Best GMAT Section Order Strategy: How Do I Choose?

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Last Updated on May 12, 2023

GMAT test-takers look to gain any edge they can to boost their scores (rightfully so), so it’s no wonder that students preparing for the GMAT often ask me how to choose the best GMAT section order to earn a high score.

In this article, we’ll explore your options for the order of sections on GMAT exams and consider various strategies related to GMAT section order and give you a simple and effective plan for choosing the section order that is right for you.

First, let’s review some of the nuts and bolts of GMAT section order, including how and when you’ll make your section order selection on test day.

• An Introduction to Section Order Selection
• The 3 Options for GMAT Section Order
• How to Craft Your Section Order Strategy

• Know your test-taking style
• Know your GMAT strengths and weaknesses
• Know the priorities of your desired schools

• Strategy 1: Choosing the Default
• Strategy 2: Starting with Verbal or Quant
• Testing Section Orders with Practice Tests

An Introduction to Section Order Selection

Since 2017, GMAT test-takers have had 3 options for the order in which they see the 4 sections of the GMAT on test day. These options give test-takers the flexibility to tailor the test-taking experience, whether taking the online or in-person GMAT, to their skills and preferences. For some test-takers, GMAT section order is a key part of their test-taking strategy.

For others, section order does not noticeably affect how they perform on the test. Since every test-taker is different, the impact of section order on a person’s test-day performance varies, and the best GMAT section order for one person may be the least preferred order for someone else. With that in mind, it’s essential to have a section order strategy in place before test day, so you can use the ability to choose your section order to your greatest advantage.

The other thing to keep in mind is that there is no magical section order that will produce a certain score or give you an automatic advantage over test-takers choosing another section order. In fact, before giving test-takers the option to choose their GMAT section order, the makers of the GMAT ran a pilot program to make sure that reordering the sections of the exam would not have a statistically significant impact on test-takers’ scores.

After all, why would the test-makers offer a “cheat code” to students sitting for such a competitive exam? Choosing the default section order, for example, is not “preferred” by the test and therefore going to result in a higher score than “customizing” your GMAT section order would. So, choosing a section order for your GMAT is really about what is right for YOU.

Before we look at strategies for choosing the best GMAT section order for you, let’s review the 3 options you’ll be given on test day and the procedure for selecting your preferred order.

Choosing a section order for your GMAT is really about what is right for you.

The 3 Options for GMAT Section Order

As you may know, before you begin your in-person or online GMAT, you will navigate through some introductory screens on the computer. The Select Section Order screen is the final screen that you will see right before you start your exam. The 3 section orders you will be able to choose from are as follows:

GMAT Section Order Options

AWA first (Default)	Analytical Writing Assessment	→	Integrated Reasoning	→	BREAK	→	Quant	→	BREAK	→	Verbal
Verbal first	Verbal	→	BREAK	→	Quant	→	BREAK	→	Integrated Reasoning	→	Analytical Writing Assessment
Quant first	Quant	→	BREAK	→	Verbal	→	BREAK	→	Integrated Reasoning	→	Analytical Writing Assessment

GMAT Section Order Options

AWA first (Default)	Verbal first	Quant first
Analytical Writing Assessment	Verbal	Quant
Integrated Reasoning	BREAK	BREAK
BREAK	Quant	Verbal
Quant	BREAK	BREAK
BREAK	Integrated Reasoning	Integrated Reasoning
Verbal	Analytical Writing Assessment	Analytical Writing Assessment

You will have 1 minute to choose your section order. If you do not make a selection within 1 minute, the default section order will be selected for you by the computer. So, this is yet another reason why it is so important to decide on your preferred section order before you sit for your GMAT. The last thing you want is to be scrambling to make a potentially score-altering decision as your exam is about to begin.

Keep in mind that since the Quant section is 62 minutes, the Verbal section is 65 minutes, and the AWA and IR sections are 30 minutes each, regardless of which section order you choose, essentially you will have an 8-minute optional break between every 1-hour stretch of test-taking.

Now, let’s take a look at some important questions that all test-takers should ask themselves when deciding what is the best GMAT section order for them.

How to Craft Your Section Order Strategy

Your GMAT section order strategy should take into account your test-taking style, your strengths and weaknesses related to GMAT content, and which sections your desired schools emphasize most when evaluating applicants. At the crossroads of those factors, you will find your ideal section order.

