It is very critical to manage your time while taking a GMAT Exam. The key to scoring well in a GMAT test is to manage time efficiently and working towards accuracy. Time management is a very tricky exam aspect, as this test not only attempts at testing your mathematical and verbal aptitudes, but it tests your capability on working in time constrained situations.
Time management for GMAT starts with the time of GMAT preparation. To maximize the scores, it is important to keep in mind that GMAT is a timed exam. If you rush through the exam, the chances of making errors go up. And at the same time, if you take too much time, you will fall short of time for the questions in the last. Also, the unanswered questions are penalized in the exam and the percentile falls to a great extent.
A good GMAT score does not require you to answer every question correctly. One needs to work fast enough, yet one may not be able to attempt every question, so adopting strategy is important. This will ensure you get sufficient time to attempt the complete exam on the test day.
Spending optimal time on each question is what is required to achieve a high-level of timing strategy. Focus on the strength areas and devote lesser time on the weaker sections. There is a simple rationale behind this widely advised tip; that the chances of getting an answer correct from the weak section are lesser and getting an answer right from your strong section are more.
When you assign more time to get the difficult question right, you lose out on the time that could have been allotted to completing an easier question. So save time from the weaker section to use it on other questions, where chances of scoring are higher.
There cannot be a perfect optimal time for everyone to follow. Since each student is different and has his own strengths and weaknesses,the time required to find solutions to questions may vary. So work on average time required to solve questions of one group.
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Find out the average time, which means the time you require to solve a question correctly. Practice questions with time. Take timed mock tests often. If the time taken is too high i.e. more than 2.5 minutes for CR/RC or around 2 minutes for SC, try to bring this time down.
Understand what factors are causing you to take more time, and then work on those factors. The most common factor for most of the students is the ability to process and apply concepts instantly. As you grow proficient with practice, the average time will come down. Learn to focus and strengthen the knowledge structure during your preparation period.
There is a block time given for the entire section in GMAT. In the Quant section, based on time you’ll have about less than 2 minutes per problem. Prepare a list of what is tough for you and the ones that you tend to answer incorrectly, to take a quick call to bail early and move to the next.
Secondly avoid spending more than about 3 minutes on any question in Quant or Verbal section.
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Here is a table with pacing benchmarks that students often find extremely helpful in order to keep them sufficiently paced to finish the GMAT sections on time. See how the benchmark can be set to be able to finish the GMAT without hustle.
Questions Completed | Time remaining for Quantitative Section | Time remaining for Verbal Section |
10 | 42 min | 47 min |
20 | 22 min | 28 min |
30 | 12 min | 16 min |
Use this table to strategize the test time as it will keep you relieved from stress. From worrying less you will have a better concentration and focus to attempt the test to get more right answers.
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The GMAT examiners are surely interested in measuring your ability to reason and perform under stress. Start preparing for the test by embracing it as a challenge. Use this benchmark timing strategy to get good results. The key takeaway here is that spending an equal amount of time on every question is not a good plan. Rather, shift time from the end of sections to the beginning of the sections.