Careless errors will destroy your score. Obviously, they can lead to wrong answers, but a more insidious and potentially just as damaging effect is that they suck up time. For example, you may catch a careless error because the answer you come up with doesn’t show up in the answer choices, but even then, you will have to recalculate or perhaps start the question over, and this takes time that you could be using to get right answers to other questions. In some cases, you may not have time to fix a careless error, and thus you will be forced to guess and move on. Learning to be more accurate in your work can easily add five points or more to your GRE Quant score.

One way to avoid careless mistakes is to work slowly and carefully. The more you rush, the more likely you are to make a silly or sloppy error. Of course, you have to work relatively quickly in order to complete a section in the allotted time, but there is a difference between working efficiently and rushing through calculations.

You also can reduce careless errors by becoming aware of the types of errors that you tend to make. Do you typically make errors when adding? Do you forget to answer the question being asked? Do you get so excited when you’ve gotten through the difficult part of answering a question that you blow the final calculations? Learn what it is that you do that results in score-destroying, small errors, so that you can catch yourself before you do it.

Finally, consider that what seem to be careless errors may in fact be signs that you don’t fully understand how to answer certain types of questions. It’s easy to look at an explanation and think, “Oh, of course, I should have multiplied rather than divided.” However, asking yourself why you made the wrong move may reveal that you have some real work to do in order to truly understand what the right moves are in those situations. If you discover such gaps in your understanding, more topic-based training is probably in order.

Warmest regards,

Scott