Everything You Need To Know About Time Management

Time management is obviously an essential GMAT skill, and one of the (many!) skills we need for this test is the ability to maintain an appropriate time position. Time position refers to the relationship between the test takers position on the test (the question number) and the time that has elapsed to get to that point in the section. For example, if Ive just finished quant question #5 and 15 minutes have elapsed so far, am I ahead, behind, or on time?

Check out the table below to help answer that question:

Positive ahead of time (>3 minutes ahead) Neutral on time (+/- 3 minutes) Negativ behind on time (>3 minutes behind) e
In my previous example, I would be behind on time because, on quant, were expected to average about 2 minutes per question. After 5 questions, only 10 minutes should have elapsed so I am 5 minutes behind, putting me in a negative time position.

Most people will find themselves in the negative position more frequently than the positive position. If we run out of time before completing the section, were going to incur a huge penalty because either well answer a bunch of questions incorrectly in a row (random guessing just to finish on time) or well actually leave questions blank (and that incurs an even higher penalty than the first scenario).

It can also be very problematic to be too far in the positive position, though. If youre answering many or most questions way too quickly, then youre also likely making a lot of careless mistakes, and that will kill your score by the end of the test.

Ideally, wed like to remain neutral throughout the test, which means that we stay within two to three minutes of the expected time. Sometimes, though, were going to get off track. So how do we remain neutral as much as possible? And when we do get into a positive or negative position, how do we get back on track? Thats what were going to discuss in this series.

(1) Understand how the scoring works

If you dont understand how the scoring works, youre probably going to mess up your timing.

(A) Everyone gets a lot of questions wrong, no matter the scoring level; thats just how the test works. Pretend youre playing tennis. You dont expect to win every point, right? Thatd be silly. You just want to win more points than your opponent (the computer)!

(B) Getting an easier question wrong hurts your score more than getting a harder question wrong. In fact, the easier the question, relative to your overall score at that point, the more damage to your score if you get the question wrong. (Note: it is still very possible to get the score you want even if you make mistakes on a few of the easier questions.)

(C) Missing three or four questions in a row hurts your score more, on a per-question basis, than getting the same number of questions wrong but having them interspersed with correct answers. In other words, the effective per-question penalty actually increases as you have more questions wrong in a row. This, of course, is exactly what happens to someone who maintains a negative time position on the test; even if you notice and try to catch up toward the end, youre likely to end up with a string of wrong answers in a row.

(D) The largest penalty of all is reserved for not finishing the test another possible consequence of maintaining a negative time position.

(2) Know your per-question time constraints and track your work

When practicing GMAT-format problems, ALWAYS keep track of the time for each question, whether you are doing one problem at a time or a set of problems at once. (Note: GMAT-format means questions that are in the same format as one of the official GMAT question types. If you are doing other type of problems say, math drills you do not necessarily need to time yourself.)

Question Type Quant Sentence Correction Critical Reasoning Reading Comp: Reading Reading Comp: General Questions Reading Comp: Specific Questions

Average Timing 2 minutes 1 minute 15 seconds 2 minutes 2 to 3 minutes 1 min 1.5 minutes

Min and Max 1 minute; 2.5 minutes 45 seconds; 2 minutes 1 minute; 2.5 minutes 1.5 minutes; 3.5 minutes 30 seconds; 1 minute 30 seconds 45 seconds; 2 minutes

So what does that all mean? If we want to finish the section on time, then we have to hit the average expected timing. At the same time, averages are only averages youre going to have some faster questions and some slower ones. The Min and Max numbers reflect a different consideration. First, I want to make sure that Im generally spending enough time on questions that I dont make a bunch of careless mistakes simply due to speed. On the flip side, if Im spending more than about 30 seconds above the expected average, the chances are very good that the question is just too hard for me (and, if thats the case, Ive already spent too much time!).

Keep a time log that reflects the time spent on EVERY problem. (Note: if youre taking our course, use the OG Archer online program to time yourself and keep track of all of your data.) If you make your own log, it might look like a rough version of this:

Question Type Data Sufficiency Sentence Correction

Source OG12 #43 OG12 #62

Benchmark 2 min 1 min 15 sec 3 min

Time Spent

Time Position

2 min 10 -10 sec 1 min +15

Reading Comprehension: Reading OG12 long passage Passage #3

3 min 43 -43 sec

On the Data Sufficiency question, the test taker had a negative 10 second position; on the Sentence Correction question, the test taker had a positive 15 second position, and so on. Group the question types together in the log (so, instead of mixing types as the above chart does, keep one log for Data Sufficiency questions, a separate log for Sentence Correction questions, and so on). Highlight questions on which you fell outside of the Min / Max time range.

If you use ManhattanGMATs OG Archer, note that youll have all of the timing data saved for you automatically, but youll still have to keep track of which questions fall outside of the Min / Max time range. Click on the Review Your Answers link to view a list of the problems, and record the too fast and too slow problems in a log of your own.

(3) Reflect On Your Results

The log will make you aware of your pacing on a single-problem level, and will force you to consider the time as you work through a practice problem. Aggregate the data to determine those question types that are generally costing you time (a significantly negative time position overall). If youre using OG Archer, you can see this aggregate data on the Statistics tab (in Table or Graph format).

