AE11 wrote:Hi!
I recently did the GMAT Prep software practice test #1 and I noticed that a considerable amount of the questions I got wrong in the quant section were due to careless mistakes where I rushed to the answer and did not read the problem or the statements thoroughly. I would appreciate some tips for reducing this type of mistakes.
Thank you!
Much of the time when people practice GMAT quant by doing practice questions, they are pretty satisfied if they know how to get the correct answers to questions that they see. However, of course, GMAT quant , unlike many math tests, does not give credit for the work done or any other sign that you know HOW to get the correct answer. The GMAT gives credit for CORRECT ANSWERS only.
Thus, part of the way to reduce the number of careless errors that you make when taking the test is to focus on getting correct answers when you do practice questions. In other words, whether you need two minutes or ten minutes per question to get correct answers, take the time that you need when you are practicing. See how many you can get correct in a row. If you take all the time that you need, can you get ten in a row correct? Twenty?
Then, seek to speed up while still getting correct answers consistently. Don't speed up by reducing the quality of your work. Speed up by increasing understanding, skill, and efficiency.
Another thing to consider is that in some cases, what you are calling careless work may not be merely careless. If you carefully consider what you did, you may see that the reason that you made a wrong move was that you didn't fully get what you had to do in order to arrive at the correct answer. It's easy to look back and think that you made a careless error when, had you had a clearer understanding of the process required for arriving at the correct answer, you may not have made the seemingly careless errors that you made.
