overthinking??

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overthinking??

by helen » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:33 pm
it is currently T-minus 4 days and counting until my test date and I think I am psyching myself out. My first diagnostic came in at 650, and subsequent diags have clocked in at 730, 720, 700 and 690 (in that order). It doesn't take an 800-scorer to see that those scores are progressing in the opposite direction from where they should be.

I've been studying at a consistent rate and have even forced myself to take breaks and relax (or tried to, anyway). I don't feel like I'm doing anything significantly different and don't understand why my scores would be DECREASING !!

I realize this isn't a problem that lends itself to much concrete advice, but if anyone has any, I'd love to hear it!

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Re: overthinking??

by beatthegmat » Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:28 pm
helen wrote:it is currently T-minus 4 days and counting until my test date and I think I am psyching myself out. My first diagnostic came in at 650, and subsequent diags have clocked in at 730, 720, 700 and 690 (in that order). It doesn't take an 800-scorer to see that those scores are progressing in the opposite direction from where they should be.

I've been studying at a consistent rate and have even forced myself to take breaks and relax (or tried to, anyway). I don't feel like I'm doing anything significantly different and don't understand why my scores would be DECREASING !!

I realize this isn't a problem that lends itself to much concrete advice, but if anyone has any, I'd love to hear it!
Hi Helen:

I wouldn't read too much into your score progression. The bottom line is that your practice test performance has been very strong to date--it looks like you are within striking distance of a very high GMAT score!

Try to put those concerns out of your mind, and focus on rocking that test! Best of luck!
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by helen » Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:31 am
Thanks for the kind words. It would be such a shame to waste all the time and effort these past months preparing just because of panic. Has anyone else had anything similar happen?

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GMATPrep Scoring??

by helen » Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:04 pm
Ok, I've been using the PR diagnostics up until this point, but I just took the GMATPrep and got a 740!

I would be happy about this outcome but am confused as to how the scoring works because I missed 14 questions out of the Quant section (including #2--ugh!) but still got a 48? On my PR diags I was missing only 5-6 questions in Quant and getting indexes in the low to mid 40s.

Was there a glitch in the scoring? or can I feel somewhat relieved?

Also, I noticed in the verbal section that one of the questions was repeated. Has that ever happened to anyone else?

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Re: GMATPrep Scoring??

by beatthegmat » Tue Jan 30, 2007 6:22 pm
helen wrote:Ok, I've been using the PR diagnostics up until this point, but I just took the GMATPrep and got a 740!

I would be happy about this outcome but am confused as to how the scoring works because I missed 14 questions out of the Quant section (including #2--ugh!) but still got a 48? On my PR diags I was missing only 5-6 questions in Quant and getting indexes in the low to mid 40s.

Was there a glitch in the scoring? or can I feel somewhat relieved?

Also, I noticed in the verbal section that one of the questions was repeated. Has that ever happened to anyone else?
Glitches like questions that repeat do happen. With regards to how your sections are scored against the number of questions you've missed. Check out some earlier posts made by Stacey Koprince. I recall her addressing this very issue a few weeks ago (unfortunately I don't know the exact thread, but you can search the forums).

Best of luck!
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by Stacey Koprince » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:48 am
The nutshell is that you should expect to get lots of questions wrong - there's nothing wrong with the scoring. (At least, there's nothing wrong wtih the GMATPrep scoring - I don't know how accurate the TPR algorithm is.)

The CAT is scored according to the difficulty level of the questions you get right and wrong. The actual number you get right and wrong doesn't matter nearly as much. The test is designed such that you will get a large number wrong whether you are scoring high or low - the difference is in the difficulty level of the questions you answer.
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by helen » Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:00 pm
thanks a lot! i managed to find some of the other posts recently about the same topic. definitely glad this forum was around so that i could see that it wasn't just a freak occurrence.

my test is the day after tomorrow and i've decided to stop studying and just relax. will definitely make a debriefing post in the other subforum once i come out on the other end.

Thanks again!

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by beatthegmat » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:07 pm
helen wrote:thanks a lot! i managed to find some of the other posts recently about the same topic. definitely glad this forum was around so that i could see that it wasn't just a freak occurrence.

my test is the day after tomorrow and i've decided to stop studying and just relax. will definitely make a debriefing post in the other subforum once i come out on the other end.

Thanks again!
Good luck, Helen! Can't wait to hear how it goes for you...
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