages
Graduated Rate
Problems that can be described in terms of step functions - taxi fares and related pricing methods, profit and loss, mixture problems, distance and rate problems, working together problems, etc.
Percent (basic)
Basic percent problems include the value of one number in relation to another such as 5% of 8 is equal to …? or a chance from 7 to 12 represents what percent increase ...?
Ratio, proportion
Problems whose primary focus involves one or more ratios of numbers or algebraic expressions. A proportion is an equality of ratios, such as a/b = c/d, which can also be written as a : b = c : d.
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Value/Order/Factors
This group includes the following types of questions:
Absolute Value
Problems whose primary focus involves the use of, or the properties of, the absolute value function, where absolute value represents magnitude (i.e. Distance from 0).
Computation - Decimals
Problems for which one or more of the four basic operations—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—are applied to numbers in decimal form.
Exponents
Problems whose primary focus involves some familiarity of the meaning and properties of exponents. For example, a problem asking for the solutions to x^4 - 16 = 0 would not belong to this category, even though the exponentiated term x^4 appears, but a problem for which (x^2)(x^3) is needed to be rewritten as x^5 would belong to this category.
Factors, Multiples, Divisibles
Problems whose primary focus is on divisibility properties of positive integers, such as their factors, their multiples, prime numbers, the gcf (greatest common factor) of two or more positive integers, the lcm (least common multiple) of two or more positive integers, etc.
Number Line & Order
Problems whose primary focus involves the use of order, other basic properties of a number line and the ideas of total or partial ordering, such as soccer team seedings in a tournament or an organization chart for a company.
Place Value
Problems whose primary focus involves the use of place value for decimal numerals.
Positive and Negative Numbers
Problems whose primary focus involves the preservation or non-preservation of signs when signed numbers are added, subtracted, multiplied, divided, exponentiated, etc.
Remainders
Problems whose primary focus involves the use of, or the application of remainders in the context of dividing a positive integer by a positive integer.
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Equalities/Inequalities/Algebra
This group includes the following types of questions:
Algebraic Manipulation
Problems whose primary focus involves rewriting one or more algebraic expressions. Examples include rewriting a sum of algebraic fractions as a single reduced fraction, factoring or expanding algebraic expressions (for purposes other than solving an equation), manipulating algebraic expressions involving radicals, etc
Applying Formula
Problems whose primary focus involves using one or more specific formulas that may or may not be given in the statement of the problem, such as expressing the circumference of a circle in terms of its area.
Linear Equation
Problems whose primary focus involves solving a first-degree equation. The coefficients may be numerical, such as solving for x when 3 - 5(x+2) = x/5, or literal, such as solving for y when ax + xy = b.
Linear Inequality
Problems whose primary focus involves solving a first-degree inequality. The coefficients may be numerical, such as solving for x when 3 - 5(x+2) < x/5, or literal, such as solving for y when ax + xy ≥ b.
Measurement Conversion
Problems whose primary focus involves the conversion between units of measure. The units could be for length, area, volume, temperature, speed, etc. And, in some cases, the units could be fictional. The numerical unit conversion factors that are needed to solve the problem will be provided.
Newly Defined Functions
Problems whose primary focus involves using a function that is explicitly defined in the statement of the problem. The function could be well known but outside the scope of assumed gmat background knowledge, such as the greatest integer function, or the function could be a randomly made up function that is to be used in solving the problem.
Quadratic/Other Equalities/Inequalities
Problems whose primary focus involves solving an equation or inequality that is not algebraic of the first degree, such as (x-2)(x+5) > 0 (a quadratic inequality) and 2^(x-1) = 8^(3x) (an equation that is not algebraic).
Systems of Equations/Inequalities
Problems whose primary focus involves completely or partially solving one or more equations or inequalities. The equations and/or inequalities could be first degree algebraic, higher than first degree algebraic, or not algebraic.
Translation to Algebraic Expression
Problems whose primary focus involves translating from one or more verbal descriptions to one or more mathematical descriptions.
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Counting/Sets/Series
This group includes the following types of questions:
Counting (Combinatorics)
Problems whose primary focus involves basic combinatorial ideas, such as permutations, combinations, counting paths in a grid, etc.
Estimation
Problems whose primary focus involves one or more numerical estimations.
Series And Sequences
Problems whose primary focus involves a numerical sequence (a finite or infinite list of numbers) or a numerical series (the sum of a numerical series), such as arithmetic sequences, geometric sequences, sequences defined by recursion, etc.
Sets
Problems whose primary focus involves the understanding of, and application of basic ideas about sets, such as their union and their intersection. Problems that appear to be best solved by the use of a venn diagram are considered sets problems.
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