The shortest GMAT solution is not always the best solution
One mistake I see GMAT students make is assuming that the shortest or most elegant solution is automatically the best one.
A student solves a Quant question in five lines, then sees an explanation that solves it in two. The student concludes that his method was inefficient and that he needs to learn the shortcut.
Not necessarily.
There’s a difference between theoretical efficiency and practical efficiency. A shortcut may look impressive once someone shows it to you, but how useful is it if you wouldn’t recognize it independently under time pressure? How useful is it if the approach is difficult to execute or leaves you unsure whether your answer is correct?
The best method is often the one you can:
- recognize quickly
- execute accurately
- verify confidently
- reproduce under pressure
Sometimes, that method will be the shortest one, but sometimes it won’t be.
In Quant, a clear and organized solution may be better than a clever shortcut that depends on noticing one unusual relationship.
In Data Insights, calculating immediately because you want to move quickly may not actually be as strategic as taking a little more time to organize the information and determine which data actually matter, thereby preventing repeated trips back to a table or graph.
The same principle applies in Verbal. On a difficult question, eliminating four wrong answers may be easier and more reliable than trying to immediately identify the correct answer. A methodical process can look slower, but it may actually land you on the correct answer faster than relying on instinct, and then reconsidering your choice or missing an important clue.
None of this means that efficiency is unimportant. You absolutely need methods that allow you to complete the GMAT within the time limits and pace yourself appropriately.
But efficiency should not be measured only by the number of steps in a solution.
A method is not truly efficient if:
- you rarely recognize when to use it
- it increases your risk of making an error
- you can’t verify the result
- it breaks down under pressure
So, when reviewing a solution, don’t automatically ask: “How can I make my method look more like this one?” Instead, ask: “Is this approach more reliable and repeatable than mine?”
The goal is not to use the solution that looks the shortest. The goal is to use the method you can recognize, execute, and verify reliably on test day.
