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Spend more time on medium questions in the beginning?

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Spend more time on medium questions in the beginning?

by amtoninato » Thu Jul 18, 2013 9:59 am
Hello!

I have heard some mixed reviews about this strategy that I will explain and was wondering if anyone could confirm its legitimacy. Since the GMAT begins with medium level questions, some resources have been telling me to spend more time on those questions in order to make sure to answer those questions correctly and move onto the more difficult questions that will raise your score higher than lower level questions. Does anyone know if it is crucial to spend more time on the beginning of the test to reach the difficult questions? If anyone has heard of this strategy or has advice, just let me know! Thanks!

Have a great day,

Ashley
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by Santhanalakshmi » Thu Jul 18, 2013 7:57 pm
Hello Ashley,

If you get an easy question during the test day and if you answer it incorrectly, then you'll be penalized heavily. This will definitely bring your scores down. An easy question MUST be answered correctly. When you answer an easy question correctly, you'll start to face difficult questions. If you answer it incorrectly you won't be penalized heavily. Since difficult questions carries more points than the easier ones, when you answer it correctly you scores will automatically increase.

I came to know about this through a post in our BTG forum. Hope it helps.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Jul 19, 2013 6:55 am
From the GMAT Official Guide:

It is true that computer-adaptive testing algorithm uses the first 10 questions to obtain an initial estimate of your ability; however, that is only an initial estimate. As you continue to answer questions, the algorithm self-corrects by computing an updated estimate on the basis of all the questions you have answered, and then administers items that are closely matched to this new estimate of your ability. Your final score is based on all your responses and considers the difficulty of all the questions you answered. Taking additional time on the first 10 questions will not game the system and can hurt your ability to finish the test.

My advice: Spread your time equally across the entire test. If you're interested, we have a free time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by vomhorizon » Fri Jul 19, 2013 10:54 pm
By the time you sit down to write the GMAT, you would have taken plenty of tests, and answered plenty of questions in a timed environment (hopefully :) ) .. My advise to you would be to set yourself up nicely for the entire section, and try to build a rhythm. I like to start slow even with the easy questions and it takes me a bit of time (3-4 questions usually) to build a nice rhythm and once i do get it i usually speed up automatically/subconsciously even though the questions get tougher (relative to the early ones). This is what works for me, but it need not be the best thing for you. Try to gauge a useful strategy when practicing in a timed environment..I bet some folks can go bang bang from the first question, if you are one of those then by all means try to breeze past the early questions which should be much easier if you are a 40+ scorer.

Try to analyze your quant and verbal by breaking it into topics...In quant for example i take approximately twice as much time in geometry (particularly CG) as compared to Number properties...at the end of the day, there should be some questions that you should be able to answer in well under 2 minutes and others where you are going to go over.
"When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful." - Eric Thomas
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