Toggle navigation
MBA Watch Logo
MBA Watch Sponsor
Stanford GSB | Mr. Anti W2
GRE 331, GPA 3.0
MIT Sloan | Ms. Sassy
GRE 329, GPA 3.46
Kellogg SOM | Mr. HealthAI
GMAT 700, GPA 3
MBA Watch Sponsor
Harvard | Mr. Global Consultant Leader
GMAT GMAT FE 705, GPA 7
INSEAD | Mr. SE To PM
GMAT 675, GPA 3.0
Harvard | Mr. Data Econ
GMAT 750, GPA 4
MBA Watch Sponsor
Harvard | Mr. Energetic Indian
GMAT 760, GPA 9
Stanford GSB | Ms. Multifaceted Desi
GRE 309, GPA 4
Tepper | Ms. MRI Gal
GRE N/A, GPA 3.3
MBA Watch Sponsor
Columbia | Ms. Big4 CPA To MBA
GMAT 730, GPA 3.69
Cornell Johnson | Ms. Indonesian Tech
GMAT 740, GPA 3.02
Stanford GSB | Mr. IB To TFA
GMAT 750, GPA 3.4
MBA Watch Sponsor
NYU Stern | Ms. CA – Controller
GRE 321, GPA 8
Chicago Booth | Ms. Low GPA High Impact Care
GMAT 685, GPA 2.56
Columbia | Mr. CRMprofff
GMAT 760, GPA 3
MBA Watch Sponsor
PQ Logo
Featured Schools
Auburn Herbert College of Business logo
UVA Darden Logo 440 x 200 University of Virginia
IESE Business School logo 440 x 200
IE Business School Logo Horizontal 440 x 200
Indiana Kelley School of Business
Today's Featured Schools
Featured Schools
Auburn Herbert College of Business logo
UVA Darden Logo 440 x 200 University of Virginia
IESE Business School logo 440 x 200
IE Business School Logo Horizontal 440 x 200
Indiana Kelley School of Business
  • Home
  • Main Menu
  • Most Recent
  • This Week’s Most Viewed
  • GMAT Master
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • Events
  • Study In UK
  • Special Reports
Rankings
  • MBA
  • Online MBA
  • Specialized Masters
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Executive MBA
  • Undergraduate Business Schools
News & Features
  • All Business School News
  • MBA
  • International MBA News
  • Online MBA
  • Specialized Masters
  • Admissions
Inside Business Education
  • THE Register
  • Thought Leadership
MBA
  • School Profiles
  • Rankings
  • News
  • Jobs
  • Faculty & Leadership
  • Best 40 Under 40 Professors
  • Events
Students
  • News & Features
  • Meet The Class
  • Best & Brightest MBAs
  • Best & Brightest Online MBAs
  • Women In Business School
Careers & Pay
  • News, Advice, & Trends
Online MBA
  • News & Advice
  • School Profiles
  • Rankings
  • Events
Masters Degrees in Business
  • News & Advice
  • Specialized Masters Directory
  • Rankings
  • Business Analytics
  • Master's In Management
  • Events
Financing
  • Financing Your Degree
Study IN Series
  • Study In France
  • Study In UK
Admissions
  • News & Advice
  • Admissions Consultant Directory
  • Your MBA Game Plan
  • Admissions Gateway
  • Getting Into HBS, GSB, & Wharton
  • Handicapping Your MBA Odds
  • MBA Watch
  • Events
GMAT & GRE
  • News & Advice
  • GMAT Master
More Resources
  • FREE: Insider Guides
  • FREE: Successful Essays To The GSB & HBS
  • Special Reports
Events
Videos
Podcasts
Executive MBA
Undergrad
Full Archive

About | Privacy Policy | Advertising| Editorial | Contact Us

Follow Us

Subscribe | Login

  1. Home
  2. GMAT / GRE
  3. Everything You Need To Know About GMAT Time Management (Part One)

Everything You Need To Know About GMAT Time Management (Part One)

by: Stacey Koprince, Manhattan Prep on December 30, 2020 | 1,209 Views
December 30, 2020
    • Copy Link
    • Share on Facebook
    • Share on Twitter
    • Email
    • Share on LinkedIn
    • Share on WhatsApp
    • Share on Reddit

GMAT Time Management

Well, everything you need to know about time management on the GMAT, anyway.

First, a note: this three-part series is long; there’s a lot going on. You aren’t going to be able to incorporate all of this from day one. Rather, expect to return to this article as you get further into your studies. Make a note right now that you want to review this before every practice test (and probably after, too!).

Second, another note: This post addresses overall time management as well as time management for the test-center based exam. After you’re done with this, you’ll also want to read a different post about time management and whiteboard usage for the GMAT Online (that one is linked toward the end of this series).

In this first part of the series, we’re going to get oriented on some overall principles for GMAT time management. Let’s dive in!

(1) Why is time management so important on the GMAT?

The GMAT is ultimately a test of your decision-making, aka your executive reasoning skills. In school, when you got really good at something, the test felt easier and you were able to answer questions faster. On the GMAT, the test adapts to your level (for the Quant and Verbal sections). As a result, no matter how good you get, the test is going to feel hard and you’re going to feel pressed for time.

If you run out of time with a bunch of questions to go, then your score is going to nose-dive right at the end of the section. The GMAT is essentially a “where you end is what you get” test, so a score drop at the end is deadly. You have no time to recover and lift your score back up.

At the same time, it can be problematic to go really fast. Speed often translates into careless mistakes, and if you miss too many questions that you really did know how to do, your score is going to be lower than it could have been.

So, generally speaking, your goal is to be roughly on time throughout the section. You don’t have to stick super-rigidly to the exact timing. On certain questions, you will be somewhat faster or slower than the average. But overall, you’re not going to get too far ahead or behind.

We’re going to use this rubric: If you’re within about 3 minutes of where you’re supposed to be, then everything is fine. Keep doing what you’re doing. If you’re more than 3 minutes fast or slow, take action.

That begs three questions:

(1) How do I know where I’m supposed to be?

(2) What action do I take if I’m too slow? Too fast?

(3) How do I mostly stay on time throughout the test in the first place?

This series will address the answers.

(2) Know (generally) how the scoring works

The Quant and Verbal sections of the GMAT are weird. The scoring is totally different than what you were used to in school. If you try to take the GMAT the way you took schools tests, you’re probably going to mess up the timing and that’s probably going to prevent you from maximizing your score.

You don’t have to really learn how the GMAT algorithm works, but there are certain things you need to know.

(A) Everyone gets a lot of problems wrong, no matter the scoring level. Pretend you’re playing tennis. You don’t expect to win every point, right? That’d be silly. You just want to win more points than your opponent! On the GMAT, most people answer about 60% of the problems correctly in each section, regardless of scoring level.

(B) Getting an easier problem wrong hurts your score more than getting a harder problem wrong. It’s important not to put yourself in the position of rushing and making tons of careless mistakes on things you knew how to do. (Note: It is still very possible to get the score you want even if you make mistakes on just a few of the easier problems.) 

(C) Missing 4 or more problems in a row hurts your score more than getting 4 “spread-out” problems wrong. This, of course, is exactly what happens to someone who runs out of time towards the end of the section.

(D) If you don’t even answer the last 4 problems, the score drop will be greater than if you answer the last 4 but get them all wrong. It’s okay if you don’t get to the very last problem in the section; just one blank problem can’t kill your score. However, your score will drop a lot if you run out of time and fail to answer a bunch of problems at the end.

The overall message? It’s crucial to learn how to balance your time well on the GMAT.

(3) When solving problems, follow two principles

These two principles apply when you are solving Official Guide or other GMAT-format problems.

Principle #1: At first, work in Exam Mode. Practice the behavior you want to exhibit on the GMAT.

The first time you do this problem, do not let yourself spend 5 minutes because you’re just practicing and you want to see whether you can figure it out. If you do this, you’re training yourself to spend 5 minutes on the real test, too. Make the decision: “Right now, on the real test, I would pick answer (D) and move on.” Write down answer (D). Then, go to the next principle.

Principle #2: After you’ve made your GMAT decision, work in Study Mode. Spend all the time you like trying to figure stuff out.

After you’ve told yourself that you’d pick (D) right now, feel free to move into “figure it out” mode. If you want to spend half an hour working on that problem before you look at the answer, do so!

Also, you’re now in open-book mode. Look up anything you like to help you figure out what to do! Just don’t look at the explanation until you’re truly stuck. Whatever you’re able to figure out for yourself, you’ll be much more likely to remember when you need that move again later. 

If you follow these two principles (Exam Mode first, then Study Mode), you’ll get the best of both worlds. You’ll be training yourself to make GMAT-appropriate decisions while also giving yourself the opportunity to figure out as much as you can on your own.

Mull over this information; re-read it as needed. If you’re in one of our classes, I’d recommend waiting another week until you read the second part of this series. (And I’d recommend the same even if you’re not in one of our classes!)

In part 2, we’ll dive deep into the details about how to train yourself to manage time on a per-question basis.

Note: You can also find this series, along with other free study resources, in our free GMAT Starter Kit study syllabus.


Stacey Koprince is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California. Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, EA, GRE, and LSAT  for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests.

Trending

2024’s High & Low GMAT Scores At The World’s Leading MBA Programs

Harvard Business School

GMAT Test Takers To Harvard Business School May Have To Take An Extra Test

Expert: How To Overcome Test Anxiety On The GMAT & GRE

GMAC

GRE Woes Lead To Fifth ETS Downsizing In Five Years

It Was Much Harder To Get Into Dartmouth Tuck’s MBA Program This Year. Here’s Why

Poets&Quants Launches GMAT Master

GMAT Vs. GRE: Which Schools Prefer Which Test — And Which (Still) Don’t Require Any

Chris Kane, GMAT tutor

‘I Love The GMAT’: This GMAT Doctor Has Diagnosed More Than 4,000 Test Takers

Tagged: GMAT, GMAT Time Management, manhattan prep, Stacey Koprince, test prep

Post navigation

Previous Article: Should I Take The GMAT, The GRE, Or The EA?
Next Article: The MBA Dean Who Became A COVID Czar
  • Stay Informed. Sign Up! Login
    Logout
    Search for:
  • What Matters? And What More? 50 Successful Essays To The GSB & HBS
  • Specialized Masters Program Directory Business Analytics Hub MBA Admissions Consultant Directory Online MBA Hub Home Assess My MBA Odds
  • This Weeks Most Viewed
    • The 100 Best & Brightest MBAs: Class Of 2025 (8,643 views)
    • Meet Virginia Darden’s MBA Class Of 2026 (3,767 views)
    • Harvard, Stanford & Wharton MBAs On How Admission Consultants Helped Them Get In (3,703 views)
    • Poets&Quant’s 2024-2025 MBA Ranking: For The First Time Ever, Kellogg Takes First (3,351 views)
    • Poets&Quants’ Best Undergraduate Business Schools Of 2025 (1,635 views)
  • PQ Consultant Directory PQ Consultant Directory

Our Partner Sites: Poets&Quants for Execs | Poets&Quants for Undergrads | Tipping the Scales | We See Genius

About Poets&Quants | P&Q News Archives | Privacy Policy | Advertising & Partnerships | Editorial | Contact Us | Sign In / Register

Copyright© 2025 C Change Media, LLC All Rights Reserved.

Website Design By: Yellowfarmstudios.com