Guess when running out of time?

Thank you, GMATLA and tcepic. I'll read about and try out timing strategies and guess when necessary.

First of all NEVER ever leave a question unanswered .

Secondly don't ever take more than 3 minutes on a quant question . If you've crossed the 3 minute threshold just make an educated guess and move on . No question is worth more than 3 minutes ! This is a very basic strategy but hard to implement because it's difficult to "give up" on a question and admit defeat . But the GMAT is all about choosing your battles carefully !

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

Like everyone said, you MUST answer EVERY QUESTION or you lose many points. You are better off guessing randomly on five questions than not answering them at all like you would have in the SAT for college entrance exams.

Don't take more than three minutes on any question like another guy wrote above. This test is hard for everyone because it will hit everyone's limits. Your study must focus on learning new concepts and also learning how to solve those problems as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Thanks for the great advice george and nova. For all the practice tests I've taken, I've occasionally spent more than 3 minutes on a question. I'm one of those "hate giving up" guys. But from now on I'll, take an educated guess at the three-minute mark and keep improving.

Ideally , you should'nt go upto to the 3 minute mark on more than 3-4 questions . Also it is more advisable to take "educated guesses" on Data Sufficiency questions rather than Problem Solving questions

On the verbal side , it's more difficult to allocate time . The best candidates for guesses on the verbal section are Bold Face CR Questions , Evaluate the argument , mimic the reasoning and those dreaded "Except" questions . I feel you should never skip a SC or RC question . Another interesting tip ( note : use this only when you are very desperately short on time - Answers (D) and (E) have a higher probability of being right on SC questions in which the full sentence is underlined).

Good luck with your prep !

Got it.

I tend to do quite well on the verbal. I think it's 'cause I read a ton of sports and video game articles each day, lol. I've gotten 4-6 questions wrong on the verbal section of my four GMAT Prep tests. And I usually finish 15 minutes early (need to slow down).

But I struggle with math. I feel like I've made a lot of improvement over the last 2 years of studying (!), but I'm still getting about 10+ questions wrong. I scored a 730, 720, 740 and 740 on my practice tests (I recognized a good number of questions on my last two practices).

I actually liked the EXCEPT questions on CR. For me it was playing the odd man out game.

For many native English speakers, the full 75 minutes isn't necessary. I probably finished my exam with 15 minutes to spare as well. Perhaps slowing down may have improved my score a little, but at a certain point, if you feel good about a certain question you feel good about that question.

Ah. I agree about feeling good about a question. I'll try slowing down on my next practice test.

Wow ! I can't believe you guys finish the verbal section with 15 mins to spare ! In my MGMAT tests , I've scored well I'm verbal , but I almost always have to simply guess the last 2-3 questions because I run out of time

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

I think I subconsciously push myself to finish the verbal fast. It's always been the last section on my practice tests, and I start feeling mentally tired when I get to it. But I do struggle with the quantitative section.

Verbal section is like a roler coaster ride for me. Sometime in between I slow down and when I see the time passing by very fast, I rush through it but in the end I finish it before 5 minutes.

I'm curious to know , how much time do you take on each question type for the verbal section ( RC,cr,sc) ?

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

@ clubgmat, Ah.
@ george, I have never timed myself. Since I usually finish 15 minutes early, on average I spend a bit less than a minute and a half (60 minutes/41 questions = 1.46).

Forgot to mention, I usually recognize about five questions on the practice GMATs, and I have a pretty good memory. That's probably a big reason why I've been finishing early.

Contrary opinion here:

The above post says it doesnt matter if you leave a question blank and let time run out or guess and complete the test.

Experts please comment.

Contrary opinion here:

https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/guessing-a ... -the-gmat/

The above post says it doesnt matter if you leave a question blank and let time run out or guess and complete the test.

Experts please comment.