It’s important to be brutally honest with yourself when evaluating these factors. The more in tune you are with your test-taking habits and behaviors, and the more honestly and objectively you evaluate your strong and weak areas, the better equipped you will be to assess which section order plays to your strengths.

So, let’s take a look at some key questions to ask yourself related to each of these factors.

Know Your Test-taking Style

The following 6 questions will help you to evaluate your test-taking style:

1. Do I tend to get fatigued at a certain point during the exam? Am I exhausted by the time I reach the last section? Do I experience a mid-exam slump?

2. Does my mind feel fresher at the start of the exam or after I’ve had some time to “warm up”?

3. Do I tend to feel more anxious at the start of the exam and calmer as I get “into the groove” of answering questions?

4. Do I feel antsy or distracted toward the end of the exam, knowing that I’m almost finished or wondering how well I’ve performed?

5. Do I feel particularly refreshed or energized after the first break? After each break?

6. Am I better able to focus on the rest of the exam when I get “the hard stuff” over with first, or does completing easier sections first give me more confidence to tackle harder sections?

You may find that some of the issues raised by these questions don’t really apply to you or that some feature much more prominently in your test-taking experience than others. The point is, when studying for the GMAT and after taking practice exams, you want to evaluate not only your grasp of GMAT content and time-management skills, but also your mood, mindset, energy level, and ability to focus when solving different types of GMAT problems (just don’t attempt to evaluate those things during a practice test — concentrate on finding right answers to the questions in front of you!).

I’ll discuss using practice tests to help determine the best section order for you in detail shortly. For now, let’s look at how your GMAT strengths and weaknesses may affect your section order strategy.

Know Your GMAT Strengths and Weaknesses

Ask yourself these 4 questions when evaluating your GMAT strengths and weaknesses:

1. In which section am I generally strongest?

2. In which section am I generally weakest?

3. Do I tend to perform about equally well in Quant and Verbal, or do I consistently perform better in one of those sections?

4. Which section do I feel most nervous about completing? Least nervous?

Again, you must be as objective and honest with yourself as possible when evaluating your strengths and weaknesses. In what sections do you tend to require the greatest effort and the clearest thinking in order to correctly answer questions? Are you really as rock solid in Quant as you think you are, or have you been stumbling onto correct answers? Do you need to be laser focused and completely mentally alert to wade through Reading Comprehension passages, or are you such a practiced and efficient reader that you actually find them enjoyable?

Additionally, keep in mind that the sections you feel most nervous and least nervous about completing may not be, respectively, your weakest and strongest sections. You may be strongest in Quant but most nervous about performing well in that section because you know how heavily your desired schools emphasize Quant, or because you’re applying to schools at which the average Quant scores are very high.

If your preoccupation with performing well in Quant could affect your level of focus during other sections of the test, then you may need to consider that when deciding whether to attack your “strongest” section first or later in the exam. On the other hand, you may be weakest at responding to Writing prompts yet feel the least nervous about tackling the AWA section, because you know that your desired schools place greater emphasis on other section scores.

This brings us to the third factor every test-taker should consider when deciding on a GMAT section order.

Know the Priorities of Your Desired Schools

As you probably already know, many MBA programs, particularly at top schools, are unabashedly quant-driven, so your performance on the Quant section of the GMAT is likely to be weighed more heavily than your performance on other GMAT sections. Nevertheless, here are a couple of questions you should ask yourself when evaluating the priorities of the programs to which you plan to apply:

1. Do my desired programs state an emphasis on looking at GMAT Quant scores or prioritize certain sections of the GMAT?

2. Given the average GMAT section scores of accepted students in my desired programs, do the programs appear to have any unstated priorities related to GMAT section scores?

You should be able to find the information you need to answer these questions on the program websites, so take some time to research your chosen schools and get a sense of their priorities. You can also try giving admissions a call if you can’t find the information you need or you have specific concerns about a section score — they are usually pretty willing to advise students on what the programs will be looking for. Of course, your GMAT section order is not included on your score report, so schools that receive your GMAT scores will not be able to see the order in which you completed the GMAT sections.

Now that we’ve gone over the key factors to consider and questions to ask yourself when deciding what the best GMAT section order will be for you, let’s look at some scenarios to illustrate the pros and cons you may need to weigh when evaluating each section order option.

