A strategy is needed for any goal in life. To truly shine and compete for the gold, a skilled athlete would require countless hours of practice and hard effort. Why wouldn’t that also hold true for someone taking the GRE? In order to achieve the score you need and deserve on this test, you must prepare using specialised ideas and approaches in addition to putting in a lot of work and relying on undergraduate problem-solving skills.
GUESSING ON THE GRE
The good news is that guessing on the GRE carries no penalty. Even if you choose to skip a question, make sure you respond to each one.
On this test, guessing is a skill in and of itself that has to be practiced. For example, force yourself to jot down an answer if you arrive at your minute check-in and still don’t know. If you’re not well-prepared, giving a hasty answer to something you’re not quite sure of might come off as awkward and uneasy
EDUCATED VERSUS RANDOM GUESSING
There are two kinds of guessing that are used on the GRE: random guessing and Educated guessing. Let’s talk about each of these kinds in brief.
EDUCATED GUESSING
When we have enough evidence to rule out one or more solutions, we can make educated guesses. Nevertheless, either there isn’t enough time to address the subject, or there are parts of it that we are unable to understand.
WHEN TO MAKE EDUCATED GUESSES
It’s always preferable to estimate with knowledge than to guess at random. We have essentially eliminated one or more response alternatives and probably completed some of the job when we make an informed estimate, which helps us reduce the number of viable answer possibilities. Random guessing, on the other hand, involves us making educated guesses about any of the possible answers.
BE AWARE OF YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS
Knowing your strong and weak themes can help you become a more expert and calculated guesser on the GRE. For instance, let’s imagine that during your GRE preparation, you had trouble with combinations. Then, a combination question appears in question number 10 of the second quant portion of your GRE. In this instance, give the task 30 to 45 seconds, rule out one or two possible answers, and then make an informed answer.
RANDOM GUESSING
When you don’t have enough time or know how to respond to a question, you can opt for random guess. As such, you are not devoting much attention to the answer you can choose random guess.
RANDOM GUESS TO KEEP PACE WITH TIME
Ask 100 students who have taken the GRE, and 60 of them will say time is always a problem when taking this test. Therefore, some of these examinees practice a certain technique where they answer some questions at random for the sole purpose of saving time.
RANDOM GUESSING WHEN YOU ARE UNAWARE OF THE ANSWER.
When one is unsure about solving a particular problem, random guessing can be done. No matter how hard you might have prepared for the GRE exam, it is possible for you to come across a quiz that is quite difficult or rather a puzzle that you might not have any idea on how to answer to it at all. When you come across a question in which none of the answer choices sound right and for some reason it happens that you do not know what to do, just guess.
ANSWER EACH QUESTION AS YOU ENCOUNTER IT, EVEN IF RANDOMLY GUESSING
If you want to answer all the questions even when you don’t know the answers, answer it randomly each time it appears to you. One thing that sets GRE apart from other exams is that candidates are allowed to navigate through its sections at will. Skipping any items is possible, also a chance to put one on hold exists. This makes it easy to recover an addressed item whenever necessary provided there’s time remaining in the set segment.
TAKE RANDOM GUESSES IF YOU’RE ABOUT TO RUN OUT OF TIME
All of us at least could have felt that way before. You just look at the timer and realize that there are still three questions remaining with twenty seconds remaining. In such situations, why not guess? Keep in mind that on the GRE exam there is no penalty for wrong answers but if a question is blank then zero marks are assigned to it. This means leaving questions unanswered amounts to potential loss in the number of points one can accumulate.
CONCLUSION:
Taking educated or random guesses is quite common during GRE. So, don’t panic from the situation that you’ll probably need to guess sometimes. Instead, develop a sound strategy, so that you will know when to guess and when not.
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Curious? Your answers await here
Yes, if you are not sure of any answer you can make an educated guess. There is no negative marking on the GRE. So, it’s better to guess than leave a question blank. That’s an advantage for you!
Spend a reasonable amount of time trying to understand the question, eliminate wrong answers if possible, and make an educated guess or move on to save time.
GRE stands for Graduate Record Examination. It is a standardized test comprising of three main sections, i.e., verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing. This test is given to gain admission to graduate schools in the United States and other countries.
You should incorporate guessing strategies into your regular practice tests and review sessions to become more comfortable with them. Remember guessing strategy should be adopted in only those questions that you are not aware of or are confused about!