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17 Jul 2021, 07:32
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I was talking with some students recently and came up with this idea that I thought I'd share with everybody here.
For too many students, when a question appears in front of them, their 'goal'--consciously or not--is 'get this question right.'
If you've done any reading on the GMAT, though, you know full well that due to its adaptive nature, the test is *guaranteed* to give you questions you will NOT get right. Even a 760 scorer like me misses a boatload of questions. I once took a practice test and on the quant, I missed 11 out of 31 questions (over 1 in 3!), and still got a Q50.
So question. How can my 'goal' on a question be something I'm not going to be able to do 1 in 3 times?! Do I really 'fail' 33% of the time? Do I want to feel like I'm failing that often on this test?
Of course not. That puts me in a bad place, psychologically.
You must re-frame your goal on the question in front of you
There is a *single goal* for every GMAT question:
Use my time wisely
That is my goal, every question. To spend my time on that question wisely. These are 'success states' for that goal:
1). Get the question right, at or ahead of GMAT pace.
2). Get the question right going a little long IF I'M NOT BEHIND PACE
3). Try the question, not get to a single answer, realize getting a single answer will take too long, and make an educated guess at GMAT pace (could be right, could be wrong)
4). Realize early that the question is not worth the investment, and skip it entirely (if I'm right, it's totally lucky, 20% chance with 5 answers)
The failure states are:
1). Get a right answer that takes too long
2). Get a wrong answer that takes too long
3). Get a wrong answer because I rushed or made a silly mistake.
Notice that the 'correctness' of the answer is not really the determiner of 'success' or 'failure' here. Time can be spent wisely on a question that is missed, or unwisely on a question that is gotten right.
But when a question appears in front of you, you should really make your first thought, "Spend time wisely," instead of anything like "I hope I get this one right." Because, again, *you won't* on so many questions that making it 'the goal' is just setting yourself up for failure.
For too many students, when a question appears in front of them, their 'goal'--consciously or not--is 'get this question right.'
If you've done any reading on the GMAT, though, you know full well that due to its adaptive nature, the test is *guaranteed* to give you questions you will NOT get right. Even a 760 scorer like me misses a boatload of questions. I once took a practice test and on the quant, I missed 11 out of 31 questions (over 1 in 3!), and still got a Q50.
So question. How can my 'goal' on a question be something I'm not going to be able to do 1 in 3 times?! Do I really 'fail' 33% of the time? Do I want to feel like I'm failing that often on this test?
Of course not. That puts me in a bad place, psychologically.
You must re-frame your goal on the question in front of you
There is a *single goal* for every GMAT question:
Use my time wisely
That is my goal, every question. To spend my time on that question wisely. These are 'success states' for that goal:
1). Get the question right, at or ahead of GMAT pace.
2). Get the question right going a little long IF I'M NOT BEHIND PACE
3). Try the question, not get to a single answer, realize getting a single answer will take too long, and make an educated guess at GMAT pace (could be right, could be wrong)
4). Realize early that the question is not worth the investment, and skip it entirely (if I'm right, it's totally lucky, 20% chance with 5 answers)
The failure states are:
1). Get a right answer that takes too long
2). Get a wrong answer that takes too long
3). Get a wrong answer because I rushed or made a silly mistake.
Notice that the 'correctness' of the answer is not really the determiner of 'success' or 'failure' here. Time can be spent wisely on a question that is missed, or unwisely on a question that is gotten right.
But when a question appears in front of you, you should really make your first thought, "Spend time wisely," instead of anything like "I hope I get this one right." Because, again, *you won't* on so many questions that making it 'the goal' is just setting yourself up for failure.
17 Jul 2021, 11:01
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This is awesome feedback. Thank you so much for sharing this tip. I definitely think there is a concept of perfection for many testtakers and very self-destructive approach to trying to solve every single question.
It is so hard to give up on a question and to just guess and MoveOn. I had this issue on my GMAT and I spent over three minutes I think it in the Bing close to four minutes on one probability question. I need up not being able to solve it, guessing it and guessing it incorrectly. So I wasted four minutes and got the same result I would’ve gotten if I didn’t even read the question and just guessed one of the answers…. The interesting thing is that I would not have done this on the practice test but I ended up doing on the actual test because I felt the actual test was more important than the practice test and I can’t just give up. In reality I was digging my own grave. Not realizing it. My suggestion is that whatever strategy you fall on the test day, it is the exact strategy you have rehearsed on the practice tests.
We do have some analysis with Dunn as to the number of mistakes you can make and still get a great score. https://gmatclub.com/forum/new-format-g ... 69682.html
Posted from my mobile device
It is so hard to give up on a question and to just guess and MoveOn. I had this issue on my GMAT and I spent over three minutes I think it in the Bing close to four minutes on one probability question. I need up not being able to solve it, guessing it and guessing it incorrectly. So I wasted four minutes and got the same result I would’ve gotten if I didn’t even read the question and just guessed one of the answers…. The interesting thing is that I would not have done this on the practice test but I ended up doing on the actual test because I felt the actual test was more important than the practice test and I can’t just give up. In reality I was digging my own grave. Not realizing it. My suggestion is that whatever strategy you fall on the test day, it is the exact strategy you have rehearsed on the practice tests.
We do have some analysis with Dunn as to the number of mistakes you can make and still get a great score. https://gmatclub.com/forum/new-format-g ... 69682.html
Posted from my mobile device
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