The GMAT Makes No Sense to me

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The GMAT Makes No Sense to me

by bgmat745 » Sat Sep 06, 2014 8:28 pm
I wanted to take this opportunity to say that the GMAT makes absolutely no sense to me. I took the test for a second time this afternoon, and while my score improved to a somewhat-respectable 640 (up from a dismal 550 on my first attempt), I can say without much hesitation that the extra studying I put in did not help me. Allow me to elaborate:

My first attempt on the GMAT was made with virtually no preparation. I took a diagnostic test, read through the answer explanations, and basically just winged it on the exam because I was eager to get a baseline score.

In preparation for my second attempt, I spent the next 1.5-2 months doing a lot more practice questions. My schedule is tight, so out of all the different types of questions that appear on the GMAT (word problems, data sufficiency, sentence correction, critical reading, etc.) I chose to prioritize my time solely with word problems.

So when I took the exam today, I was ready to take on the quantitative section of the test. Unfortunately for me, it seemed that I kept getting one Data Sufficiency problem after another. It was a lot more DS than I recalled getting on my first exam. DS is not one of my strengths, so I felt like all my preparation was for nothing. While I didn't keep track of how many DS problems I received, it certainly felt like more than half of the questions on the quantitative section of the exam. Furthermore, out of the few word problems I did receive (which seemed very few and far between), all of them seemed extremely simple to me, which I could only presume was because I was guessing on virtually all of the DS problems, getting them wrong, hence lowering the difficulty level of the word problems.

So yes, while I ended up managing a 90-point increase, I'm not sure what to make of it. On my first exam, I finished with about 20 minutes remaining at the end of each section (quant and verbal) and guessed on an overwhelming majority of questions, so I felt that the 550 was a somewhat pleasant surprise. By comparison, on my second attempt today, I actually felt even worse and was expecting to see a sub-550 score because it felt like I had done even more guessing than when I took the test the first time.

I'm not sure what to attribute the 90-point increase to - I studied only word problems, and seemingly received almost none of that question type on my exam today. I'm half-tempted to spend the next month focusing on DS and maybe breaking through to 700..

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by [email protected] » Sat Sep 06, 2014 11:16 pm
Hi bgmat745,

You've brought up a number of points that need to be addressed, since clearing up those ideas should help you to improve (if you decide to prepare for a retest).

1) If the GMAT really makes no sense to you, then you need to invest in more thorough GMAT resources (and perhaps a Class or Self-Study Course). The GMAT is a consistent, predictable exam, so you have the opportunity to learn all about it and prepare for the overall Test Day experience.

2) You could have (and very well should have) gotten a baseline score from an Official practice CAT exam. You didn't need to spend $250 to take that first Test. There are plenty of reputable practice CATs that you can use during your studies to measure your abilities.

3) "Word Problems" is NOT a category on the GMAT. "Wordy" questions can show up from any of the major categories (including Algebra, Number Properties, Geometry, etc. and any of the categories on the Verbal side - SC, RC and CR), but it is NOT a category in and of itself. While you will see many wordy questions in the GMAT Quant section, if you were just focused on wordy prompts, there's no way to know if you were truly spending your study time wisely. While your score DID improve, it could have been even higher if you had spent more of your time practicing the "bigger" categories, including DS.

4) DS is a frequent question type in the Quant section; it's common to see 15 DS questions (and sometimes more than that) on Test Day. The Randomizer can spit them out at any time though, so you could see them in groupings, early, middle or late in the exam. There are a lot of points tied to this question type, so you really need to learn proper DS tactics if you want to score at a high level. If the DS questions "felt" simple, then you MIGHT have been dealing with easier prompts (because you were getting questions wrong). Since DS questions have no "safety net", you'll never know if you make a mistake - so they might all "feel" easy because you thought you had the correct answer (when you actually didn't) - regardless of the difficulty level.

I have some questions about your studies thus far:

1) What were your Score breakdowns for each of your Official GMATs (including Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

2) Did you finish any sections early on this attempt? If so, then how early?

3) What is your goal score?

4) What resources have you used during your studies?

5) Are you on any type of deadlines?

A 640 is a pretty good score (it's just shy of the 80th percentile), so you might be fine to apply with this score. Since you've managed to improve doing things "your way", there's some logic to the idea that you could improve a great deal more with some consistent, professional guidance.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Last edited by [email protected] on Sun Sep 07, 2014 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by bgmat745 » Sun Sep 07, 2014 12:15 am
Thanks Rich for the detailed response! In response to your questions (my responses are in blue):

1) What were your Score breakdowns for each of your Official GMATs (including Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

My 1st attempt on the GMAT with a 550 was with scaled scores of 35/31 split for the quant/verbal. IR 6 and AWA 5.5.

My 2nd attempt earlier this afternoon with the 640 was with scaled scores of 47/31 for the quant/verbal. IR 5, and AWA is pending.


2) Did you finish any sections early on this attempt? If so, then how early?

Yep - I finished the quant and verbal sections each about 7 minutes early. I had a lot of guessing on problems I didn't even know where to begin, so for those problems I just spent about 20 seconds making an educated guess.

3) What is your goal score?

At present, I'm not sure. After my 1st attempt resulted in a 550, my goal was to break 600, but now, after getting a 640, I'm torn between spending more time to possibly improve closer to a 700, or calling it a day and dedicating the time for other parts of my MBA apps.

4) What resources have you used during your studies?

