The 90-second tempo

The exam gives you 90 seconds per MCQ. That budget changes behavior, not standards: the answer is the same answer, you just get there differently.

The tempo rules:

1. First pass: answer everything you can see in under 60 seconds. Mark the rest, move on. A marked question costs nothing; a stalled one costs two others.
2. Second pass: return to marks with remaining time. Eliminate two options, then commit.
3. Never let one trace exceed 3 minutes — that is a fourth of an FRQ spent on a single point.

Fast-tracing shortcuts that stay rigorous:

• After 2 iterations of a loop, ask what the k-th iteration does. Most exam loops are boring — constant work per pass.
• For sum/count loops, derive the closed form instead of simulating (arithmetic series, count of iterations = (last - first)/step + 1).
• For object questions, draw boxes once; do not re-derive aliasing from memory mid-question.