Recognizing the "hard" questions

[ChristyS378]

Hi,

After 3 months of studying diligently and a manhattan GMAT course, my score has regressed by 100 points. It's so depressing. One of my biggest issues is timing. So many tips say that you just need to skip the hard ones and move on -- but in the moment they all look hard to me. How can I recognize hard problems that will take too much time before I get myself into a rabbit hole?

[StaceyKoprince]

Great question (and I'm sorry this test is driving you crazy). I'll give you some help here, but can you also give me more details on where you're having issues with timing? What question types and content areas? (If you need help figuring that out, see the end of this post.)

First, read this (right now - then come back here):
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning

That's your overall mindset while taking the test, not the "school" mindset of trying to get everything right. Half of your battle will be in letting go of the idea that you're trying to get everything right. :)

Next, the real decision point for any problem is around the 1-minute mark -- which means you're going to need to train yourself to be able to tell that it's been approximately one minute since you started working on the problem. (I'll tell you how in a bit.)

Here's how the 1-minute works for the different question types.

Quant (1m = halfway): By 1 minute, at a minimum, you should understand what the question is asking and have a plan to solve. If not, ask yourself whether you can see any ways to make an educated guess (eg, estimation). Guess and move on at or before the 2 minute mark.

If you do have a plan (so you keep going), reset your 1 minute time sense. By the time that sense starts tingling again, you'll be around 2 minutes in. If you're lost or it looks like it's going to take more than 30 seconds to finish off this problem, guess and move on.

If you hit a roadblock but still feel like you know what you're doing, you can try to unstick yourself once. If you can't figure out how to unstick yourself within 15 seconds or you get stuck again, guess and move on.

CR (1m = halfway): By 1 minute, at a minimum, you should know what kind of question you have and you should understand the argument. If not, move into aggressive educated guessing mode, pick, and move on.

SC (1m = almost done): By 1 minute, you should have eliminated at least 2 answers. If not, guess and move on. If you decide to spend some extra time on an especially long or convoluted SC, make sure that you have guessed and moved on before reaching the 2 minute mark (ie, getting your 1 min sense twice).

RC main idea questions (1m = done): By 1 minute, you should be done. Pick and move on.

RC specific detail questions (1m = halfway to almost done): By 1 minute, you should know what kind of question this is and have found and understood the relevant details from the passage. You may also have started evaluating the answers at this point. If you hit your second 1m alert, guess and move on.

If at any point on verbal, you realize that you are going back over the same 2-3 answers repeatedly, guess immediately and move on.

Here's how to train your 1 minute sense. Read section 4 of the below article (note: the link is to sections 1 through 3 of a two-part article; scroll to the bottom and click to get to the second half to read section 4).

http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

I recommend reading the entire article, not just section 4, but you can start with section 4 for now. Also note that that section contains links to articles on educated guessing, one for quant and one for verbal. Follow them!

It often takes people a good 4-6 weeks to develop the 1-min time sense and train themselves to react accordingly (as described above). If you find that you have trouble cutting yourself off, keep reading that very first article above - and keep reminding yourself that they're trying to find out how good of a business person you are, not how good of an academic you are.

Good business people can evaluate and prioritize opportunities - and they decide which opportunities they do NOT want to waste time going after. That is your task as well on the GMAT.

Finally, have you spoken with your teacher? If you have finished the course, did you sign up for your PCA? (This is a 30-minute online meeting with an instructor to go over your post-course study plan. You sign up for this in the Office Hours section of your MGMAT Student Center.)

Note: you cannot sign up for the PCA until after you have taken 3 practice exams under timed conditions and the option to sign up is only active in your student center for 1 month after your class ends. If you have any issues with the sign-up process (or if you need an extension), contact gmat@manhattanprep.com or 800.576.GMAT.

Finally, if you need some help answering my first question (about where, specifically, you're struggling with timing), follow the instructions below.

Read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CATs (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

Based on all of that, figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as any ideas you have for what you think you should do. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)