Always doubting my answers

Question

Hello guys, I'm pretty new here. This forum is really amazing and useful.

I'm taking the GMAT next month and currently doing CATs, the thing is, whenever I solve a quant question quick, I go over my answer again to double check because I always seem to overestimate the difficulty of some questions.

Which really frustrates me because my answer ends up being correct and I just wasted about 20 seconds going over my answer.

I'm afraid this would waste a lot of time on the real test and I end up killing a lot of time.

Any suggestions? Should I just trust my gut and pick answer choices right after solving the problem?

Posted from my mobile device

VeritasPrepBrandon · Answer

Great question. You definitely do NOT have time to double check answers on the GMAT. That being said, I recommend that you quickly reread what is being asked (to make sure you answered the appropriate question) before moving on. The most common wrong answer on the GMAT is the right answer to the wrong question. So read question, solve, then reread to make sure you answered appropriate question (e.g. solved for X and not Y).

I hope this helps!!!

I hope this helps!!!

Abdul29 · Answer

Thanks! That'll help keeping my pace.

soods26 · Answer

I had a similar problem. I think this could be due to two things - lack of confidence or out of habit. This practice is going to be detrimental to you on the real GMAT and you must work on getting rid of this habit or gain confidence. It is important to be present in the moment and focus on the current question on the GMAT. Make sure you are paying attention to every little minute detail in the questions and avoid repeating work. Analyze your careless errors after every mock test and come up with ways to eliminate them. Track similar mistakes. For instance - if you figure that you make careless errors of a type in which you don't pay attention to the fact if a given in the question is an integer or a real number. Going forward make sure that for every question that you attempt make sure that you take note of the numbers involved.

Hope this helps.

Soli · Answer

Hi. I am working in CAT and I do have a problem.
Whenever I have doubt between two answer choices, I always select a wrong answer, however in my Mind I am sure that the other one was right.
It is really frustrating.
Any help or recommendations?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Soli,

To start, you will likely receive more of a response if you start your own post-thread (instead of piggy-backing on this old thread). From what you describe, it sounds as though you do not have a standard set of "steps" or strategies that you work through when answering certain types of GMAT questions (re: most Verbal questions and possibly DS questions in the Quant section). The act of "narrowing the answers down to 2 choices - and guessing" can be really useful when a question is difficult, but the more often you take that approach, the greater the likelihood that you will lose points in the long run (since probability dictates that you will likely get just 1/2 of those questions correct - and that could potentially be a LOT of missed points).

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 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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Soli,

I’m happy to provide some advice; however, I also would like to learn more about your situation with the GMAT. Once you respond to the questions, already asked, I can provide some further advice. In the meantime, you may find it helpful to read the following article:

Improving Your Accuracy on the GMAT

Soli · Answer

Hi Thanks for the Feedback
My target is +65o = Foster Full Time
I am not a native speaker, and I have been studying gmat for 2,3 month now.
I do pretty good in SC and Idioms. Just a few minutes ago, I did complete the idioms and empower CR set with the results of more than 85%. However I have a little problem with Modifiers.
In CR and RC my main problem is Assumption and Flaw questions, even in 700 level questions I easily narrow my answer choices down to 2, however I can't decide between those 2.
50% of the time I am wrong in choosing the correct answers.
Thank you.
My test is in 10 days at home tho

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Soli,

I've sent you a PM with some additional notes and questions.

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

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