The GRE arithmetic questions cover a variety of basic math concepts. To do well, you'll need to be familiar with all the definitions and ideas that are presented in this tutorial section. Arithmetic questions and concepts will manifest themselves in many forms on the GRE -- from problem solving questions that require you to perform percentage calculations, to quantitative comparison questions that require you to know about the concept of exponents and roots, to data analysis questions.
Arithmetic skills are required to solve most GRE math problems. Be sure to brush up on your skills. The following concepts are detailed in the Arithmetic tutorial section:
Are you familiar with the above concepts? If so, great -- then you have a head start on the competition. However, it's not quite THAT simple. Why? Well, for starters, and especially if you do well on the first GRE quantitative section, you'll be presented with more challenging GRE math questions on the second quantitative section. The harder questions often require you to be familiar with and utilize several concepts in order to arrive at the correct answer.
So this GRE arithmetic stuff sounds easy, right? Are you thinking of skipping the arithmetic tutorial? Think again! Arithmetic is very easy when you have a calculator, your high school math book for reference, and when you have the internet at your disposal to search for the meaning of the cubed root of a number.
During the GRE exam, you cannot use your notes, and you have no access to the internet. In addition, the GRE exam is a timed test, so obviously you'll be under pressure. Because of this, many people make simple mistakes. And so how do you make sure that you don't make silly mistakes on the GRE exam? Simple -- make sure you have a firm grasp on the key concepts, and you'll be fine.