The GMAT Focus Online: How to Make the Most of BOTH Whiteboard Tools
The GMAT Online allows test-takers to use both a physical whiteboard and an online whiteboard—and there are great reasons to use both, actually. Learn when to use which in this post!
When you take the GMAT Online, you’ll have access to both a physical whiteboard (that you’ll buy yourself) and an online one. The key is knowing when to use which and practicing in advance so that everything goes smoothly on test day. This post has been updated for the new GMAT exam.
When you take an official practice test, you’ll have access to the official online whiteboard. We’ve replicated the official online whiteboard tool to allow you to practice under official test conditions in advance of the test, including the ability to resize the board and place it wherever you want on your test screen. If you have any type of syllabus with us, including our free Starter Kit syllabus, the online whiteboard is already waiting for you. (No MPrep syllabus? Get a free one—just follow that link. You’ll also get a free suite of foundational math study materials.)
Here are the official requirements for the physical whiteboard that you buy yourself for the GMAT Online. (If you’re taking it in the testing center, they’ll provide the scratch paper for you. It’ll look like this.) You’ll want to take at least a couple of practice tests using your physical whiteboard to figure out exactly how you want to use it, so buy it soon.
One more thing. Be prepared to take the exam either online or in a testing center. Give yourself full flexibility, just in case.
Requirements for the physical whiteboard
The maximum dimensions of the whiteboard are 12 by 20 inches or 30 by 50 centimeters. It does need to be a dry-erase board and it does have to have a plain white background (no colors or grid lines). Also: Buy a double-sided whiteboard—it’s explicitly allowed and you’ll have double the “real estate” on which to write! (*If you have our Yellow Pad, you can’t use this for the GMAT Online. The Yellow Pad is still used for your scratch paper in the testing center, though, so it’s good practice for that format.)
For the GMAT Online, you can have one eraser and up to two dry erase markers—definitely have two markers on hand for your test and make sure they’re new or almost-new.
Here’s a partial list of what GMAC has said cannot be used—but they reserve the right to deny other things. So look for the largest whiteboard that fits the max size limits, but go super simple after that—white, boring, basic.
How the online whiteboard works
This table lays out how to use each tool, in order as they appear on the screen:
| Tool | How to Use |
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Pencil / Pen. Write or draw anything you want. Choose one of the smaller thickness settings. The whiteboard will remember your choice. |
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Eraser. Choose the greatest setting for thickness. The whiteboard will remember your choice. |
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Line. Draw perfectly straight lines, dashed lines, and arrows. Probably won’t need to use much. |
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Rectangle. Use when you want to make a box or grid. Probably won’t use much. |
 |
Circle. Probably won’t use much. |
 |
Text. Take notes on longer verbal- or logic-based problem types. |
 |
Ignore. Polygon or Free Shape. |
 |
Pan. Use to move to new white/blank space. |
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Ignore. Eyedropper. |
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Change the color of your drawing or writing. Probably ignore. |
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Fill a shape with a certain color. Probably ignore. |
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Change the background color of the whiteboard. Choose your desired color at the beginning. Ignore after that. |
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Undo a change or redo. If you accidentally delete something, bring it back. If you make a mistake, undo it. |
 |
Ignore. Zoom in and out. Just use the Pan tool (above) if you need more white space. |
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Ignore. Clear everything. Just use the Pan tool (above) if you need more white space. |
Top Tips for getting the most out of the online whiteboard
The online whiteboard is great for several reasons:
- Anything you write will stay there for the entire section, even if you close and open the whiteboard. (It will erase before you start the next section.)
- The whiteboard is (effectively) infinite…you always have more space.
- You can type! When you take notes on word-based problems, you can type if you prefer.
Use these facts to your advantage, especially given that your physical whiteboard is pretty limited in size. For example, use the online whiteboard to manage your time for each section (you can read more about this in our Free Starter Kit or in your course materials). And use the online whiteboard to jot down any facts, formulas, or positive mantras you want to remember for this section (but don’t want to clutter up your physical whiteboard).
Placement of your online whiteboard
You can place the whiteboard anywhere on your screen and you can resize it.
When you want to move the whiteboard out of the way, you can either close* it or drag it partially or mostly off screen, your choice. Whenever you want to access that content again, drag it back on screen or open it up again. (*Note: Our browser-based version will erase everything you wrote when you close it. On the real test, though, your content will persist until the end of that test section.)
You’ll do most of your math on your physical whiteboard. Consider, though: There may be times you actually do want to do math on the online whiteboard. Some problems might be easier to solve if you can do the work immediately next to whatever is written on screen—so you don’t have to keep looking up and down while you try to solve.
For example, you might be working from a table of info. Or the problem might have a lot of numbers to copy down. Maybe you just need to rearrange the numbers to find a pattern—it might be easier to draw or type right next to the problem on the whiteboard than to look up and down repeatedly to copy everything down.
Verbal-based problems are all about finding and crossing off the wrong answers. You can keep track on your physical whiteboard, of course, but you can also do so right on screen most of the time.
Drag the online whiteboard partially off-screen and place it right next to the right-hand end of the answers. Use the pen tool to keep track of your answer evaluations as you go. I use X to eliminate an answer for good and squiggles to mean “come back to this answer in a minute.”
In this example problem from mba.com, I’ve eliminated A, D, and E. I’ve marked B and C as the two possible options that I need to review. (Note: This problem is from the free official problem set on mba.com.)
You can almost always keep track of your answer choice eliminations on screen for CR (from the Verbal section) and Two-Parts (from the Data Insights section). It may not always work as well for RC or Multi-Source Reasoning, because those two problem types take up a lot more real-estate on the screen, making it harder to find a good place for the online whiteboard. Play around with it it to see what you prefer.
I type my notes for the RC passages and MSR tabs and start off each problem with my notes visible on screen. I use my notes to figure out what I need to re-read in the passage / tabs, and then I drag the whiteboard mostly off screen so that I can see the full prompt/text, question, and answer choices all at the same time. Sometimes, there’s enough room to still use the whiteboard for my answer choice eliminations; when there isn’t, I use my physical whiteboard.
When you use the physical whiteboard for your answer eliminations, only write down ABCDE once. Make your markings next to the letters (not on top of them) and erase just the markings after each problem.
Concentrate on the Pen, Text, and Straight Line Tools
Use the pen or line tool when you need to make a grid or table. Use the pen tool to jot down a single number or letter or draw symbols for your answer choice eliminations—anything that’s quick and easy. When you need to take more extensive notes, type using the text tool (or write on your physical whiteboard).
If you find yourself occasionally solving for the wrong thing (especially on math problems), consider jotting down what you’re solving for on the online whiteboard and positioning it near the answers, so that it’s sitting on screen to remind you: Did you just solve for x? Or did you accidentally solve for y? A reminder right next to the answers can help you catch these kinds of mistakes.
Take a Practice CAT to Mimic the GMAT Online
For the most part, practice the way you think you’re going to take the real exam—whether online or in a testing center. But take at least one practice test using the GMAT Online whiteboard requirements and at least one practice test using the testing center scratch paper. That way, if you do have to change your plans at the last minute, you’ll already know how to set up and use your scratch pad for either test format.
Good luck and happy studying!
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Stacey Koprince is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada. Stacey has been teaching the GMAT 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. Check out Stacey’s upcoming GMAT courses here.