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How did I get 97th percentile in Quant despite getting 1/3 wrong?

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tieurongthieng
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How did I get 97th percentile in Quant despite getting 1/3 wrong? [#permalink] New post   11 Feb 2015, 09:48
Just took the Kaplan CAT test Premier 2013 version. I got a 730 with 97th percentile in Quant and 81st percentile in Verbal. Well, isn't 97th percentile is translated into 51 Quant?

But I missed exactly 13 questions! I even, hurtfully, left the last question blank! :shock:

Granted I got the first 11 questions right, but I thought the threshold for a 51 is definitely below 10 or even 5...?!

The test was extremely hard though. I got 7 C-P-Probability questions! :shock: thought it would be at most 2-3 in the real tests even if we were at the 49, 50, 51 level..?

Heck in Verbal I even got 6 Short Passage type of questions which doesn't count toward any of the CR, RC, or SC section, according to the category's filter. During the test, I thought to myself why the heck I got 5 RC paragraphs here :roll:

Can anyone explain for me what is happening? Should I continue with the Kaplan CATs? I don't know whether it reflects accurately the contents in the real tests or not...



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Re: How did I get 97th percentile in Quant despite getting 1/3 wrong? [#permalink] New post   11 Feb 2015, 13:46
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Hi tieurongthieng,

Percentiles can be deceptive, since they measure how well you compared relative to the group of people who took that CAT (as opposed to the Scaled Scores, which measure how well you performed against the Test). If the same was small or the program has an error in it, then either would explain the disparity. To answer your question though, your performance would not be the 97th percentile on the Official GMAT.

What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on this CAT?

If you're interested in the most realistic CAT results, then you can download the 2 free practice CATs from www.mba.com. Remember that a CAT score is only as accurate as YOU make the experience. So you should take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections), in a test-like environment, away from your home, etc.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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Re: How did I get 97th percentile in Quant despite getting 1/3 wrong? [#permalink] New post   12 Feb 2015, 03:06
EMPOWERgmatRichC wrote:
Hi tieurongthieng,

Percentiles can be deceptive, since they measure how well you compared relative to the group of people who took that CAT (as opposed to the Scaled Scores, which measure how well you performed against the Test). If the same was small or the program has an error in it, then either would explain the disparity. To answer your question though, your performance would not be the 97th percentile on the Official GMAT.

What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on this CAT?

If you're interested in the most realistic CAT results, then you can download the 2 free practice CATs from https://www.mba.com. Remember that a CAT score is only as accurate as YOU make the experience. So you should take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections), in a test-like environment, away from your home, etc.

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


Thanks for the insights. They don't publish the scale score, only the percentile. I took GMATprep a while ago so I realize the difference between Kaplan test and GMATprep test.

I have come to decide among Veritas test, GMATClub test, and Manhattan test to try on. Which one do you recommend for the most accurate result compared to GMATprep then?
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Re: How did I get 97th percentile in Quant despite getting 1/3 wrong? [#permalink] New post   12 Feb 2015, 12:14
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Hi tieurongthieng,

It's important to note that NO CATs are a perfect match for the Official GMAT (even the CATs from GMAC are limited by the "pool" of questions attached to each Exam). I don't know much about the GMAT Club Tests (although I read that they are not adaptive) - if that is the case, then I would recommend that you work with a modern set of adaptive CATs. Any of the sets available from MGMAT, Kaplan or Veritas should be fine. Keep in mind that there's a difference between a "free marketing CAT" and the "blocks" of CATs that I'm talking about.

Before you take any new CATs though, you should put in some study time. Taking lots of CATs will NOT make you a better Test Taker. A CAT is a "measuring device" (in the same way that a scale measures weight, a CAT measures your GMAT ability). When used correctly, a CAT will give you a reasonable estimation of your Score and point out your weaknesses. To improve your scores, you need to study, do practice problems, review, etc. By taking a CAT every 1-2 weeks, you can then gauge your progress.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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Re: How did I get 97th percentile in Quant despite getting 1/3 wrong? [#permalink] New post   22 Feb 2015, 23:50
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tieurongthieng

I would give highest priority to the two free GMATprep tests and the two paid official CATs called Exam Pack 1.

Dabral



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Hi there,
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Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
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Re: How did I get 97th percentile in Quant despite getting 1/3 wrong? [#permalink]
22 Feb 2015, 23:50
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