Each GMAT section gives you 45 minutes: 21 questions in Quantitative Reasoning, 23 in Verbal Reasoning and 20 in Data Insights. That is roughly two minutes a question.

Pacing problems rarely show up where they start. They show up at the end, as a run of rushed, wrong answers.

A typical case

A common case: four or five minutes on an early question, which still goes wrong. The section does not feel rushed until the end. Then the last few questions get a few seconds each, and they go wrong too.

The costly decision was not at the end. It was staying with that early question.

What helps

  • Set a personal limit, for example three minutes, after which you choose your best answer and move on.
  • Check the clock at fixed points, such as after every fifth question, instead of all the time.
  • A hard question you might get is not worth two easier ones you will not reach.
  • Finish the section. Leaving questions unanswered at the end costs more than an educated guess.

Practise letting go

Moving on is a skill, and it feels wrong at first. Practise it in timed sets, where a cap on each question is the point of the exercise.

ChatGMAT finds where a section went wrong and gives you practice to fix it.