GMAT Strategy

Hi,

I had taken my GMAT in Sept and got a 690. I wasn't too happy with my score so have decided to give the test once more. I have been studying and working on my verbal over the past month but was pretty horrified to get a 640 in my first mock test (MGMAT6) after restarting prep. I analysed the test and know fatigue had a big role to play in my getting a less than expected score. So I intend to take some more tests to gauge where I really stand.

Now that I'm done with all my MGMATs, I'd like to know which test series I should buy. I'm quite keen on the new Veritas tests. Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Bhatius

Have you purchased the two additional official GMATPrep tests? They are known as Exam Pack 1.

The two most exciting offerings this year are the 5 Veritas tests available for purchase (and 1 for Free) and the two new GMAT Prep Tests (Exam Pack 1).

Remember that you can take the official GMAT Prep tests a second time (there will be some repeats but it is worth it).

Hi,

I have attempted Veritas free mock test up today.
Scored 680 , Q48, verbal 35.

Please help me in deciding whether this is reflecting my preparation as of now.

Thanks,
Sid

Hi David. Thanks for the tip. Is it safe to assume questions on GMAT Prep Exam Pack 1 will be completely different from those in the free tests in the basic GMAT Prep software?

bhatius said

Hi David. Thanks for the tip. Is it safe to assume questions on GMAT Prep Exam Pack 1 will be completely different from those in the free tests in the basic GMAT Prep software?

Yes. GMAC has indicated that there is no overlap between the exam pack 1 and the two free exams.

I have attempted Veritas free mock test up today.
Scored 680 , Q48, verbal 35.

Please help me in deciding whether this is reflecting my preparation as of now.

Thanks,

Sid

At this point I would say that 680 is a good reflection of where your preparation is at. That is also a pretty balanced score between Quant and Verbal. You should use the tools on the Veritas exam to see which question types you need to work on.

You should also plan to use the GMATPrep tests. But for now I would say 680 is about where you are at!

Hi David,

I need some clarification. I just gave the Vertas free exam. I got a 730 (Q49, V41). It's my best score yet (!!!) but something's bothering me. I got only 59% right in quant and 63% right in verbal. So, is the percentile I received calculated on the basis of my score versus others who took this particular test? Or does Veritas use some other way to calculate the score?

My accuracy is much lower than what I was averaging on the OGs (around 85%). Is this cause for concern or just a case of doing average in a hard test?

Thanks,

Nikhil

Hi David,

I need some clarification. I just gave the Vertas free exam. I got a 730 (Q49, V41). It's my best score yet (!!!) but something's bothering me. I got only 59% right in quant and 63% right in verbal. So, is the percentile I received calculated on the basis of my score versus others who took this particular test? Or does Veritas use some other way to calculate the score?

My accuracy is much lower than what I was averaging on the OGs (around 85%). Is this cause for concern or just a case of doing average in a hard test?

Thanks,

Nikhil

Nikhil -

It is not just that it is a "hard test." A true CAT test like the actual GMAT and like the new Veritas exams is delivered and scored based on item response theory. Basically the test is adapting to you by trying to see what level of question you are comfortable with. Various questions help to distinguish those who are, for example, above the 60th percentile from those who are not above the 60th percentile. Once the computer is satisfied that you are likely above that level, it is not going to be giving you very many questions below the 60th percentile because that will not help to clarify exactly what your score is. Instead the computer is going to work with the idea that you are above the 60th (after your responses have established this) and it will be trying to see exactly where you are above the 60th. So you will be facing questions above that level for most of the test.

With your score of 730 this means that you faced questions above the 80th percentile most of the time on the quant and on the verbal. You could be expected to miss some questions at this level! So missing around 2 of every 5 questions seems about right. What this means is that you impressed the computer and the computer was testing to see how high your score might be.

You said:

So, is the percentile I received calculated on the basis of my score versus others who took this particular test? Or does Veritas use some other way to calculate the score?

It is not just a comparison to other people who have taken "this test" because every test is unique to the test taker. Each question or "item" has an item response curve that shows what level of test taker gets this right and what level does not. So each item is a certain level of difficulty based on a cumulative total of over 1.5 million responses. Your score is the result a very sophisticated algorithm that is based on your responses to various items and the difficulty of those items. This is what is done on the actual GMAT as well.

Here is the bottom line: Someone else could get a Q40 with the same percentage correct (59%) because they answered different levels of questions right and wrong than you did. Or someone could get the same Q49 that you earned, but get 75% of the questions right that they faced. Except that for most of the test they faced lower level questions than you did and so needed to get more of them right to earn their way up to the level that you were at. Does that make sense?

As for the OG - most questions are between the 25th and 75th percentile. There is not a higher percentage of questions in the OG above the 80th percentile, whereas most of the questions you faced on your exam where over the 80th percentile. That accounts for the difference.

Nice job!!

Thanks for the detailed response David. I guess theres reason to celebrate!!!

Hi,

I have attempted one more Manhattan gmat CAT full practice test. And scored 620.. Q 43 and verbal 32.
I am getting confused with how to exactly study with this pattern of scoring. I got 680 on Veritas full practice test which I attempted previously.

One thing though, in Manhattan there are 21 questions in Q and 26 in verbal which are of difficulty level 700-800, out of which I got 14 right for Verbal and 7 right for Quant.

Could anybody please help me with the analysis and to decide how should I study further.

Thanks,
Sid

How often should I be taking practice tests? I'm about to do my first practice test tomorrow. Then I'm going to start the MGMAT strategy guides over the next 2-3 months. Should I be doing one a month? One every two weeks?

You want to take practice tests more frequently later in your studying. It is later in your studying that you are more working on your timing and endurance, etc.

Earlier in your studying you are working on fundamentals so it is a good time to do several problems in a row of each type just to learn the tactic. So you might just do a session of rate problems or of sentence correction, etc. Later you will not want to know what is coming so that you can test yourself.

So now you will want to give yourself a chance to make it through most of the subjects before you take another practice test. Maybe that means a month, maybe two months. Or if you have lots of time to work on this it might be less than a month.

Then when you have finished that portion of your studies you will want to take tests at a more frequent rate.

Sorry for the newbie Veritas GMAT Practice Test question. If I logged in, am I able to view the questions and what I got wrong for an indefinite period. Or should I be saving screen shots of everything. I just don't want to lose any of the information.

P.S. I'm super excited with my first GMAT practice score! It definitely gives me hope and now I'm even more excited to get studying!! I just had to share with someone

You do not need to take screen shots. Your results will stay there. I just looked at results of tests from 9 months ago when the new exam was being released. I fully expect that your results will be there next year at this time and probably longer than that.

That is great that you have your first score and some hope to go with it!!! I am glad that you are motivated to get studying!