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On the GMAT, always take the optional break. Use it to relax, stretch, walk briefly, and refocus. If needed, have a light drink or snack. Avoid analyzing your performance. Return on time, or the lost minutes will cut into your next section.
Planning for the break should be a part of your GMAT preparation course. On the GMAT, you are allowed one 8-minute optional break, which you can take either between the first and second section or between the second and third section. The break is optional but strictly limited to eight minutes, and any delay in returning directly cuts into the time for your next section. It is wise to avail this break, but you must do so with a clear plan, so that it supports your performance instead of quietly reducing it. In the further parts of this article, we will explore how to plan and use this single break in a thoughtful, structured manner. We shall also discuss how to use the GMAT mock tests to refine your approach for using this break.
While taking the GMAT, you will be allowed one eight-minute-long break. We suggest that you make full use of this break to refresh yourself.
This may cause additional stress and affect your performance. Use the break to focus on relaxing yourself and reorienting yourself for the rest of the exam. Examining your performance will be detrimental to this goal and is likely to simply confuse and distract you. A forward-focused attitude is best when giving the GMAT; always keep moving forward.
Use the break to replenish your physical energy, with some food and drink, as well. Remember, the GMAT is a long, long test, and it is common for fatigue to set in. The GMAT is challenging enough, without the distraction of hunger. As you will not have time to purchase anything, be sure to carry your food with you. You will be provided a locker to store your personal items during the exam; use it to store your food. Try to bring something compact but high-energy, such as a bar of chocolate, or an energy bar. Of course, this is a matter of personal preference, choose whatever works best for you. However, be sure not to eat too much or too fast. A heavy meal consumed quickly could upset your stomach or cause further distraction.
Treat the break as a small reset for your mind and body. Notice what genuinely helps you unwind, whether it is a light stretch, a short walk, or a few rounds of deep, steady breathing. The purpose is simple and important: use these minutes to calm yourself, gather your thoughts, and return to the desk ready to give your best in the remaining part of the exam.
You must make sure to be back on time. After the stipulated break time has passed, the test will restart, and you do not want to lose any time. Beyond the obvious reason, losing even a few seconds can really add to the test anxiety.
Another thing to keep in mind, as you try to relax, is to not let the atmosphere of the GMAT center affect you. The staff will maintain a very serious disposition. There will be fairly stringent security measures, such fingerprint scanner that you will have to go through when you return from your break. Do not concern yourself with these things and just focus on the test.
The break is a very important, and often underrated, part of the exam and of your overall test routine. You need to think it through carefully. Use your GMAT mock tests to refine your break routine. First decide at what point you plan to take the break. You have two choices here: either between the first and second section or between the second and third section. Pick the option that feels right for you, but keep some space for adapting on test day. For instance, you may have intended to pause between the second and third sections, yet if you feel the need to stop after the first section to regroup and refocus, that is completely fine. Go in with a clear idea of when you will take the break, while staying flexible enough to respond to how you feel in the moment.
You must also decide how you wish to spend the break. Avoid thinking about how you are doing and keep your attention on resting and settling down. You may choose to have a light snack or a warm drink, and then, just before you restart, give yourself a short moment to refocus for the final stretch. It is a good idea to experiment with different break routines during your first few GMAT mocks and then settle on the pattern that supports you the best.
On the surface, the GMAT break is just eight minutes, but how you treat it tells you a lot about how you handle pressure. When you choose to pause with intention, to breathe, to reset, and then to step back in with clarity, you are practicing a habit that goes far beyond this exam. The same calm reset is needed when an MBA application essay feels stuck, when feedback from your MBA admission consulting mentors is intense, or when interviews do not go exactly as rehearsed. In a good MBA program, you will meet heavy weeks, demanding projects, and fast decisions. You will again need the ability to step back briefly, collect yourself, and then return to give your best. If you can learn to use even a small GMAT break wisely, you are training yourself to find balance in the middle of effort. That ability will serve you for a very long time.
