{"id":15773,"date":"2018-05-24T20:59:09","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T20:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/?p=15773"},"modified":"2019-08-30T17:35:52","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T17:35:52","slug":"using-data-ace-gmat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/using-data-ace-gmat\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Data to Ace the GMAT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Manhattan<\/p>\n

Over the last two articles, I analyzed what we know about <\/span>missing GMAT Quant questions<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>missing GMAT Verbal questions<\/span><\/a>. As it turns out, you can miss a lot of questions on the GMAT. Getting a lot of wrong answers doesn\u2019t guarantee you a bad score\u2014and getting a lot of right answers doesn\u2019t guarantee you a good score.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s both good news and bad news. On the one hand, <\/span>the GMAT is a very forgiving test<\/b>. You can get <\/span>way<\/span><\/i> more wrong answers on the GMAT than you could on a college final. On the other hand, <\/span>taking the GMAT is complicated<\/b>. You aren\u2019t just trying to get a lot of right answers\u2014you\u2019re making tough <\/span>executive decisions<\/span><\/a> at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Give yourself some free passes on the GMAT.<\/b><\/h4>\n

Every single person in our data set, including the highest scorers, missed some questions on the GMAT. That means <\/span>you\u2019re<\/span><\/i> going to miss some questions on the GMAT.<\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine if the GMAT gave you a list, at the very beginning of each section, of all of those questions you were going to miss. What would you do when you got to one of those questions? Hopefully, you\u2019d guess immediately! If you\u2019re going to miss it anyways, <\/span>you might as well miss it quickly<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the real GMAT doesn\u2019t give us a list like that. Have you ever spent a very long time on a GMAT question, just to get it wrong in the end? That happened for two reasons: because you thought you were going to get it right, and because you thought you <\/span>had<\/span><\/i> to get it right.<\/span><\/p>\n

You actually didn\u2019t have to get that problem right! If that was true, then the 700+ scorers in our data set wouldn\u2019t have missed so many questions. On the GMAT, a wrong answer is not your enemy.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can also train yourself to anticipate whether you\u2019ll miss a question. Start with this series of articles on <\/span>when to guess on the GMAT<\/span><\/a>. Before test day, build a mental list of problems you\u2019re very likely to get wrong\u2014<\/span>and give yourself permission to miss them<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I recommend starting each section with at least three \u201cfree passes,\u201d or GMAT questions that you\u2019ll guess on without even trying. You should also cut your losses and guess on any problem that isn\u2019t going your way! Does it mean you\u2019ll miss more questions? Maybe. Does it mean you\u2019ll get a lower score? According to the data, almost certainly not.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t spend extra time on the first few GMAT questions.<\/b><\/h4>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at three test takers from our data set. They all got nearly the same score on the Quant section, but they did it in three very different ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alice<\/b> (not her real name) started the Quant section strong. Here\u2019s how she performed on each quarter of the Quant section:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/p>\n

Britt<\/b> had a weaker start:<\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/p>\n

Finally, Clara<\/b> was consistent all the way through the section:<\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/p>\n

There are limits to these data\u2014since Alice, Britt, and Clara took the test at different times and saw different questions, we can\u2019t really directly compare them to each other. However, we can draw a few tentative conclusions from these and the other data.<\/p>\n

You definitely don\u2019t have to get the first few questions right to get a great score. If you\u2019re strong at a section overall, the GMAT algorithm will eventually figure that out. That\u2019s how Britt and Clara ended up with similar scores. On the other hand, a very strong start doesn\u2019t guarantee you a higher score than someone who started off more slowly.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing special about the first eight Quant questions or the last eight Quant questions. What the GMAT is looking for is the level you can perform at consistently. You don\u2019t get any bonus points for a strong start if you can\u2019t keep it up!<\/span><\/p>\n

The GMAT data is complicated, but the two pieces of advice we can draw from it are easy to follow and might help you get a stronger score on test day. Here they are:<\/span><\/p>\n