GMAT Test Takers often face similar difficulties during their studies, so there are certain questions that tend to come up about how to improve those studies. One of the most frequent questions I’m asked about is pacing-related: “how do I fix my pacing problem?” To start, you have to acknowledge that a pacing problem does NOT exist on its own – it’s the result of OTHER problems in how you are approaching the process of answering GMAT questions.

It really is often this simple

Arguably the most common ‘cause’ of your pacing ‘issue’ is simple to diagnose…. 

Here’s a basic story problem to help emphasize the point (no multiple choice answers to choose from though – you have to do a bit of actual math to get to the solution)….

Do you see yourself in this situation?

Q: A certain Test Taker refuses to take notes while reading Quant questions. As such, the Test Taker must go back to regularly re-read the prompt. If this Test Taker spends an average of 10 seconds re-reading every Quant question in the Quant section on Test Day, then approximately how many minutes, in total, does the Test Taker have to spend on this task (instead of actually spending that time working to answer the given question in the prompt)? 

The solution is actually pretty simple, but for the sake of bringing the point home, you really should do the math (take notes!) and come up with the answer yourself.

The magnitude of the issue

A: Since there are 37 questions in the Quant section on the GMAT, if you have to spend an extra 10 seconds per question re-reading the prompt (because you didn’t take good notes), then you will end up spending 37x10 = 370 seconds re-reading the prompts (and that’s time that you COULD have been working to answer the question).

370 seconds = 6 minutes, 10 seconds.

Take a GOOD look at that number. Would having an extra 6+ minutes of time make dealing with the Quant section a bit easier? I bet it would.

In that same way, you could squeeze out even MORE time in the Verbal section (and not just because there are 41 questions instead of 37) – since everything in the Verbal section requires some significant reading and a typical Verbal prompt is far wordier than a typical Quant prompt.

The big fix and the even bigger long-term benefit

This all ties into the proper ‘mechanical’ work that you will have to do to answer GMAT questions (of ANY type) in a timely fashion. By breaking prompts down into “pieces”, and taking good notes while you read, you can set yourself up to begin answering the given question right as you finish reading the prompt for the first time.

Ultimately, all of the issues that you might face during your studies (not just pacing-related issues) are definable, so you have to put some thought into the likely ‘causes’ of those issues and then go about working to ‘fix’ those issues. As a future MBA, you are not allowed to say “I have no idea why….” Instead, you have to look at the data, analyze the processes and come up with an idea. Whether you realize it or not, the process of training to score at a high level on the GMAT involves the same skills that you’ll use to earn your MBA.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,