Strategy 1: Choosing the Default

From time to time, a GMAT student will ask me some variation of the question, “Why in the world would anyone choose to start with Analytical Writing on the GMAT?” Since the AWA section is widely perceived to be the least important GMAT section for admissions to MBA programs, many test-takers assume that the wisest strategy is to leave that section for the end of the test, so that it won’t matter that you’re too exhausted to perform at your best. While that rationale may be perfectly reasonable and appropriate for many test-takers, for many others, completing the AWA section first provides an essential opportunity to “warm up.”

Particularly if you’re someone who tends to have a lot of nervous energy at the beginning of the exam, but then settle into test-taking mode as you go, you may want to consider choosing the default section order, so that you’re presented with the Quant and Verbal sections after you’ve had a chance to get your brain “firing on all cylinders” with the AWA and IR sections.

Doing a handful of practice GMAT questions before you walk into the test center, while recommended, is not always enough to get someone into the zone of test-taking. If you know that you typically hit your stride about midway through the GMAT (when the default order would have you working on the Quant section), then starting with the Writing section may be the way to go.

Strategy 2: Starting with Verbal or Quant

One of the questions we touched on related to evaluating your test-taking style was whether you prefer to get “the hard stuff” over with first. Answering that question may go a long way toward helping you decide on the best GMAT section order for you, regardless of which order you end up choosing, but let’s consider that important question as it relates to starting with Verbal or Quant.

Say, for example, you struggle most with GMAT Verbal and have quite a bit of anxiety related to completing that section. It could be that getting the Verbal section over with first will be a huge relief to you, and with your hardest section out of the way, you’ll be energized and able to focus completely on kicking butt on the other sections.

The same goes for the Quant section. If you’re the type of test-taker who will feel like the Quant section is “hanging over your head” or be distracted by a sense of dread as you work your way toward that section, the smartest plan for you may be to get it over with first thing, so you don’t risk worrying about it (and possibly hindering your performance) while you’re working on other sections. Particularly if you feel far more mentally alert and on your game at the beginning of the exam, starting with either the Quant or Verbal section may be key to your earning a high score on your hardest section.

Of course, if tackling your hardest section first makes you feel mentally drained or batters your confidence, then that won’t be a great starting point. However, assuming that either Quant or Verbal is your hardest section, you may then want to tackle your hardest section second, as opposed to leaving those sections until the end of the exam by selecting the default order. Let’s again say Verbal is the section that challenges you most, and you’re worried that starting with Verbal could set a negative tone for your entire exam if you feel that you haven’t performed well in that section.

At the same time, you’re concerned that you’ll be too tired by the end of the GMAT to attack your most challenging section last. In that case, starting with the Quant section may be a good choice for you. You’ll still be mentally fresh when you reach Verbal on section 2, and if you feel a little worse for wear after you complete the Verbal section, you’ll have your final break to reset, and you’ll at least know that you’re in the home stretch of the exam, with the two main sections of the GMAT completed.

As we saw earlier, there are numerous factors that go into deciding which order of sections on GMAT exams is best for you, but these examples should give you some idea of the pros and cons you’ll need to weigh. Of course, any valid theory needs to be rigorously tested. Let’s talk about that next.

Testing Section Orders with Practice Tests

We’ve already discussed the importance of knowing your test-taking style, so it’s no surprise that taking full-length practice GMATs is the best way to learn how you respond to the rigors of the test-taking experience. I recommend that all my students take all 6 official GMAT practice exams before they sit for their actual GMAT, and thoroughly evaluate not only which questions they answered correctly or incorrectly but also how they were feeling while they took the exams.

Try to take as many of the 6 official practice exams as possible using your preferred section order. If you’re just starting out with your GMAT prep and going to take your first practice exam to get your baseline GMAT score, make an educated guess, based on your academic background, professional experience, and performance on other standardized exams you’ve taken, to decide which section order to use. Don’t worry; if the section order you use for your first practice test (or first few tests) doesn’t end up being the order you stick with for test day, you will not be putting yourself at a disadvantage.

If you take the first 3 official practice tests using one section order, and then switch to a different section order for the last 3, don’t despair. In fact, as you near the end of your GMAT prep and start taking practice tests more frequently, you may want to try out all 3 section orders before deciding which one is right for you. As long as you can get in a couple of full-length practice tests using your preferred order, and you’re otherwise prepared to hit your score goal, you should be in a good spot on test day.

Remember, no GMAT section order can find correct answers for you or turn a tough exam into an easy one, and it’s possible that you’ll find that different section orders have no discernable impact on your GMAT performance. You may be able to use the section order options to play to your strengths (or downplay your weaknesses), but there is simply no substitute for being well-prepared!