Bail strategy

Question

Hi guys 😊 What bailing strategies do you use for Quant and Verbal? Is it possible to bail on the whole question topic (e.g. Role CR) and still achieve a 700+ score even when one of the bailed questions turns out to be a lower level question?

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

Hi and welcome to GMAT Club. I’m going to disappoint you just say that I have not seen any bailing strategies in the last five years that we use the fission Lee or any practical ones and generally I’m not even familiar with the term

On the GMAT, you want to treat all questions equally yet make no question special. The main strategy for giving up and guessing is that if you are at a two minute mark and you still do not see a path solving that question in 30 seconds, you should guess and move on. Do not spend more than 3 minutes on any question because you can’t afford to (obviously this does not apply to reading comprehension passages). Posted from my mobile device

gmatgames · Answer

Read this https://gmatclub.com/forum/new-format-g ... ml?fl=menu

Kinshook · Answer

I think you should not leave any important topic for GMAT preparation but you may increase your preference of type of questions which you have mastered and decrease your preference of type of questions which you have not. This way in case a question of your weak topic is really easy, you will not be penalised for missing that question.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Short answer is no.

There is something to be said, however, for skipping some questions on the GMAT, though.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi aniasok,

The short answer is that there really are not any "bailing" strategies that you should be following for your GMAT. Remember, in general, blindly guessing on ANY question on the GMAT can be dangerous because you could potentially be incorrectly answering a very easy question and that that will have negative consequences on your score.

So, I guess the bigger question needs to be how you can go about improving your GMAT verbal skills which will then help with your timing, right?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi aniasok,

There are strategic ways to 'dump' questions in the Quant and Verbal sections, but to use that approach in the most effective way, you have to be clear on the type of GMAT question that you're facing (and not 'blindly' dump a question without considering what it is). Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

aniasok · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC

I have been studying for about 3 months about 30 hours a week. I used Official Guide 2021 and Verbal and Quant Review, Manhattan Prep books and some videos on youtube and veritas prep app. I took my CATs approximately every two weeks/ lately every week since mid November and my results were the following:
CAT 1: 640, Q42, V35 
CAT 2: 610, Q44, V31 
CAT 3: 600, Q39, V34 
CAT 4: 610, Q37, V36 
CAT 5: 650, Q46, V33 
CAT 6: 640, Q43, V35

My goal score is 700 poins. I am planning to take the GMAT in a week. I am planning to apply to Rotterdam Erasmus and Bocconi before the end of the month.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi aniasok,

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function (and that you took your CATs in a fashion that matches-up with how you will take your Official GMAT), your various CAT score results show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 630 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. As such, there is a reasonable chance that you you will score at that same general level if you take the Official GMAT in a week's time. If you plan to continue studying until you score 700+ (or close to it), then you might want to consider pushing back your Test Date. There's no harm in taking the GMAT as scheduled, but you could potentially save some time, money and frustration by giving yourself additional study time.

There are some additional factors to consider. From what you've described, your studies so far have been "book heavy"; unfortunately, many GMATers who study in that way end up getting 'stuck' at a particular score level. Even the best books are limited in what they can teach you; they also can't force you to approach questions in a certain way and their explanations are often one-sided.

In addition, you have to be careful about confusing "quantity" of study with "quality" of study. I've never asked anyone to study 30+ hours a week - and while it's great that you might have the available time to study that much, with that number of study hours, you would run the risk of 'burning out' before Test Day (and that is something that might have already happened). If you are going to try to study that much, then I suggest that you take one hour "off" for every two hours of study. For example, you could study for 2 hours, then stop for an hour, then study for another 2 hours, then take an hour off, etc.

"Review" is an exceptionally important part of the GMAT training process; your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining the areas that you need to work on (and the specific things that you need to 'fix'). As such, I'd like to know a bit more about your last CAT. While a full Mistake Tracker would provide a lot more information, there are some basic questions that you should be able to answer (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing each section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

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