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May 0510:00 AM PDT
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GMAT Inequalities is a high-frequency topic in GMAT Quant, but many students struggle because the concepts behave differently from standard algebra. Understanding the right rules, patterns, and edge cases can significantly improve both speed and accuracy.- May 06
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In Episode 3 of our GMAT Ninja Critical Reasoning series, we tackle Discrepancy, Paradox, and Explain an Oddity questions. You know the feeling: the passage gives you two facts that seem completely contradictory.... - May 08
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04 May 2026, 01:59
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How did you do on your third Official Mock?
This mock should now give you a better idea of how much more time you may need before your final test.
Rough estimate:
Treat this not as a strict rule, but as a general estimate of the time you might need to improve.
Until now, we focused on building fundamentals and improving accuracy. This week, we start adding time pressure. Knowing how to solve is one thing. Solving under time, with pressure, with the next question waiting, is a different game.
Weekly time budget: 20 to 30 hours total
What to keep in mind this week
Let’s tackle the elephant in the room.
One of the biggest skills in GMAT is knowing when to move on. You don’t get extra marks for solving one difficult question in 10 minutes. In fact, you usually end up paying for it later when you rush through easier questions.
A good rule to practice:
If you have spent around 1 minute and are still nowhere close to understanding the question, it is probably time to make an educated guess and move on.
This does not mean you randomly give up. It means you ask yourself:
If the answer is mostly no, guess and move.
Also, don’t guess blindly if you can avoid it. Try to eliminate obvious wrong choices first. Even removing one or two bad options improves your chances considerably.
One small exercise:
Start a timer, close your eyes, and open them when you feel 1 minute has passed.
Do this a few times. It sounds silly, but it helps you build a rough internal clock. Over time, you should become more aware of whether you are spending too much time on a question without checking the timer every 10 seconds like it owes you money.
Important note: Don’t try some new heroic timing strategy directly on test day. Practice it here first.
Core Reads
Videos
This week is mostly about timed mixed practice.
We will use official questions first. If you exhaust those, then move to popular questions from other sources.
Practice format: 10 questions in 20 minutes.
That’s one sprint.
Do this across Quant, Verbal, and DI.
If you are practicing on GMAT Club:
If you are practicing through official GMAC website, you can also use quiz mode and select easy/medium difficulty questions.
Target this week:
Quant: 7 to 10 sprints
Verbal: 7 to 10 sprints
DI: 7 to 10 sprints
That gives you roughly 70 to 100 timed questions per section.
Do not chase volume blindly. If review quality is dropping, reduce the number of sets.
After each timed sprint, don’t immediately jump to the expert solution. First, go back to the questions you guessed or could not solve properly and try them untimed. And then review.
Ask yourself:
This is the real work this week. The timed set gives you the symptom. The review tells you the disease.
Quant
Focus on:
Verbal
Focus on:
DI
Focus on:
This week, your error log should track timing behavior very carefully.
Add any missing columns:
Also track:
At this stage, wrong answers are not the only problem. Slow correct answers are also important to study.
How to post your Week 10 update:
Reading sources & Time spent:
Quant timed sprints completed:
Quant accuracy:
Main timing issue:
Verbal timed sprints completed:
Verbal accuracy:
Main timing issue:
DI timed sprints completed:
DI accuracy:
Main timing issue:
One question where I guessed:
One question where I spent too much time:
One thing I’ll fix next week:
Harder mixed practice.
Next week, we’ll start increasing difficulty and working more on medium-hard and hard questions.
This mock should now give you a better idea of how much more time you may need before your final test.
Rough estimate:
| Target Score vs Current Score | Estimated time |
| Already near your target score | You can think about taking the test within 2 weeks |
| Within 50 points of target | Give yourself 3 to 4 weeks to clean up weak areas |
| Within 75 points of target | You may need 5 to 6 more weeks |
| Around 100+ points away | You may need 7 to 8 more weeks to revise fundamentals and then build execution speed |
Treat this not as a strict rule, but as a general estimate of the time you might need to improve.
Until now, we focused on building fundamentals and improving accuracy. This week, we start adding time pressure. Knowing how to solve is one thing. Solving under time, with pressure, with the next question waiting, is a different game.
Weekly time budget: 20 to 30 hours total
What to keep in mind this week
- You have roughly 2 minutes per question, but not every question deserves exactly 2 minutes
- Save time on easier questions so you can spend it where it actually matters
- Don’t sit on one tough question forever and then lose 4 easier ones later
- Use answer choices, elimination, plugging numbers, estimation, dropdowns, sorting, and every tool available
- Don’t keep staring at the clock after every question, it only adds panic
- Timing improves only when you practice it repeatedly, it won’t magically appear on test day
THE BIG SKILL THIS WEEK: WHEN TO GUESS+
Let’s tackle the elephant in the room.
One of the biggest skills in GMAT is knowing when to move on. You don’t get extra marks for solving one difficult question in 10 minutes. In fact, you usually end up paying for it later when you rush through easier questions.
