Manage 90 minutes without rushing
Pacing is a sequence of decisions, not a race through every calculation.
Approximately 80 questions to be answered in 90 minutes provide a little more than a minute per item. Direct concepts should take less. Multi-step tables should take more. On a first pass, answer questions whose model is clear. If a calculation has produced no progress after roughly 75 seconds, eliminate what you can, mark the item, and continue. A second pass is valuable only if you reach it.
Pacing should be based on checkpoints, not on the emotional feeling that one item “ought” to be solvable. At about 22 minutes, aim to be near Question 20. At 45 minutes, near Question 40. At 67 minutes, near Question 60. These are guides rather than rigid deadlines, but they reveal early whether a few questions are consuming the time needed for many others.
| Pass | Primary job | Move on when |
|---|---|---|
| First pass | Secure direct concepts and short calculations | The model is still unclear after one focused reread |
| Marked-item pass | Revisit items where one more step could decide the answer | You are repeating the same arithmetic or rereading without a new question |
| Final check | Fill every response and inspect signs, units, and requested variables | Time expires. Never leave an item blank |
Use scratch work sparingly but visibly. Write the formula, substitute values, and keep the unit. For a graph, sketch only the curves needed to determine direction. When two choices remain, return to the exact noun in the stem: price or quantity, firm or market, private or social, short run or long run.
If the assessment you are taking permits a calculator, check its current rules before test day. Organize the expression before entering any values. Typing numbers while still deciding what they mean increases both time and error. For midpoint elasticity, write the two percentage changes first. For comparative advantage, write the units of the opportunity cost next to each ratio. For a payoff matrix, circle the best response in each row or column rather than trying to hold four comparisons in memory.
Guessing strategy is part of pacing because the exam does not reward an unanswered item more than an informed guess. Eliminate choices with the wrong sign, unit, curve, or time horizon. If two remain, choose the one that directly answers the stem and mark the item for review. A later question sometimes triggers the missing concept, but only if you preserved enough time to reach it.
Do not change an answer merely because it was difficult. Change it when you can name a specific error in the first analysis: a reversed ratio, an ignored word such as not, a wrong row, or a newly recognized assumption. Vague doubt is not evidence. A disciplined review asks what fact now makes the alternative better.
Practice the decision to leave
During preparation, set a 75-second timer on several hard questions and rehearse marking and moving on. Pacing is a skill under uncertainty. It becomes reliable only when the decision has been practiced before exam day.
The objective is not equal time per question. It is the greatest number of well-reasoned answers within the total time available.
A twelve-question pacing rehearsal
Set a twelve-minute timer and work carefully through twelve mixed questions. Mark the clock after questions 4 and 8. If one item absorbs more than 75 seconds without producing a new step, record the choice you can best defend, flag the item, and move forward. The useful evidence comes after the timer stops. Count how many direct questions you secured, how many difficult questions you abandoned early enough to protect later points, and how many errors came from haste rather than missing knowledge.
Run the same set again two days later with a different rule: no answer may be changed unless you can write the exact error in the first attempt. A reversed ratio, a missed word, or a wrong curve is a reason. Discomfort is not. This rehearsal separates productive review from anxious rereading. It also reveals whether your checkpoints need adjustment. A learner who answers the first eight items accurately in seven minutes can spend more time on the last four than someone who reaches the same point with only three minutes left.
Watch the idea in action
A focused video lesson from tutor2u.
Reza is an experienced Math instructor and a test-prep expert who has been tutoring students since 2008. He has helped many students raise their standardized test scores--and attend the colleges of their dreams. He works with students individually and in group settings, he tutors both live and online Math courses and the Math portion of standardized tests. He provides an individualized custom learning plan and the personalized attention that makes a difference in how students view math.
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