Venn Diagram formats – part 1

Many Venn Diagram questions in the official practice materials include a Venn diagram in the stimulus. We expect you will see several such questions on Test Day.

These diagrams will include numbers in most cases, but some variations contain letters in one or more shapes. You may even see a Venn diagram without numbers or letters.

It’s important to practise the variations as the skills required to solve quickly are similar but slightly different depending on question format. This way, you can be ready for the range of Venn diagrams that are most common and most likely to appear on Test Day.

The simplest Venn Diagram question format is a diagram without numbers or letters in the stimulus.

In this format, you must read the question stem to see what you must find in the diagram. It could ask for:

• an overlap of certain categories, possibly one that excludes one or more other categories.
• the categories that do not overlap in the exact combination specified.

If the stimulus is a Venn diagram without numbers or letters, sometimes the correct answer is quick and simple to spot. In many cases though, you must look for exclusions.

• If the question tells you to exclude a category, check for shapes that overlap without including the excluded shape.
• If you have a precise combination of categories, be sure that they do not overlap only inside another shape that is not part of your combination.
• If the correct overlap includes two shapes that do not appear as an answer choice, consider whether one or more of the excluded groups is in the correct answer, framed as an exclusion.

If the question asks ‘Which of the following combinations is not available…’ in the diagram, the correct answer is an impossible combination.

Look for the answer with:

• Two or more shapes that do not overlap.
• Two or more shapes that overlap inside another shape that is not part of the answer.

You may see a Venn Diagram question with one or more letters in the diagram.

If there is one letter in the diagram, you will select the answer that describes the overlap where the letter is located. Be sure to exclude shapes that are not part of the overlap.

If there are multiple letters in the diagram, normally you must select the answer with the letter that fits the exact combination of categories in the question stem.

Be careful not to include shapes representing other categories that should not be part of the correct overlap. It is easy to make mistakes when working quickly.

If a Venn diagram contains multiple letters, you must compare the list of categories in the question to the shapes in the diagram. There are two main approaches:

• Work through the list one shape at a time, eliminating any letters that are not in the shape corresponding to that category, then move on to the next and repeat.
• Check to see which shapes are not part of the list, then eliminate any letters that are in those shapes – those shapes cannot be included in the correct answer.

Be ready to use both approaches as they may be necessary depending on the specific diagram – you may need to eliminate excluded shapes as well as confirm included shapes in order to find the correct answer.

Take advantage of Venn diagrams without numbers to improve your pacing.

These tend to be the shortest and simplest Venn Diagram questions. You may even find them to be the quickest questions in the entire DM section.

Train yourself to answer in 15 seconds or less as soon as you see a Venn diagram with letters – or one without letters or numbers – in the stimulus. It’s a great opportunity to bank extra time for the longer, harder questions elsewhere in the section.

Many Venn Diagram questions will have numbers in the diagram. These are likely to account for the majority of Venn Diagram questions you will see on Test Day.

Consider whether the answers are simple or complex.

If a Venn diagram with numbers has simple answers, it could be that:

• The answer choices are numbers.
• Each answer is a short statement.

These answers are also simple because there are minimal maths, or possibly no maths, needed to check each answer choice.

You can therefore make up time by answering these simpler questions with great speed and accuracy.

If a Venn Diagram question has numbers in the diagram and also numbers as answers:

• Look at the question stem and take a moment to translate words into shapes.
• Go to the diagram and think in shapes to see which portions you need.
• Watch out for negative or outside categories, as you may need to exclude a specific shape or count up the numbers outside of a shape.

If a Venn Diagram question has numbers in the diagram and every answer is a short statement:

• Check the statements one at a time to see if it is accurate or wrong.
• Turn words into shapes as you compare each statement to the diagram.
• As soon as you see an accurate statement, click that answer and move on.
• If you check three answers and all are wrong, click the remaining answer and move on.

Some of these questions will simply ask you to compare groups and overlaps to find the one that answers the questions. You may have to do some simple maths as well.

You may start a Venn Diagram question thinking it has simple textual answers, only to find that some answers require more than a sum.

If you must do more elaborate maths, treat it as a question with complex answers.

Such questions are more time-consuming and allow for further strategies and techniques. Thus, you will want to allow more time to do the work required, whilst still doing your best to move with speed and accuracy.

You can usually save time when a Venn Diagram question has simple answers.

If you see numbers or short statements as every answer choice, try to complete the question in 30 seconds or less.

With practice, you may find you can do some of these as fast as 15 seconds or less. This tends to be possible when the answers are numbers, as sometimes you may just need to find a single number or add up two or three numbers.

However, sometimes you may have to sum up several numbers in a more complex diagram.

So a good approach is to aim for 30 seconds, then see if you can do it faster if it turns out you just need minimal work to find the correct answer.