GMAT Strategy

What are your recommendations for proper and efficient notetaking?


I tend to diagram my RC passages with skeletal or headline list notes as per MGMAT notes. However I noticed that my RC notes aren't used as much as I would have liked. However, I am a fast reader so picking up key lines and words isn't that bad for me. Plus I have a messy handwriting so notetaking isn't my "forte".

However, for CR, I need to take meticulous notes because I easily miss key words such as most, all, always, none, some, etc., which are instrumental in getting the right answer. Plus sometimes with complicated arguments, I sometimes lose track of the premises, counterpremises, and the conclusion. The notes helps to prevent me from losing track and doing unnecessary re-reading.

What are your recommended times per problem for both verbal and math? How would you revise the my typical timings below?

Math
500-700: 1 to 2 minutes
700-800: 2 to 2.5 minutes

Verbal
RC
500-700: 1 to 1.5 minutes
700-800: 1.25 to 2 minutes

CR
500-700: 1.5 to 2 minutes
700-800: 2 to 3 minutes

SC
500-700: 1 to 1.5 minutes
700-800: 1 to 2 minutes

For me, note-taking is really more about focusing my attention on dry boring passages. Fatigue usually sets in by the time i'm halfway through the verbal section, and taking notes is a really good technique to keep me focused.

I think the most important part in note taking for CR is distinguishing between the evidence and conclusion. After you've read the stimulus, its alot easier to focus on specific parts of an argument to find the answer, rather than search through an entire paragraph.

I definitely agree, GMATBoocamp! After enduring AWA and Quant, the mind definitely slows down a little bit and more stress is compounded. I find that RC notes don't help as much as my CR notes because I tend to skim the passage for keywords quickly and read directly from the source rather than from my RC notes.

However, if given a complicated CR stimulus, then the CR notes definitely help as it provides a structure via a T-diagram.

What about pacing? Do you think I am spending too much time on hard CR (3 mins), RC (2 mins), SC (2 mins), DS/PS (2.5 mins)? How do I know when to bite the bullet, guess between the remaining 2-3 answer choices, and move on?

Hey, it also helps to write out a "timing grid" on your paper to keep track of things.

Its on this website (somewhere!) and also on my blog.

Thanks! I tried the Excel timing grid, but I eventually settled on the OG Stopwatch provided on Manhattan GMAT's website as it simulated the GMAT test taking experience better (clicking next, confirm, answer choices, etc.) and provided a breakdown of timings per problem afterwards.

I'm still concerned that my advanced CR and Math times are too slow. Sometimes for advanced CR and Math times, I get stuck between 2, maybe 3 choices, at at the 2 minute mark. Is it wise to pick one among the two quickly and move on? Or is it wise to spend 15-30 seconds more to eliminate one more answer choice?

And lastly, these timings are based off MGMAT exams. I read that MGMAT quant questions are much harder than the actual GMAT quant questions. Is this true?

If that is the case, then it is my hope that I will perform faster in the actual GMAT exam than in the MGMAT exam. I hope to test this theory tonight or tomorrow with a GMAT GPrep exam, and update this post!

absolutely - from my own experience, if you start to hit the 2 minute mark, and u have managed to narrow down the answer choices it is always wise to make an educated guess and move on.

I know in a practice environment it can be difficult to give up and guess (I know I loathed to do this) - but in the real thing - you have to do it!

remember if u dont finish - u get heavily penalised

IMO manhattan math is slightly more difficult than on the official test.

But the CAT is designed to keep spitting out harder and harder, so I don't think you'll ever feel like you're just coasting on the test, even if its the math section.

If you've spent 2 minutes on a question already and are confident that you can correctly eliminate an incorrect answer, then by all means the 15 seconds is time well spent. But if you're crossing the 3 min mark and you still have a couple of choices to pick from, cut your losses and just move on.

You have to know that every extra minute you spend on one question is about 15 seconds less per question downstream. If you take extra time on the first few questions, you really run the risk of running out of time on the exam!

It's hard to keep times and track each question's relative pace (over or below 2 mins) while working out the problems. How often should one check the clock while answering GMAT questions?

I tried to check every 15 minutes as per the Manhattan GMAT timing strategy table listed below, but I'm afraid that 15 minutes is too wide of a interval because I won't know if I'm behind or ahead until it's too late. How do you keep track on a frequent enough basis without losing focus on the questions?
MATH
Time = Question to be on
75 mins = 1
60 mins = 8
45 mins = 15
30 mins = 22
15 mins = 29
0 mins = 37

VERBAL
Time = Question to be on
75 mins = 1
60 mins = 10
45 mins = 18
30 mins = 26
15 mins = 34
0 mins = 41

Lastly, in verbal, I also try to keep a running counter for each of the three categories, SC, CR, and RC. Hypothetically, the GMAT should split the question pool evenly among those three at approximately 14-14-14. I figured that this running counter might help me predict upcoming, future problems during the latter stages of the exam. It might be useful to know if my last 5 questions are more likely to be CR rather than SC, because I spend less time in SC than I do on CR. If CR are more likely, that means I have to speed up my current pace much more to compensate for the predicted CR problems. I am unsure if this is recommended because once again, I am afraid all this tracking might detract me from spending time on the most important areas: answering the questions correctly. Is this recommended?

Thank you Ron for such an awesome response! I noticed that on many tricky problems, I often deliberate between two choices by reading them and re-reading them to figure out the better of the two choices. This becomes a HUGE time waster and I have to pick between the two after 5 seconds of consideration and no more!

GMATBootcamp, benissleeping: I definitely agree. I know the concepts and I'm definitely capable of getting the right answer, but getting within the allotted time is tricky. I am a perfectionist so when I face a tough problem, my ego sometimes gets in the way, causing me to get the correct solution no matter what even when 3 minutes has passed since the start of the problem. I have to learn to make the best of it by making educated guesses between 2 or among 3 remaining choices, and move on. And yes, I didn't realize that omissions were 3x more penalized than wrong problems; This is very different from the SATs! Time management is incredibly important.

Revised Timing Grid (tweaked and borrowed from benissleeping's blog):
M
Qs Time
5 66
10 56
15 46
20 36
25 26
30 16
35 6

V
Qs Time
5 67
10 58
15 49
20 40
25 31
30 22
35 13
40 4

Type, CR SC, RC, M
Rec, 1:45, 1:00, 1:00, 1:45
Max, 2:00, 1:30, 1:00, 2:30
Rare, 3:00, 2:00, 2:00, 3:00

Looking forward to test the above grid on a practice GMAT GPrep!

Where can we download the Manhattan OG stop watch from? Is it free. Is it better than the Excel Test grid provided on this site?

Please let me know.

Thanks

I think one or both of the ways will give you access: buying the MGMAT guides to access the MGMAT exams or enrolling in a MGMAT course.

The OG Grid is also a great tool. The major difference is in selecting the answer choice on the computer screen via selection from a bubble list rather than a manual letter input in Excel (A through E).