increasing difficulty

[cshmny86]

I took the GMAT yesterday(8-19) for the second time around and received a 710, an improvement from my score this past December(680). Though my score was higher the second time around, the questions that were asked in both the quant and verbal sections seemed much more difficult than the test I took in December. The Quant section only seemed mildly more difficult, but the difference between the two verbal sections was outrageous in my opinion. I honestly feel if I would have sat for my second test the first time around I would not of even cracked 600. Has anyone else noticed this?

[Mclaughlin]

I took it in july and the verbal blew my mind, I was getting 99% in verbal in all my practice test and on the actual test i got 69%! needless to say I was stunned and confused. I'm gearing up to take it again and now i'm feeling nervous that it was just me, I have asked many people here and they keep saying it's my imagination. so its nice to hear i'm not the only one.

I think it might have to do with the scoretop controversy so they made the test harder!

[john1234]

cshmny86,
You are right. I said it last week but some folks here did not believe me. The verbal section of GMAT is becoming difficult lately,far more difficult than the GMATPREP.I guess GMAC is trying to make life difficult for test-takers these days

[medea66]

There was another thread about this a few weeks ago....and some people argued that the controversy had nothing to do w/ the difficulty. I agree w/ you, in that it definitely has. Say the quality and quantity of your studies is the same and you took the test a couple years ago and post-controversey, the ones a couple years ago probably had a higher score.

[sandeep_koul]

You are right, last time when I appeared in the test (Aug2008),I also felt that verbal has become much more tougher, than my previous appearnce in Gmat, especially those thick and wordy RC questions and cunning SC questions. Even on my first test on GMAT PREP, I scored around 38 in verbal and in subsequent 10 mock tests that I underwent, before appearing for the exams, I always scored in a range of 36-42, but in actual exams it was horrible 30.
Further I feel GMAT should immediately identify candidates who benefited from score top and cancel their scores, so that there is no inflation of GMAT scores i.e the bubble craeted in % ile ranking.

I took the GMAT yesterday(8-19) for the second time around and received a 710, an improvement from my score this past December(680). Though my score was higher the second time around, the questions that were asked in both the quant and verbal sections seemed much more difficult than the test I took in December. The Quant section only seemed mildly more difficult, but the difference between the two verbal sections was outrageous in my opinion. I honestly feel if I would have sat for my second test the first time around I would not of even cracked 600. Has anyone else noticed this?

[cshmny86]

I am glad I am not the only one as well, I felt that the verbal section was on the verge of being ridiculous in level of difficulty, darn dishonest people have ruin it for everyone.

[BlueRain]

Now you guys are making me nervous ...

1st GMAT on Saturday...

[rhymes_with_luck]

Hey Bluerain,

let the first one be your last one.

Remember if it has gone tuf, then it will remain tuf for everybody and as a result average score for various schools will come down.
Moreover, if you have tried really really honestly you gonna pitch it.
All the best.

[cshmny86]

Blue Rain,

Dont let anything myself or anyone on this site says scare you. If you have prepared properly you will be just fine. The best advice I can personally give you would be to take a deep breath and read all questions in the verbal section thoroughly and carefully. I found myself at times zipping through the reading, selecting an answer, and realizing at the last second that I comprehended it wrong. 75 minutes is plenty of time for the verbal so really just calm down and dissect the words as carefully as possible and you will be just fine.

Best of luck!

[BlueRain]

Woot! As I said on the other thread, I beat GMAT with flying colors. I did not notice any significant changes in the verbal difficulty to be honest, and I actually found the SC questions to be easier on the actual GMAT, and I thought I was heading down the wrong path for a while there. NOTE: this is based on a very unscientific, personal comparison between OG and actual GMAT. SC was my weak point in the verbal questions (~80% strike rate vs ~90% on RC and CR).

The only difficulty I've encounted was a fairly short RC yet very difficult to understand. It required a ton of inferences in order to make the connections between various points, but at that point, I was way ahead of the timing schedule, so I spent 5+ minutes reading and re-reading the passage, and I am still not sure I understood it fully. Yet, I still finished verbal with around 10 minutes to spare if I recall correctly. :roll: So I was really nervous about the scores at that point because I definitely went way too fast.

Hopefully this will help people to prepare for the verbal in the future. I feel that if you truly understand the fundamentals instead of aiming for quick success using test tricks/strategies, you will do fine.

[emrahercan]

Guys, if a question is hard, it will be hard for everybody. GMAT score is based on how you did compared to others. So if you got 95 % on quant and re-took the test and got 70 %. It really does not mean questions are getting harder and you are getting lower score but people are studying more for GMAT

[rosh26]

Same discussion is going on in strategy -

https://www.beatthegmat.com/major-issue- ... 17023.html

Do you think it would be more beneficial to call as opposed to just emailing?

Just a thought...