How to deal with timing?

[cobraqueen]

Hello all,

I have sat the gmat twice already and both times ended up with the same result (540). I literally ran out of time on the verbal section each time... so I had to guess through the last 5ish questions in order to have them answered since a wrong answer is better than a missed question.

Can anyone suggest how I can improve my speed on the verbal section. Essentially, I feel like the CR and RC questions are taking the most of my time.... I guess I am what people call a slow reader... and that isn't helping... but if I read fast through the texts then I simply don't get it...

Advise? Strategies? Ideas?

I have exactly 3 weeks to exam day and am aiming at 700+ score...

[Prasanna]

Practice tests would help you improve on the timing front.

Your target score is 700+ and your recent GMAT score is 540. You are seeking a 160 point increase which requires tremendous effort and improvement in both accuracy and speed.

[cobraqueen]

Yes Prasanna.... I realize how difficult this can be. But I already think that my previous scores were not truthful reflections of what I can do on the GMAT. I had 690 on the prep tests and never scored under 600 on any practice test that I took.... so the actual result was surprising.

I am working on practicing every day so I hope I can raise the bar at least above 650... shouldn't be that hard.... I am very determined to do this and I know I can... so I will

[mayonnai5e]

There are books out there to help with speed reading, but you can do what I always did as a kid. Use a bookmark and hold that bookmark horizontally across the page as you're reading a book magazine or article. Keep it about 3 lines under the current line you are reading. As you read, slowly move the bookmark down and try to keep your eyes moving horizontally and read the words quickly while the bookmark moves downward. Be sure to stick with the speed of the bookmark as you move it downward such that you are always reading 3 lines above the bookmark. Start slow at your natural reading pace - you should get a feel for the speed at which the bookmark moves. Note this speed and increase it by just a little to force yourself to mentally read/absorb faster.

That's what I did as a kid because reading just for reading was too boring so I used this game to keep my mind engaged. I'm not sure if this is really a speed reading trick though because I've never read anything about speed reading - this just a game I created when I was like 8 or something.

Oh and read more.

[Prasanna]

With only 3 weeks on hand, you need to be very much concetrated on your weak areas. Did you take GMAT prep test? That is the best indicator that is available today. If you think you need to improve your reading speed I would suggest you to postpone the dates and prepare. You will have not have sufficient time to see a good improvement of your basic reading skills.

[cobraqueen]

Thansk for the advise Mayonnaise and Prasanna.

As for the reading, I did some 42 questions (8 passages or so -> 6 mistakes) of Reading Comprehension yesterday from OG11 and I realized one thing: I am fine with reading off a paper source... however reading off the computer screen just does not work as well.. I get distracted,... I loose track of what I am reading about and eventually I end up just reading it mechanically .... which makes me reread... lose time etc...

Conclusion: I need to do more CATs but other than the KAPLAN CD and the GMATPrep software that I have already done I have no others...
Any ideas where I can find some?

Prasanna... I will not have the time to postpone the exam. My school application deadlines are there to remind me that I have to do my best at the end of the month.

Will keep you posted how progress goes...

[Prasanna]

Thats good news. You can easily improve your reading speed on the computer through practice. Check out the resources section on this forum, you will get lot of practice questions. Even though they are not tests, you can time them and take them as tests. Your timing will definitely improve.

[mayonnai5e]

I had the EXACT same problem, but what you can do (and what I did) is to use your mouse cursor to guide your eye when you're reading. Move it horizontally across the screen as you read the sentence. Having the mouse cursor move with your eye keeps it in focus and helps to avoid the problem of other words and lines distracting you. When you start, I also recommend doing the same thing with your finger instead of the mouse cursor - so you'd have your finger on the monitor as you read across. As you get used to reading with a moving target (your finger), switch to the mouse cursor. It works trust me.

You can use the GMATPrep software to practice this since there are "practice" sets you can do outside of the two included cats.

Let me know how this works for you because I had the exact same problem as you and this is the lesson learned and technique I developed to overcome it. It worked very well for me.

[masri]

Hi, I had the same timing problem, sometimes I manage to overcome it in some practice tests and some times not, because I keep insisting on doing what I KNOW is wrong of spending over 3 minutes some times on one question.

