4 MISTAKES - yet only quant 59th percentile

Question

Hi there,

I wrote my GMAT focus exam yersterday. I made  only 4 mistakes  on the quant section yet only received a  59th percentile score for quant .

I know missing easy questions can really drag you down (not sure if I have). Even if I did miss easy ones, 59th percentile seams really odd with only 4 mistakes. Also finished the entire section, so no penalties for leaving out questions.

Anyone with similar experiences?

(Screenshots attached below)

KarishmaB · Answer

I have known people to have only 2 mistakes and still get Q83 so this isn't very surprising. That said, some could make 4 mistakes and still have a score above 80. FE is a bit less forgiving in Quant since FE Quant is easier than Classic Quant (mostly due to re-categorization of DS into DI).

RadsAGG · Answer

Hello Karishma. Is there a specific reason for why the two scenarios quoted by you could be possible? Why can one make the same number of mistakes but end up receiving a different score than the other test taker with equal number of mistakes?

KarishmaB · Answer

FE is adaptive too, just like Classic. Hence factors other than accuracy such as difficulty level of the questions answered correctly/incorrectly etc play a part in the overall score too. 
Hence, accuracy alone cannot define the score.

For now, my advice would be to focus on concepts and aim to solve each question within 2 mins. 
If we knew little about the actual GMAT Algorithm, we know even less about the FE Algo.

Posted from my mobile device

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

From the Understanding Your Score page on the MBA website:

The Quantitative Reasoning score is based on three factors: 1) the number of questions answered, 2) whether the answers are correct or incorrect, and 3) the difficulty and other parameters of the questions answered.

GMATCoachBen · Answer

valebecuewbc  I understand your frustration. I've seen many similar stories, including a Q78 with 3 mistakes. The score depends a lot on the difficulty of the questions it gives you, and any mistakes on easier questions hurt your score more than mistakes on harder questions.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the GMAT is section-adaptive, so if you do well on earlier sections, the later section will start off with harder questions. As a result, we have seen a 765 score where he got a DI 89 despite 3 mistakes, but it was his final section and he scored 88 and 87 on the other 2 sections.

4 MISTAKES - yet only quant 59th percentile

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