GMATPrep 1 - Q43, V24 - (Q- 16 incorrect, V- 14 incorrect)

[kriskan17]

I just gave my initial GMATprep2012 Test 1 to see where I need improvement,

16 of my Quant answers were incorrect but I got 43.
14 of Verbal answers were wrong and I only got 24.

I do understand this is a CAT but the incorrect answers seem to be distributed thorough out the test in both Q and V. Could somebody shed light on why the verbal score is so low?

I still need to review all the answers with the solutions.

Thanks,

K

[David@VeritasPrep]

First, remember that it is not the number of questions you miss, nor even the placement of those questions throughout the section. It is the difficulty level of those questions. In general it is better to miss tougher questions. You may have simply missed less difficult questions on the verbal section and the test responded by lowering your score and giving you questions at the lower difficulty level.

It is true that the Quant section is more forgiving in terms of the number of questions you can miss for a given score. Verbal does require more correct answers.

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Hi kristkan17,

As you review the questions that you get incorrect in the Quant and Verbal sections, it's important to ask WHY you got a given question wrong. Was it because you made a silly mistake? Was it because there was a rule/formula that you didn't know? Was it because the question was too hard/weird? Was it because you were low on time and had to guess? In the Verbal section specifically, did you "narrow it down to 2 choices and then guess?"

The GMAT isn't really about the number of correct answers, so focusing on THAT statistic isn't practical. Instead, focus on the big content areas that you're not yet great at and on fixing the silly mistakes.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[kriskan17]

David and Rich,

Thank you for your advise, I went through the answers for the test, in Quant I made some silly mistakes I realized that after seeing the correct answers. Also I had finished about 10 minutes early in the test could have spent that time on some of the DS questions I got wrong. I'm better at Problem Solving than DS.

Verbal is a different story my mistakes were in all types of questions. Before this test I only knew what to expect in verbal but did not study for it at all. So I will start with verbal, What is good book for RC and CR ? I'm planning to use MGMAT for SC.

Thanks Again,
Kris

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Hi kriskan17,

You've added some important information with your last post. Finishing early on a section almost always means that you made some silly mistakes. Training yourself to use most (if not all) of the 75 minutes in each of the Quant and Verbal sections is part of what it takes to maximize your performance. That time can be spent taking notes, double-checking your calculations, making sure that you're answering the question that was asked, etc.

You also mentioned that you didn't study much for the Verbal section. There are LOTS of points to be had on that side of the Test; putting together a strong Verbal performance to go along with a strong Quant performance is essential if your goal is to score in the high 600s or 700s.

Depending on how you "feel" about the Verbal section, you might find that investing in a GMAT Course is better for you than self-studying with books.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich