Beat The GMAT a GMAT & MBA community

Timing strategies are a bit personal but I can tell you what I tell my students in your scoring range.

When you first get a question ask yourself if you think you can finish it within 3 minutes - if you think you can then you should do it and do it well. If you think the question will take you longer than that amount of time then it is probably a good question to skip. after you finish a question evaluate how long it took and whether it was within the time you expected. Then go over it and look for more time efficient ways to solve the problem to increase your speed.

You also want to do lots of timed drills so you get a sense of the timing of the test. Most students feel it is good enough to alot 2 minutes per question for sets of 10-20 questions depending on the amount of time you have available.

Finally, you want to see if you are focusing too much on solving problems and not using enough strategy. Most GMAT questions can be solved using time saving techniques that also improve accuracy. Students who feel that strategy is cutting corners sell themselves short in the long run becuase they miss out on points that could be easily achieved.

Best of Luck,

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Becky
Master GMAT Instructor
The Princeton Review
Irvine, CA

Becky is right on the money. You have to get away from problems that you are not likely to get right in 3 minutes. But how will you know?

Generally if you have a good solid strategy for a question within 1 minute to 90 seconds you will be able to finish that problem in around 2 minutes more.

If on the other hand you do not have a strategy within 90 seconds you are unlikely to solve it in 3 minutes.

I happen to have recently discussed exactly how to practice developing a strategy and knowing what 1 minute feels like in this article http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/04/04/think-like-a-doctor-and-diagnose-your-way-to-gmat-success

Hope it helps!

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David Newland, JD, MA, MAE
GMAT Instructor, Tutor, and Author
Veritas Prep

My next online course starts Monday June 17th and is Monday- Wednesday from 7PM to 10PM Eastern Time.