Next, note whether youre getting these negative position questions right or wrong (across the various categories for example, Rate problems or Modifier SCs). For those that youre answering correctly, the primary question to answer is: how can I become more efficient when answering questions of this type? For those that youre answering incorrectly, the initial question is simply: how can I get this wrong faster? (Im getting it wrong anyway so if I can get it wrong faster, which shouldnt be that hard to do, then at least I wont be hurting myself on other questions in the same section.)

How do you get things wrong faster? Well, Im exaggerating a little bit here, but what I really mean is: do NOT spend extra time on these questions (wrong and slow) no matter what. You may be able to learn how to make a decent educated guess and you should certainly try! Longer term, you may then decide to study that particular area / topic more closely in order to try to get better.

Also notice those questions that are buying you time (a significantly positive time position overall). First, make sure that you are not making many careless mistakes with these; working quickly is never a positive thing if you sacrifice a question that you were capable of answering correctly. You may actually need to slow down on some of these in order to minimize your careless mistakes.

If you do find areas that are both highly accurate and very efficient, excellent; these are your strengths and you should be very aware of those while taking the test. For instance, if you discover that youre in a negative time position, you should still take your normal amount of time to answer any strength questions; dont sacrifice the ones you can answer correctly! Instead, make a random guess on the next weakness question that you see in order to get yourself back to a neutral position.

(4) Develop your 1 minute sense

While keeping a single-problem time log will help you become aware of your pacing on all question types, you cant check the clock after every problem on the real test. Youll drive yourself crazy before the test is over! What to do, then?

What were going to do is develop a time sense so that we can make appropriate, timely decisions as we move through the test. Lets talk first about why and how we use this time sense; then, well talk about what we need to do in order to develop it.

WHY are we developing a 1-minute sense?

One of the key timeframes on this test is the 1-minute mark on a question. For quant, CR, and some RC questions, this represents the halfway point, and there are particular things that we need to have accomplished by that time in order to have a reasonable shot at finishing the question correctly in 2 minutes. For SC and some RC questions, the 1-minute mark represents the wrapping-up point we should be close to done with the problem.

For two minute questions (quant, CR, and Except or Roman Numeral RC), we spend the first minute actively trying to get to the right answer. By the 1 minute mark, we need to be on track. This means that we need to know what were doing, have a very good idea of what else needs to happen in the second minute, and have confidence that were capable of doing that work. If were not on track at the 1 minute mark, then we need to move from our best strategy (trying to find the right answer) to our second-best strategy (trying to find wrong answers). We spend up to 1 more minute eliminating wrong answers, then we guess and move on.

Note: when youre on track, theres no question in your mind. If I were to interrupt you on such a question and ask whether you were on track, youd tell me, yes, I am, dont interrupt me! If you are thinking, Well, I know this part over here Im not totally sure where thats going, but with a little more time, Im sure No. Stop. You are not on track.

For most other questions (SC and general or main idea RC questions), the 1-minute mark is almost the times up mark. If youre getting that 1minute feeling and youre not on track, guess from among the remaining answers and move on. (Do not spend time trying to figure out how to guess at this point times already up.)

Finally, for normal specific detail and inference RC questions (not Except or Roman Numeral), our expected timeframe is about 1.5 minutes. When you get that 1-minute feeling and arent on track, start to eliminate more aggressively. You have a little time to decide what to eliminate, but you cant spend up to another minute on these.

HOW do we develop a 1-minute sense?

You need access to a stop watch (physical or electronic) that has lap timing capability. (Most electronic stopwatches will do this; only some physical stopwatches will.) When using lap timing, pushing the lap button will not stop the stopwatch; rather, it will mark the time at which you pushed the button, but the stopwatch itself will keep running. You can push the lap button multiple times, and the timer will record all of the times at which you pushed the button while continuing to run.

Set yourself up with a set of 5 or 10 quant or CR practice problems. (Its best to practice this with 2-minute questions to start.) Start your timer and cover it up so that you cant see what it says (but still give yourself access to the lap button). Dive into the first problem; when you think its been about a minute since you began, push that lap button. When youre done with the problem, push the lap button again. Start your second problem; when you think its been about a minute since you began, push that lap button. When youre done, push the button again. Keep repeating this process until youre done with your set. (Note: if youre done with the question before you think it has been a minute, check your work. If you were really that fast, you have the time to check, right? Make sure you didnt make a careless mistake simply due to speed. While checking your work, still push that button when you think it has been a minute since you started in the first place.)

Now, go back and look at the data. For the 1-minute part, anything between 45 seconds and 1 minute 15 seconds is good. Anything outside of that range is too fast or too slow. Note your tendencies and, tomorrow, adjust accordingly when you do your next set of problems. Most people find it takes three to four weeks of regular practice with this in order to develop a time sense that is reasonably accurate most of the time.

Note: you can also train yourself when youre doing anything that requires extended mental concentration, even if its not GMAT-related. Have to write up a report or memo for work or do some research? Set up your timer and push the button every minute until youve pushed it ten times. Then check your data.

Once your time sense is relatively reliable, you can start to implement your am I on track? and if not, Im moving on, or Im moving to guessing strategy. This also requires you to know how to make good educated guesses, of course. Check out these two articles for help: Educated Guessing on Quant and Educated Guessing on Verbal.

(5) Transition to Benchmarks

You probably noted that our timing is still a bit loose above; we might finish one 2-minute question in only 1.5 minutes, and another in 2.5 minutes. Thats fine, as long as we are generally spending long enough (at least 1 minute) to minimize careless mistakes and yet not too long (more than 2.5 minutes) so that we dont take time away from other questions.

On a full test or test section, its best to monitor time using Benchmarks. There are several ways to do this; try these out and use the one that works best for you.

Method 1: Checking the clock at certain times to see whether youre on the right question (all question ranges assume + / 1 question; that is, youre okay if youre within 1 question of the expected range):

Time Left Math Near Question Verbal Near Question 75 minutes 1 60 minutes 7-8 45 minutes 14-15 30 minutes 21-22 15 minutes 28-29 1 8-10 16-18 24-26 32-34

Method 2: Checking the question number at certain points to see whether youve used the right amount of time (all times assume + / 2 minutes; that is, youre okay if youre within 2 minutes on either side); Note: check after finishing the listed question:

Q Number (After Finishing) Math Time Left Verbal Time Left 10 20 30 55 minutes 35 minutes 15 minutes 56 minutes 37 minutes 19 minutes

Method 3 (quant only): Doing a little math to calculate your position. Heres how it works: Glance at the question number. Multiply that number by 2. Subtract the resulting number from 75. Now look at the clock. Are you within 2 minutes of that number?

For example, Im on question 11. Multiplying by 2 gives me 22. 75 22 = 53. If the timer says 51 to 55 minutes left, Im okay; if the timer is outside of that range, Im going too quickly or too slowly.

Note that the time block for method 1 is 15 minutes and the time block for method 2 is 20 minutes. As you progress in your studies, you can begin to set up 15-minute or 20-minute blocks of practice questions and do mini tests to start practicing the timing in a block. (Use the perquestion timing averages to determine how many questions you should have in a 15-minute or 20-minute block.)

(6) Know how to recover from bad timing

Okay, everything weve talked about so far has focused on what we dowant to do. What do we do if things get off track? There are two levels to this: what to do immediately during an actual testing / timed situation, and what to do during your study afterward, before you take another test.

What to do during a test

As soon as you notice a timing problem, you need to start dealing with it. Dont ignore it and assume it will get better later; most likely, it will only get worse.

First, heres how you know youre going too slowly:

Method 1: you are more than one question lower than the expected range for that timeframe. For example, you check the clock at 45 minutes to go on quant, and you are on question 12. Youre supposed to be on question 14 or 15. Youre 2 questions away; you need to take action.

Method 2: you are more than 2 minutes slower than the expected time. For instance, you check the clock after finishing question 20 on verbal, and you have 33 minutes left. Youre supposed to have around 37 minutes left, so youve lost 4 minutes. Again, you need to take action.

Method 3 (quant only): works like method 2, above.

You are going to need to sacrifice something in order to get back on track; you dont have a choice about that. You do have a choice about what you sacrifice and there are better and worse choices you can make. Do NOT sacrifice things you know how to do. Dont tell yourself that youll do this question 30 seconds faster because you already know how to do it, so you can just speed up. Youre risking a careless mistake on a question that you know how to get right, plus youre going to have to do that on several questions to make up the 2 minutes that youre behind, so youre really giving yourself a chance to miss multiple questions that you know how to do.

Instead, the very next time you see a question that you know is a weakness of yours, skip it. Make an immediate, random guess and move on. There youve only sacrificed one question, and it was a weakness anyway. Depending upon the question type and how quickly you moved on, you saved anywhere from a little under 1 minute to a little under 2 minutes. If thats enough to catch back up, great. If not, repeat this behavior until you are caught back up. Dont worry if you see two big weakness questions in a row. Maybe you got lucky and got that first one right. Maybe one is an experimental. Even if they both count, getting two wrong in a row wont kill your score you can recover because you still have more questions to come and youre not sure that you couldve gotten them right anyway, because they were weaknesses.

What about going too quickly? We can tell in the same way except the data is the opposite of what it was above. For method 1, you are more than one question higher than the expected range for that timeframe so youre on a higher question number than expected. For methods 2 and 3, you are more than 2 minutes faster than the expected time so you have more time left on the clock than expected.

In this case, you do need to slow down a bit, because you might be making careless mistakes simply due to speed. Make sure youre writing everything down. Check your work on the questions that you know you know how to do. (On the ones you absolutely dont know how to do, though, just go ahead and move on you dont need to spend more time on those.) Use your 1-minute sense! If youre ready to move on before its been about a minute (and you think you got it right), now would be a great time to check your work.

Okay, the test is over, and you realize that you messed up the timing. Now what? Now you go all the way back to the beginning of this article and start practicing all of the things we discussed until youre better able to balance your timing throughout a test section (and note that this can take weeks and even months, depending upon how severe your timing problems are and whether they are also related to holes in your content knowledge and skills).

How to Make Educated Guesses on Verbal

A few weeks ago, we talked about how to make educated guesses on quant (you can click here for that article). This article covers educated guessing in verbal.

What is Educated Guessing?

(This section of the article is identical to the Quant educated guessing article.) Generally speaking, there are two kinds of guessing: random and educated. A random guess is one in which you really dont have any good idea how to choose among all five answer choices. An educated guess is simply one in which you have used good reasoning to eliminate a wrong answer or answers before you make a random guess from among the remaining choices.

It is often the case that we can figure out some likely wrong answers even when we have no idea how to find the right answer. When we narrow our options in this way, we give ourselves a better chance of guessing correctly when we finally do guess. In order to narrow our options effectively, though, we actually have to have studied this in advance; this is not something that you just know how to do.

Everyone will have to guess at some point on the GMAT; theres no way around that. The test will give you things that you cant do. (Most people have to guess on between 4 and 7 questions in each section.)

When Should I Make an Educated Guess?

On verbal, we use a different process to answer the answers than we do on quant. We are actually making an educated guess right from the beginning of each verbal problem.

Our first pass through the five answers is used to determine which answers are definitely wrong and can be crossed out immediately (and ignored from now on). We do not attempt to determine which answers are correct on this first pass; we only cross off the ones we know are definitely wrong (and this is already educated guessing, because we are eliminating answers!). It is rare not to be able to eliminate any answers on the first pass, though this can happen occasionally. If you arent able to eliminate a single answer on your first pass, you will need to consider making a random guess on this question and moving on.

On our second pass, we take a more careful look at any remaining answer choices. If we get stuck, we may need to use more sophisticated means to continue to narrow down our answers through the use of educated guessing.

Techniques

There are many different techniques that we can use to make educated guesses. For the most part, the techniques will be specific to a problem type (Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, or Reading Comprehension) or even to a sub-type (for example, Draw a Conclusion on CR). Ill discuss some of the most common below, but you should consider this just a starting point. As you study from now on, ask yourself: how can I eliminate wrong answers on this question? How do the test writers make wrong answers tempting on certain types of verbal problems?(Tip: its often easier to figure this out on questions you answered correctly; learn how to do it on questions you understand, then apply the technique to harder problems of the same type.)

Note: what we discuss in this section still involves making guesses based on certain common traps; it is not the case that these guesses will alwaysresult in correctly eliminating wrong answers. These tactics should be used only when needed; they should not be your first line of attack.

Sentence Correction: Play the Odds on Certain Splits

There are certain pairs of differences, or splits, in the answer choices that more often resolve one way than the other (more often not always). If you know what these are and you have to make a guess, then you can play the odds by guessing the variation that is more often correct. For instance, in a split between like and such as, the phrase such as is more likely to appear in the correct answer. (This is because people often make the mistake of using like when they actually should use such as, so the trap is to think that like is okay to use in place of such as.) In a split between rather than and instead of, rather than is more likely to appear in the correct answer.

When youre studying and see a split that youve seen before, ask yourself: does this tend to go one way more than the other? If so, why? (There should be a good reason, like the reason I described above for like versus such as.)

Critical Reasoning: Know the Common Traps

In Critical Reasoning, the common traps tend to be specific to the problem sub-types. The four major types (according to ManhattanGMAT!) are: Find the Assumption, Draw a Conclusion, Strengthen the Conclusion, and Weaken the Conclusion.

On Find the Assumption, Strengthen, or Weaken types, the right answer needs to be connected to the conclusion in some way. Wrong answers are sometimes not tied to the conclusion at all. If youre debating between two choices and one is tougher to connect to the conclusion, dont guess that one.

On Draw a Conclusion, wrong answers will often go too far they will go beyond the scope of what we can reasonably conclude from the given information. If you are debating between two choices and have to guess, choose the one that doesnt go as far from the premises given in the argument.

Reading Comprehension: Know the Common Traps

In Reading Comprehension, again, the common traps tend to be specific to the problem sub-types. On General (main idea) type questions, the wrong answers will often be either too specific or too broad; if you have to guess, pick a middle of the road type answer. Extreme words are often included in wrong answers.

On Inference questions, wrong answers will often go too far (much like wrong answers on CR Draw a Conclusion questions). Choose an answer that doesnt stray as far from the text of the passage. Wrong answers may be what we call plausible in the real world but not addressed by the passage. If you read something and think, Hey, thats probably true! but realize you think that because of your own knowledge of the world, not something you read in the passage dont guess that one.

On Specific questions (both inference and look-up) beware of the mix-up trap. If the answer choice includes language directly from the passage, but that language is found in two or more separate paragraphs in the passage, then the answer is more likely to be a trap.

Your Turn!

Its up to you now to keep studying and find more of these. Talk to your friends. Ask your instructors. STUDY the problems youre doing from this point of view: how do the test writers get someone to choose this wrong answer? How do the test writers get someone to eliminate this right answer?

Also, Id like to invite some enterprising Beat the GMAT member to start a new thread in the Verbal forum. Title it Educated Guessing or something similar. Link to this article and include whatever other strategies youve devised. Include a sample problem and your written-out reasoning of the educated guessing process for that problem. Then ask others to start listing other strategies, along with specific problem examples and written reasoning.

