Hi there,

So I've taken 5 CAT exams so far, and I've found that I generally have difficulty with my timing on the Quant section. However, my problem is not that I spend too much time on problems that I don't know how to solve, but rather, that I spend too much time on questions that I do know how to solve.

On questions that involve lots of algebra or arithmetic (700+ level), I sometimes make minor errors early on in my calculations, so that the answer that I finally arrive at does not match any of the answer choices. By that point, I've already spent ~2 minutes working on the problem, and I'm left with a dilemma: either to go back and find the error in my work, or to guess an answer and move on. I usually opt for the first option, not only because I know how to solve the problem and want to get it right, but also because I've already spent ~2 minutes on the problem and feel that the time would have been wasted if I just end up guessing. Unfortunately, I sometimes end up spending up to 4 minutes on such problems - and even though I usually get them right, I run out of time on the last 7-8 problems and have to guess strategically. As a result, my Quant percentile score drops by ~10 points (i.e. from high-90s to high-80s) right at the end of the section!

So my question is: what should I do when I find myself in a so-called "silly mistake" situation? Should I go back and find the error and get the question right, or just accept that I've wasted 2 minutes of the test, guess an answer, and move on? (If there is a third, better option, please let me know!)

If you find yourself in the situation in the midst of a test, yes, you just give up and move on. As you've noted, it takes WAY too much time to find the careless error and that kills your score in the end.

BUT there are some things you can do while you are studying to minimize these types of errors. You have some bad habits (as we all do), and your task is to identify them and build better habits during study so that you are not making as many careless errors. (Though note that you'll always make some - we're human, after all. :)

Read this article and follow what it says, especially for the "careless errors" part (defined as errors where you really did know exactly what to do, but you made one of those slap-yourself-on-the-side-of-the-head mistakes).

http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/error-log.cfm

Note that this is going to take some time / work - it's just like an athlete or a musician learning how to minimize their own mistakes / errors. It takes a lot of work to bread old bad habits and build new better ones, but you can do it!

_________________
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director of Online Community
ManhattanGMAT