Guessing on GMAT

[neilspatel84]

Hello

Is there a penalty for guessing blindly on the GMAT? For example, if am I a few minutes behind in the middle of either section, and I want to catch up, so I guess on the next question with a random answer in less than >1 second to catch up, does the test penalize me because I answer the question in a unrealistic fashion? Or if I answer correctly, does it still count?

Does it matter if I guess within a few seconds or 30 seconds?

Which parts of each section is the best to guess? Obviously not the last 7 questions.

On the verbal section, if choose to adapt this strategy since I am behind a few minutes, is there difference between guessing on a CR or SC? Is each question weighted differently, since there are less CR questions on the test?

Any help would be very helpful! I take the test on Thursday!

[rishabdhar1988]

I hope not. Because SC is one my strongest areas in verbal,and,usually,I solve most SC questions that are easy under 30 seconds.It takes me at most 50 seconds,as per MGMAT tool,to solve A SC question [700-800 level] at an accuracy of 67%.

I'm not so good at RC.I use SC as a way to steal time for RC.

My timing chart is usually:

16 SC questions 13 minutes
12 CR questions 24 minutes
13 RC questions 35 minutes

Almost 3 minutes per RC question or almost 9 minutes per passage.Even when I approach RC slowly,I still tend to have 2-3 spare minutes at my hand at the end of the test.

So if they penalize me I will not receive any credit for most of SC questions-my strongest area.

Stacey please clear our doubts.

[neilspatel84]

To clarify, if I guess blindly within 1 second after a problem is presented , would I be penalize, since GMAC would probably consider solving a problem or attempting to within a second is impossible?

Also, If I plan to guess blindly on a 3-4 questions on the verbal section, would it be best to guess on all on 3-4 CR problems (spaced out of course) since thse problems are more time consuming than SC problems (and RC is my strength)? My concern is that if I should split my guesses between SC & CR, since there are less CR problems and the CR problems could be weight more heavily.

THANKS!!!! :)

[rishabdhar1988]

No matter what you do,it still takes ,at-least,5 seconds to guess blindly for the following reasons:

1) When you click confirm on the previous question it takes about 1/2 a second to display the next question

2) It takes your mind to decide about 1-2 seconds whether it is a CR or a SC

3) You decide to guess blindly;You click an answer choice and then click okay.This process takes another 1-2 seconds

4) The software in a second or two will then prompt you to confirm your answer.You click okay.Then next question comes on your screen in 1/2 a second.

All the above 4 steps take you at-least 5-6 seconds.Btw on the easier problems I sometimes solve in 10 seconds.So,I doubt GMAC's algorithm will ever know whether you guessed.

Same can be said about CR.Some people are very fast at reading and have a very high IQ.Some could solve it under 10 seconds.I,a slow reader, have solved a few of 600-700 MGMAT CR question in 20 seconds.A genius could do that in under 10 seconds..

[StaceyKoprince]

Sorry I didn't get to this before your test - just FYI, it can take 3 to 5 business days to get forum questions answered. If you have an urgent question, call the office!

The test does not factor in the amount of time you took to answer the question - it does not penalize you for random guesses in a few seconds.

Also, the problems are not weighted by question type - CR is not automatically worth more than SC or anything like that.

In terms of when to do this, ideally you manage your time well enough that you don't need to do it at all. If you do need to do it because you are already behind on time, then ideally you choose to do so on a really hard question (hard for you is all that matters - doesn't matter whether it's RC, CR, SC... just hard for you). So you're not answering totally blindly, because you'd need to spend 15 seconds or so to decide "This one's super hard and I'm already behind" and then you pick your favorite letter. :)

The worst-case scenario is that you are so far behind, you can't even choose to make your guesses on the hardest questions. In that case, you really are guessing blindly.

Most people do have to guess at some point on the test, whether that's after narrowing down some answers, or having to guess on a really hard one just to make up some time. The point here is: guess as wisely as you can. Ideally, make an educated guess (narrow down the answers) if you can and if you aren't behind on time). If you can't do that, at least choose the hardest questions (again, hardest for you).