Improving Your Accuracy on the GMAT

This post is published courtesy of Target Test Prep CEO, Scott Woodbury-Stewart

From time to time, I will work with a student who knows the material tested on the GMAT well, yet continues to answer questions incorrectly. An analyzation of the errors often reveals that he either made a silly mistake or put himself through a quagmire of tortured calculations that led to an incorrect answer.

In my eyes, careless errors are the worst mistakes a student can make for two big reasons: First, it’s a shame not to get credit for a GMAT question that you know how to solve and should answer correctly. Second, careless mistakes are usually avoidable. They can be drastically reduced or even eliminated with focus, proper strategy, and practice.

In general, humans probably are becoming more careless at a time when accuracy is of its greatest importance. This increasing slack is happening for a number of reasons. The good news is that each reason comes with a solid solution.

In this article, I’ll review common reasons for committing mindless mistakes on the GMAT and the steps you can take to avoid them.

Problem: You’re not reading carefully

Solution: Become a careful, active and engaged reader

Strong reading skills will help you significantly on all sections of the GMAT. Strive to read everything carefully and methodically. Focus when you read. Make sure that you understand the main point of each sentence and the key concepts in each problem. It’s not unusual to reread math and verbal questions. If you don’t fully understand what you just read, read it again.

Visualization can help you to read more carefully. When you read, imagine that what you are reading is unfolding as if you were watching a movie. Picture what you read. This visualization process will help your brain better assimilate and connect the information.

Problem: Your writing is messy

Solution: Write neatly and legibly

It’s easy to make reckless mistakes when your own writing is illegible. For example, if your numeral 2 has a funny habit of morphing into the letter Z, you’re likely to make mistakes. As someone with shockingly poor handwriting, I’ve found that writing in capital letters makes me less prone to misreading my own handwriting. You may like this penmanship strategy as well.

In addition to writing neatly, it’s important to organize your work thoughtfully. Get in the habit of using well-defined regions for each problem. Don’t spread your work across the page haphazardly.

Problem: You make errors in basic arithmetic

Solution: Regularly practice multiplication and division by hand

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen students elegantly power through a tough math problem, only to make a multiplication or division error. Don’t be this person. Each day, solve one or two ugly multiplication and division problems by hand.

Problem: You choose answers with the wrong units

Solution: Watch out for unit conversions

Many GMAT quant problems contain unit conversions. For example, a rate may be presented in miles per hour, but the answers are given in miles per minute. Lookout for unit conversions in GMAT quant problems. It’s easy to choose an incorrect answer with incorrect units, simply because the number looks correct.

Problem: You fall for “except” problems

Solution: Watch out for “except” problems

Some problems read “All of the following would weaken the argument, except…” or “n is divisible by all of the following, except…” Pay close attention to the specific language given in the problem. It stinks to do all the work properly, only to forget that the question was asking for “all of the following, except…”

Problem: You answer the wrong question

Solution: Double check whether you’re answering the question, before you select an answer

Read carefully and double check what you’ve read, before choosing an answer. Imagine a complicated word problem involving two Shiba Inus, Blaze and Molly. What if you carefully and elegantly solve for Molly’s age, which happens to also be an answer choice, but the question is actually asking for Blaze’s age? Assure you’re actually answering the question being asked.

Problem: You miss restrictive information provided in the stem

Solution: Pay careful attention to restrictive information in the question stem

Quite often, particularly on data sufficiency questions, restrictive information is provided in the stem. For example, we may be told that “k is an integer” or “ 0 < m < 1.” Pay close attention to such information. In the heat of solving a problem, it’s easy to forget about a small — but important — piece of data that may change the outcome. Sometimes, writing this information down can help it to stick in your mind.