Pacing yourself

How fast should I go?

You have 40 minutes for the 25 questions. So you have about a minute and a half for each question, right?

No! Definitely wrong. Sure, the arithmetic checks out, but it’s the wrong arithmetic.

There are two reasons why:

First, if you go that fast, you’re going to make avoidable (careless) mistakes. What good is it to get to problem #25 right if you answered #1 wrong? That’s silly.

Second, you’re going to stress yourself out if you try to go at that pace. It’s just too fast.

Third, you’re going be paying attention to the clock instead of the problem in front of you. You need your full attention on your work.

Fourth, these problems are arranged more or less in order from easiest to hardest. So why give yourself the same time budget for each question? Your solve rate will go down as you get to harder questions, and that’s fine. Just take as long as it takes to get to a good answer, then move on.

Fifth, since they’re arranged from easiest to hardest, but they are all worth the same point value, why not spend your time making sure to get the first ones right? It will take extra time to do it that way, but you’ll get a higher overall score for sure.

Sixth, pretty much no one gets the last problems right. So why plan to waste time on those, when you could be spending the same time nailing the easier ones?

Wait, did I say two reasons? Whoops, nope, there are a lot more reasons than that. So don’t rush and don’t worry about your pace.

You’re not supposed to get to the end. (Surprise!)