Ask the Test Maker

Hi Rebecca,

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions on this forum! I have one question about how the test measures our ability, based on two different things (both from GMAC) that I have read recently.

I have seen this post from you, which says that the tests tracks your ability level by question type (so, your performance on SC questions does not affect how how hard your RC questions are):

https://www.beatthegmat.com/how-does-the ... 14296.html

But, then I saw this post on the Official GMAT Blog from last month. This one makes it sound like how you do on one question type does indeed impact what exact items you get for other question types (see the "updated" paragraph):

https://officialgmat.mba.com/2012/12/11/ ... questions/

Please do let us know which one is the correct way to think about it.

Thank you!

I am very interested in hearing the explanation as well. I thought it was based on overall performance and not question types, but there is conflicting information.

Wanted to chime in and add my desire to get the official word on this one as well! Does the test adapt only within each question type or does it adapt across the entire section?

Great question Mr. DonDraper! (looking forward to the new season of Mad Men).

Hi, DonDraper. First, count me among Mad Men fans! Great user name

Now to answer you question: Your score is calculated in real-time as you answer questions, so your question difficulty will be based on your current score estimate. Our intent was to discourage students from hyper-focusing on one area within a single section, while neglecting the other, while still noting that having a particular question type strength will certainly help. We were unclear in our first answer. I hope our blog post clarifies things.

Thanks for flagging this!

Rebecca

Thanks a bunch. This is really helpful.