How to Make Educated Guesses on Quant

This article was written by our very own instructor, Stacey Koprince. If youre looking for more great resources and advice, check out our free resources section.

Ive been getting lots of great article ideas from students lately, and this is one of them: how do we make educated guesses on quant problems? (Ill do a separate article about verbal in future.)

Note: if you requested a different topic, dont worry! I keep a list of all requests; I will get to your request eventually. Im generally choosing the order based upon the number of requests I get from different people about the same topic.

What is Educated Guessing?

Generally speaking, there are two kinds of guessing: random and educated. A random guess is one in which you really dont have any good idea how to choose among all five answer choices. An educated guess is simply one in which you have used good reasoning to eliminate a wrong answer or answers before you make a random guess from among the remaining choices.

It is often the case that we can figure out some likely wrong answers even when we have no idea how to find the right answer. When we narrow our options in this way, we give ourselves a better chance of guessing correctly when we finally do guess. In order to narrow our options effectively, though, we actually have to have studied this in advance; this is not something that you just know how to do.

Everyone will have to guess at some point on the GMAT; theres no way around that. The test will give you things that you cant do. (Most people have to guess on between 4 and 7 questions in each section.)

When Should I Make an Educated Guess?

We need to average two minutes per question on quant. By the halfway mark, one minute, we have to be on track we know what the problem is asking, have a good idea of how to get to the answer, and have started setting up the calculations. If were not on track by the one minute mark, then this is when we should switch to educated guessing. Were not suddenly going to figure everything out and finish all of the work in the second minute. In addition, it can take 30 to 60 seconds to make an effective educated guess, and we dont want to lose time on an educated-guessing question.

Techniques

There are many different techniques that we can use to make educated guesses. Some techniques can work on a large percentage of questions; some will work only on very specific types of questions. Ill discuss some of the most common below, but you should consider this just a starting point. As you study from now on, ask yourself: how can I eliminate wrong answers on this question? (Tip: its often easier to figure this out on questions you answered correctly; learn how to do it on questions you understand, then apply the technique to harder problems of the same type.)

Also, on problem solving questions, get into the habit of glancing at the answer choices before you start solving the problem. Certain characteristics can give you ideas about how to solve or how to make an educated guess and you want to notice those things right away.

You may be able to use the first three techniques to get to a single (correct!) answer; for these three, you may decide to use one right from the start on some problems.

Estimation (Problem Solving and sometimes Data Sufficiency)

Does the problem contain the word approximately or something similar? Are the numerical answer choices decently far apart? Is there a diagram, or could you draw one, that would allow you to estimate? Can you assess things in terms of more than half vs. less than half (this often works well on probability, sets, rates, work, fractions, percents)? Can you assess things in terms of positive vs. negative or greater than one vs. less than one (this often works well with number theory)?

If the answer to any of those question is yes, you can likely get rid of some answers by estimating. Practice when and how.

Try the Answers (Problem Solving)

Are the answers generally small, easy numbers? Try them in the problem! Start with B or D. After every choice, if that choice is wrong, try to determine whether you need a larger or smaller number. For example, lets say that we try B first. Its wrong and we can also tell that we need a larger number. A is smaller, so cross off A as well. Next, try D. Its wrong, too, but we can tell that we need a smaller number. Therefore, the answer is C. If you can tell whether you need a smaller or larger number, then you never need to try more than two choices (B and D) in order to get to the answer.

Pick Numbers (Problem Solving)

Are there variable expressions in the answers? Try picking your own easy numbers to find an answer that works. Even if you find that two answers work (which happens sometimes), at least youve narrowed down to two!

Know How DS Answers Work (Data Sufficiency)

If the two statements ultimately say exactly the same thing no more and no less then you know that the answer is either D or E. (Think about why.) If statement 2 includes exactly what statement 1 says plus some additional info, then the answer is neither A nor C. If statement 1 includes exactly what statement 2 says plus some additional info, then the answer is neither B nor C. (Again, think about why.) If its very obvious that using the two statements together will work (as in: a 14 year old could tell immediately that the two together will work), then the answer is probably A or B. If one statement is really complicated and looks like Greek guess that it works.

Eliminate the Odd One Out (Problem Solving)

In some problems (often rates, work, sets, fractions, percents), four of the answers are presented in pairs of two. For instance, if Johnny and Susie are 20 miles apart and walking towards each other, <blah detail numbers blah>. How far will Johnny have walked when they meet? Answers: 6, 8, 9, 11, 12. Which answer is the odd one out?

The pairs are based on the total distance walked: 20 miles. 8 and 12 add up to 20 and 9 and 11 add up to 20. The most common wrong answer will be based on solving for Susies distance (the other half of the pair) rather than Johnnys distance. Dont guess 6. (And take it even further: can you tell whether Johnny walked more or less than half of the distance? You cant from what I typed above, but you might be able to on a real problem. Now, youre down to just two answers!)

Your Turn!

Its up to you now to keep studying and find more of these. Talk to your friends. Ask your instructors. STUDY the problems youre doing from this point of view. What else can you do?

