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Which strategy is better?

Problem Solving — algebra and arithmetic (GMAT Focus Edition)
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Which strategy is better?

by albyman32 » Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:56 am
Is it better to spend as much time as necessary (even up to 5 minutes) to solve each problem when I know I can do it (but not necessarily in two minutes), then end up having to do complete guesses on the last 5-7 questions to finish or.... if I take too long on a problem, just fill in an answer, and move on in order to get to every problem in the section.

Sometimes I just get stuck when I know how to attack a problem and I know I'll get the answer right but the computation is taking me a while (i.e. long division, screw up by making a math mistake somewhere along the way, etc.). Hope that question made sense...
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Be Willing to Be Wrong

by gmataholic » Sun Sep 28, 2008 5:59 pm
One of the most important strategy tips for the GMAT is to know finish every section at all costs. The GMAT test-writers explicitly state that "there is a severe penalty for not completing the GMAT test" (cf 11th Edition of the Official Guide, pg. 17). Thus, because the GMAT is a computer adaptive test, your score will go way down if you have to guess on the last handful of questions (see https://www.west.net/~stewart/gmat/qa_2.htm).

So, if you know you don't know how to do a problem, or if you know it will take you a while to do the problem, spend 15 or 20 seconds eliminating answers that are obviously wrong and then just take a random guess amongst the remaining choices.
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