The Importance Of Pacing

The GMAT is a test of both accuracy and speed. There is a substantial penalty for not finishing a section, as we’ve seen. But there is no need to think of the GMAT as a race. In fact, according to the test maker, the GMAT is created to be optimally timed so that most test takers finish the first time they sit for the test. Those who don’t finish the GMAT the first time often retake the test, and almost all finish the second time.

You want to be in the group that finishes the test on the first try. Also, while you don’t want to rush or make sloppy guesses, you do need to finish the test on time in order to maximize your score.

The graph below is an illustration of the penalty incurred by test takers who leave a string of unanswered questions at the end of a CAT section. Even if you had previously been performing well on questions at a high level of difficulty, running out of time will lead to a severe drop in your score. Fortunately, pacing can be improved through practicing some key principles of time management.

A graph showing Question Difficulty on the y-axis and Question Number on the x-axis. The y-axis ranges from 200 to 800 and the x-axis ranges from question 18 to question 37. Questions 18 through 32 oscillate between slightly above and slightly below 700. Questions 32 through 37 decrease rapidly to below 400 and are labeled the score cost of inefficiency. — *Spending Extra Time at the Beginning of a Section Can Lead to Failure at the End of the Section*

You can pace yourself on both the Quantitative and Verbal sections, broadly speaking, by dividing each section into three parts:

The first 10 questions
The last 10 questions
Everything in between

Each part has its own strategy.

The first 10 questions: Given what we’ve covered above, you now have an idea of how to pace yourself on the first 10 questions. To recap: the first questions are likely to produce some large swings in your score, but you may see larger swings later on, and it’s important to finish just as strong as you start. The theme of these 10 questions: proceed diligently, keep an eye out for pitfalls, and avoid preventable errors.
The middle segment: Regardless of how the first 10 questions go, you’re almost certain to find some challenges in this segment. Most test takers will “top out.” Topping out means that you will be unable to solve any more difficult problems and you will begin to hover around your skill level, getting about half of the questions right and half of them wrong. The great danger at this point in the test is that you will feel you ought to be able to “get” every problem and you will spend too much time on some of them. Since time spent here takes away from the time you have for the later questions in the section, you may need to guess on a few questions to stay on pace. Fortunately, if you’ve budgeted your minutes well, you will have some time to give your guesses a little thought. The theme of the middle segment: stay on pace, keep your morale high, and make strategic guesses where necessary.
The final 10 questions are the home stretch. You’re trying to finish before the bell rings. Here you must pick your battles. Make an effort not to guess on more than one or two questions in a row. As the end draws nigh, alternate any guesses that you need to make, rather than saving them for a series at the end. Doing so will increase your options to solve without guessing, decrease the odds of accidentally running out of time, and most likely reduce the score drop from questions answered incorrectly. The theme of this segment: choose your questions and finish on time.

Now you’re done. You’ve maximized your payoff. It can be exciting to set a pace and stick to it, and guessing on the trickiest questions can reduce your anxiety and frustration.