GRE Online Guide

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4. GRE Pacing Strategies for the CAT

One Mean CAT

To quote ETS, the makers of the GRE, "Time management is key." Your timing skills could add or subtract 100 points from your score. Timing skills are important because the CAT has unusual pacing constraints:

• DOUBLE PENALTY - for any unfinished questions in each section. The penalty for unfinished questions is severe, worse than getting a question wrong. You should pace yourself to make sure that you finish all the questions in the allotted time.
  
• NO DOUBLE CHECKING - If you finish a section early, you cannot go back to double check your earlier answers. For example, if you hurry and finish your section with 20 minutes left, you are stuck at the end of the test for 20 minutes.
  
• NO SKIPPING - When you hit a tough question or get a mental block, you cannot skip the question without entering an answer. Instead, you have to trudge through it, guess, and hope you don't waste too much time. In addition, all answers are final and you have to answer the question in front of you.
  
• GO FASTER AND FASTER - The value of each question decreases as the section progresses. The first few questions will determine most of your score, so you have to start slowly and carefully and then accelerate as the test progresses.

Tame that CAT

... The proper pacing to the GRE is difficult to learn. You have to accelerate as the test progresses, you have to finish the test on time, and you can't get bogged down on questions. The CAT is engineered so that the early questions count MUCH more than the later questions. The result is that you should start off slowly to get the early questions right and then speed through the less important later questions. The problem is that the natural human reaction is to go quickly at the beginning (when you are nervous) and miss the most valuable questions.

How to take control of your pacing

To tackle the GRE's tough pacing requirements, we developed our Test Pacer patent-pending pace-training system and built it into our 5 GRE CAT practice tests. The Pacer tells you what question you should be on so that you finish the test on time. Like a training wheel, the more you practice with the Pacer, the stronger your sense of timing will become. The Pacer is designed to adjust its pace to guide you through the test depending on your skill level and what question you are on.

Pacer Guide
First third (1-8): The Pacer will be going slowly because the questions are valuable. Use the Pacer as a brake to slow yourself down, particularly for the all-important first eight questions. Double-check yourself before answering.
S second third (9-20) : The Pacer speeds up here to a “normal” pace. Be careful, but not as cautious as earlier in the test. If you are far ahead of pace by question #9, it may mean that you were not careful enough with the important (slow) questions at the beginning.
Last third(21+) : The Pacer goes quickly because the questions have little value. Move rapidly and guess more frequently if you are behind.
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