Hi,
I am absolutely frustrated with myself on the math section. I have done 6 tests and I am unable to finish the Math section on every single test!!!! arghhh !! I know I am spending too much time on certain questions but it seems like I am getting so many 700-800 questions that they are killing me and my morale during the test.
Some of the questions are so complicated that it takes about a minute to read and understand in itself.
I have been studying for a while but am not focusing on tests. I was doing good on the Offical Guide problem sets (2 mins or less on average per question ) but when it comes to the MGMAT CAT exams and the Question Banks, I tend to struggle and not finish on time. On average, I end up having to guess the last 10 questions on math which is TERRIBLE!!!
Please help me figure this out . My target score is 750 and so far my scores have ranged between 600-680 because of having to randomly guess the last 10 questions of Math. I am doing fairily okay in Verabl (avg percentile has been about 85%).
Any help would be MUCH MUCH appreciated. Thanks.
GMAT Forum
2 postsPage 1 of 1
- ayushkhatri
- Course Students
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:08 am
- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9361
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
Re: MATH TIMING !!!! PLEASE HELP !!
Sure! You're not the only one who struggles with this.
First, you need a mindset shift. This is NOT like a test in school, where you're trying to get everything right. This is NOT like a test in school where you can even expect to get everything right if you study hard enough. You WILL get a lot of questions wrong, no matter how good you get. Part of your task is actually to identify when they have given you something that's too hard for you to do in 2 minutes!
Think of this as a tennis match, not a test. You're going to win some points and the other guy is going to win some points; you're not going to win them all, right? Your goal is to put yourself into position to win the LAST point. Translated, that means you have to put yourself in position to answer the last question - you have to have time to address it. Otherwise, you've lost the last point, and by extension the match. When the other guy hits a winner, don't go running after it so fast that you hit the fence and injure yourself, thereby hurting your chances on the later points. (Translation: don't go way over when the problem is too hard.)
Next, try the stuff in this article:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/12/ ... management
I think you would also benefit from a timing exercise: learning about how long one minute is without looking at a watch or stopwatch. If you don't have one already, buy yourself a stopwatch with lap timing capability. When you go to do a set of problems, start the stopwatch but turn it over so you can't see the time. Every time you think one minute has gone by, push the lap button. When you're done, see how good you were - and whether you tend to over or underestimate. Get yourself to the point where you're within 15 seconds either way on a regular basis (that is, you can generally predict between 45 sec and 1min 15 sec). Note: at the same time that you are using the stopwatch to time this "1-minute" thing, also use the OG Stopwatch (in your student center) to track the total time spent on each question.
Now, how do you use that when doing problems? If you're not on track by one minute*, make an educated guess** and move on. (The general idea is that if you're not on track by the halfway mark, you're unlikely to figure out what's holding you back AND have time to do the whole problem in the 1 min you have left.)
* For SC, 1min is well beyond the half-way mark (we're supposed to average about 1m15s here), but you can almost always eliminate at least some choices on SC in that timeframe. Once you've got that "I'm around the 1min mark and I'm struggling" feeling, go through any remaining choices ONCE more. Pick one. Move on.
** This also requires you to know HOW to make an educated guess depending upon the type of problem and the content being tested. So that's something else to add to your study: how to make educated guesses on different kinds of problems.
Okay, now go work on those things and then start testing yourself with smaller sets of questions - 5, 10, 15. Don't take an entire test until you feel like you've made some real progress here. (And, in future, if you discover a major weakness, do NOT take 6 tests without fixing that weakness first. You will not fix the weakness while you are taking a practice test. You have to fix it BEFORE you take the practice test.)
First, you need a mindset shift. This is NOT like a test in school, where you're trying to get everything right. This is NOT like a test in school where you can even expect to get everything right if you study hard enough. You WILL get a lot of questions wrong, no matter how good you get. Part of your task is actually to identify when they have given you something that's too hard for you to do in 2 minutes!
Think of this as a tennis match, not a test. You're going to win some points and the other guy is going to win some points; you're not going to win them all, right? Your goal is to put yourself into position to win the LAST point. Translated, that means you have to put yourself in position to answer the last question - you have to have time to address it. Otherwise, you've lost the last point, and by extension the match. When the other guy hits a winner, don't go running after it so fast that you hit the fence and injure yourself, thereby hurting your chances on the later points. (Translation: don't go way over when the problem is too hard.)
Next, try the stuff in this article:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/12/ ... management
I think you would also benefit from a timing exercise: learning about how long one minute is without looking at a watch or stopwatch. If you don't have one already, buy yourself a stopwatch with lap timing capability. When you go to do a set of problems, start the stopwatch but turn it over so you can't see the time. Every time you think one minute has gone by, push the lap button. When you're done, see how good you were - and whether you tend to over or underestimate. Get yourself to the point where you're within 15 seconds either way on a regular basis (that is, you can generally predict between 45 sec and 1min 15 sec). Note: at the same time that you are using the stopwatch to time this "1-minute" thing, also use the OG Stopwatch (in your student center) to track the total time spent on each question.
Now, how do you use that when doing problems? If you're not on track by one minute*, make an educated guess** and move on. (The general idea is that if you're not on track by the halfway mark, you're unlikely to figure out what's holding you back AND have time to do the whole problem in the 1 min you have left.)
* For SC, 1min is well beyond the half-way mark (we're supposed to average about 1m15s here), but you can almost always eliminate at least some choices on SC in that timeframe. Once you've got that "I'm around the 1min mark and I'm struggling" feeling, go through any remaining choices ONCE more. Pick one. Move on.
** This also requires you to know HOW to make an educated guess depending upon the type of problem and the content being tested. So that's something else to add to your study: how to make educated guesses on different kinds of problems.
Okay, now go work on those things and then start testing yourself with smaller sets of questions - 5, 10, 15. Don't take an entire test until you feel like you've made some real progress here. (And, in future, if you discover a major weakness, do NOT take 6 tests without fixing that weakness first. You will not fix the weakness while you are taking a practice test. You have to fix it BEFORE you take the practice test.)
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
2 posts Page 1 of 1