Which GMAT Problems Should I Guess On? – Part 2: When to Guess
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If you read the previous article in this series, we hope you’re ready to start using guessing as a first resort! Guessing is a critical and necessary part of getting the GMAT score you deserve. But how do you know that a problem is ‘guessable’? After all, the tough problems aren’t labeled on the test. They look exactly the same as every other problem…or do they?
When you start studying for the GMAT, there might be some things you just don’t ‘get’. For instance, if you’re taking our nine week GMAT Complete Course, you might go into your second practice test not knowing how to find the area of a trapezoid, or when you’re supposed to use the subjunctive tense. That’s okay. If a problem gives you the ‘I don’t get it’ feeling when you first read it, it’s always okay to guess, even if you’re doing well on timing.
There may also be situations where you have to guess, because you’re behind on time and need to quickly make up for it. In this situation, it’s always okay to guess randomly. If it’s super-easy – as in, you can solve it in one minute or less – go ahead and give it a shot, but keep your eye on the clock. Otherwise, guess randomly and pat yourself on the back for demonstrating good executive reasoning skills.
Those situations aren’t what this article is really about, though. This strategy is for those problems on the GMAT that you understand, but can’t solve – or worse, problems that you can solve, but not within the time limit. These problems won’t fail the ‘do I get it?’ test, so it’s much harder to spot them. But if you learn how to identify them quickly, you’ll save yourself time and stress on test day.
Some of these problems will fall into certain, predictable categories. Everyone should have a ‘guess list’ already in mind, going into each practice test and into the official GMAT. If you spot a problem that’s on this list, guess on it immediately. Stick to your guns! The specifics of your list will vary, but here are some examples my students have included on their guess lists in the past:
- Any combinatorics or probability problem that isn’t immediately obvious
- Roman Numeral problems that involve a lot of algebra
- Overlapping Sets problems that have inequalities, instead of specific values
- ‘Which of the following?’ problems involving divisibility
Your list should include types of problems that don’t appear too often on the GMAT, and that you can’t generally do correctly within two minutes. It’s okay to have a couple of different types of problems on this list, as long as it doesn’t include anything too general, such as ‘word problems’ or ‘percents’.
And what about those super-tough word problems? For Quant problems that are just plain hard, but aren’t on your list, I recommend the ‘do I have a plan?’ strategy. If you understand the problem, give yourself one minute – half of the allotted time – to think of a plan to solve it. That doesn’t mean you have to do all of the math in your head. It does mean that you have to decide what you’ll calculate, and what you’ll do with it. For example, you might run into a Rates & Work problem that starts like this:
John and Joan set off on their bicycles simultaneously. John cycles at a rate of 12 miles per hour, but after 45 minutes, he gets a flat tire and has to stop. It takes him 20 minutes to repair the flat tire, then he continues riding at a rate of 10 miles per hour…
Maybe you recognize this type of Rates & Work problem right away. Or maybe you’re strong enough at Rates & Work in general that even if you don’t have a plan immediately, you can create one within a minute. But if a minute has passed, and you aren’t sure exactly what to do, don’t just keep hammering away at the problem. You only have one minute left, maybe 1:30 if you’re doing well on time so far. Be realistic: how likely is it that you can solve a tough problem and do the calculations in under one minute? I can honestly tell you that I rarely run into problems where that’s possible for me, even though I got a 51 on Quant. If you’re at this point, guess while you still have time. (See the next article in this series for tips on making a fantastic guess!)
The situation with Verbal is a little different. Having a plan isn’t quite as critical as it is on Quant, because no matter how stuck you are, you can always at least read the problem and pick an answer that ‘looks right’. If you have no idea what else to do, fall back on your ear. If you can do that quickly, you won’t need to build in quite as much extra time to make an intelligent guess.
On Verbal, feel free to take a little bit more time to think about the problem, even if you aren’t quite sure what to do. But on Quant, be very strict with yourself: if you don’t have a plan, get moving. You have one minute remaining to make a great guess, so make the most of it. ?
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Chelsey Cooley
is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington. Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170/170 on the GRE. Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here.