Everything You Need To Know About Time Management On The GRE, Part 2

by Stacey Koprince Sep 10, 2019

In the first part of this series, we discussed the scoring, per question timing, and reflecting on your results. If you haven’t already read the first part, do so now before you continue with this article. Today, we’re going to talk about our next three major timing strategies.

GRE Time Management Tip 4) Develop your 1-minute sense

While keeping a single-problem time log will help you become aware of your pacing on all question types, you can’t check the clock after every problem on the real test. You’ll drive yourself crazy before the test is over! What to do, then?

What we’re going to do is develop a time sense so that we can make appropriate, timely decisions as we move through the test. Let’s talk first about why and how we use this time sense; then, we’ll talk about what we need to do in order to develop it.

WHY are we developing a 1-minute sense?

One of the key timeframes on this test is the 1-minute mark on a question. Instead of worrying about all of the different average timeframes we discussed in section 2 of this article, we’re going to split the question types into two groups: longer and shorter.

Longer question types: discrete quant, data interpretation and reading comp

For these three types, 1 minute represents about the halfway point or a little longer, and there are particular things that we need to have accomplished by that time in order to have a reasonable shot at finishing the question correctly and on time.

For the longer questions, we need to be on track by the 1 minute mark. This means that we need to know what we’re doing, have a very good idea of what else needs to happen in the remaining time, and have confidence that we’re capable of doing that work. If we’re not on track at the 1 minute mark, then we need to move from our best strategy (trying to find the right answer) to our second-best strategy (trying to find and eliminate wrong answers). We spend 30 to 60 seconds eliminating wrong answers aggressively, then we guess and move on—without losing time on that problem.

When you’re on track, there’s no question in your mind. If I were to interrupt you on such a question and ask whether you were on track, you’d tell me, “Yes, I am, shhhh, don’t interrupt me!” If, instead, you are thinking, “Well, with a little more time, I’m sure I could figure it out” or “But I studied this! I should know it!”—you are not on track. Stop now. (Yes, I know that’s hard. Practice it. J)

Shorter question types: quantitative comparisons, text completion and sentence equivalence

For these three types, the 1-minute mark represents the wrapping-up point—we should be done or close to done with the problem. In other words, the 1-minute mark is the time’s up mark. If you’re getting that 1-minute feeling and you’re not on track, guess from among the remaining answers and move on. (Do not spend time trying to figure out how to guess at this point—time’s already up.)

How do we develop a 1-minute sense?

You need access to a stopwatch that has lap timing capability. (Most electronic stopwatches and computer/smartphone stopwatch programs will do this; only some physical stopwatches will.) Pushing the lap button will not stop the timer; rather, it will mark the time at which you pushed the button, but the stopwatch itself will keep running. You can push the lap button multiple times, and the timer will record all of the times at which you pushed the button while continuing to run.

Set yourself up with a set of 5 or 10 practice problems from the longer group. Set your timer and cover it up so that you can’t see what it says (but still give yourself access to the lap button). Dive into the first problem; when you think it’s been about a minute since you began, push that lap button. When you’re done with the problem, push the lap button again. Start your second problem; when you think it’s been about a minute since you began, push that lap button. When you’re done, push the button again. Keep repeating this process until you’re done with your set.

Note: if you’re done with the question before you think it has been a minute, check your work. If you were really that fast, you have the time to check, right? Make sure you didn’t make a careless mistake simply due to speed. While checking your work, still push that button when you think it has been a minute since you started in the first place, and again when you’re done.

Now, go back and examine the data. For instance, let’s say the below represents the first four times you pushed the lap button:

What does this data mean? Time entries 1 and 2 represent question #1 and time entries 3 and 4 represent question #2. For the first question, we spent a total of 1:51 – 0 = 1:51. For the second question, we spent a total of 4:23 – 1:51 = 2:32. Looks like we spent a bit too long on question 2.

What about our 1-minute training data? For the first question, we clicked the timer at 0:56 – 0 = 0:56, or almost exactly 1 minute. Yay! For the second question, we clicked the timer at 3:22 – 1:51 = 1:31—on the high side. We’ll have to keep practicing this.

For the 1-minute part, anything between roughly 45 seconds and 1 minute 15 seconds is good. Anything outside of that range is too fast or too slow. Note your tendencies and, tomorrow, adjust accordingly when you do your next set of problems. Most people find it takes three to four weeks of regular practice with this in order to develop a time sense that is reasonably accurate most of the time.

You can also train yourself when you’re doing anything that requires extended mental concentration, even if it’s not GRE-related. Have to write up a report for school or memo for work? Have to do some research? Set up your timer and push the button every time you think it has been a minute until you’ve pushed it ten times. Then check your data.

Once your time sense is relatively reliable, you’re going to get really good at your “am I on track? and if not, I’m moving on, or I’m moving to guessing” strategy. This also requires you to know how to make good educated guesses, of course, don’t forget to think about that when you’re studying.

GRE Time Management Tip 5) Transition to Benchmarks

You probably noted that our timing is still a bit loose; we might finish one 2-minute question in only 1.5 minutes, and another in 2.5 minutes. That’s fine, as long as we are generally spending long enough (at least 45 seconds) to minimize careless mistakes and yet not so long (> 30 seconds above the average timeframe) that we lose time on other questions.

On a full test section, it’s best to monitor time using Benchmarks. We’re going to recommend one specific method for quant; for verbal, you can choose between two methods.

For all methods, when you hit a problem that you know you don’t know how to do, pick an answer, move on, and forget about it. Do NOT mark these for review. Save your review markers for questions that you DO know how to do, but you don’t want to do until the end because they’re time consuming.

