MGMAT scored 730 with 15 wrong!

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sankruth: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 195; Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:33 am; Thanked: 10 times

by sankruth » Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:44 am

I took a MGMAT test today and dont know if I should be happy or sad!

I scored 730 (Q48, V41)but I got 15 wrong in Quant and 15 wrong in Verbal (6 in CR itself!!).

I understand that it is not correct to corelate the score with the number of questions you get wrong but still simple logic says if you get so many wrong your score will be low. My question is how is it possible that I achieved 730 with so many mistakes!

I have my GMAT in 2 weeks time and Im not sure where I stand!

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Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:44 am

II: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 400; Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:35 pm; Location: London, UK; Thanked: 19 times; GMAT Score:680

by II » Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:07 pm

well done for the high score ! Could the 15 wrong questions have been anything to with these "experimental" questions that are thrown into the GMAT exam ??? Although 15 sounds like a lot of experimental questions.
Or may these 15 wrong questions were a mixture of experimental and real questions.

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solaris: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 41; Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 9:21 pm; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 9 times

by solaris » Sun Jan 13, 2008 2:46 pm

MGMAT CAT's do not have experimental questions.

The number of questions you get wrong is not nearly as important as the difficulty level of the questions you're getting wrong....I've gotten a q49 with 13 mistakes on my second GMATPrep test (which incidentally does have experimental questions), so a q48 with 15 mistakes is probable if you got most of the 700-800 level questions thrown at you.

And by the way, a q48 in an MGMAT CAT is a very impressive score.

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Stacey Koprince: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2228; Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pmFollowed by: 694 members; Location: Montreal, Canada; Thanked: 639 times; GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:14 pm

I understand that it is not correct to corelate the score with the number of questions you get wrong but still simple logic says if you get so many wrong your score will be low. My question is how is it possible that I achieved 730 with so many mistakes!

Your logic isn't right, actually. This test is NOT constructed in the way you are used to tests being constructed, so you can't apply "normal test logic" to this test.

EVERYbody gets a lot of questions wrong, no matter how well they score - even a perfect score does not reflect getting all of the questions right.

If you'd like, poke around for old posts in which I discuss the algorithmic theory (IRT, or Item Response Theory) behind the CAT. That can help you to understand why you can get a high score even with 15 wrong answers. Or, you can just take my word for it: this is how the test works.

Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

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