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Hello,

I just finished MGMAT CAT #6. When I got to the final verbal question (#41), the CAT refused to confirm my answer, which I later found out I got correct. The scoring analysis shows I simply left the question blank, but in reality, I answered it with several seconds to spare.

Since the MGMAT CAT docks four percentage points for a question left blank, I'm wondering what my score would've have been if the CAT had registered my [CORRECT] answer.

Here's the scoring analysis that I received:

Quantitative 43 70 %
Verbal 36 81 %
Total 650 84 %

I'm guessing that my overall percentage would've been 88th percentile for answering the question, plus another point for answering the question correctly (it was a 600-700 level). So I'm hypothesizing that I actually scored around the 89th percentile overall -- putting my scaled score between a 680 and 690. Does this sound remotely accurate?

Stockmoose16 wrote:Hello,

I just finished MGMAT CAT #6. When I got to the final verbal question (#41), the CAT refused to confirm my answer, which I later found out I got correct. The scoring analysis shows I simply left the question blank, but in reality, I answered it with several seconds to spare.

Since the MGMAT CAT docks four percentage points for a question left blank, I'm wondering what my score would've have been if the CAT had registered my [CORRECT] answer.

Here's the scoring analysis that I received:

Quantitative 43 70 %
Verbal 36 81 %
Total 650 84 %

I'm guessing that my overall percentage would've been 88th percentile for answering the question, plus another point for answering the question correctly (it was a 600-700 level). So I'm hypothesizing that I actually scored around the 89th percentile overall -- putting my scaled score between a 680 and 690. Does this sound remotely accurate?

As a follow-up, I was told by an MGMAT tech support person that if the answer had been counted, I would've scored a 660 overall. This makes absolutely no sense. MGMAT instructors have been quoted on this board saying that a single blank answer results in a FOUR percentage point drop in your overall percentile. If this is true, then I really scored in the 88th percentile overall (not the 84th), which translates into a 680-690. I don't understand why MGMAT is telling me I only scored a 660.

Hi Stockmoose16,

While you have the right concept for how much you are penalized when you leave a question blank, you are applying the 4 percentage point penalty to the OVERALL percentile and not the individual subscore percentile. Hence, your verbal score would have been in the 84th - 85th percentile due to your blank question, which would have only boosted your score to a 660 - 670 overall, for another 1 - 2 percentile increase.

What you need to do right now in terms of studying is to put your percentile score on the ManhattanGMAT CATs out of your mind. Our tests, while fairly accurate, are not going to be an exact reproduction of how you will perform on the GMAT. This is due to the fact that we cannot exactly approximate the questions GMAC will come up with at the time of the test.

Judging by your practice test scores between the 5th and 6th CAT exams, you need to work on building your higher level quant skills to boost your score overall. Look at the assessment reports and analyze which sections you're underperforming in and then review your study material for these sections so that you can better understand the concepts. Getting hung up on the nuances of ManhattanGMAT's practice tests will not help you fix the gaps in your prep. The only way you can improve is by using the CATs to help guide your studies.

Going forward, it seems like you should focus less on the verbal (you're scoring consistently over the 80th percentile) and focus more on weak quant areas.

Good luck studying! If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Best,

michael.dinerstein wrote:Hi Stockmoose16,

While you have the right concept for how much you are penalized when you leave a question blank, you are applying the 4 percentage point penalty to the OVERALL percentile and not the individual subscore percentile. Hence, your verbal score would have been in the 84th - 85th percentile due to your blank question, which would have only boosted your score to a 660 - 670 overall, for another 1 - 2 percentile increase.

What you need to do right now in terms of studying is to put your percentile score on the ManhattanGMAT CATs out of your mind. Our tests, while fairly accurate, are not going to be an exact reproduction of how you will perform on the GMAT. This is due to the fact that we cannot exactly approximate the questions GMAC will come up with at the time of the test.

Judging by your practice test scores between the 5th and 6th CAT exams, you need to work on building your higher level quant skills to boost your score overall. Look at the assessment reports and analyze which sections you're underperforming in and then review your study material for these sections so that you can better understand the concepts. Getting hung up on the nuances of ManhattanGMAT's practice tests will not help you fix the gaps in your prep. The only way you can improve is by using the CATs to help guide your studies.

Going forward, it seems like you should focus less on the verbal (you're scoring consistently over the 80th percentile) and focus more on weak quant areas.

Good luck studying! If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Best,

Michael,

Thanks for the advice. I've been studying the quant section hard, but I seem to have peaked, scoring in the 70th percentile on each of my last 4 CAT exams. My verbal score, on the other hand, is highly volatile. On the first CAT I ever took -- about 13 weeks ago -- I scored 91st percentile. On the four tests that followed that baseline exam, I scored 72nd percentile. On my sixth test, I scored 91st percentile again. And finally, on my 7th test, I scored 84th percentile. I don't understand why my quant scores are steady and my verbal scores are all over the place. I really haven't studied verbal at all, so the scores should be consistent across all the CATs.

This unpredictable volatility of my verbal score is problematic: If I score 91st percentile verbal and 70th percentile math, I'll get a 690 on the GMAT; however, if I score 72nd percentile verbal with 70th percentile quant, I'll score around a 640. I just can't explain the
volatility. I've taken all the tests under the same conditions. If the MGMAT CAT is an accurate depiction of my ability, then I shouldn't be regularly jumping between 72nd percentile and the 91st percentile -- it just doesn't make sense. Can you please offer some insight?

Additionally, I'd like to know your recommendation on what I should be studying with three weeks left until my GMAT test day. I realize my weakness is quant, but if i score 70th percentile quant, and get my verbal up just a few percentile points higher -- assuming I'm currently at the 91st percentile -- then I'll score a 700.

Though I realize that improving my quant would help my cause, it just doesn't seem possible at this juncture. I've gone over all the MGMAT strategy books, but the 700 level questions are simply too difficult and time-consuming to solve in under 2 minutes. The strategy guides are great refreshers for the concepts. One needs no further evidence than to look at my baseline quant score, which landed me in the 19th percentile, to see that the strategy books really helped me improve. The problem is, the strategy guides aren't helpful for solving the complex, involved questions that usually show up at the 700 level.

Do you think that, at this point, given that I'm so close to my test day, I should focus on improving/steadying my verbal score, rather than trying to improve my quant score?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Hi Stockmoose16,

The real GMAT itself has a standard error of 29 points. This means that if your "true ability" is at a 700, 1/3 of the time you take the test, you will score a 730+ or a 670-. If this is how the real GMAT behaves, then any practice test you take will have a much larger standard error. Hence, your volatility in the verbal section is just a reflection of this. In fact, when you take a real exam, there's a chance that you could score below your true ability level and there's nothing you can do to account for this error. Hence, instead of going into the test saying "I need to get a 700", you need to go in saying "I'm prepared for this test".

Also, if you want to get a 700+, you NEED to do this by studying quant. It'll be easier to boost your quant score at this point than your verbal and MOST Top 20 business schools want you to have an 80th percentile score on both subsections. Hence, your 70th percentile quant score would raise a red flag to some officers because they would be concerned about your math skills.

You don't have that much time left, so you should not only review the concepts so that you understand them, but rather review them until you know them inside and out. This way, on the test, you'll be able to complete easier questions in a faster time, providing you with more time to work on more difficult questions. You could also look into taking an Advanced Quant Workshop that will provide you with advanced techniques for the more difficult questions.

Good luck studying.

Best,

michael.dinerstein wrote:Hi Stockmoose16,

The real GMAT itself has a standard error of 29 points. This means that if your "true ability" is at a 700, 1/3 of the time you take the test, you will score a 730+ or a 670-. If this is how the real GMAT behaves, then any practice test you take will have a much larger standard error. Hence, your volatility in the verbal section is just a reflection of this. In fact, when you take a real exam, there's a chance that you could score below your true ability level and there's nothing you can do to account for this error. Hence, instead of going into the test saying "I need to get a 700", you need to go in saying "I'm prepared for this test".

Also, if you want to get a 700+, you NEED to do this by studying quant. It'll be easier to boost your quant score at this point than your verbal and MOST Top 20 business schools want you to have an 80th percentile score on both subsections. Hence, your 70th percentile quant score would raise a red flag to some officers because they would be concerned about your math skills.

You don't have that much time left, so you should not only review the concepts so that you understand them, but rather review them until you know them inside and out. This way, on the test, you'll be able to complete easier questions in a faster time, providing you with more time to work on more difficult questions. You could also look into taking an Advanced Quant Workshop that will provide you with advanced techniques for the more difficult questions.

Good luck studying.

Best,

Michael,

The advanced workshop class description says students should be consistently scoring at or above the 75th percentile in quant. Can I still take the class if I'm only scoring in the 70th percentile? Would I get any benefit from it?

Hi Stockmoose16,

Yes - I do believe that you can get some utility out of the workshop because you are very close to the 75th percentile. It shouldn't be interpreted as a stringent cutoff. My thinking is that with the workshop, you'll be able to learn some new studying techniques and concepts that could push your quant score over the edge in a way that would help you achieve a 700+ on the GMAT as well as a better application due to having an 80th percentile on both sections of the GMAT.

Best,

michael.dinerstein wrote:Hi Stockmoose16,

The real GMAT itself has a standard error of 29 points. This means that if your "true ability" is at a 700, 1/3 of the time you take the test, you will score a 730+ or a 670-. If this is how the real GMAT behaves, then any practice test you take will have a much larger standard error. Hence, your volatility in the verbal section is just a reflection of this. In fact, when you take a real exam, there's a chance that you could score below your true ability level and there's nothing you can do to account for this error. Hence, instead of going into the test saying "I need to get a 700", you need to go in saying "I'm prepared for this test".

Also, if you want to get a 700+, you NEED to do this by studying quant. It'll be easier to boost your quant score at this point than your verbal and MOST Top 20 business schools want you to have an 80th percentile score on both subsections. Hence, your 70th percentile quant score would raise a red flag to some officers because they would be concerned about your math skills.

You don't have that much time left, so you should not only review the concepts so that you understand them, but rather review them until you know them inside and out. This way, on the test, you'll be able to complete easier questions in a faster time, providing you with more time to work on more difficult questions. You could also look into taking an Advanced Quant Workshop that will provide you with advanced techniques for the more difficult questions.

Good luck studying.

Best,

Michael,

I looked up the advanced quant class. It appears that there isn't another one until after I take my test (11/15). Is this correct?

Hi Stockmoose16,

In terms of our live workshops, yes, the next one will not be until November. However, if you contact Student Services, we would be able to get you set up with a recorded version of the workshop that took place earlier this month. Just let us know what you would like to do!

Best,