rb90 wrote:Hello,
I really appreciate the near-spontaneous replies that I get from you.Thank you so much. I wanted your help in the timing aspect f the GMAT. I took the GMAT and inspite of timed pracitce prior to the test, I still got sucked into the time trap, and ended up guessing 4-5 questions on each section +- . My preparation , as a whole, was pretty good. Only the timing part let me down and i ended up getting amn abyssmal 560! when my aim was for a 720+ .

Please help .
Thanks in advance !

I understand your frustration. But there's nothing wrong with guessing on the last few questions. I've taught quite a few students who guessed on the last few questions and scored above 700. The truth is that the GMAT is more about accuracy than about speed. In fact, if a student is aiming for a score in the 700-750 range, guessing on the last few questions is a viable strategy, if it allows the student to answer a majority of the more heavily weighted questions correctly.

A score of 560 indicates that you were missing the higher level questions, inducing the computer to feed you easier questions and to lower your score. Perhaps you were unsure how to approach certain questions; perhaps you made careless errors and fell into traps. At the beginning of each section, your focus should be on accuracy: take enough time to answer correctly the questions that you know how to approach. Toward the end of each section, you might need to answer questions more quickly in order to ensure that you finish the section. You'll incur a significant scoring penalty if you don't finish.

I recommend that students operate by the 3-minute rule: if after 3 minutes you don't know how to approach a question, another 3 minutes probably won't help. No sense wasting more time on a question that you're unlikely to get. The question might very well be experimental and not affect your score. Your strategy should be to eliminate traps, try to ballpark the answer, guess and move on. If, however, you know what you're doing and are assured of getting the correct answer, finish the question. It makes more sense to answer correctly the known quantity in front of you than to rush in order to get to the next question, which you might have no clue how to approach.

I suggest that you analyze your strengths and weaknesses, strive to improve in the areas in which you're weaker, and take more timed tests. The GMAT is a relatively predictable test: the same topics are tested over and over, only in slight different ways. One question really is just a variation of another. The more familiar you are with the different ways the GMAT might ask about a given topic, the easier the test becomes. Learn to recognize patterns, how one question relates to another question that you've answered previously.

And you should know that many students score significantly higher when they retake the GMAT.

Good luck!