When to guess ?

[adarsh4u]

Hi,

I recently took the MGMAT CAT test # 1 and scored a mere 660 (Q45 / V35). I seem to have forgotten a lot of math concepts :( I also ended up guessing the last 5 - 7 questions in each section. I have joined the MGMAT 9 week course and my focus during the coming weeks will be to pace myself better. To that extent, I have a question on guessing. WHEN is the best time to guess during the test, if I know I would have to guess say 3 - 4 questions in each section (about 6 - 8 mins short) ? Which of the following do you recommend:
- Guess after spending a min. on a question and after applying some kinda POE. If I apply this technique on say 8 questions, I can save ~ 8 mins.
- Randomly guess on (say) the last / middle / alternate 4 questions, and save 8 mins to answer every other question.
- Improve my timing by keeping an eye on the clock for every question: If I think I crossed 2 mins, guess and move on.

It would be interesting to know what strategy (other than not guessing :P) that I could follow for better results. Do you know whether wrong answers towards the end is penalized more / less than wrong answers in the middle of the section ?

Thanks!

[adarsh4u]

Can anyone answer my question or is this just a plain stupid strategy!?

[StaceyKoprince]

The best strategy: try every question for a minute. If it's just "not happening," spend some part of the second minute eliminating wrong answers. Then, either at or before the 2 min mark, guess from among the remaining choices and keep going.

This requires you to have a pretty good feel for how long one minute is when you're working on a problem, so buy a stopwatch and start training yourself. Get a stopwatch with "lap" capability. Start it and turn it over or cover up the face. Every time you think one minute has gone by, click that lap button (do this as you're doing problems, not just sitting there!). Then see how good you were. If you pretty consistently can get to within 15 seconds either way (so 45 sec to 1m15sec), then you're good.

This also requires you to know how to make an educated guess, depending upon the type of problem or content. In quant, it depends on the sub-type of problem - eg, the way you'd guess on a rates problem is different than the way you'd guess on algebra, or geometry. For SC, you'll almost always have eliminated some answers by the 1 min mark, so just pick something at that point and move on. For RC and CR, it also depends on the problem sub-type - eg, the way you'd guess on a find the assumption is a bit different than the way you'd guess on draw a conclusion.

Once or twice on the test, you may read a question and think, "I have no idea what they're talking about." Read it one more time. If you still have no idea, guess randomly and move on.

[GMAT Eater]

You guess in the following situations

You don't know the answer but you were able to narrow your choices between A or B.

In such situatons, you should choose D.

Why?

Because if you don't know the answer how can you trust yourself that the answer has to be either A or B?

But before you choose D, make sure you slap yourself for not studying hard enough for the GMAT. But not too hard since you may distract the 700+ test taker sitting next to you. Then, for a good measure, slap yourself a few more times. Then take a deep breath until at least 5 minutes passes, then choose C.

Hi,

I recently took the MGMAT CAT test # 1 and scored a mere 660 (Q45 / V35). I seem to have forgotten a lot of math concepts :( I also ended up guessing the last 5 - 7 questions in each section. I have joined the MGMAT 9 week course and my focus during the coming weeks will be to pace myself better. To that extent, I have a question on guessing. WHEN is the best time to guess during the test, if I know I would have to guess say 3 - 4 questions in each section (about 6 - 8 mins short) ? Which of the following do you recommend:
- Guess after spending a min. on a question and after applying some kinda POE. If I apply this technique on say 8 questions, I can save ~ 8 mins.
- Randomly guess on (say) the last / middle / alternate 4 questions, and save 8 mins to answer every other question.
- Improve my timing by keeping an eye on the clock for every question: If I think I crossed 2 mins, guess and move on.

It would be interesting to know what strategy (other than not guessing :P) that I could follow for better results. Do you know whether wrong answers towards the end is penalized more / less than wrong answers in the middle of the section ?

Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

I'll assume you're testing your stand-up comedy skills and not trying to be condescending in any way. Just wanted to say that so that the original poster doesn't interpret in a negative way and feel bad.
:)