Am I becoming a better thinker?

[rekha.tadoori]

Hi all,

I have a question that I hope I can explain properly.

I'm reading posts on the Manhattan GMAT blog and they are great! Really eye opening about how to approach the test.

I just read the post titled, "Breaking Down a GMAT Divisibility Problem"

As I tried to do the question I realized I was stuck. So I went ahead and read the answer explanation because I had absolutely no idea what the next step was. Of course after reading the answer explanation it seems so obvious how find the answer.

I'm worried though...am I really getting better at these difficult questions? I feel like the answer is no. Because I always just get stuck on the hard questions and get them wrong. When I'm stuck then I have no choice but to read the answer explanation and like I said before it then seems so obvious.

So that is my question/concern. I found it hard to put into words what I'm worried about but I hope you get the gist of what I'm saying. Am I really improving my critical thinking skills when I feel I'm not making progress on these questions - always having to read the answer choice because I just have no idea what to do to solve the problem.

I think I'll just have to master my guessing strategy for these tough questions on the real test because it seems impossible for me to be able to reason out those questions and even narrow down answer choices.

[StaceyKoprince]

I love your question - I love that you're thinking about this.

So here's what to do. Before you go read the explanation, take about 5-10 minutes to see whether you can figure out how to get yourself "un-stuck."

First, pick an answer. Pretend it's the real test and you have to pick an answer to move on.

Next, start asking yourself questions. if it's quant, ask yourself what the annoying parts are and see whether you can figure out how to avoid any of the annoying stuff, or fill in this blank "The problem would be a lot easier if only they'd _______" Does that help you figure out an alternate approach?

If you get to the point where you do need to read the explanation, when you're done, ask yourself, "Okay now that I know that, what are the clues in the wording of the original problem that could've helped me realize that I really needed to think X or do Y?"

Make yourself some flashcards that have "When I see_____" on one side and "I'll think / do _______" on the other.

Whenever you get stuck, once you figure out the clue that could have helped you get unstuck, make yourself a flashcard (or two or three) to help you learn this takeaway.

Also, when you're reviewing problems, ask yourself these questions:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm

The more you learn from the problems that you've already done, the more you'll learn how to think faster, better, more effectively for future ones!

[rekha.tadoori]

Thank you so much Stacey for your helpful response!

[StaceyKoprince]

You're welcome - good luck!