{"id":11840,"date":"2016-08-09T14:00:54","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T14:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/?p=11840"},"modified":"2019-09-05T15:55:03","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T15:55:03","slug":"which-gmat-problems-should-i-guess-on-part-2-when-to-guess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/which-gmat-problems-should-i-guess-on-part-2-when-to-guess\/","title":{"rendered":"Which GMAT Problems Should I Guess On? \u2013 Part 2: When to Guess"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ManhattanDid you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We\u2019re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

If you read the previous article in this series<\/a>, 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 \u2018guessable\u2019? After all, the tough problems aren\u2019t labeled on the test. They look exactly the same as every other problem…or do they?<\/p>\n

When you start studying for the GMAT, there might be some things you just don\u2019t \u2018get\u2019. For instance, if you\u2019re taking our nine week GMAT Complete Course<\/a>, you might go into your second practice test not knowing how to find the area of a trapezoid, or when you\u2019re supposed to use the subjunctive tense. That\u2019s okay. If a problem gives you the \u2018I don\u2019t get it\u2019 feeling when you first read it, it\u2019s always okay to guess, even if you\u2019re doing well on timing.<\/p>\n

There may also be situations where you have<\/em> to guess, because you\u2019re behind on time and need to quickly make up for it. In this situation, it’s always okay to guess randomly. If it\u2019s super-easy \u2013 as in, you can solve it in one minute or less \u2013 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Those situations aren’t what this article is really about, though. This strategy is for those problems on the GMAT that you understand<\/em>, but can\u2019t solve<\/em> \u2013 or worse, problems that you can solve, but not within the time limit. These problems won\u2019t fail the \u2018do I get it?\u2019 test, so it\u2019s much harder to spot them. But if you learn how to identify them quickly, you’ll save yourself time and stress on test day.<\/p>\n

Some of these problems will fall into certain, predictable categories. Everyone should have a \u2018guess list\u2019 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<\/em>. 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:<\/p>\n