Interesting observation - MGMAT CATs

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Interesting observation - MGMAT CATs

by logitech » Thu Nov 20, 2008 12:14 am
While I was reviewing my MGMAT practice tests, I realized that all of the tests have exactly:

15 Sentence Correction questions
14 Critical Reasoning questions
12 Reading Comprehension questions

I looked at my timing and accuracy in each quarters:

Questions 1-10

I spent around 22 minutes and my accuracy is only 60% - weak starts.

- I think I spend a little more than I should be spending with the 10 questions and over think most of the questions

Questions 11-20

I spend most of my time in this quarter - average of 26 minutes (major timing problem, which affects the rest of the test )

- My average accuracy in this quarter is 70 %

Questions 21-30

- I feel kind of nervous in this third question and I tend to speed up
- Careless mistakes, and average accuracy down to 60 %
- Average time spent : ONLY 13 minutes!!
- It is interesting because I almost spend half of the time I spend in the 2nd quarter of the test and my accuracy rate is only down by 10 %

Questions 31-41

I continue to pay for my bad timing strategy in this last quarter and spend only 14 minutes

Stress is definetly more than the rest of the quarters

Accuracy is sadly down to 50 % :(

Very weak finish

Overall:

SC: 12/15 average
CR: 7/14 average - This is interesting because I used to believe that SC is my weak point. My OG accuracy is 93 % on CR, and 80 % on SC
SC: 7/12 average. Most of the incorrect answers are from 3rd and 4th quarter ( NO WONDER WHY!)

Overall score range: 32-40 with 34 average.

My quant scores are not bad : 50 average and I only scored 51 once! ( 75 minutes for MGMAT math questions is not plenty )

Any suggestions and tips are welcome.

Thanks,
LGTCH
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by Stacey Koprince » Fri Nov 21, 2008 7:47 am
This is exactly why it's not a good idea to read too much into your accuracy on OG - it's not given under testing conditions and the timing can make a major difference in how you do! At the same time, the random placement of questions on a CAT can also make a difference in terms of your accuracy on the 3 different question types. For people who have consistent timing mismanagement, your percentages on the different question types will vary depending upon how they happened to match up with where you tend to spend too much time or not enough time just in terms of the 41-question spread (or 37 on quant).

In short, not enough people pay attention to the timing and don't realize what a major impact it has on performance. I'm glad that you did this analysis and are starting to think about this stuff. Others, notice logitech's analysis: spending extra time doesn't do a whole lot to help, but it does cause declining performance towards the end of the test and your score is the level around which you're scoring at the end, not in the middle! This is exactly why we keep preaching to spend roughly equal time throughout. :)
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by logitech » Fri Nov 21, 2008 7:59 am
Thanks Stacey.


"I think no question is worth 2 or 2:30 minutes. If you are spending, more than 2 minutes on a question, you are digging your own graveyard."


Gmacvik
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by lunarpower » Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:01 am
logitech wrote:
If you are spending, more than 2 minutes on a question, you are digging your own graveyard."


Gmacvik
the above is horrible advice.

remember that 2 minutes is the AVERAGE time for a quant question. this means that, even if your time management is impeccable, you will spend over two minutes on approximately the same number of questions as you'll spend under two minutes.

if you replace "2 minutes" in the above maxim with something like 2:30 or 2:40, then it's a lot more reasonable. but to swear off taking more than the average time on any question is, in a word, stupid. you'll wind up with 10-15 minutes of extra time on your hands at the end of the exam, wondering what happened.

here's better advice:
TRY not ever to take more than 2:30 on a quant question.
NEVER take more than 3:00 on a quant question.

those two guidelines should get you through the quant section ok.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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by lunarpower » Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:01 am
logitech wrote:
If you are spending, more than 2 minutes on a question, you are digging your own graveyard."


Gmacvik
the above is horrible advice.

remember that 2 minutes is the AVERAGE time for a quant question. this means that, even if your time management is impeccable, you will spend over two minutes on approximately the same number of questions as you'll spend under two minutes.

if you replace "2 minutes" in the above maxim with something like 2:30 or 2:40, then it's a lot more reasonable. but to swear off taking more than the average time on any question is, in a word, stupid. you'll wind up with 10-15 minutes of extra time on your hands at the end of the exam, wondering what happened.

here's better advice:
TRY not ever to take more than 2:30 on a quant question.
NEVER take more than 3:00 on a quant question.

those two guidelines should get you through the quant section ok.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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by logitech » Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:30 am
lunarpower wrote:

here's better advice:
TRY not ever to take more than 2:30 on a quant question.
NEVER take more than 3:00 on a quant question. .
I agree with you. And I really don't have any problem with timing on the quant section.

What would you recommend for the Verbal ? Do you think it is smart to invest couple of more minutes in the first two quarters ?

For example:

Q 1-10 22 minutes - 2.2 min/ques
Q 11-20 20 minutes - 2 min/ques
Q 21-30 18 minutes - 1.8 min/ques
Q 31-41 15minutes - 1.25 min/ques
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by Stacey Koprince » Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:07 pm
Not in my opinion. I'd try to move pretty steadily through the test - about 60 to 75s on SC, with a max of 90; about 2m on CR with a max of 2.5; about 3 min to skim a passage (maybe 4 on an especially long and complex one), about 1m for any general RC question with max of 1.5; about 2m for any specific RC question, with max of 2.5.

If you need to go more than about 30 sec over the given time for any problem, chances are you just really don't know how to do that problem. And, if that's the case, it's better to get it wrong now than to get it wrong a minute from now. :)
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by lunarpower » Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:55 pm
Stacey Koprince wrote:Not in my opinion. I'd try to move pretty steadily through the test - about 60 to 75s on SC, with a max of 90; about 2m on CR with a max of 2.5; about 3 min to skim a passage (maybe 4 on an especially long and complex one), about 1m for any general RC question with max of 1.5; about 2m for any specific RC question, with max of 2.5.

If you need to go more than about 30 sec over the given time for any problem, chances are you just really don't know how to do that problem. And, if that's the case, it's better to get it wrong now than to get it wrong a minute from now. :)
i second all of this. good advice.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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by logitech » Tue Nov 25, 2008 3:12 pm
Thank you both for invaluable advices.
LGTCH
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