Wordy problems - timing approach

Hello, Jeffry289. I agree with what has been written above. In fact, I follow and teach a three-step process to Quant that allows the test-taker to remain calm even in the face of a difficult or lengthy question:

1) What is the question asking? (For instance, you might get a question that asks about the value of x - y, and while you may never know the individual values of x and y, you may still be able to answer the question that is being asked.)

2) What information do I have? (As was suggested above, write down what you know as you encounter it. This will help you overcome that initial inertia or feeling that you have stepped in quicksand and are afraid to make a move. Too often, students make the mistake of seeking to take in all the information at once, and the task becomes overwhelming.)

3) What is the core concept being tested, or what concepts are being tested? (Even the hardest questions build from foundational concepts, and if you can identify that concept or those concepts, you will have a much better chance of being able to tackle the problem.)

To improve your timing, you will also need to spend time reviewing questions. If you have gone through the OG, for example, look up the questions you missed or guessed on right here in the forum, see if someone else has offered a novel way of going through the same question more efficiently. Through a combination of review and practice, your accuracy will increase, your confidence will go up, and, to speak to the point, your timing will go down.

Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew