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doggdetroit
- Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2009 4:52 pm
Hello,
I just completed the 5th of 5 Knewton CATs offered as part of the Knewton course. Here are the five scores:
Diagnostic GMAT 02/10/2010 Q35 V35 570
Practice GMAT #1 05/08/2010 Q40 V47 700
Practice GMAT #2 05/22/2010 Q43 V40 680
Practice GMAT #3 06/05/2010 Q32 V38 580
Practice GMAT #4 06/19/2010 Q38 V35 590
The very first diagnostic CAT was taken prior to my most recent attempt at the GMAT on March 27th, (I ended up scoring a 640, Q42 V35,) and I had to stop and start the CAT multiple times, so I don't feel that it is very reflective of my current abilities. I stopped studying for about a month after my test day, before enrolling in Knewton's course. A month later, after some pretty regimented studying, I took CAT #1.
As you can see, I am pretty alarmed about the downward spiral after CAT #1. Not only have I gotten progressively worse, but I have gone down 110 points from CAT #1 to CAT #4.
After CAT#3, I contacted Knewton support to see if anything was wrong with the scoring. They said that my score was in fact accurate and that most people experienced a drop when taking CAT#3. I still found it hard to believe that my score could drop that much, especially because I had been studying pretty hard in between CATs. I mean look at my quant, a 32 good for the 33rd percentile? Please, I scored a 42, good for the 62nd percentile on the real deal, and the real deal was much harder than any of these CATs. The only thing I can think of is that there was a death in my family a few days before I took CAT#3 so I thought that maybe my mind was elsewhere, resulting in a lower than normal score.
After CAT#4, I knew that something had to be wrong with the scoring. I only got 9 out of 37 wrong on the quant portion and only 6 out of 41 wrong on the verbal portion. I realize that the scoring is adaptive, but surely if I only get 6 wrong on the verbal, it must mean that I am scoring at a high level. (I feel that the quant score is a little more reflective of my abilities, but I still feel it is slightly low.) There is just no way that you can finish the verbal section with only 6 incorrect questions and wind up with a 35 (73rd percentile.) Just the fact that you got 35 questions right should indicate that you are scoring at or near a 700 level, correct? Maybe I'm mistaken, but I feel my verbal score should be in the high 80th / low 90th percentile.
Anyway, I decided to contact Knewton one more time just to make sure that there wasn't any foul play going on with the scoring, but I decided to post my thoughts here as well in case Knewton gives me the company line. Has anyone else heard of the Knewton scoring algorithm being off? Have any Knewton CAT users experienced a drop like this from CAT #1 to #4? Do Knewton's CATs generate lower scores than say ManhattanGMAT or Kaplan CATs? (By the way, I have really enjoyed everything else about Knewton. The classes and instructors are helpful, and I feel that the homework problems are extremely well written and very GMAT like. I also think the questions on the CATs are very realistic, but the scoring just seems off.)
The reason that I am concerned is because I am scheduled to take the GMAT on July 24th, and I would like to be scoring near 700 (my target score) heading into it. I am planning on taking 2 GMATPrep CATs in the final three weeks leading up to my test date, but since I have already taken them before, I probably will see some repeats and my scores may not be indicative of my current scoring level.
I just completed the 5th of 5 Knewton CATs offered as part of the Knewton course. Here are the five scores:
Diagnostic GMAT 02/10/2010 Q35 V35 570
Practice GMAT #1 05/08/2010 Q40 V47 700
Practice GMAT #2 05/22/2010 Q43 V40 680
Practice GMAT #3 06/05/2010 Q32 V38 580
Practice GMAT #4 06/19/2010 Q38 V35 590
The very first diagnostic CAT was taken prior to my most recent attempt at the GMAT on March 27th, (I ended up scoring a 640, Q42 V35,) and I had to stop and start the CAT multiple times, so I don't feel that it is very reflective of my current abilities. I stopped studying for about a month after my test day, before enrolling in Knewton's course. A month later, after some pretty regimented studying, I took CAT #1.
As you can see, I am pretty alarmed about the downward spiral after CAT #1. Not only have I gotten progressively worse, but I have gone down 110 points from CAT #1 to CAT #4.
After CAT#3, I contacted Knewton support to see if anything was wrong with the scoring. They said that my score was in fact accurate and that most people experienced a drop when taking CAT#3. I still found it hard to believe that my score could drop that much, especially because I had been studying pretty hard in between CATs. I mean look at my quant, a 32 good for the 33rd percentile? Please, I scored a 42, good for the 62nd percentile on the real deal, and the real deal was much harder than any of these CATs. The only thing I can think of is that there was a death in my family a few days before I took CAT#3 so I thought that maybe my mind was elsewhere, resulting in a lower than normal score.
After CAT#4, I knew that something had to be wrong with the scoring. I only got 9 out of 37 wrong on the quant portion and only 6 out of 41 wrong on the verbal portion. I realize that the scoring is adaptive, but surely if I only get 6 wrong on the verbal, it must mean that I am scoring at a high level. (I feel that the quant score is a little more reflective of my abilities, but I still feel it is slightly low.) There is just no way that you can finish the verbal section with only 6 incorrect questions and wind up with a 35 (73rd percentile.) Just the fact that you got 35 questions right should indicate that you are scoring at or near a 700 level, correct? Maybe I'm mistaken, but I feel my verbal score should be in the high 80th / low 90th percentile.
Anyway, I decided to contact Knewton one more time just to make sure that there wasn't any foul play going on with the scoring, but I decided to post my thoughts here as well in case Knewton gives me the company line. Has anyone else heard of the Knewton scoring algorithm being off? Have any Knewton CAT users experienced a drop like this from CAT #1 to #4? Do Knewton's CATs generate lower scores than say ManhattanGMAT or Kaplan CATs? (By the way, I have really enjoyed everything else about Knewton. The classes and instructors are helpful, and I feel that the homework problems are extremely well written and very GMAT like. I also think the questions on the CATs are very realistic, but the scoring just seems off.)
The reason that I am concerned is because I am scheduled to take the GMAT on July 24th, and I would like to be scoring near 700 (my target score) heading into it. I am planning on taking 2 GMATPrep CATs in the final three weeks leading up to my test date, but since I have already taken them before, I probably will see some repeats and my scores may not be indicative of my current scoring level.
