(Un) Scientific analysis of gmatprep

I took 2 GPREPs in the last 3 days.

GPREP 1 - Q43 - Overall 20 Wrongs. 7 Wrongs in the 1st 20. Last 10 (28 - 37) - All wrong. Ran out of time, had to guess them.

GPREP 2 - Q42 - Overall 13 Wrongs. 8 Wrongs in the 1st 20. Only 3 Wrongs in the last 10. None consecutive wrong in last 10.

I had a good feeling about Quant this time. I was expecting 46 - 47. Bump, it was 42 and 1 less than previous attempt despite fewer Incorrects.

This goes to say that 1st 10 or maybe 1st 20 matters, cuz the software fairly fixes your range by this time and your performance in the last 10 or 7 doesnt really help or hurt much.

One more observation in both Quant attempts, I got 2 consecutive wrongs 3 times in the 1st 20. Maybe consecutive wrongs further helped to downgrade my Quant level - range.

GPREP 1 - V38 - Overall 14 Wrongs. Got all RC right. SCs - 8 Wrong. CRs - 6 Wrong. I spent lot of time on RCs, hence ran out of time towards the end and had to guess like 10 Questions.

GPREP 2 - V35 - Overall - 12 Wrongs. RC - 4 Wrongs. SCs - 6 Wrong. CRs - 2 Wrong.
I wanted to replicate the same here. Get all RCs right by spending more time so that I can assure myself of V36 atleast. But 1 RC came after 33 and had to guess those 3 or 4 of those RC Qs and ended up with 2wrong out of it. I think if I had replicated the same here, like all RCs right, I would have hit V38.

What do you guys think of this Verbal strategy? I know not the best of strategy, but if RC was my strength, why not put that wee bit extra time to minimize the RC errors like only 1 or 2 RC errors.

GMATPREP1 I have taken last Sunday (without the AWA):

Q50- 6 errors: 2 in the first 15Q's, 1 between 16-30 and 3 between 31-37. (3PS, 3DS)
V42: - 5 errors: evenly distributed: 3SC, 1RC, 1CR.

As a rule of thumb, when you are hitting the top scores in Quant, around (+-2) 12 wrong questions give 49, 6 wrongs questions give 50 and 3 wrong questions 51.

My 2 cents observation with Powerprep.

I gave 2 test of powerprep.

Test 1 - Score 690, Q 49, V 34
7 Quant questions were answered incorrectly - 7, 8, 9, 11, 30, 32, 35
13 Verbal questions were answered incorrectly - 3, 9, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 31, 33, 38, 40, 41

Test 2 - Score 690, Q 49, V 34
5 Quant questions were answered incorrectly - 5, 11, 14, 19, 36
8 Verbal questions were answered incorrectly - 1, 6, 11, 13, 19, 29, 34, 38

With less incorrect answers in test 2, I guess I should have scored higher. But then carefully observing the number of incorrect answers till question number 5, 10, 15 and 20, it seems that the score is almost finalized till ques number 20. Accuracy beyond that does not have much impact on the score.

Tarun, the scoring algorithm in PowerPrep is completely different from that of the GmatPrep. I got only one question wrong in Q but the PP gave me only 50.
Although PowerPrep is good for studying in an early phase, its questions no longer represent the current GMAT, which is then more similarly represented by the GmatPrep.



Posted from my mobile device

Today, I was revising my 2 GMATPrep tests and I found the following order of CR questions (though approx 80% correct):

A P E W S I W A BF S E = 11 Questions
A=2
P=1
E=2
W=2
S=2
BF=1
I=1

C S W BF BF A W S S A F(A) = 11 Questions
C=1
S=3
W=2
BF=2
A=3

Assumption = A
Paradox = P
Evaluate = E
Weaken = W
Strenthen = S
Inference = I
Bold Face = B
Conclusion = C
Fill In the Blank(Assumption based) = F(A)

So, I think more than majority of the questions is from A, W and S. If you do well in CR, then expect rest from BF, E parts.

I do agree with this. I m sure real gmat must be penalizing students who do random guesses with delay < 10sec.

Yes, so pretty much approach the real exam the same. Limit guesses. Finish exam. Answer each question as given without trying to "figure out" the exam.

This thread never ceases even after 2 years.. Unbelievable stuff from bsd_lover and others.. I believe bsd_lover might not be watching this forum anymore.. But still wanna thank him for the experiment

Oh, he is around
Last visited about 10 hrs ago: members/member-33822.html
However, he does not get involved in this thread anymore now that it's been a few years...

[*] guys,i 've got 36 out of 41 verbal,and only20 out of 37 quants,in powerprep since,am not familiar with inequalities and quadratics as its almost 20years after my schooling,can anyone help me in telling how to tackle this situation at the earliest ?

Remember the gmat scoring is certainly not linear. Your first experiment where you guess RC and CR and score high on SC, simply shows that your overall score is so bad that the verbal score will mirror that.

I'm not sure that answering correctly the first 10 or so questions is that important.

Wonderful analysis by Hussain.

gmat-prep-analysis-tool-102803.html

I think that statement is more valid for verbal than it is for quant. During my actual GMAT prep, i got 7 wrong in verbal of which i got 2 wrong in a row 3 times (6 out of 7). I also got all questions from 13-35 correct and still scored only a 41. Then again, that may have been because i got 2 consecutive questions wrong twice before # 13.

Verbal definitely has more severe penalties for incorrect answers. I raised this question with a GMAT teacher as to why and his theory was that 'it is a lot harder for the GMAT to determine your competency in verbal than it is for the GMAT to determine your competency in quant'.

Amazing topic! Have been reading very carefully.. I'll try to test it too asa Im ready.. Great job everyone so far

GOod finding. Let us know if u have muchmore finding.. May be that may help us..

i agree with the findings of bsd_lover, but i guess we should also see how the test varies if we get a string of questions wrong!

That will be a very interesting test i believe.

If you are running out of time, which is worse - doing each of the remaining questions to the best of your ability, try to get them all right and leave the rest? Or do quick guesstimates and try to at least attempt all the questions? Which has more severe penalty - an incomplete test or a string of wrong answers at the end?