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How do I work with Scores like Q:52 V:50 etc.?

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How do I work with Scores like Q:52 V:50 etc.?

by art.white » Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:26 am
When I am doing a test I usually get an idea of how I did by looking at the number of Qs I got right and the number of Qs I got wrong. By looking at a table I can usually see by the Qs I got right or wrong - as to how I did on the exam.

But how do I use scores like 51/45/52 to assess my improvement ? What is the total out of ? If I have a Q:50 and V:48 what does it mean ? is that 50 out of what total ?

How are people using these scores to help with their progress (except saying "oh 50 is lower than 51 so I have to do better than that).

I looked at how the score was calculated but I don't want any odd explanations or lengthy explanations as to how the score is calculated etc. I would just like to figure out how I can use this score to improve my performance ? Why do most of the people who give their GMATs quote this score ? why don't they just state their percentile in each section ? what does this score mean to them except a vague "oh 50 or 45 must be high in this section" ?
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by Tommy Wallach » Tue Feb 05, 2013 12:08 pm
Hey Art,

You say you don't want long explanations, but the algorithm is complicated. There is no simple explanation. The number of questions you get right and wrong does not determine your score on the GMAT (everyone from a 500-650 gets about the same number of questions right). A 51 is the highest score you can get on a given section, for what it's worth. You could also pay attention to your percentiles, which show you where you're located relative to other test-takers. Beyond that, you'll need to delve deeper into the data to see where you need to work.

The reason people quote their raw scores is because those are their raw scores! It's just like saying I got a 700Q 700V on the SAT, as opposed to saying 1400 total.

Let me know if you have more questions!

-t

P.S. I know it'll make you cringe, but if you really want to understand why the GMAT works the way it does, you can read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Item_response_theory
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by art.white » Tue Feb 05, 2013 4:52 pm
Tommy Wallach wrote:Hey Art,

You say you don't want long explanations, but the algorithm is complicated. There is no simple explanation. The number of questions you get right and wrong does not determine your score on the GMAT (everyone from a 500-650 gets about the same number of questions right). A 51 is the highest score you can get on a given section, for what it's worth. You could also pay attention to your percentiles, which show you where you're located relative to other test-takers. Beyond that, you'll need to delve deeper into the data to see where you need to work.

The reason people quote their raw scores is because those are their raw scores! It's just like saying I got a 700Q 700V on the SAT, as opposed to saying 1400 total.

Let me know if you have more questions!

-t

P.S. I know it'll make you cringe, but if you really want to understand why the GMAT works the way it does, you can read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Item_response_theory
Well I have a background in advanced (graduate level) math/ engineering/sciences and stats so I am comfortable with statistical models and theories that are true and honest ( as opposed to just throwing arcane terms around in an obfuscated way). I have read (about) the algorithm that calculates the score but wasn't sure how it told me (clearly and easily) where (how) to improve my performance. With just right and wrong questions I can target increasing the qs I got right etc. which is much easier (and it was the model for the previous exams).

I just wanted to know how I can use that score to improve my performance.
I know a score of say 780 or 790 is simply an indicator of "the test taker did well". In order to improve the performance the test taker would need to as you say "delve deeper into the data" (or mostly the questions they got wrong/right and the subject matter they got the questions wrong/right in, in order to target weak/strong areas and improve).

Thanks for the response but we hope that our exchanges are honest and to the point and distilled to the essence of it.
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by Tommy Wallach » Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:44 pm
Hey Art,

You're not making much sense. If you have a 780 or 790, you don't need to improve your score. You're already close to perfect. No school in the universe will differentiate between a 780 and an 800 (which is perfect). And I'm not sure what you mean by accusing anyone on here of being dishonest. No one is throwing around arcane terms, or being obfuscatory. As for the algorithm, it doesn't have an obligation to clearly and easily tell you how to improve your performance. For that, you might need to use something like what's offered by most of us test prep companies. For example, if you take tests through our test company, you can get data on your percentage right and wrong in every category, as well as the average amount of time taken when you get a question right or wrong, which can help you pace better.

Good luck!

-t
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by David@VeritasPrep » Wed Feb 06, 2013 6:33 am
art -

The table on this page gives you the conversion from percentile to the "scaled score." The scaled score happens to be what people like to write about here. The scaled score can easily be converted to a percentile or percentile to a scaled score using the chart.

Go about halfway down the page where it says Quant and Verbal on the tables that are side by side.
https://www.mba.com/the-gmat/gmat-scores ... means.aspx


As you can see, increases in scaled scores do not correspond directly with percentiles. Sometimes a jump of 1 point on the scaled score equals several percentile - or on the upper reaches of the verbal section - everything from a 45 to 51 is the 99th percentile.

No need to be confused. Just learn to convert the numbers that people give into percentiles.

As for being able to look up the number of questions right and wrong and get your score - this is not that kind of test. This is a computer adaptive test. So the difficulty of the questions and other characteristics are taken into account as well as the number of questions right and wrong.

Tommy and I have given you honest responses. Hopefully, we have answered your question. Please let us know if you need any additional information.

Best of luck,
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