Also, Id like to invite some enterprising MGMAT forums member to start a new thread in the MGMAT Strategy Guides quant forum. Title it Educated Guessing or something similar. Link to this article and include whatever other strategies youve devised. Include a sample problem and your written-out reasoning of the educated guessing process for that problem. Then ask others to start listing other strategies, along with specific problem examples (from MGMAT or GMATPrep only) and written reasoning. Lets get a good list going that can be a permanent resource for everyone!

How To Read A Reading Comp Passage

Recently, I was asked to write an article on the reading part of reading comprehension specifically, what are we supposed to do and look for during the initial few minutes before we start to answer the first question? I thought it was a great idea; a lot of people struggle with this.

Note: this article doesnt address how to answer reading comprehension questions; it focuses on the initial read-through and note-taking. If you do that well, though, then that should help you answer any kind of question.

Goals

Whenever we start a specific type of problem, we should have certain goals in mind (depending, of course, on what that problem type is). Reading Comprehension (RC) is no exception.

First, we have some timing goals. I aim to complete an initial read-through of an RC passage in 2 (shorter) to 3 (longer) minutes. I try to answer general questions (e.g., main idea) in about 1 minute and specific questions in about 1.5 to 2 minutes.

I also take some short notes while I read through the passage; these notes will be based upon the goals discussed in the next several paragraphs. My notes will be heavily abbreviated; see the Taking Notes section below for more on this topic.

Next, we have some goals for the initial read-through of the passage. Every passage has a topic and what I call The Point. The topic is what you would probably expect: the basic topic under discussion in the passage. The Point is the main reason the author is writing this specific passage (you can also think of The Point as the thesis statement). For instance, a passage topic might be the curious decline of bees in recent years (entire hives have been dying, losing the ability to find their way back to the hive, and so on). The Point might be that, out of three possible causes (all mentioned in the passage), a certain pesticide is the most likely cause (according to the author). Back to our Goal: when I read the passage, I need to make sure I understand The Point, not just the topic.

Further, I also need to make sure I understand the purpose of each paragraph. These passages follow the same rules were supposed to use when we write an essay: each paragraph should have one distinct purpose or message (and, often, that message is delivered via a topic sentence, usually the first or second sentence of the paragraph).

Finally, I also need to make sure that I do NOT fully understand or remember all of the detail in each paragraph. That NOT was not a typo. Im trying to read this passage in 2 to 3 minutes maximum; I dont have time to try to fully understand, let alone remember, all of the detail. My goal is to know in which paragraph the different kinds of detail reside thats all.

Wait How Can I Get Away With NOT Understanding the Detail?

This is where we can take advantage of the fact that the GMAT is a standardized test. An individual test-taker is given only about half of the questions that were written for that passage. That little piece of knowledge has major implications for how we conduct the initial read-through.

I know that Im going to have to understand The Point, because that permeates the entire passage and even, to some extent, every question that I answer. I also know that I will not get asked about every detail on the screen, because Im never going to see half of the questions. So why learn all of that annoying detail unless I know that Im going to get a question about it? (And I wont know that until the question pops up on the screen.)

Instead, as we discussed above, my goal for the detail is to know in which paragraph it resides. That way, if I do get a question about the chemical mechanism by which the pesticide affects a bees nervous system, Ill immediately know that I can find that detail in paragraph 2. I wont have any idea how to answer the question yet; Ill have to read that detail now to see whether I can figure it out.

Note: did you hit a word you dont know? Skip it. Is some sentence really convoluted? If its the first sentence of a paragraph, use your SC knowledge to find the subject and verb, just to get a basic understanding of what it says. If its a detail sentence, skip it.

The Initial Read-through

Most of the time, The Point can be found in one discrete sentence somewhere in the passage (though sometimes we have to combine two sentences to get the full Point). Most often, The Point can be found in the first few or last few sentences of the entire passage, but it is possible for The Point to show up anywhere.

So, a new passage pops up on the screen and we, naturally, start reading. Read the first sentence, then stop. Rephrase it in your mind (put it into words that you can understand very easily), and jot down a note or two. Then do the same with the second sentence. Once you think you understand the purpose of that one paragraph, you can start skimming the rest of the paragraph. While you skim, youre trying to make this distinction: is this information just detail that goes along with whatever I decided was the purpose of this paragraph? Or is this information something new: does it represent a new idea or a change of direction? If its just detail, jot down the basic kind of detail it is (bees dying) and move on. If it represents a new idea or change of direction, then pay a little more attention and take some short notes.

Do the same with the other paragraphs, though you can be a bit more aggressive about skimming. If, for example, you think you understand the purpose of the second paragraph after reading only the first sentence, thats fine. Start skimming (but take note of anything that represents a new direction).

When youre done, take a moment to articulate The Point to yourself. Is that already in your notes? Put a star next to it. If it isnt in your notes, jot it down.

Taking Notes

Your notes should be heavily abbreviated much more aggressively abbreviated than notes you would typically take at work or school. In fact, if I look at my notes for a passage a few days later, I should have a lot of trouble figuring out what they say (without using the passage as a reference).

How can we get away with abbreviating this heavily? Again, were taking advantage of the nature of this test. Youre going to spend perhaps 6 to 8 minutes with this passage and then you can forget about it forever. You dont need to commit anything to long-term memory, nor do you need to take notes from which you can study in a week. (Of course, if youre just practicing, you are going to review your work later, but you should still practice as though its the real thing.)

