Prasanna, other moderators....ANYONE...confusion abounds

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smalishah84: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 73; Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:05 am; Thanked: 2 times

by smalishah84 » Sat Oct 04, 2008 9:04 am

Can please someone tell me if this first 10-15 question theory on both the sections is correct? Some say that the first 10-15 questions on both the sections are crucial to a higher score. i.e a strong start and a weak finish will earn a higher score than a weak start and a strong finish. Is this true?????Anyone???????

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Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Sat Oct 04, 2008 9:04 am

afterhours: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 16; Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:12 am; Thanked: 1 times

by afterhours » Sat Oct 04, 2008 1:36 pm

The basic theory makes sense, if you start off strong (say get your first 12 right) and then are 1:1 right to wrong to finish, that would be a higher score than if you got your first 6-7 wrong and then went 1:1. I know that it used to be true (based on post and things i have read) that the first 10-15 "counted" more but am not sure if that is still true.

I would, and I am, spending more time on the first ones to try to get to the harder ones quicker so if i miss a guess later, or don't have the time, it won't hurt my score as much assuming i got the first ones right.

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Prasanna: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 418; Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:41 pm; Thanked: 24 times

by Prasanna » Sat Oct 04, 2008 2:38 pm

There is a tendency for people to think that the first 10-15 questions are more important than the other. But it is a MYTH not a reality.

All questions are equally important on the test. So you should treat each question with the respect it deserves- whether it is the second, tenth, twentieth or the last. If the question to too difficult to solve, you are better of making an educated guess rather than spending 10 minutes to solve it. The exam is capable of determining your competency levels throughout the exam. Assuming you got 15 questions right but you took 5 min on each of them, you will run short of time on the remainder of the test. You may make more questions. For every set of questions you do not perform consistently, your score is marked down. More so if you run out of time and leave questions unattempted, your score will drastically reduce. So time management is very important on the test. Treat all questions with equal importance.

Wish you good luck
Prasanna

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smalishah84: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 73; Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:05 am; Thanked: 2 times

Thanks

by smalishah84 » Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:08 pm

thanks both of you...although both of you have given opposite answers.

BUT Prasanna there is one thing that I have experienced with giving the GRE. I had heard that this same thing applied to GRE and the GRE has 28 questions to be completed in 45 mins. I had done 22 questions in 44 minutes and the last six were all random guesses. My quant score was 800. I had been very careful in the first 15 questions taking almost 27 minutes for them. It had paid off then.

BUT I am not too sure about the GMAT. The PowerScore company seems to agree with the above theory and afterhours but Manhattan GMAT has to say what Prasanna is saying.

I dont what I will do on the test date but something tells me that I will probably be leaning more towards giving every question the respect it deserves.

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Prasanna: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 418; Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:41 pm; Thanked: 24 times

by Prasanna » Wed Oct 08, 2008 3:43 am

The opinion I stated is not mine. I remember reading it in OG I guess (I dont have a copy to verify it now). This has anyway been the opinion of almost all the experts on this forum.

Wish you good luck
Prasanna

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