Roland Kim, Ph.D., currently working as a psychologist, has an M.A. in economics from UCLA, had worked as an SAT instructor for 15 years and been a four-time perfect scorer in the math part of the GRE test.
Author's note:
"After advising hundreds of college-bound students for the past 15 years having taken the GRE several times myself, I have gained important insights into preparing for the mathematics sections of the SAT, GRE and GMAT. I have especially found that these tests are designed to not only assess test-takers’ abilities to solve certain problems, but also their capacities to approach them efficiently enough to finish the entire problem set within the time limit. Most test prep workbooks available, however, predominantly focus on simply finding the answer rather than illustrating how to efficiently approach the problems. As a four-time perfect scorer in the math section of the GRE, I have concluded that the reason I was able to finish the test so quickly (within 10 to 15 minutes) was that I was able to efficiently and accurately approach each problem.
This book is unique in several respects. First, as opposed to serving as an introductory exam prep book or a math refresher course, it is intended for those students who are motivated to raise their scores from a 500 to an 800. Therefore, as it is assumed that these students are already familiar with exam format, basic algebra and arithmetic, I have skipped these explanations in some sections of the book. Second, in contrast to the hit-and-miss strategies presented in traditional exam prep courses or workbooks, my perspective-oriented approaches can help students improve their test performance by augmenting their problem-solving speed and accuracy. You will understand how to solve more advanced algebra, word and geometry problems through my efficient “Bird’s-Eye View” approach as well as many other of my innovative methods. Finally, these methods are designed help test-takers maintain confidence in their abilities to solve these problems. From my own experience, I have found that strategies such as backward-solving, plugging in numbers or guessing—though they yield (limited) success—actually slow down the problem-solving process and at their worst, diminish student motivation to achieve a feeling of mastery and aim for a perfect score.
A comprehensive diagnostic test and the Math Analysis sheet will help you to locate your weaker areas in math preparation for the SAT, GRE or GMAT. Once you identify your problem area(s), you are given a chance to try some sample questions to identify your specific weakness or inefficiency in that particular type of problem. After this initial attempt, you will be given a concise illustration on how to approach these problems more efficiently. The practice questions and chapter tests that follow are challenging enough for you to learn these much more efficient approaches by trying them out only once."
Roland Kim
August 31, 1998
Revised August 31, 2011