Analyzing Your Work

Everyone already knows that its important to review your work on the problems you do, but did you know that its also important to review how you read and take your notes? When youre done with a passage and the associated questions, start your review with the passage itself. When you were done reading (but before you answered questions), what did you think The Point was? What did you think the purpose of each paragraph was? Did that knowledge or understanding change as you worked your way through the questions? If you misunderstood something after the first read-through, why do you think you misunderstood it? Did you read too quickly and overlook something? Did you not take the time to rephrase what you read? How could you do this better next time?

Next, match your initial notes to your current knowledge of what information is contained in the passage. Were you able to find the right paragraph easily when answering a specific question? If not, why not? What should you have jotted down on the initial read-through to make that easier? Conversely, did you have too much information jotted down? Maybe you were able to answer a specific question just from your notes, or maybe you had a lot of detail written down that you never had to use. If so, you wrote down too much information and you spent too much time on the initial read-through.

Could you have abbreviated even more? Write down what that might have looked like, from the beginning. (In general, if you feel your notes were fairly far from your ideal for any reason, then re-write the notes the way you should have written them the first time.)

Take-aways

(1) You do NOT want to learn or comprehend every single thing that the passage says

(2) Know your goals:

(a) Find The Point

(b) Find the purpose of each paragraph

(c) Know where (in which paragraph) to find different kinds of detail

(3) Practice sticking to your timing and practice abbreviating heavily

(4) When you review your work, also review how you read and took notes on the passage

What to read and what not to read on RC passages

A student recently asked me to show an example of how I read and take notes on a reading comprehension passage. In this older article, I discussed how to read through an RC passage in general, but I didnt show an example. If you havent already read the older article, read that first; then come back here to see an example.

The passage below is from the ManhattanGMAT CAT database (copyright MG Prep). If you are still using our exams and havent yet seen this passage, then you may want to wait until after youve seen the passage before you read this article.

As a general rule, we want to spend about 2 to 2.5 minutes on shorter passages and about 2.5 to 3 minutes on longer passages. The below passage is a longer one, so give yourself up to 3 minutes to read and take light notes.

Sarah Meyers McGinty, in her new book Power Talk: Using Language to Build Authority and Influence, argues that while the simple lingual act of declaring power does not help a powerless person gain influence, well-considered linguistic techniques and maneuvers do. McGinty does not dispute the importance of factors such as expertise and ability in determining stature, but argues persuasively that these power determinants amount to little for a person unable to communicate effectively. Surveys have shown that managers consider effective communication skills the most critical characteristic in determining promotability in the workplace.

McGinty divides speech into two categories: language from the center and language from the edge. In McGintys words, Language from the center makes a speaker sound like a leader. McGinty suggests that such language is not only for those already in powerful positions, but also for those of lower ranks who wish to gain more power and credibility. A speaker using language from the center directs rather than responds, makes statements rather than asks questions, uses experience persuasively, and maintains an air of impersonality in the workplace. McGintys assertions that the use of such language can alter or create a new balance of power are supported by studies that show that people accept leadership from those they consider experts.

Language from the edge stands in stark contrast to language from the center. Language from the edge is exploratory, inclusive, deferential, and collaborative. A speaker using language from the edge responds rather than directs, asks questions, strives to make others feel heard, and avoids argument. Language from the center strives to claim authority for a speaker, while language from the edge strives to build consensus and trust. McGinty argues that true power comes from a deep understanding of when to use which style and the ability to use both as necessary.

What distinguishes McGintys discussion of effective communication is her focus on communication skills as a way of gaining power; by contrast, most workplace communication theory focuses on communication skills as a way of preventing misunderstandings, avoiding conflict, and fostering interpersonal relationships. McGinty, however, holds that language not only helps maintain relationships but also lends authority.

Many of you are probably thinking: that was nowhere near enough time. How am I supposed to get through something like that in 3 minutes (or faster!)? If youve read the other article I linked above, then you know my answer already: because were not going to read and try to understand every last detail in there. Im going to take you through what I would think and what I would write while Im reading this passage for the first time.

Paragraph 1

The first column contains the actual text, but Ive underlined the words that I really read carefully and inserted blah blah blah when I started seriously skimming. The wording without underlines indicates things that I did read but to which I didnt pay that much attention.

What I read

What I think P1

What I write

Sarah Meyers SMM has a book and I McGinty, in her new really dont know what its book Power Talk: blah talking about yet! blah blah,argues that while the simple lingual act of declaring power does not help a powerless person gain influence, wellconsidered linguistic techniques and maneuvers do. McGinty does not dispute the importance of factors such as expertise and abilityin determining stature, but arguespersuasively thatthese power determinantsamount to little for a person unable to communicate effectively.

SMM book

SMM: Expertise and ability P1 are important but dont mean much if you cant SMM book: communicate well. Okay, Im getting an idea of her comm well = imp topic now: communication. (communicating well = important)

Surveys have shown Survey: managers like that managers consider communication skills. This effective isnt SMM talking any more. communication skills the most critical characteristic in determining promotability in the workplace.

