Losing a Battle to Help Win the War for a Higher GMAT Quant Score

On the exam, you may encounter problems that you feel you can solve. However, you’re struggling, and time is slipping away. Perhaps you made a calculation mistake or are rusty with this question type. It’s tempting to continue investing time and energy.

At some point, you may have to make an educated guess and move on. Regardless of whether you can answer correctly, you can’t afford to spend 5 minutes doing so. Even if you get the question correct, the likelihood is that you’ll end up running out of time and guessing on later questions. Spending the time to get the question right may actually hurt your GMAT Quant score overall.

I’m not saying that, if you are close to answering, you should guess at some arbitrary point. It could make sense to finish answering, even when behind on the clock. However, if you are not close, you may need to guess and move on. It’s a matter of question prioritization: spend your precious time on the questions you can get correct.

You must be disciplined. You must be willing to lose a battle to win the war. Even if every bone in your body is telling you that you can answer the question, make an educated guess, and move on.

If you think you can answer with more time, mark the question for review at the end of the section. On the GMAT, you can change up to 3 answers in each section. That said, you may have to prioritize which questions you revisit depending on your remaining time.

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep