Timing for Official Guide RC questions?

This topic has expert replies
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:15 pm

Timing for Official Guide RC questions?

by hmgp22 » Sat Feb 16, 2013 1:31 pm
I'm noticing that there are many passages in the OG that contain more than 4 questions. There seem to be quite a few that contain 6-8 questions.

(1) I thought that the real test typically only contains a maximum of 4 questions?

(2) When doing these OG passages with > than 4 questions, how do I budget the time? Is a general rule, 2 minute to read the passage and then 1 minute for each question?
Source: — Reading Comprehension |

User avatar
MBA Admissions Consultant
Posts: 2279
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:51 am
Location: New York
Thanked: 660 times
Followed by:266 members
GMAT Score:770

by Jim@StratusPrep » Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:16 am
You will never see one with more than 4 questions on the exam - gmac simply published more than 4 in the practice sets.

As or timing, 2.5 mins for shorter passages and 3.5 for longer passages
GMAT Answers provides a world class adaptive learning platform.
-- Push button course navigation to simplify planning
-- Daily assignments to fit your exam timeline
-- Organized review that is tailored based on your abiility
-- 1,000s of unique GMAT questions
-- 100s of handwritten 'digital flip books' for OG questions
-- 100% Free Trial and less than $20 per month after.
-- Free GMAT Quantitative Review

Image

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 16207
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC
Thanked: 5254 times
Followed by:1268 members
GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:06 pm
We suggest that you allot your time as follows:

Short passages: 2.5 minutes reading/summarizing and 3 minutes answering 3 questions.
Long passages: 3.5 minutes reading/summarizing and 4 minutes answering 4 questions.

For more information about our RC strategies, you can watch our complete (and free) video module here: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... prehension

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
Image

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2193
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:30 pm
Location: Vermont and Boston, MA
Thanked: 1186 times
Followed by:512 members
GMAT Score:770

by David@VeritasPrep » Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:14 pm
The questions published in the Official Guide represent a range of questions available for the passage. You see, the computer selects the passage and the 3 or 4 questions for that passage all at once and it does not adapt based on your performance. So if you miss the first 3 you will get the same 4th question as you would if you got the first three right.

The questions themselves are an element of the difficulty and you will find that the official Guide questions often ask the same thing in two different questions - except that one of the questions is more difficult than the other.

I like what Brent has to say on timing - a little extra time spent really understanding/ analyzing a passage can make the questions go quickly!
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course