Figures drawn to scale?

[AvinashS898]

Are figures that appear in the test always drawn to scale? or is it different for PS and DS problems? Please advice...

[RonPurewal]

multiple-choice:
always to scale, unless specifically indicated otherwise.

data sufficiency:
generally not 'to scale'—not to be deceptive, but, rather, because it's impossible to draw a DS diagram 'to scale'. (before you apply the statements, there will pretty much always be multiple ways the figure can actually look. this is the whole point of data sufficiency—to start with multiple possibilities, and see whether you can narrow them to one!)

[RonPurewal]

on the other hand, here's something significant:
the actual form of a DS diagram will ALWAYS represent a TO-SCALE DIAGRAM OF AN ACTUAL CASE THAT IS POSSIBLE.

e.g., if a DS diagram shows segment AB as longer than segment BC, then AB definitely CAN be longer than BC. (it doesn't have to be longer—but you know that at least one case exists in which it is.)

[RonPurewal]

if you approach this exam with a particularly savvy 'poker-player' mentality, by the way, that observation ^^ can actually clue you in to things from time to time.

e.g., if you have the OG quant supplement (not the newest 2016 one), check out DS problem #123.

in that problem, AD and BD LOOK the same...
...so you might guess that they turn out to be the same.
and you'd be right!

here's my 'poker player' reasoning in more detail:
* those segments really, really, really look equal.
* if they didn't have to be equal, then GMAC probably wouldn't have drawn them that way.
* on the other hand, if they DO have to be equal, then the diagram MUST look like that.
* so, i bet they're equal.

note that you should still do the work!
by making these sorts of observations you can make some informed guesses about how certain problems will work—but, at the end of the day, the second word of 'informed guesses' is still 'guesses'.