So many questions, so little time

Thank you for the post. Yes, I don't often let go of a question. I do get stuck in questions for over 3 minutes, and on top of it sometimes get it wrong.

Good suggestion aaron!. +1

nirimblf - Thats exactly what I'm doing. I practice and then I review what I practiced. Have you considered OG 11? Give it a try. If you can't complete all the problems try at least the last 1/3rd of them in each section. I'm also having the problem of getting only till like 27 questions on practice tests. I'm planning to improve my math skills in the next month or so.

I did 2 more 800score tests. Q only. Last two were Q39 and Q47.

Today I did a full Manhattan GMAT test. Got Q40 V39. Again I managed to complete only 27 questions before quickly guessing all the rest in the last 1 minute or so.

I spent over 4 minutes each on 6 different questions (the longest was 4:50 minutes!), and got 2 of them wrong.

I feel bad if I skip a question, like I failed it or something, so I don't give up until it is too late and probably miss the ones I can more easily solve. The only time I got a really good grade in Q (last 800score test in which I got Q47) was the time I allowed myself to skip more questions. However I suspect their algorithm is not really realistic.

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I would like to ask about your experience with the Manhattan tests. How do you find them in relation to the real GMAT?

My suggestion is take a GMATPREP and that will determine where you are in quant. Majority of the ppl who take MGMAT quant find the questions unreasonably time consuming. You will find a lot of posts that share the same view. GMAT gets the better of you if you spend too much time on a question. when you are doing well, GMAT wants to throw a time consuming question to slow you down. You just need to guess and move on.

Yesh, I will take them again. You know, I reveiwed my answers to the last test, and I found that at least 5 wrong answers were stupid mistakes - just not reading the question carefully enough, or skipping a trivial detail. When trying to solve them again I get them right. In one question I knew the right answer but clicked another one, I was so obsessed about moving to the next one quickly... I noticed that one immediately when I clicked it. So my lesson here is to do the questions quickly, but not to rush it to the extent of missing important details and getting it all wrong.

My advice would be to practice as quickly as possible. GMATFocus was really good for me on this because I found the questions very difficult and I think you actually get less time per question. As I tried to increase my speed. I really found out which questions were giving me the biggest fits. By the time I did my final run through, I had reached that perfect mix speed, thoroughness, and, most importantly, knowing which questions were not worth my time. You also get a pretty comprehensive breakdown of strengths and weaknesses and time spent on each question. In my opinion, no verbal question is worth more than two minutes; if you don't get it, you don't get it. Save the time for reading the RC sections thoroughly.

For me, skipping questions (by making 20-30 second educated guesses) was hard at first. I felt like I was taking the training wheels off the bike. It was just counterintuitive, like leaning into a turn or pressing down to make the jet go up in the Top Gun NES game. So the most important thing is to practice. Once you've used this strategy, you should see your scores go up. Do it enough, and you'll be able to shake that feeling that it's "wrong" to skip a question. By the time I strolled into that testing center, I was cool, calm, and collected for pretty much the whole test, and finished both sections with time to spare. Hope that helps.

Thanks, McDargoiowkel. I just did another Manhattan GMAT, Quantitative section only, and got 48! The best I got so far! I guessed every question that I didn't have a clear idea how to solve in say 30 seconds after reading it, and the last two for which I didn't have enough time.

So overall, I can say:
- I get between 34 and 44 when I insist on trying to solve the harder questions and spend too much time there.
- I get between 47 and 48 when I allow myself to skip hard questions. It doesn't feel "ok" just yet (and I did take my time on one question, and got it wrong), but I make myself do it.

OK, July 21 is tomorrow, I will take the test on 12:15.

I have some questions about formalities and about last preparations.

Formalities:
- The break between Q and V is 10 minutes, right?
- If we cannot keep anything with us during the exam, not even a bottle of water, how do I get to it during the break? Do they keep lockers there or what?
- I found that after the Q part I am exhauseted and have difficulties to concentrate in reading all those RC in the V part. Do you recommend having a snack or something between those parts?

Last preparations:
- I thought about writing down some points to remember (in geometry, number properties, combinatorics, etc). Maybe review some questions. Not sure about retaking one of the GMATPrep today or not. Don't want to be exhausted when I get there but don't want to spend some valuable minutes adjusting to the test.
- Any last tips?

I will appreciate any feedbacks. My focus is on the Q part, since V part accounts for only 5% of the score in the university I want to apply to, and 0% in my other choices. None care for AWA.