Study and Strategy questions relating to the GMAT.
KyleD466
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CAT Practice Cumulative Timing Issue

by KyleD466 Mon Nov 06, 2023 6:41 pm

Hi!

I have a question regarding the cumulative time when reviewing a practice CAT test.

It seems that my cumulative time never reaches the 65 mins allowed (for verbal) and instead the test seems to stop much earlier than this, e.g. in the last test I did my cumulative time stops at 60:29? I am a little bit unsure why this is happening? Could it be because I am pausing the test and the time continues in the background?

Thanks,

Kyle
StaceyKoprince
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Re: CAT Practice Cumulative Timing Issue

by StaceyKoprince Mon Nov 13, 2023 5:24 pm

Hi! If you are pausing your exam, then yes, that could mess up the timing. It shouldn't most of the time—but it could. While we do allow a pause button on our exams, I'd encourage you to use it only in an emergency. You'll never be able to pause the real exam.

Can you explain what you mean by "stops at 60:29"? I can think of two basic scenarios:

(1) You finished the section and submitted your final answer at 60:29 into the test. In that case, your cumulative column will say 60:29—ie, you finished the section early.

(2) You ran out of time before submitting the last question and the test cut you off. In this case, in the Right/Wrong column, you'll see NA (rather than right or wrong) for the last problem you attempted. In addition. The Time (on this problem) column will be blank.

In the second case, while you would have technically spent the full time (65 on V or 62 on Q), your cumulative time recorded will probably not say 65 or 62—because the timer is trying to record the time at which you answered the question, but you did not submit an answer to this question. In this circumstance, the time will usually match the time for the prior question, even though you will have spent a little time on the new problem before your time runs out. If you had enough time to sit on that last problem for a while before the timer ran out, though, then the timer may have had essentially an extra "ping" that records a different time, though still not the full 65 (or 62) minutes.

Would either of those explain what you're seeing? If not, let me know. Thanks!
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep