GRE
Online Guide
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5. General
Strategies for the CAT
The Art of Guessing
Guessing, like pacing, is more important on the CAT
than on any other test you have ever taken. You'll have
to guess often on the CAT because:
You can't skip questions. If you hit a mental block,
you have to guess at the question in front of you. You
can't pass over a question and go back to it later.
Since all answers are final, you have to make sure your
guess is a good one. Most students waste more than 1/3
of their time bogged down on a handful of tough questions.
You have to learn how to guess, move on, and cut your
losses after spending more than a few minutes on a question.
At the end of the test, when time is about to expire,
you have to hurry to make sure to get to every question
(or else face the severe penalty for not finishing all
the test's questions). Many students have to do this
last minute sprint and are often left guessing on the
last few questions.
P.O.E
The key guessing strategy is P.O.E (process of elimination).
A big asset going into test day is knowing that one
of the five possible answers must be right. If you can
eliminate two of the choices, you can increase your
chances of getting the right answer by 65% (from 20%-
1 in 5 to 33% -1 in 3). Here's how to do it...
Eliminate answer choices you know are wrong. Even if
you don't know the right answer, you can often tell
that some of the answer choices are wrong.
Avoid answer choices that look suspicious. For example,
in the Quantitative Section, you can usually eliminate
any answers that are negative when all the other answers
are positive.
Once you have narrowed down the list of answer choices,
pick one of the remainder. It is a myth that some answer
choices, like A or C, are more often correct than other
choices.
Draw a Grid
If crossing off answer choices on paper tests helps
to clarify your thinking, you might want to consider
making a grid on your scratch paper. By drawing a simple
grid and labeling the rows A through E, you can keep
track of which answers you have eliminated by putting
an X in that box. That way you can tell at a glance
which answer choices are still in the running. If you
find that this technique works for you, you'll find
the fifteen seconds it takes to set up the grid well
worth it.
The Importance
of Scratch Paper
Another big asset you have going into test day is
virtually unlimited scratch paper. Use it and make sure
you have lots of it on test day.
You'll need scratch paper because you are taking a
test off of a computer screen, and you can't write on
the screen. The result is that you'll often have to
carefully copy much of the question down onto paper
without miscopying the information. This is awkward
and difficult. It takes valuable time to recopy information
and it increases the chance of a hurried error, so you
have to be careful about what you copy and what you
don't copy. Try to use scratch paper extensively on
your practice tests to get a feel for this.
Don't Panic
If you have a bad day, don't panic; you have the option
of canceling. The computer will offer the option of
canceling the test or accepting it when you finish the
test. If you cancel the test, neither you nor any school
will see your score. If you accept the test, the computer
will display your score, and it will be available to
all schools. Make sure to schedule the test far in advance
of when it is due to the graduate schools so that you
have time to cancel and reschedule the test if necessary.
Experiment with the strategies suggested to see what
works best for you. Now that you know the CAT basics,
you can progress to the specific subject areas....
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