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Couple questions and need help with pacing! Help me get 700+

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Couple questions and need help with pacing! Help me get 700+

by ForeverYoung » Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:14 pm
Hey guys, I've been a lurker for the last couple months as I've been studying for my GMATS. My tests is a little less than 2 weeks away, March 13, and I have some questions about my last couple days of preparation.

GMAT Prep1: 660 (Q44/V37) <-- I did this without reviewing everything last week just to see where I was at, rushed at the end for Verbal and Quant.

GMAT Prep2: 700 (Q45/V40) <--Took this just now and while I did well, I ran out of time on both Verbal and Quant!

My goal is to score a 700 on the GMAT and would be thrilled if I got that on the actual exam. I'm going for the coveted 80/80 split, so I need to boost my quant a little. I need your help to get there! For GMAT Prep2, 8 out of my last 10 Math questions I got wrong because I rushed, especially on data sufficiency because I was running out of time. I also got 4 out of 6 wrong at the end of verbal because I was rushing again. Please help me fix my timing so on test day, I have enough time to complete all problems as my accuracy is pretty good.

Here are some questions I have:

1. If I'm running out of time, should I spend like 30 seconds on each remaining question and try to guess a reasonable answer? This is what I did and it hurt me because I got 8/10 wrong at the end. Or should I spend as much time as I need to answer as accurate as possible, and with about 30-45 seconds remaining just guess blindly 'D' on the last couple questions and hope I get 1/5 right? Please let me know what you guys think is the best strategy.

2. What is the best way to fix my timing? Should I work on OG problems and time them? Maybe make sure I do all math in 1:30 or less and all verbal in 1:15 or less? Should I just continue to take CAT exams and pace myself better? What do you guys think?


I would really appreciate if you guys can come up with a basic study plan for me to based on my questions, so I can maximize my last 2 weeks of study. Thank you and good luck to everyone on their exams!
Last edited by ForeverYoung on Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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by Jim@VeritasPrep » Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:49 pm
Hi there,

The best thing you can do regarding pacing is not put yourself in that position at the end of your test. Keep up a good pace throughout your exam so that you aren't faced with 10 questions in the last 5 minutes -- there's not much hope if you have to do every question in 30 seconds!

I always tell my students "Jim's Golden Rule" of the GMAT: Do not spend over three minutes on any one question. If you're going to get a question right (other than through luck/guessing), it's almost certainly going to happen in the first two minutes. If you take longer than two minutes on one question, something is wrong -- GMAT problems are designed to be answerable in a couple minutes IF you see the correct approach. So, teach yourself to "let go" if you're stuck on a problem. Guess and move on, and bank that time for later in the test. Nothing kills a score more than spending five minutes on a question you got wrong anyway (even getting it right isn't very helpful if you've spent five minutes!).

Another good tip is to just guess on a really difficult problem after about 30 seconds. If a tough question pops up, and you stare at it for awhile and have no idea what to do, there's a good chance you're going to get it wrong anyway. You might as well guess right away and keep going, rather than spinning your wheels and getting frustrated. One wrong question won't hurt too badly, and you'll save a lot of time for questions you DO know how to do.

The best way to practice pacing is to do practice tests. Work on timing it so that you have about 1:30 left for the last question. You absolutely do not want to run out of time -- long strings of wrong answers really hurt your score. Working on OG problems timed is another approach, although not the best, as nothing simulates actual test day conditions, timing, and pressure like a full length CAT.

Good luck!
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:20 pm
Piggybacking off of Jim's point, I'd agree that, by and large, if you're not actively working on a problem after the first 30-40 seconds of looking at it, the odds of you getting it right (and in a reasonable amount of time) aren't great.

I'd argue that, when people have pacing problems on the GMAT, one of the major causes is that they don't have much to show for the first 30 seconds of each problem. You may read the problem, get a little frustrated/intimidated, then read again, but if that all takes 30 seconds, you're left with 1:30 to actually work on the problem.

I'd also argue that, when you get a question wrong, you're most likely to get it wrong either in the first 30 seconds (you set it up incorrectly) or the last 30 seconds (you miss the last step, or answer the wrong question).