I've primarily used the GMAT OG 13th edition. I have done the "Problem Solving" sections and a few of the Data Sufficiency problems, but ultimately, because of time constraints, I concentrated on the Problem Solving section as it was low-hanging fruit for me and I didn't have as much time to dedicate to mastering DS.

5) Are you on any type of deadlines?

Yes. I am debating between applying early enough for admission to start UCI's accelerated FEMBA program (classes begin in March of next year), and UCLA's R2 deadline for the FEMBA as well. My main concern with UCLA is their median GMAT of 680. I'm a little bit below that, and I'm not sure if I should risk putting off the other aspects of my application with hopes of improving my GMAT more in line with their median.

The most surprising thing for me was seeing a 90-point increase, despite the fact that my studies in the OG 13th ed. only helped me on maybe 2-3 of the questions on the quant section. In other words, I feel like had I not done any additional studying, I would have only gotten 2-3 more questions wrong on the quant. Somehow, I doubt that 3 questions would result in a 90-point difference. Herein lies the part about the GMAT that doesn't make sense to me - I'm not complaining, but I am curious as to where did I gain all of those extra points..

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by [email protected] » Sun Sep 07, 2014 12:56 pm
Hi bgmat745,

With the additional information you've provided, we can better assess your situation.

First, the extra work that you put into the Quant clearly led to an improvement. Some of your self-assessment is correct, while some is not. You ARE correct that 2-3 additional correct answer would not increase your score by 90 points (and would not increase your Quant Scaled Score by 12 points), so the idea that you only got 2-3 additional questions correct because of your studies is wrong. Here's the immediate concern - one of the following is likely the explanation:

1) You learned more from your studies than you realized; this translated into more points across the entire section (including on DS questions)

Or

2) You got "lucky" on a handful of DS questions at the proper moments and THAT is what helped to contribute to the 90 point increase.

You should plan to take some practice CATs in the upcoming weeks - those scores should help to clarify what happened.

Next, finishing early in a section is NOT a good thing. An extra 7 minutes per section should give you enough time to do a bit more work and pick up a few more correct answers in each section (which could lead to a significant score improvement). From what you've described, it does not sound like you put in enough practice to learn proper pacing skills.

Finally, the V31 that you scored on each Official GMAT means that you're consistent in how you "see" and react to the Verbal section, but it also means that you're missing out on lots of potential points. Some time spent on Verbal practice could have a significant impact on your Verbal Score (and by extension, your Overall Score). If we assume that the Q47 is an accurate assessment of your Quant skills, then there aren't that many additional points that you can "pick up" in the Quant, so if the new goal is to hit 700+, then you'll need to find many of those points in the Verbal section.

Your admissions questions would be better answered by an Admissions Expert (there is a Forum full of experts on this site). If you do plan to retest, I highly recommend that you take a more formal approach to your studies. The GMAT is a remarkably consistent and predictable exam so you can learn to CRUSH it.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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by Jacob003 » Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:14 am
Very good information about the GMAT, Thanks for your help.

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by Jacob003 » Sat Sep 27, 2014 7:35 am
You have to be first search about GMAT on internet and than start thinking about it, Thanks
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_ ... nistration

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by brianlange77 » Sat Sep 27, 2014 6:40 pm
Thanks for the post. Sorry you've got such mixed emotions. This has the hallmarks of a test-taker who needs a more data-driven study plan. Simply doing a lot of practice problems doesn't really get you there -- you need to religiously track the places where you do well/poorly and build a study plan from there.

I'd encourage you to take a look at this classic article by my friend Stacey.

https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-2/

Good luck!

-Brian

bgmat745 wrote:I wanted to take this opportunity to say that the GMAT makes absolutely no sense to me. I took the test for a second time this afternoon, and while my score improved to a somewhat-respectable 640 (up from a dismal 550 on my first attempt), I can say without much hesitation that the extra studying I put in did not help me. Allow me to elaborate:

My first attempt on the GMAT was made with virtually no preparation. I took a diagnostic test, read through the answer explanations, and basically just winged it on the exam because I was eager to get a baseline score.

In preparation for my second attempt, I spent the next 1.5-2 months doing a lot more practice questions. My schedule is tight, so out of all the different types of questions that appear on the GMAT (word problems, data sufficiency, sentence correction, critical reading, etc.) I chose to prioritize my time solely with word problems.

So when I took the exam today, I was ready to take on the quantitative section of the test. Unfortunately for me, it seemed that I kept getting one Data Sufficiency problem after another. It was a lot more DS than I recalled getting on my first exam. DS is not one of my strengths, so I felt like all my preparation was for nothing. While I didn't keep track of how many DS problems I received, it certainly felt like more than half of the questions on the quantitative section of the exam. Furthermore, out of the few word problems I did receive (which seemed very few and far between), all of them seemed extremely simple to me, which I could only presume was because I was guessing on virtually all of the DS problems, getting them wrong, hence lowering the difficulty level of the word problems.

So yes, while I ended up managing a 90-point increase, I'm not sure what to make of it. On my first exam, I finished with about 20 minutes remaining at the end of each section (quant and verbal) and guessed on an overwhelming majority of questions, so I felt that the 550 was a somewhat pleasant surprise. By comparison, on my second attempt today, I actually felt even worse and was expecting to see a sub-550 score because it felt like I had done even more guessing than when I took the test the first time.

I'm not sure what to attribute the 90-point increase to - I studied only word problems, and seemingly received almost none of that question type on my exam today. I'm half-tempted to spend the next month focusing on DS and maybe breaking through to 700..
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