Here are my top three tips:

1. You're at a severe disadvantage only studying on the weekends. The best improvements usually come from those students who do a couple hours of GMAT every day, rather than many hours in a short time. I'd try to study before - not after - work. Yes, it means getting up early, but if you're serious about MBA, your score should be important enough to you to warrant the early rising.

2. It's not about the quantity of problems you do. It's the quality of studying you put in. Doing 1,000 problems without analyzing them won't get you anywhere; make sure you're actually understanding what you get wrong (and right), so that if/when you get a similar problem, you'll know exactly how to do it.

3. Make sure you take practice exams. For many students, just having an intelligent, personalized strategy for the test will add significant points. Pay particular attention to pacing.

4. Yes, prep courses can really help IF you put in the time to study on your own, as well.

Okay, that's four tips - good luck!

Hi all,

I have read many different theories, so far, most people tell me that i should aim for about a minute and a half per question... some books says more time should be spent on the first 5 questions..

In terms of pacing what is the ideal?

If you have 15 minutes left till the end of the exam, and have 15-20 questions left? Will 15 minutes be adequate to click and guess all answers?
i.e. at what point should alarm bells start ringing in my head that I should stop answering the questions, but hit click, guess and go, in order to complete the test?

Much appreciated for all the help I have given so far!

Char,

Note that if you spent 1.5 minutes per question, at 37 questions (in math; there's 41 in verbal), you'd only be up to 55 minutes. You have 75!

My *general* guideline for students is three minutes for the first 10, two minutes for the next 10, and 1.5 minutes for the rest. This puts you at 75.5 minutes (close enough). Of course, this largely depends on the person.

I, for example, always have time left on verbal so I spend as long as I please on any question - even if it's 5 minutes on question #32 or something. On math, it's a different story: I never have time left so I'm very strict with pacing. As I mentioned earlier, having a *personalized* pacing strategy is paramount to getting a good score. Make sure you take plenty of practice CATs so you know what your own style is.

As for the "alarm bells" - it doesn't take long to click through the remaining questions. I would probably wait to do that until there's one minute left (maybe two).

Finally, note that for STUDYING purposes, these pacing guidelines aren't valid. For studying, it's best to take a nice long time on every problem, analyzing it and breaking it down, so that you will know that question inside and out next time you see it. Use the practice CATs for pacing practice - studying is a time for analysis.