Ron's Timing Strategy

[ravi.bamalwa]

Hello Ron,
I have been trying to implement your timing strategy,where you suggested that one should have an "internal stopwatch" to know when to quit questions.Also , the strategy to hide the clock and check it after every 5 questions has really been effective in helping me finish my MGMATs on time(even before tie) without feeling that im rushing through.Thanks to you for that.

However, im having a lot of problems calibrating my " internal stopwatch " . I keep falling short or going over by 30-45 seconds . Ive tried to see where im going overboard and where im undertimg myself.Ive tried to calibrate with a LOT of questions(both quant and verbal). Still im having difficulties. Im scared that ill end up quitting 25-30 seconds earlier.

Please help me out here Ron.
Thanks.

[StaceyKoprince]

I actually answer questions in this folder, not Ron, but I'll do my best to help. I give similar advice to my students.

So, how to learn approximately how long one minute is without looking at a watch or stopwatch every minute? If you don't have one already, buy yourself a stopwatch with lap timing capability (the one that comes with our course does have this 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.

Are you off? Okay, then adjust accordingly next time (e.g. if your average is 1.5m instead of 1, then push the button sooner next time - maybe when it feels like 45 seconds to you). 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 per question.

The 1-min mark is the "key" timeframe. On quant questions, 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.)

** 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.

On verbal, you're trying to get rid of wrong answers right from the start, so the process is a bit different - you don't need to "switch over" to finding wrong answers. If you start to get the "it's been about a minute" feeling on SC or on general RC questions, now's the time to pick and move on (if you're lost). If you start to get that feeling on CR or specific RC questions (and you're lost), now's the time to go into aggressive educated guessing mode, eliminate, pick, and move on.

Here are a couple of articles on making educated guesses:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/07/ ... s-on-quant
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/08/ ... -on-verbal

Note: the above timing training may take a few weeks - most people can't train themselves in only a few days. You can also do it even when you're doing other brain-intensive things (at work or wherever). It doesn't just have to be when you're doing test problems. The idea is to train yourself to "come up for air" about one minute into whatever you're doing. On track? Great. Keep going. Not on track? Switch tactics.