A good rule to practice:
If you have spent around 1 minute and are still nowhere close to understanding the question, it is probably time to make an educated guess and move on.
This does not mean you randomly give up. It means you ask yourself:
- Do I understand what the question is asking?
- Do I have a clear approach?
- Am I making real progress?
- Can I solve this within another minute?
- Do I have enough time left in the section to afford that extra minute?
If the answer is mostly no, guess and move.
Also, don’t guess blindly if you can avoid it. Try to eliminate obvious wrong choices first. Even removing one or two bad options improves your chances considerably.
One small exercise:
Start a timer, close your eyes, and open them when you feel 1 minute has passed.
Do this a few times. It sounds silly, but it helps you build a rough internal clock. Over time, you should become more aware of whether you are spending too much time on a question without checking the timer every 10 seconds like it owes you money.
Important note: Don’t try some new heroic timing strategy directly on test day. Practice it here first.
TIME MANAGEMENT RESOURCES+
Core Reads
- Timing strategies on the GMAT - https://gmatclub.com/forum/timing-strat ... 06035.html
- Kaplan GMAT time management - https://www.kaptest.com/study/gmat/time-management/
- e-GMAT time management in GMAT Focus - https://e-gmat.com/blogs/time-managemen ... esnt-work/
- mba.com mastering GMAT timing - https://www.mba.com/exams-and-exam-prep ... mat-timing
- Magoosh GMAT timing strategy - https://magoosh.com/gmat/gmat-timing-strategy/
- TTP GMAT verbal timing strategy - https://blog.targettestprep.com/gmat-ve ... -strategy/
Videos
HOW TO PRACTICE THIS WEEK+
This week is mostly about timed mixed practice.
We will use official questions first. If you exhaust those, then move to popular questions from other sources.
Practice format: 10 questions in 20 minutes.
That’s one sprint.
Do this across Quant, Verbal, and DI.
If you are practicing on GMAT Club:
- Set a 20-minute timer
- Pick 10 previously unanswered official questions
- Attempt them without pausing
- If stuck, make an educated guess and move on
- After the sprint ends, go back, attempt the questions you skipped and then review all of them properly
| Quant | PS |
| Verbal | CR RC |
| DI | DS G&T MSR TPA |
If you are practicing through official GMAC website, you can also use quiz mode and select easy/medium difficulty questions.
Target this week:
Quant: 7 to 10 sprints
Verbal: 7 to 10 sprints
DI: 7 to 10 sprints
That gives you roughly 70 to 100 timed questions per section.
Do not chase volume blindly. If review quality is dropping, reduce the number of sets.
HOW TO REVIEW EACH SPRINT+
After each timed sprint, don’t immediately jump to the expert solution. First, go back to the questions you guessed or could not solve properly and try them untimed. And then review.
Ask yourself:
- Did I genuinely not know the concept?
- Did I know the approach but got carried away by the clock?
- Did I need extra time just to recall a formula or method?
- Did I take too long because my approach was inefficient?
- Did I miss a shortcut or easier setup?
- Did I panic after one difficult question?
- Did I reread too much in Verbal or DI?
- Did the data feel overwhelming?
- Did I make a careless mistake because I was rushing?
This is the real work this week. The timed set gives you the symptom. The review tells you the disease.
SECTION-WISE FOCUS+
Quant
Focus on:
- Saving time on easy questions
- Avoiding long algebra when plugging or estimation works
- Recognizing when a question is setup-heavy vs calculation-heavy
- Making educated guesses when the path is not clear
Verbal
Focus on:
- Not rereading arguments or passages unnecessarily
- Eliminating answer choices faster
- Avoiding emotional attachment to tempting answers
- Guessing when stuck between options instead of burning 4 minutes
DI
Focus on:
- Read the question before trying to make sense of the data
- Using dropdowns, sorting, and tables smartly
- Not overusing the calculator
- Avoiding time traps in MSR and TPA
- Moving on when the setup becomes too dense
This week, your error log should track timing behavior very carefully.
Add any missing columns:
- Time taken
- Guessed or not
- Educated guess or random guess
- Reason for guessing
- Concept issue / timing issue / careless mistake / inefficient approach
- Could solve untimed later? Yes or No
- Better approach after review
Also track:
- Questions you got right but took too long
- Questions you guessed correctly but did not really understand
- Questions you missed because of panic
- Questions where expert solution was much cleaner than yours
At this stage, wrong answers are not the only problem. Slow correct answers are also important to study.
GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDELINES+
How to post your Week 10 update:
Reading sources & Time spent:
Quant timed sprints completed:
Quant accuracy:
Main timing issue:
Verbal timed sprints completed:
Verbal accuracy:
Main timing issue:
DI timed sprints completed:
DI accuracy:
Main timing issue:
One question where I guessed:
One question where I spent too much time:
One thing I’ll fix next week:
WHAT’S COMING NEXT WEEK+
Harder mixed practice.
Next week, we’ll start increasing difficulty and working more on medium-hard and hard questions.
Moderators:
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