How prevalent have probability Qs been in the past?

[justbeatit]

Hi guys

I just wanted to get a general impression about probability Qs...

Of those who have actually taken the test, how many probability Qs have people encountered out of the 37Qs?

I know that questions are selected randomly from a question bank hence the chance of probability questions coming up may vary a lot, but just wanted to get a general sense - perhaps a range?

Is it 1 ro 3 Qs or 3 to 5 Qs or more?

Many thanks as always

[hengirl03]

I haven't taken the exam yet, but I've heard from those who have that it is around 2-3.

[mehravikas]

Kaplan says, expect a probability question if you are doing really well on the GMAT.

[Ian Stewart]

Your performance on the test does not influence the general topics you encounter on the GMAT. The test is designed so that, on average, each test-taker encounters a similar balance of topics on the questions that count, regardless of how well he or she is doing. A weak test-taker will, on average, see the same number of counting/probability questions as the strong test-taker.

Diagnostic/experimental questions do not need to obey these content balance specifications, however, so you can see a surprisingly high number of questions on a particular topic. Some test-takers report seeing five probability/counting questions, for example, though that is unusual; most will see between one and three, in my experience. In most cases, if you see an abnormally high number of questions on a specific topic, it will be due to the presence of diagnostic questions.

[Montreal06]

I did notice that when I had a really good quant score on a practice test, there were 2-3 probability questions, but on a test where I score a pretty average quant score, there were 0 probability questions. So I assumed there was a correlation.

So, Ian, are you saying there is no correlation? And that I should not freak out if at the end of the quant section, I have seen o probability or perm/comb questions?

[Ian Stewart]

I did notice that when I had a really good quant score on a practice test, there were 2-3 probability questions, but on a test where I score a pretty average quant score, there were 0 probability questions. So I assumed there was a correlation.

So, Ian, are you saying there is no correlation? And that I should not freak out if at the end of the quant section, I have seen o probability or perm/comb questions?

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Don't freak out about what content you see on the test- and it's very difficult to work out how well you're doing in the middle of a test anyway. It's not easy to judge the difficulty of a GMAT question (some questions that seem easy to you may actually be calibrated as 'difficult' on the GMAT), not to mention that there are a few reasons why you'll see easy questions even if you're doing well. Someone who is doing badly on the test could just as easily see probability questions as someone who is doing brilliantly. And come to think of it, I don't recall seeing a single probability question on my last GMAT despite a 51 score. I did have several counting problems, but they were not combinatorial- they were Venn diagram type problems.

[Montreal06]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for this. I'm not a fan of probability and P&C - so this is good news. In last night's practice test (PR), I had 6 probability and P&Cs in a row. Finished with a 45 in quant.

Good to know there isn't a correlation. Whew! Because if there was, it would be pretty hard for me to not worry that I wasn't seeing that type of question.

Thanks again,
R