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Penalty for Unanswered Questions

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by utrain » Sat Oct 04, 2008 11:01 am
I just took the GMAT and somehow left the last four questions of the quant unanswered. I know there is a severe penalty for leaving questions unanswered. I ended up with a 35 on the quant. On Manahttan Prep I score between 38-42 on the quant.

Could the non-answered penalty impact my score that much? If so, is it enough of a penalty to consider re-taking the test?

Thanks in advance!!
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by gabriel » Sun Oct 05, 2008 1:37 am
Yes, unanswered questions do carry a severe penalty. It is very much possible that your lower than expected score on the quant section is because of the 4 unanswered questions. Regarding you re taking the GMAT, that should be a decision made depending on how far of were you are from your target/expected score and many other factors like the strength of the rest of your application and what is the average score of the school you are applying to. Best of luck.
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Re: Penalty for Unanswered Questions

by Ian Stewart » Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:03 am
utrain wrote:I just took the GMAT and somehow left the last four questions of the quant unanswered. I know there is a severe penalty for leaving questions unanswered. I ended up with a 35 on the quant. On Manahttan Prep I score between 38-42 on the quant.

Could the non-answered penalty impact my score that much? If so, is it enough of a penalty to consider re-taking the test?

Thanks in advance!!
The test is constantly updating its estimate of your ability as you answer each question. If you leave questions unanswered, some kind of penalty is applied to whatever estimate the test has of your ability at the end of your test. There's very little information available about this penalty, but from the small amount of credible data I can find, I have the impression that the penalty may be a directly proportional one, or at least something similar to that- that is, it may be that the test's estimate of your ability is multiplied by 33/37 if you leave four questions unanswered. If that's correct (and it's my best guess from published data, but I'm not at all sure, unfortunately), then at the time your Quant section ended, you had a 39 scaled score. Of course, if you had only had time remaining to guess randomly at the last four questions, that would have fallen a bit- perhaps to a 36 or 37. If you had had time to properly finish the test, you most likely would have ended up with something around a 39.

Whether it's worth retaking the test all depends on what score you need for admissions, but it does sound as though you could improve your math result a bit if you were able to improve on pacing.
For online GMAT math tutoring, or to buy my higher-level Quant books and problem sets, contact me at ianstewartgmat at gmail.com

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running out of time

by semmel » Mon Dec 15, 2008 12:53 pm
Hi guys,
so if I run out of time in the quantitative section (which unfortunately happens quite often to me), would you advise me to rather guess the unanswered 3-4 questions in the last minute or to leave them unanswered?

It would be great if someone could answer me asap, I'll take the test VERY soon... :lol:
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by bsandhyav » Mon Dec 15, 2008 10:17 pm
Well..anyday it is better to guess the Q's randomly than miss them altogether.

U cannot give ur test until 30 days after you give your GMAT. So use that time 2 improve ur quant speed.

FYI

I also gave my test a week ago and missed the last 3-4 Q's on Quant. I thought i was doing really well and even ended up getting 4-5 probability and P&C Q's. So i was really confident about scoring in the 49-50 Q range. But with the last 4 Q's gone i got a dismal Q 41 :( .......thats the amount of difference missing Q's can make.


Hope you get it now!!
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by semmel » Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:40 am
[quote]U cannot give ur test until 30 days after you give your GMAT. So use that time 2 improve ur quant speed. [/quote]

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean by this sentence. Maybe you thought I hadn't registered yet, but in fact my test is tomorrow...

This I also why I got another question: Since I'm not going to apply for B-School before 2010, I would like to hear your opinion about the choice of schools to have my results sent to.

In case I don't indicate ANY school this time, I can still decide to have the results sent to a school later - this I know. However, in case I f*ck up this time, do it again and have the results of the second test sent, IS IT RIGHT THAT THE FIRST RESULTS WILL BE SENT ADDITIONALLY?

Many thanks for your answers, highly appreciated!
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by scoobydooby » Tue Dec 16, 2008 4:08 am
all the best for your exam tomorrow semmel!
yes the univs get to see the scores of the last five tests
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by bsandhyav » Tue Dec 16, 2008 4:26 am
semmel wrote:
Sorry, I don't understand what you mean by this sentence. Maybe you thought I hadn't registered yet, but in fact my test is tomorrow...

Sorry about that..... dint notice the post date there in Oct. I thought u had given ur exam in Dec. So said that.

According to GMAC one cannot retake the test until 30 days after his test date.


n yeah the colleges will have access to your last 5 scores
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by VP_Jim » Wed Dec 17, 2008 1:50 pm
Slight correction:

Schools will see all of your scores from the past five years (!), not the past five tests.

So, yes, schools will see your first score if you take it a second time, assuming you're applying within give years of your first test date. Keep in mind, however, that most schools only consider your highest score.

Good luck!
Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep
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