Verbal / guessing strategies / Scenarios

Question

Hi 
Sorry for the long post, need to explain the issue at hand in detail
I have been struggling to complete verbal section on time almost always on practice tests, My accuracy % drops after 15-18th question as soon as i realize that i am running out of time by 8-10 min and I start making silly mistakes on questions I take average time (1.5-2 min/Q)
I follow the grid technique where i check time after every 5 questions to see if i am on track but ignore the lag in first 25 questions as they are the important ones
I was wonder which guessing scenario would be the best for me in terms of finishing the test on time and not risk bombing my score

Scenario 1: Guessing on every 6th question if there is a lag
Question: How do I do it, Do i read the question and try to eliminate as many options as I can?, if yes then would i not be risking valuable time on the question with a potential risk of getting it wrong ?( Ex- after 10 question I have a lag of 5 min, I try 6th question eliminate to 3 choices in 1 min and move on, getting the question wrong, is that not waste of 1 min ? I would have to guess on other questions too because I havent really caught up time )

Scenario 2: Guessing on last 3-5 questions
Question: If i get all the questions wrong, would it not impact my score drastically? what if these questions are easy ones and i get it wrong, would it not have impact?

The issue really boils down to this: Should i really read a question which i know i need to guess on, If yes then how many min should i spend on it( 1?) and what if that 1 min/question is not enough for me to get back on track

Apologies if the query is really unstructured, there are lot of interlinked questions

Thanks

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kODnGIHE-GA - This video might be helpful

Abhi077 · Answer

This will help https://gmatclub.com/forum/new-format-g ... l#p2095776

TheUltimateWinner · Answer

Nityanshuratnoo 
If you missed last 3 or 5 questions your score will drastically decrease! If they're ''hard question'' then you have a normal penalty. If they are ''easy questions'' your penalty is more than the ''hard questions'' that you missed. And most important thing is that if you don't touch 2 or 3 questions at the end of the exam, you must have HUGE penalty. So, if you need to answer 5 questions (at the end of the exam) by 1 min you must touch (randomly guess) every questions.
Thanks__

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Nityanshuratnoo,

Many Test Takers face pacing issues in the Quant section, the Verbal section or both – so you are not alone. However, it's important to remember that pacing problems do NOT exist on their own - they're the results of OTHER problems. From what you are asking about, it seems that you just want to accept that those other problems exist - and "trade away" a certain number of questions to compensate. When done correctly, that can certainly help you to improve your Scores, but you might ultimately be better served by improving how you "see" (and respond to) your RC, SC and CR prompts so that you can ultimately fix the overall pacing issue altogether.

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

Nityanshuratnoo · Answer

Hi 
Thanks for the revert
Probably true, but I am not able to pinpoint on 2-3 areas where I am lacking skill set, the subsection mistakes I make have been varying too much amongst various topics(Ex-in some tests its pronouns and in some its parallelism)
To answer your questions

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?: 18-20 Hrs/ week
2) What study materials have you used so far?: Verbal: Theory-Gmat club mega thread for SC, power score for CR; Practice: OG questions using Manhattan Navigator basics, GMAT club questions and practice tests
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)?: Been giving practice tests every alternate weekend
Gmat exam 1: 640 ( Quant:47 Verbal:32)
Gmat exam 2: 690 ( Quant:50 Verbal:32)
Gmat exam 3: 650 ( Quant:49 Verbal:31)
Gmat exam 4: 710 ( Quant:50 Verbal:36)
Gmat exam 5: 700 ( Quant:49 Verbal:38)
Veritas practice test 1: 680 ( Quant:49 Verbal:34)
Veritas practice test 1: 680 ( Quant:49 Verbal:35)

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?: 710-720
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT? in next 3 months

I think i can manage quant to certain limit, but verbal has been my weak area which either leads to poor accuracy(if i hurry too much to answer) or lagging behind(with high focus and accuracy)

Thanks

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Nityanshuratnoo,

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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