As a result, I'd suggest this as a drill to get some value out of that initial 30-40 seconds on each problem, and work on minimizing the number of questions you get wrong in that initial block of time:

1) Take a set of 10 math questions and give yourself 30 seconds (or 40 if you're struggling with 30...you can bring the time down later) to at least get started on each one. Try to always at least write something down (assigning variables, creating equations, etc.)

2) After that set, go back and finish each problem, and in doing so make notes on which problems you may have set up incorrectly.

With this drill, you can train yourself to start quickly - even if it's just a matter of putting their words on the screen down on your noteboard in an easier-to-manage form - and to spot the types of equations or setups on which you're prone to make mistakes when getting started.
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by okigbo » Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:30 pm
WOW... this is really solid advice. Many thanks!
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by ForeverYoung » Tue Mar 02, 2010 1:50 pm
Agreed, many thanks guys. I'm gonna drill for speed this entire week while keeping your suggestions in mind, and I'll update you once I take my last GMAT Prep this weekend. Thanks again.

Here's another good link I went over okigbo!

https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... case-study
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by okigbo » Wed Mar 03, 2010 3:13 am
Thanks ForeverYong.

I'm in the same boat as you - scored 44 on my last two MGMAT practice tests but am going for the 80/80 90th Overall - which is around a 700. Also my test is next week like yours.

Any other strategies you are employing to boost your quant score?

Do let me know. Maybe we could bounce strategies off each other
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by analyst218 » Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:52 am
well i know gmat counts against getting consecutive quetions wrong.
It shouldn't happen, but if u do run out of time n ur left with say 8 questions,
my advice is to get one question right, guess the next, and get one right, and guess.
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:20 pm
Hey guys,

Naturally, as Jim pointed out before, the best way to combat a pacing problem is to not put yourself in that position, and hopefully you can improve enough to finish just about on time. That said, if you do need to to some guessing toward the end to give yourself time to complete the questions, you may want to consider this:

Because the GMAT includes a fairly significant penalty for not answering questions at the end, it's highly unlikely that they would allow the last question or two be the "unscored" experimental items. If they did, some people who failed to budget their time wisely would receive an unfair "mulligan" on that, because their last question guess wouldn't count against them.

If you follow that logic, and know with a few questions to go that you'll have to guess at least once or twice, you may want to use your guesses earlier, playing the odds that the last couple questions will definitely count, but question 33, for example, is much more likely to be unscored than is question 37.

Again, this kind of strategy is completely a last resort, and it's certainly not foolproof - if you guess quickly on #32, then realize that 33 and 34 are pretty quick to be solved and then have more time left at the end than you thought, the strategy may work slightly against you. But, if you're at that point the day before the test where you realize that you may have to come up with an if-all-else-fails guesswork strategy, the odds are in your favor to use your guesses a bit earlier than later, as it's quite likely that the last few questions will be scored.
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by ForeverYoung » Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:48 am
Retook GMATPrep 2 on Sunday and scored a 740 (Q49, V42). I know this score is inflated because i saw about 5 or 6 math repeats and 3 or 4 verbal repeats from when i took GMATPrep 2 last week. Because I saw repeats, I can't clearly gauge if my timing is on point, but I did utilize the 55-35-15 minute checks and they definitely helped.

My math timing has been getting better but I feel like my biggest remaining weakness is Data Sufficiency. When I try to answer some of the harder questions under the 2 minute time constraint, I feel like I don't explore every possibility and jump to conclusions, and make silly mistakes. What is the best way for me to ATTACK Data Sufficiency in the next 3 days, so I can improve my accuracy and timing?

Right now, I'm going over a list of 198 700+ Math questions from GMATPrep 1, and just trying to recognize the patterns of my mistakes and also learning general strategy to attack some tricky problems. I'm timing myself for each question and trying to adhere to a strict 2 minute time limit. With Data Sufficiency specifically, when I see a hard question where I can plug in numbers, that's what I typically do, and try to test every possibility. I do try to rewrite the statements into simpler math, but sometimes end up spending too much time on this, about a minute, before even getting into the math. Any general suggestions about the best way to go about these difficult Data Sufficiency questions? Is the strategy I'm employing the best way to do it, or is there a more efficient way? Any tips would be greatly appreciated, I have 4 days until my test, and I wanna knock this thing out of the park. Thank you!
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