Why “Prethinking” Slows You Down on GMAT Critical Reasoning

You may have heard of a strategy for GMAT Critical Reasoning questions called “prethinking.” The idea is to predict what the correct answer might be before looking at the answer choices. Some test prep companies recommend this approach as a way to stay engaged with the passage or focus your thinking. But in practice, prethinking usually does more harm than good.

For starters, it burns time. You already have five answer choices in front of you. There's no reason to try to invent a sixth one in your head. That’s extra work, and it’s unnecessary.

Second, prethinking can set a trap. You start searching for something that matches the answer you created, which often doesn’t exist. This issue becomes more noticeable with harder questions, where the answer is subtle and not easily anticipated. When your prethought answer isn’t there—and most of the time, it won’t be—you end up wasting time trying to force a match.

In the worst case, you scan the options once, trying to find the “right” one you came up with. Nothing fits. So, you go back through them again, this time doing the real work of analyzing. Now you’ve read all the choices twice and made zero progress. That’s a time sink you can’t afford on test day.

So, what’s the better move? Just engage with the argument. Understand the conclusion, find the assumption, spot the flaw. Pay attention and analyze the structure. That’s what will help you identify the correct answer—not trying to guess what it might look like.

In short, you don’t need to prethink to stay focused. And if speed and accuracy matter to you, you probably shouldn’t prethink at all.

Reach out to me with any questions about your GMAT prep. Happy studying!

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep