GMAT Strategy

gileyal wrote:Just wondering - can your score in a particular section be lower than the actual amount of questions you answer correctly? (e.g., if I answer 33 correct answers in the verbal section, will I always get more than 33 points on that section?)

Thanks!
Gil

well, the first thing you should know is that there's no simple correlation between the two. in other words, you can't write a formula for y in terms of x, where y is the scaled score and x is the # of problems answered correctly. this is the case because the test is adaptive if you are, on average, answering harder questions correctly, then you'll receive a higher scaled score than you would if you were answering easier questions correctly.

given that the scaled scores are from 0-51, though, and the # of problems on each section is either 37 or 41 (a substantially lower number), i would bet that the vast majority of scaled scores are higher than the number of problems answered correctly.

out of curiosity, what's your basis for wondering about this issue in the first place?

gileyal wrote:Thank you for your answer.

I just started thinking about applying to a business school, and as part of my research I answered a sample verbal test I found on the internet to try and see how far I am from the grade I want.

Only problem is that the test didn't have any way to calculate your grade, so I was trying to figure out what the 33 out of 41 correct answers I got in the verbal part meant...

Thanks again,
Gil

ok wo, wait a second here.

where'd you get this sample verbal test?

and even more importantly: was it ADAPTIVE?

if you're trying to calibrate your ability based on your performance on non-adaptive tests, that's dangerous territory, especially if you're a relatively high scoring student.
you see, if you're a high scorer, then paper tests will contain a lot of questions that are too easy for you. what will happen, then, is that you'll build up a surplus of time on those problems - time that you can then throw into the more difficult problems. the problem is that this is NOT TRUE on adaptive tests; you'll only get a couple of 'really easy' questions at the most, after which just about everything will be right at your ability level.
this means that the time management and the strategy are totally different on adaptive tests, which means that you should try your best to practice only on adaptive tests.

you said:

gileyal wrote:I just wanted to get an idea of the type of questions I will see on the test.

believe it or not, that's actually a dangerous attitude to take to the exam.

here's why: by saying that you 'just' want to get an idea of the question types, you're revealing (consciously or not) that you aren't placing much emphasis on time management at this point.

this is a bad idea.

YOU SHOULD NEVER SEPARATE PROBLEM SOLVING FROM TIME MANAGEMENT.

the moment you disassociate the two, you will probably start slipping into a pattern of taking too much time to solve problems, and running into shock when time constraints are re-introduced.

this is the danger of paper tests: they skew your perspective on the amount of time allotted to solve the problems. therefore, if possible, you should stick with adaptive practice tests, such as the official gmatprep tests.

good luck.