GMAT Strategy

What strategy should I use with 3-5 questions left and about one minute to answer them (both quantitative and Verbal)?

I have read that there is a penalty for not finishing the test, so I have been quickly guessing without reading the last few questions... Is it better to guess and answer them wrong or not answer them at all? I can usually narrow potential answers to two pretty quickly. Should I just guess between the two at around 3-5 minutes left?

My target score is 700 and I have scored 680 and 660 on the GMATPrep practice tests so far. I take the test on Friday, 1/14/2011. I'm hoping that not having slight distractions (apartment neighbor noise, etc.) and having a better "five minutes left" strategy might make the difference in hitting my target score on the real test.

Thanks,

Mike

First of all, you're absolutely right, the not-finishing penalty exists and is the most severe thing to avoid. Getting the last few questions wrong is far better than leaving one blank. Since it takes at least 5 seconds to randomly guess -- that is, click an answer, click "answer," and then click "confirm," if at any point you're down to 30 seconds with a few questions left, just click randomly until you're done, or else you will experience the penalty for not finishing.

Before you reach this point, however, consider this circumstance: you have 10 minutes left and 10 questions (let's assume this is either math, or Verbal and you've done all 4 RC passages so you know it's just CR/RC left). The mistake is to try to rush and spend 1 minute per question. The problem with this is that you'll get them mostly wrong, because that's not enough time (except for some SCs). Instead, you need to pace yourself and do the ones you can do. Ideally, if you alternate between right and wrong answer (right, then wrong, then right, then wrong, etc.), you'll maintain roughly the same difficulty level, and your score won't suffer as it will from either not finishing or from a string of wrong answers at the end due to running out of time.

Practice two skills: 1) "triage" on a question within the first 5 seconds -- that is, decide if this is a question you can do fast, a question you can do but it'll take a while, or a question you're likely to get wrong no matter what. If you can do this in 5-10 seconds (you'll never be 100% accurate, but you can get a good idea quickly), you'll be able to make a more informed decision about whether to attempt a question or, if you're way behind on time and near the end of the test, to guess and move on. 2) guessing strategies that take 30 seconds. If you can eliminate a few choices within 30 seconds, that's a much better way to catch up on time than rushing through your normal approach, and you can use this at the end of the test.

Theoretically, here could be your thought process with 10 questions/10 minutes (let's say on math):

#28: This looks easy enough, I'll do it (8.5 minutes left)
#29: Just used time. Guessing strategy and move on (8 minutes left)
#30: I'll try to do it, I think I can, but it's not easy (5.5 minutes left)
#31: No time, Guessing strategy and move on (5 minutes left)
#32: No time, looks hard, guessing strategy and move on (4.5 minutes left)
#33: Okay, let's try this one. it looks doable (3 minutes left)
#34: No time. Guessing strategy, move on (2.5 minutes left)
#35: It looks pretty hard. Guessing strategy, save my energy, move on (2 minutes left)
#36: I saved time and now I can use it -- this is a topic I know well! (30 seconds left)
#37: Guessing strategy, click an answer, done.

If you've triaged correctly, you'll get all the questions you attempted right, and even guess a couple of the other ones right, and at the very least maintain your score that you had at #27.

Try it out on your next practice CAT, if again you run short on time at the end, and see how it goes!

Mike -

Your question is such a common one among the students that I have taught and tutored that I have ended up including this in the discussion that I give all of my students. This happens to everyone!

Your problem is not that you do not have a good enough strategy in the last five minutes...the problem is everything leading up to the last five minutes...

What you want to do is to have a strategy throughout the exam so that you do not have to frantically guess at the last several questions.

First, you are correct that you do need to answer all of the questions. There is a severe penalty for not answering questions. So, you are correct to drop everything at the end of the test and make sure that you answer the remaining questions.

Here is what you might want to think about earlier in the test:

On the Quant: If you find that you are not doing well on a question (for example, you cannot figure out the strategy you should employ) then you will want to select an answer from the choices that you have not eliminated and move on. If you are committing as much as 2 minutes to a problem this should be one that you are making good progress toward solving. If you find yourself struggling to get a grip on a problem you will want to move on to another problem.

You see, if you find yourself rushing or guessing at the last few questions these might very well be questions that you would get right if you only had a little time to work the problem. It is better to selectively guess at an earlier problem that you are struggling with and then have a much better chance of getting the questions at the end that you have been guessing at...

On the Verbal: you might try trusting yourself and not second-guessing. I don't mean that you should rush but if you have a solid strategy and you trust yourself you can save time by not rethinking a verbal question that you have already answered. If your tactics on verbal are not as efficient as you would like you can always work on those.

Hope that helps!

Mike- How did your test go back in January? I found this post because I'm having similar issues. Was looking for feedback if you were able to resolve those issues and if so, how what you did. Thanks!

Mike- How did your test go back in January? I found this post because I'm having similar issues. Was looking for feedback if you were able to resolve those issues and if so, how what you did. Thanks!