GMAT- Speed?

Question

How can I "speed up" during the test?

Answer 1

Practice, practice and yet more practice.

However the practice you do must have a solid foundation and so you need to make sure that you are:


1. Familiar with the test format

At the most basic level you need to prepare for the format of the test.

This means becoming familiar with using the different sections of the test and how you answer them.

Some of the question types have quite an unusual formats, for example sentence correction and data sufficiency which it will be very helpful if you are familiar with.

In the GMAT you will also be under considerable time pressure and so you will want to spend as little time as possible reading the instructions between sections which explain how the test works.


2. Have revised the test subjects

The mathematics (arithemetic, geometry, algebra, probability, sets etc.) is of a high school level but for exactly this reason many of you will not have seen these subjects in years and inevitably you will be a little rusty.

In the verbal section sentence correction is full of traps to catch out even the most confident native speaker of English so you will need to brush up on your grammar.


3. Have learned some time savers and short cuts

There are numerous time savers and short cuts which you can learn which will help you save time and maximise your chance of getting the right answer even when you do not know how to answer all the questions correctly.

These can make all the difference in improving your score.


And then you get onto practice

There is no substitute for practice in your preparation for the GMAT and this is where you will really work on your speed.

The GMAT has strict time limits and without practice you will find it very hard to finish the test on time.

Also, GMAT questions are all very similar and if you have already tried 200+ questions you will find that many of the questions in the real test are familiar and thus easy.

PrepForTests.com provide GMAT tutorials, practice questions and tips to help you prepare for the test.
http://www.prepfortests.com/

Best of luck!

Answer 2

One thing to add to the fairly solid answer from prepfortests:
there is one other thing that slows down test-takers - the fact that the test is computer based. While this may seem insignificant in this day and age, it is in fact a challegen for many people to spend so much time focusing on a computer screen. Harder still is using boards instead of scratch paper. Make sure that when you practice, you practice on the computer, and practice using errase-able (laminated) sheets as your scratch paper. That way, you won't waste time writing more/less than you need, or navigating your own notes.
Good luck!

Answer 3

This may sound a bit simplistic, but...Read the question, then read the answers. Pick the one you think is right. If you have some doubt as to which one is correct, use the process of elimination and choose an answer. Don't sit there mulling over each answer. Read it and pick it.

Getting anxiety over a question will ultimately affect your performance on later test questions. Therefore, once answer a question, you have to put that question behind you.

Answer 4

It helps to know how many questions you need to answer and how long each section is. That way, you can pace yourself, and set a limit on how long you will spend on a particularly difficult question before picking an answer randomly and moving on to the next question. The other thing which helps is your ability to focus, so make sure you are fully awake - get enough sleep before taking the test!

Answer 5

Meth.