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Importance of first 10 questions in the GMAT test

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by gmat_best-shot » Fri Aug 08, 2008 11:11 am
Hello everyone,
Is it true that the GMAT computer algorithm is skewed such that it is a good idea to to answer all of the first ten questions of quant and verbal sections correctly?
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Source: — GMAT Strategy |

by Senator 153 » Fri Aug 08, 2008 1:17 pm
"Should I spend more time on the first ten questions relative to the remaining questions on the test?" No, if you run out of time, you'll be sorry and the first ten questions simply do not matter more than the remaining ~30some questions. I've wrecked two or three test scores this way, on PowerPrep, and we have to presume PowerPrep is using something fairly close to the real algorithm.
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by 2008 » Fri Aug 08, 2008 2:50 pm
this is an interesting topic... according to KAPLAN's book:

1 - finishing all the questions is very important

2 - the first questions gives more points than the last one. but according to OG11th this is not the case. Can someone clarify this point?
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by Ian Stewart » Fri Aug 08, 2008 3:42 pm
The scoring algorithm is not a simple thing to describe. If you finish all of the questions, and are able to give each a reasonable attempt, you will find (if you ever get the chance to see how your score evolved during the test) that your score changed most drastically during the first few questions. This is why some books say the first few questions are more important. If, however, you need to guess on the last several questions, you will find that your score can change just as drastically at the end of the test as at the beginning. Books that claim that the 'first ten' questions predominantly determine your score are grossly oversimplifying the scoring algorithm- if you spend so much time early in the test to get the first questions right that you don't have time to finish without guessing, your score will fall dramatically at the end of the test. It is true, to a very small extent, that early questions are more important than later ones, but you should only take this to mean that you won't suffer much by guessing at one (or maybe two) questions at the end- any more than that, and you risk seeing your score fall precipitously.
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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