Quant

Quant sections begin with QC, the fastest of the three quant question types. The clock counts down from 35 minutes. We’re typically given 7 or 8 QC questions first, and we want to finish these with about 25 minutes left on the clock. Next, we should expect 5 to 6 DQ questions, and we should finish these with roughly 15 minutes left on the clock. Up next, we’ll have 2 or 3 DI questions, and we should finish with 10 minutes left. Finally, we’ll use the remaining time to answer 4 or 5 DQ questions.

Note: if you are within approximately 1 minute of the expected timeframe, you’re fine!

Luckily, the timeframes aren’t too hard to remember. We really just need to note three numbers: done with QC at 25, done with DQ at 15, done with DI at 10. (And, again, we do have a little leeway; if we’re done with DQ at 14 instead of 15, don’t start to panic!)

Verbal

For verbal, we’re going to offer two different methods and you can choose the one you think will be easiest for you. If you’re not sure, try each one out on your next two practice tests. Method #1 is similar to quant: you’ll do the questions in order while trying to maintain certain pre-determined benchmarks. Method #2 is a bit different: you’ll do all of the vocab-type questions first (sentence equivalence and text completion) and then do all of the RC questions.

Verbal Method #1: Straight Through

Verbal sections begin with 30 minutes on the clock and we’re first given about 6 TC questions. When we’re done with these, we should have 24 minutes left. Next, we should expect 5 or 6 RC questions (the number of passages can vary) and we should finish with 13 minutes on the clock. Up next, we’ll have 4 SE questions, and we should finish with 9 minutes left. Finally, we’ll use the remaining time to answer 4 or 5 RC questions.

Note: if you are within approximately 1 minute of the expected timeframe, you’re fine!

These numbers are a little bit harder to remember than the quant numbers, but we still only have to remember three: finish TC at around the 24-minute mark, finish RC around the 13-minute mark, and finish SE with around 9 minutes left.

Verbal Method #2: Vocab First

For this method, we’re going to split the question types into two groups: vocab and reading comp. The two types of vocab questions (sentence equivalence and text completion) need to average 1 minute each and we typically have a total of 10 questions in these two categories. Go through the section, answering only the 10 vocab-type questions. Mark and skip all of the RC questions. Because we have a total of 30 minutes, we should have approximately 20 minutes left when we’ve finished the vocab questions. You can be off by a minute or so; as always, the timing doesn’t need to be exact.

Next, go back and use the remaining 20 minutes to answer the 10 RC questions. You may want to check your time halfway through the RC questions; if so, keep track of how many you’ve answered using little tick marks on your scratch paper. Once you have 5 tick marks, you should have approximately 10 minutes left on the clock (again, within a minute or so).

Note: if you are within approximately 1 minute of the expected timeframe, you’re fine!

I know I’ve said this multiple times already, but it’s worth repeating: any time you see a question that you know you can’t do, or that you know will take you WAY too long, pick an answer and move on. Do not mark it and return to it later.

GRE Time Management Tip 6) Know how to recover from bad timing

Okay, everything we’ve talked about so far has focused on what we do want to do. What do we do if things get off track? There are two levels to this: what to do immediately during an actual testing / timed situation, and what to do during your study afterward, before you take another test.

What to do during a test

As soon as you notice a timing problem, you need to start dealing with it. Don’t ignore it and assume it will get better later; most likely, it will only get worse.

First, here’s how you know there’s a problem: You are 2 or more minutes off of the expected timeframe at one of your benchmarks.

If you’re 2 or more minutes too low, that means you’re going too slowly. You are going to need to sacrifice something in order to get back on track; you don’t have a choice about that. You do have a choice about what you sacrifice—and there are better and worse choices you can make. Do NOT sacrifice things you know how to do. Don’t tell yourself that you’ll speed up on this question that you do know how to do and save yourself time. You’re risking a careless mistake on a question that you know how to get right, plus you’re going to have to do that on several questions to make up the 2 minutes that you’re behind, so you’re giving yourself a chance to miss multiple questions that you know how to do. Bad idea!

Instead, the very next time you see a question that you know is a weakness of yours, skip it. Make an immediate, random guess, don’t mark it, and move on. There—you’ve only sacrificed one question, and it was a weakness anyway. Depending upon the question type and how quickly you moved on, you saved anywhere from a little under 1 minute to a little under 2 minutes. If that’s enough to catch back up, great. If not, repeat this behavior until you are caught back up.

What if you hit a benchmark and your actual number is more than 2 minutes higher than expected? Then you’re going too quickly—you have too much time left.

In this case, you do need to slow down a bit, because you might be making careless mistakes simply due to speed. Make sure you’re writing everything down. Use your 1-minute sense! If you’re ready to move on before it’s been about a minute (and you think you got it right), now would be a great time to check your work. On the ones you absolutely don’t know how to do, though, still go ahead and move on—you don’t need to spend more time on those.

Okay, the test is over, and you realize that you messed up the timing. Now what? Now you go all the way back to the beginning of this article and start practicing all of the things we discussed until you’re making better decisions about individual questions. Ultimately, you’ll be better able to balance your timing throughout a test section and make good decisions about where to spend your time—and where not to spend your time. Note that this can take weeks and even months, depending upon how severe your timing problems are and whether they are also related to holes in your content knowledge and skills.

That was a lot of stuff. Here’s a summary of our major tasks:

1. Understand how the scoring works
2. Know your per-question time constraints and track your work
3. Reflect on your results
4. Develop your 1 minute sense
5. Transition to Benchmarks
6. Know how to recover from bad timing

Now go get started!