GRE Quantitative Reasoning

Class Location: The Internet.

Description: This course is designed to help students prepare for the Quantitative Reasoning section of the GRE.

Objective: Score well on the Quantitative Reasoning test.

The quantitative reasoning section of the GRE tests your mathematical abilities in four areas: arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis. In addition to testing your understanding of basic math concepts, it also tests your ability to reason and solve problems in a quantitative setting. The math knowledge required for the test is generally that which is covered in high school.

The test presents many of the questions as word problems. For example, a question will describe a real-life situation with the quantitative information shown in a graph or table and ask you to solve a problem contained in the text. The test poses other questions as straight math, often containing a geometric figure, graph, or coordinate system.

The arithmetic questions involve standard arithmetic operations on real numbers, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and powers; operations on radical expressions; the number line; estimation; percent; absolute value; and properties of integers. This last category includes knowledge of math concepts such as divisibility, factoring, prime numbers, and odd and even integers.

The algebra section, which includes coordinate geometry, covers the following math concepts: rules of exponents, factoring and simplifying algebraic equations, relations and functions, and equations and inequalities. The coordinate geometry questions cover slope, intercepts, and graphs of equations and inequalities. The algebra section requires you to solve linear and quadratic equations and inequalities, as well as simultaneous equations; set up the equations necessary to solve word problems; and apply basic algebra skills to solve problems.

The geometry section covers parallel lines, circles, triangles, rectangles and other polygons, area, perimeter, volume, the Pythagorean Theorem, and angle measurements. It does not test your ability to construct proofs.

The data analysis questions involve basic descriptive statistics, interpretation of data in graphs and tables, and elementary probability. This section tests your ability to integrate information, choose the correct information to answer questions, and determine whether the data provided is sufficient to answer the questions. These questions test your ability to apply basic principles and reasoning to the information provided.