The GRE isn’t about what you know,
it’s about how you think.
Consider two tests:
What’s the difference? Well, that’s exactly what we asked ourselves in developing the curriculum for Twainstein’s 80/50 Method. Consider a Real Estate licensing exam first. Like all exit exams (medical boards, plumbing license, the BAR exam), the Real Estate license exam is designed to test what you know, so that you can do your job properly if you pass.
The GRE, on the other hand, is an entrance exam. Entrance exams such as the GRE are not designed to test what you know, but rather how you think. Unlike the content for the medical boards or a real estate licensing test, the algebra on the GRE is not something you are going to need in order to complete your Masters in, say, Clinical Psychology or Speech Pathology, or even an MBA.
So, what gives? Why all the math? Twainstein’s 80/50 method was developed with this paradox in mind.
Most of our students are either working full time, in school, or just too busy (or don’t care) to re-learn four years of high school math for a silly test whose content they’ll never use (remember: entrance exam vs. exit exam). Turns out, 80% of the questions on the GRE can be answered by just knowing 50% of the concepts. Re-read that last sentence—it changes everything.
The 80/50 method was developed by our staff of former GMAT/GRE test question writers to identify that 50%. Think of it as using a tiny fish net to troll a richly populated section of ocean vs. a huge net to troll an area with little to no fish. Our 80/50 method helps our math-phobic students identify the easiest points on the test and the strategies to capture them.
