Problem Solving

Hi KylieAquino87,

In the GMAT Quant section, not every question can be answered in under 2 minutes. Some can be answered really quickly (30 seconds), while others take longer (upwards of 3 minutes, if you know what you're doing). Holding yourself to a "2 minutes or less" standard is not realistic. The AVERAGE amount of time per Quant question is about 2 minutes, but that does not mean that you should spend 2 minutes on each question. Instead, focus on being efficient (taking notes, doing work on the pad, using tactics/pattern-matching/Number Properties in instead of doing complex math, etc.).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi Kylie! Good to see you again.

This is certainly not a question that the GMAT expects you to do in 2 minutes. In fact, this is a question that most savvy test-takers (even those aiming for a 700+) should probably skip. The GMAT designs certain questions to be too hard to reasonably solve, primarily (as far as I can tell) for 2 reasons: 1) to bog down the stubborn students who insist on solving every problem, and 2) to make distinctions between 780 and 800 level test takers. If you're not aiming for a 780 or above, this kind of question isn't worth your time. Even if you are, it might not be!

Remember - the GMAT is above all a decision-making test, and there will be plenty of times that the best decision you can make is to skip an excruciatingly hard question.

Ceilidh makes a very good point here.

This is the kind of question that can kill a perfectionist's score, because he/she refuses to guess and move on. Remember that you can incorrectly answer questions on the GMAT and still score 800.

For more on guessing, you might like this article: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2014/02/ ... n-the-gmat

Cheers,
Brent