Timing is Everything (?)

[mike_bidgoli]

Hi folks,

As I am going through the different sections of GMAT, it seems that it primarily really is all about the timing. I can answer all the CR & RC questions correctly given sufficient time. So my question is: What are the MGMAT guidelines on allotted times for each of the sections pasted below. Please note that it is very important for me to know the absolute values or percentage differences that the experts / instructors spend on the questions of varying difficulty levels. I also realize that this could vary for different folks particularly when it comes to DS & PS questions where you could just get to the answers in extremely inefficient ways or using shortcuts.

CR
500-600 question:
600-700 question:
700-800 question:

RC
500-600 question:
600-700 question:
700-800 question:

SC
500-600 question:
600-700 question:
700-800 question:

DS
500-600 question:
600-700 question:
700-800 question:

PS
500-600 question:
600-700 question:
700-800 question:

Thanks in advance,
Mike

[StaceyKoprince]

Love the title of your post (though I'd remove the question mark :).

There's no difference in timing based upon difficulty level because there's no way to know what the difficulty level of a problem is when you're taking the test. I've been doing this for more than 10 years and I still wouldn't feel comfortable telling you what I thought the difficulty level of a problem was until I'd had the opportunity to study it. Not just do it, actually study it, which takes more than 2m.

It's also the case that I never want to set an expectation for myself that "I must answer this problem / I must answer this problem correctly." I try it. If I can do it in the expected time, I do it. If I can't, I make an educated guess and move on. I don't think about the difficulty level. I don't think about my overall performance. I don't speculate whether it was experimental. Etc. I do it if I can do it or I guess if I can't. Period.

In general, these are the guidelines I follow:
Quant (DS & PS): Average 2 minutes. Max 2.5 minutes. Twice per section (37 questions), I can go to 3 minutes if I think it is warranted. I ONLY go over on time if I know exactly what I'm doing but the problem is long / convoluted / hard for whatever reason, so it will naturally take longer. If I'm thinking, "Oh, if I just spend some more time, I'm sure I could figure this out!" No, actually, I won't. Move on. This is true for all problems on the test, not just quant.

SC: Average 1m20sec. Max 2 minutes.
CR: Average 2m. Max 2.5m. Once per section, I can go to 3m if I think it is warranted (extra long, convoluted, but I know exactly what to do).
RC: Read-through: 2-3m, depending upon length and complexity. General (main-idea type) questions: 1m avg, no more than 1.5m. Specific questions: 2m avg, no more than 2.5.

On any verbal question, once I've narrowed down to 2 choices, I look at each choice ONCE more. I either know or I don't - I pick something and move on.

Oh, and if I answer a quant question in well under a minute, I do it again - just to make sure I didn't mess up / overlook something.