Not knowing what to do when approaching a question is not an uncommon issue for test takers: whether it's feeling arrested like a deer in head lights, or just spacing out on what to do next. Someone posted the following in another line item, and I wanted to comment on it in an independent write up:

"A lot of times for the Math part, I look at a question and do not know where to begin or what to do. I just stare at the Q, and can't come up with any ideas how to approach it or what to write on paper."

We suggest several ways to deal with this. Whether it happens when you're doing homework, studying or taking a diagnostic test, we recommend that you identify the following with each time it happens. First and foremost, keep track of what the trigger might be when this happens. Is it the pressure of the test, the timing or the actual content that is eliciting your response?

And as you go through questions, you can indicate HOW you approached each question, especially if you got it wrong.

1) knew the material but couldn't understand it in a testing situation
2) didn't know the information
3) knew the information, couldn't recall it, but realized how to do it afterwards
4) took too long, gave up
5) guessed
6) knew the material - got it correct
6) other - please describe

Yes, this is micromanagement. However, if you find yourself perplexed and/or panicked, it may yield some insight into what is happening, and if you know these trigger points, you can then deal with them more directly by improving your knowledge base and improving your mindset through various alternative health means, such as hypnosis, NLP, and mindfulness.

It would help to have a GMAT expert OBSERVE you while you answer questions. A good one will provide semi-immediate feedback not only in HOW you answer questions (good, bad, with bad or best form, etc..), but also reveal to you if your body language or facial expressions indicate anything about your experience with question types.

Got questions about this or want someone to observe you doing questions, give us a call!