Better to leave questions unanswered or wrong?

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ellochewy: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 17; Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2011 11:24 am

by ellochewy » Fri Sep 30, 2011 5:29 pm

If I'm getting towards the end of a section and I haven't solved 5 questions, is it better to guess and get all of them wrong or not answer the last 5 questions?

I ask because I'm having a really hard time finishing the quantitative section on time. I'm working hard on getting faster, but if I have a lot of questions left over on the test date, which one should I do?

Thanks!

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Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Fri Sep 30, 2011 5:29 pm

amolvichare: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 8; Joined: Mon May 23, 2011 8:51 pm

by amolvichare » Fri Sep 30, 2011 8:17 pm

Hi,

I am no GMAT expert but I think guessing answers and finishing all questions is better than leaving them blank. If you leave them blank they are considered wrong, but if you randomly guess you have a 20% chance of getting it right.

On the other hand, if you can guess "Strategically" you can eliminate 2 or 3 answer choices in 20-30 seconds. This improves your odds from 20% to 50% or more. There are several guessing strategies out there.

Keep a track of time as you go thru the test. There are timing benchmarks that you should follow.
For example:
Time remaining v/s Q#
1hr 15 min Q#1
60 minutes Q#8
45 minutes Q#15
30 minutes Q#23
15 minutes Q#31
2-3 minutes left --- last question

Keep checking this chart as you go through the test and if you realise that you are falling behind - guess on the next difficult problem (say probability in 5 seconds) and move on to get back on track.

Hope this helps. All the best.

Amol

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Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sat Oct 01, 2011 6:01 am

ellochewy wrote:If I'm getting towards the end of a section and I haven't solved 5 questions, is it better to guess and get all of them wrong or not answer the last 5 questions?

I ask because I'm having a really hard time finishing the quantitative section on time. I'm working hard on getting faster, but if I have a lot of questions left over on the test date, which one should I do?

Thanks!

Definitely guess at the remaining questions. There is a severe penalty for not completing the test.

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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