How to improve on calculated risk taking?

Question

I was analysing my GMAT attempt and I realised that I could have scored better even with all the mess that happened by doing two things (well, actually just one thing): be comfortable bailing on questions. I said two things because I feel I should have set 2 minutes aside and then skipped the last question at the end of my quarter or even at the end of my GMAT. Even if I skipped two questions at the end and just took a step back from everything, I feel like I *could* have been at a better place than I had been.

Another very distinct memory from the test was my refusal to skip one CR question. I knew that I was running late and I should bail on questions but since my time management was strong in the mock and I did not need to bail on questions, I just could not get myself to skip that question. I don't know what got into me but it was just very uncomfortable to let go.

So my question to the GMAT experts here, who have been tremendously generous in their help, is that how do you actually get better at calculated risk taking? What should you do during your practices that it becomes easier to let go?

bb · Answer

Good question. You have to remember that the question is just a question and your experience should teach you that if you cannot answer it in two minutes, you quite unlikely to answer it in three or four. If you’re not 30 seconds away from solving the question in two minutes, you better served skipping it and guessing.

Since it is likely a very hard question or potentially an experimental question which may be poor quality, you should not feel bad about skipping a question after giving it your best for 2 mins.

That’s the rule and I can tell you that I had a bit of extra time on my test and I ended up spending 3 1/2 minutes on one question”. I did not solve it but I wasted an extra minute and a half of precious time. I was ahead of schedule at that time but I could’ve used it later.

I wouldn’t worry about calculating risk wondering about it but keeping track of time on the question. If you are at the two minute mark, either be really close to solving it or gas and move on. Obviously this does not relate to reading comprehension passage reading

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anonymousCentaur · Answer

Perfectly logical point. My only concern with this is how do I realise that I'm spending more than enough time on the question. To elaborate, I am not checking time after every question, and I have a false sense of timings during the test owing to my test anxiety. So in my head time is really moving fast, when it is not. Do you have a take on how to approach this problem? I read Stacey's article on time-management in which she suggested that we practice developing our 1 minute sense but I tried that out and it is really difficult to keep up with that during an actual test.

I mean a lot of time management advise comes from a good place but the ones that I have encountered often fail to take into these things into account. All advises assume best case scenario, where you are in a perfectly calm state, and given the nature of the GMAT, I doubt that is possible for regular folks like me.

bb · Answer

I’m not sure if I’m a genius or maybe my memory doesn’t serve me right but I thought the system was pretty simple, especially for Quant.

There is the idea of splitting the test into three sections obviously and checking your time at each gate. Let’s good for overall timing but since you’re shooting for about two minutes per question, it means on question five you should be 10 minutes in and on question 20 you should be 40 minutes in. You just multiply the question times two and you have a pretty good idea where you are.

I don’t think I looked at the clock as I was solving questions. I still relied on the two or three time checks throughout the section. I would look at the clock question 10 and 20 for example.

However if I ran into a question and I did not know how to solve it I would glance at the clock to get a sense of what time it was so I knew immediately if I am behind schedule or I’m OK on time or just to note the time the trouble hit. I only had to do this once in Quandt. So it’s not like I have to keep track of the time for five questions. I was ahead on my timing and so I could afford to spend a bit extra but my investment did not pay off.

So to summarize, do occasional checks for how you performing. It’s much easier to do in Quandt. When you hit a question that stumps you. Usually it’s a feeling like you’re about to crap your pants 😂, look at the clock and and note the time 😉

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AnirudhaS · Answer

If a question comes which really stumps you, take it as a blessing and guess and move on. Think about it this way, that is valuable 1:30 min saved for other problems. (Minus the 30 sec of reading the difficult problem). Seeing the positive side of things helps in stressful situations such as the GMAT.

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GmatKnightTutor · Answer

https://www.reddit.com/r/GMAT/comments/ ... mecurrency

"To be clear, the problem of time-management is one that anyone can get "sucked" into. Even if you're someone with strong fundamentals, if you're aiming for a 700+, you may be more unwilling on the actual day of the exam to cut your losses and move on. "No, no, I have to get this question right. I'll lose my Q49! No, no. Ugh. Why is this ruddy question so hard!"

anonymousCentaur · Answer

Picking this thread back up since my GMAT is day after tomorrow. I think this approach makes a lot of sense paired with  gmatknightDOTcom 
 's point of thinking of "time" as a currency. It is a sad state that I find myself in the need of solving every question especially since I think that I ought to get it right because I might have got other questions wrong. It is weird but that's how it is for me and other folks like me who have anxiety.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

I see your test is tomorrow; however, here are some additional thoughts.

To know when to give up on a question, you need to trust your instincts and follow your internal clock. For instance, let’s say you are 2 minutes into a question, but you know that you are on the right path; in that case, you’d want to keep going even if it would take you 3 minutes to answer, right? After all, if you have fully mastered GMAT quant, then you should be in a position to answer some questions in 30 seconds, and thus it’s OK to spend more than 2 minutes on certain problems. On the other hand, say you are 60 or 90 seconds into a problem, and you know that you are going down a rabbit hole and likely will not be able to correctly answer the question. In that case, take an educated guess and keep things moving.

So my overall point is, yes it’s OK to guess, but ensure that you are taking a strategic approach to how and when you are guessing.

Also, you may find it helpful to read this article about  Timing Strategies For a Higher GMAT Quant Score , which discusses various aspects of quant section timing, including guessing strategies, in great detail.

Good luck!

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi anonymousCentaur,

Seems like you are in need of a few test taking strategies. You need to understand how GMAT algorithm works to take the calculated risks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9dZN-MHK0I

Hope this helped. Feel free to get in touch if you have any more queries.

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