One thing I learned is that it's usually best to just go with your first instinct. I only ever changed my answer if I discovered a calculation error on the quant section. It's rare that looking over your answer will lead to some sudden epiphany that you didn't see before and thus lead you to better understand the question and answer. Changing your answers also has another bad side effect - if you hesitate, it makes you rethink all your steps again and that is time consuming. When you only have 2 minutes per question, taking one extra minute to "rethink" your answer choice means you've shaved off 1 minute from the next question.

As for your OG question:

When I studied for the GMAT, all I used were the orange, purple, and green OG books. I studied them until I virtually had every problem - and, of course, the strategy or rule required to solve it - memorized. I had very few surprises on test day! Most problems that I saw reminded me of something I learned in the OG.

I think that this approach is the best way to study for the GMAT - after all, problems in the OG are actual past GMAT problems.

Happy studying!

VP_Jim wrote:As for your OG question:

When I studied for the GMAT, all I used were the orange, purple, and green OG books. I studied them until I virtually had every problem - and, of course, the strategy or rule required to solve it - memorized. I had very few surprises on test day! Most problems that I saw reminded me of something I learned in the OG.

I think that this approach is the best way to study for the GMAT - after all, problems in the OG are actual past GMAT problems.

Happy studying!

Thanks for the tip .. I'll be moving to Beaverton pretty soon .. good to know you are in the area

mayonnai5e wrote:One thing I learned is that it's usually best to just go with your first instinct. I only ever changed my answer if I discovered a calculation error on the quant section. It's rare that looking over your answer will lead to some sudden epiphany that you didn't see before and thus lead you to better understand the question and answer. Changing your answers also has another bad side effect - if you hesitate, it makes you rethink all your steps again and that is time consuming. When you only have 2 minutes per question, taking one extra minute to "rethink" your answer choice means you've shaved off 1 minute from the next question.

I agree - I'm trying to minimize these mistakes and it's working. There's also this so called 'counter intution' that comes into play

Moving to Portland, eh? You'll love our winter weather... supposed to be in the low 30s with rain and snow this weekend! Lovely!

VP_Jim wrote:Moving to Portland, eh? You'll love our winter weather... supposed to be in the low 30s with rain and snow this weekend! Lovely!

Oh yeah .. I should've said 'moving back' ..