Importance of the last few questions

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Importance of the last few questions

by c23678 » Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:26 am
Hello,

I noticed in my last couple of MGMAT practice tests that in verbal section the Percentile Est dropped from 99% to 85% when I got 3 questions incorrect. Hence the final score of 38-40 instead of 44 or above(assuming that maintaining 99% leads to score 44 or above). Is this how it works in real GMAT?

I always end up getting last few questions wrong in verbal due to lack of time. Is it advisable to guess few questions towards the end if you are running out of time and try to answers last few questions correctly, so that the section ends with correct answers instead of wrong ones.

Experts please throw some light on this strategy.

Thank you,
C23678
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by [email protected] » Thu Aug 29, 2013 12:10 pm
Hi c23678,

A percentile is the result of your score, not the cause. By itself, getting the last 3 questions incorrect would probably "sting" a bit (assuming the questions counted), but it wouldn't drop you from a Q44 to a Q38. What happened right BEFORE those 3 incorrect answers though? Were you coming off of a string of wrong answers and THEN you ran out of time and got 3 more wrong? A situation such as THAT would hurt your score a lot.

There are always some easy points to be had at the end of each section, so you have to pace yourself correctly throughout the section if you want to hit your personal maximum score.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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by c23678 » Thu Aug 29, 2013 5:55 pm
Thanks Rich for the reply.

Interestingly in my last two MGMAT practice tests I got 7 out the last 10 questions correct. At the start of 30th question the percentile was around 80% and after getting 7 questions correct in a row the percentile changed to 99% and then with 3 incorrect answers it went to 85%. Anyway I dont want to waste my energy analyzing this instead I like your quote

"There are always some easy points to be had at the end of each section, so you have to pace yourself correctly throughout the section if you want to hit your personal maximum score. "

I will work on my timing.

Thanks,
C23678

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Aug 30, 2013 7:18 am
As Rich says, you need to maintain adequate pacing throughout the test. A good way to do this is via a Milestone Chart. This is covered in our free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

Cheers,
Brent
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