My questions is this: In terms of scoring, would it be better to get 20 questions in a row correct of which there will be many 700-800 bin questions spending extra time solving the hard questions but consequently running out of time and missing the last 5ish questions guessing randomly, or is it better to stick to the 2 (2.5 max) min per question limit even if you POE, guess, and get wrong many of them for the sake of finishing the section with no random guessing at the end.

The driver of my question is that I did the GMATPrep I and got 710 (Q 50) after two months of solid preps. I ran out of time in the last 4 questions and got them all wrong, but on all other questions I only got 2 wrong. Then in PR CAT III, i got only two wrong till question 30 as well and then got all the rest wrong (7 questions) and got 540 (Q 37)....so I can't really figure out which of the above two strategies I shall follow..

Please advise,
Thanks
Sam

[mayonnai5e]

Hi, I had the same timing problem, sometimes I manage to overcome it in some practice tests and some times not, because I keep insisting on doing what I KNOW is wrong of spending over 3 minutes some times on one question.

My questions is this: In terms of scoring, would it be better to get 20 questions in a row correct of which there will be many 700-800 bin questions spending extra time solving the hard questions but consequently running out of time and missing the last 5ish questions guessing randomly, or is it better to stick to the 2 (2.5 max) min per question limit even if you POE, guess, and get wrong many of them for the sake of finishing the section with no random guessing at the end.

The driver of my question is that I did the GMATPrep I and got 710 (Q 50) after two months of solid preps. I ran out of time in the last 4 questions and got them all wrong, but on all other questions I only got 2 wrong. Then in PR CAT III, i got only two wrong till question 30 as well and then got all the rest wrong (7 questions) and got 540 (Q 37)....so I can't really figure out which of the above two strategies I shall follow..

Please advise,
Thanks
Sam

The answer to this isn't 100% certain, but most will suggest the later tactic - the reason being it's probably better to spend 2 minutes on a question, eliminate 2 or 3 blatantly incorrect choices and guess on it, which gives you a 33% or 50% chance to get it correct. The former will always guarantee a 20% chance to get the questions at the end right since you no longer have any time left to eliminate choices. So statistically, the latter choice is best for getting guesses correct. In addition, if you are very unlucky and have to guess on, say, the last 5 questions and get all 5 wrong then you have 5 consecutive incorrect questions, which is cause a significant penalty from which you can NOT recover from (it's the end of the exam!). In contrast, if you get a question or two interspersed with several correct answers then you have a much better chance to maintain a solid standing until the end.

As for GMATPrep and PR, you cannot compare them. PR's algorithm is their best-guess estimation of the GMAT algorithm. Any miscalculations in the PR algorithm can significantly alter someone's score (coming from a computer science background I know how significant a minor tweak to an algorithm can be). I would trust GMATPrep over PR anyday; I have questioned the PR algorithm in past posts.

Lastly, there have been other members who have suggested that the GMAT algorithm is more forgiving of wrong answers at the end of the exam since by then the exam has a fairly good idea of your real potential. I cannot verify this and it may simply be a rumor, but on my real exam I randomly guessed on the last 5 or 6 questions in Q and V and still did fairly well. BUT DO NOT rely on such rumors and unproven ideas to guide your test taking. I still strongly suggest evenly spreading out your time.

[resilient]

Im noticing that my accuracy is about 90% with RC. THis is due to studying the wrong answers as much as possible. I also studied the Kaplan LSAT questions and they are pretty difficult.

Switching from paper to PC monitor is hard for me. THe screen tends to get me tired for some reason. In quant I am on my little vinyl sheet working away and it doesnt bother me. However on verbal its strictly the screen. I like what Mayonaise said about the cursor and that should do the trick. (why didnt I think of that?) BUt any recomendations for the screen tiring me out? If I'm fresh, I can apply all the verbal knowledge I know. I would like to think that verbal is my specialty but my weakness in endurance is not letting me apply my skills. Trust me, I am studying the correct choices, tricks, traps and all other wrong choices. Also, in order to build endurance, I am going to try 1 hour banks at a time and move up to 2 hour banks of study the next day. THe problem is that my accuracy is directly related to how tired I get during verbal and the screen doesn't help at all.