Can somone kindly explain the scaled score to me?

This topic has expert replies
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 162
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:43 am
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:1 members
Hi All,

I took the GMAT prep test today. I got a 44 Q ( 16 wrong) and 39 V (9 wrong) overall 680. I don't understand it, I almost got half the question in maths wrong and still managed an OVERALL score just 20 points below my target score. How does the scoring system work? I am targeting a 46 on quant and 40 on verbal can someone shed light on the how the scaled score is calculated? Does it totally depend on the kind of questions you get wrong or the toughness of the questions. 16 questions wrong - 44 in quant did the GMAT prep just decide to go easy on me, today!!!

Look forward to your replies.

Thanks in advance,
RTS
Source: — GMAT Strategy |

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2010 3:29 pm

by Silver Bullet » Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:24 am
I got the exact same scores on my diagnostic a couple of days ago. I didn't feel too confident after the test and thought I'd get something in the 550 range. From what I understand, and I don't understand it very well... the score depends on number of correct answers, the difficulty level of the correct answers and how well rounded you are eg. if one person got 40 of the 60 questions right, but 20 of his correct answers came from only two types of questions (eg. sentence correction and fractions and numerals) then that person will get a lower score than someone who got 40 out of 60 right, but had a more balanced scorecard.

The other thing is, GMAC specifies the standard error on GMAT scores is 41. Make of that what you will.

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 162
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:43 am
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:1 members

by RumpelThickSkin » Fri Apr 16, 2010 12:55 pm
Hi SB - Thanks for your response. Your post atleast gives me a semblance of clarity. Some expert replies would help us both out. Standard error - don't know what that means :-) ... Thanks again for your post! Did you get the same scaled scores? How many questions did you get wrong in each section?

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2010 3:29 pm

by Silver Bullet » Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:35 pm
RumpelThickSkin wrote:Hi SB - Thanks for your response. Your post atleast gives me a semblance of clarity. Some expert replies would help us both out. Standard error - don't know what that means :-) ... Thanks again for your post! Did you get the same scaled scores? How many questions did you get wrong in each section?
Not a problem. Standard error or standard deviation would indicate that you could get a score between say 660 and 700 for the exact same test. Or that's what I interpret it to mean in this case.

No idea how many I got wrong, I just remember thinking that this is not going so well, at least in the quant section, I remember thinking the verbal was easier. But my scaled score in quant was higher. I'm hoping it wasn't a fluke, it would be hugely disappointing if study two weeks and when I take my next test, the score is lower.