P1 SMM book: comm well = imp Study: M: comm skills crit

Paragraph 2

The first column contains the actual text, but Ive underlined the words that I really read carefully and inserted blah blah blah when I started seriously skimming. The wording without underlines indicates things that I did read but to which I didnt pay that much attention.

What I read McGinty divides

What I think SMM has two types of P2

What I write

speech into two categories: language from thecenter and language from the edge. In McGintys words, Language from thecenter makes a speaker sound like a leader. McGinty suggests that such languageis not only for those already in powerful positions, but also for those of lower ranks who wish to gain more powerand credibility. A speaker using language from the center directs rather than responds, makes statements rather than asks questions, uses experience persuasively, and maintains an air of impersonality in the workplace. McGintys assertions that the use of such language can alter or create a new balance of powerare supported by studies that show that people accept leadership from those they consider experts.

language (1) center and (2) edge. Okay, now (1) Center L were getting into her actual hypothesis. I dont know (2) Edge L what those terms mean yet. Center language has P2 something to do with being a leader. (1) Center L: leaders (2) Edge L Such language means language from the center. SMM says that powerful people use this but also people who want to become powerful. So this language has something to do with power and being a leader. This is just a list of characteristics when someones using language from the center. I stopped reading carefully after the first one. If I get a question later about how to use center language, Ill come back here. P2 (1) Center L: leaders, power (2) Edge L

P2 (1) Center L: leaders, power (2) Edge L > dtl on (1) (more detail on category 1)

Other studies also seem to support what SMM says about center language being used to create power.

P2 (1) Center L: leaders, power (2) Edge L > dtl on (1) Studies: SMMs center theory = good

Paragraph 3

The first column contains the actual text, but Ive underlined the words that I really read carefully and inserted blah blah blah when I started seriously skimming. The wording without underlines indicates things that I did read but to which I didnt pay that much attention.

What I read Language from the edge stands in stark contrast to language from the center. Language from the edge is exploratory, inclusive, blah blah.

What I think Edge language is different than center language. I dont know how yet. P3

What I write

edge = diff from center

This is a description of P3 edge characteristics. Im not going to write them edge = diff from center down Ill just know theyre here if I need to read them characs again. Examples of how to use this P3 edge language this is just like that other sentence in edge = diff from center the last paragraph about how people use center characs and ex. language. (characteristics and examples)

A speaker using language from the edge responds rather than directs, asks questions,blah blah.

Language from the center strives to claim authority for a speaker, while language from the edge strives to build consensus and trust.

This is a big idea sentence. I know this because its not giving me examples or details; rather, its giving a broad this is true statement about the two types of language. So I read the whole thing. Another big idea sentence. I want to pay careful attention especially because theyre mentioning McGinty again and because it says that this is what she argues this is a big hypothesis. SMM thinks that true power comes from using BOTH types of language at the right time. Thats a bit of a surprise; I had been thinking that center language was for power and edge language wasnt.

P3 edge = diff from center characs and ex. Center: claim auth Edge: build cons + trust

McGinty argues that true power comes from a deep understanding of when to use which style and the ability to use both as necessary.

P3 edge = diff from center characs and ex. Center: claim auth Edge: build cons + trust SMM: use BOTH to gain power

Paragraph 4

The first column contains the actual text, but Ive underlined the words that I really read carefully and inserted blah blah blah when I started seriously skimming. The wording without underlines indicates things that I did read but to which I didnt pay that much attention.

What I read What distinguishes McGintys discussionof effective communication is her focus on communication skills as a way of gaining power; by contrast, most workplace communication theory focuses on communication skills as a way of preventing misunderstandings,blah blah blah. McGinty, however, holds that languagenot only helps maintain relationships but also lends authority.

What I think

What I write

SMM is different from P4 others. She focuses on using communication skills to gain SMM diff: comm skills = way power. I guess that means to gain power others dont.

Yep, ok, most others focus on using comm for other stuff. I dont care what that other stuff is now; if I need to know for a question, Ill come back here later. Im not even going to write that down.

P4 SMM diff: comm skills = way to gain power

They all agree on the P4 relationship stuff, but SMM also thinks language lends SMM diff: comm skills = way authority back to the to gain power power thing. This is just summarizing what I already know, so Im still not going to write any more down.

So that last thing that SMM thinks that we can use communication skills to gain power and lend authority seems to be the big idea here. That, and the fact that others dont think the same thing as SMM; this is her theory. The correct answer to a main idea question should address those concepts.

Also, she talks about two different kinds of language: center and edge. People who want power or want to be leaders have to use both and have to know when to use each kind.

Take-aways for Reading an RC Passage:

(1) On the first read-through, were trying to understand the big picture ideas as well as any major contrasts or changes of direction. Thats all. We want to take light notes, delineated by paragraph, while were reading.

(2) We dont have a lot of time to read these passages, so we specifically want to try to avoid getting sucked into the detail on these passages. We should know what kind of detail we have and in which paragraph its located but well come back to that detail later on, and only if we actually get a question about it.

(3) You will likely feel uncomfortable with this approach at first because you will be skimming or outright skipping some of the detail. You shouldfeel as though you dont understand every last thing in the passage if you do understand every last thing, you are reading too carefully and taking too much time. As long as you understand the big ideas and any major contrasts, youll be fine!