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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 08 Jul 2017, 17:15
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And here's a way to use the GMATPrep Question Pack to create "fake tests" that feel somewhat like real GMAT exams. The best part: you can do the sections in any order you want. https://gmatclub.com/forum/experts-topi ... 44293.html
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 12 Jul 2017, 01:02
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Hi,

I took GMAT exam yesterday with the new select section feature in the order: Verbal, Quant, IR and AWA. I was scoring 730 - 740 in the GMAT Prep Mock tests. I was expecting something above 700. But unfortunately got 590 (Q:49,V:24). I am really disappointed with my score. Now I am planning to take again in the old order only. Not sure what was the cause of this much score dip in verbal. Because I used to do "fake tests" as mentioned by a member, GMATNinja, everyday for 20 days with verbal first and used to score anywhere between 35-38 correct answers out of 41 questions in a timed condition. I am trying to introspect the causes for my low verbal score. I am feeling I should not have taken the exam in the new order. :(
Did anyone take GMAT in any of the new section orders? Please share your experiences.
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 12 Jul 2017, 09:03
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ramyanag
Hi,

I took GMAT exam yesterday with the new select section feature in the order: Verbal, Quant, IR and AWA. I was scoring 730 - 740 in the GMAT Prep Mock tests. I was expecting something above 700. But unfortunately got 590 (Q:49,V:24). I am really disappointed with my score. Now I am planning to take again in the old order only. Not sure what was the cause of this much score dip in verbal. Because I used to do "fake tests" as mentioned by a member, GMATNinja, everyday for 20 days with verbal first and used to score anywhere between 35-38 correct answers out of 41 questions in a timed condition. I am trying to introspect the causes for my low verbal score. I am feeling I should not have taken the exam in the new order. :(
Did anyone take GMAT in any of the new section orders? Please share your experiences.
Show more


Wow. Crap! Sorry to hear that.... any idea at all what went wrong?
Thank you for sharing your experience. Really appreciate it.
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 12 Jul 2017, 11:16
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Could anyone taking GMAT with new order option share about experience of going through test? Is it much different than the old order and what do you think of questions difficulty levels compared to the ones in previous tests?
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 12 Jul 2017, 11:33
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Hey all,

I took the test yesterday in the new format with Quant - Verbal - IR/AWA order ..
and although I improved on my quant score from 49 in my last attempt to 50 in this one, I lost 4 points in verbal and scored a miserable 35 ...I have no idea about what went wrong as I was consistently scoring 41-42 in Veritas prep mocks and never scored less than 37 in any CATs.

I don't feel that the order of the section affected my scoring in first two section but I do feel that it certainly affected my IR score which again went down from 6 to 4 in this attempt...and I was literally blank in few of the IR question ..I feel exam fatigue may be or a bit tougher question ...

the best part was AWA ...had no pressure what so ever by that time and was really enjoying typing (and making key-strokes noise - later realised that it must have been pretty disturbing for others as the center did not gave us any ear buds)

Anyways, will be taking the exam again by the end of this month ....can't live with a 710/720 score !!!
Won't Rest until I score the coveted 760 !!!
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 12 Jul 2017, 12:34
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My GMAT is in 15 days and I wanted to confirm an assumption. For quite some time now, we've heard that it is really important to take the full 4 hours test on GMATPrep to have similar levels of fatigue on test day. However, with the new changes, I plan to do Verbal>Quant>IR>AWA. Is it safe to assume that only taking the 2.5 GMATPrep test, i.e. skipping AWA/IR and answering only Q/V will not have an impact on the score vis-a-vis the real test.
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 12 Jul 2017, 13:06
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mihir0710
Hey all,

I took the test yesterday in the new format with Quant - Verbal - IR/AWA order ..
and although I improved on my quant score from 49 in my last attempt to 50 in this one, I lost 4 points in verbal and scored a miserable 35 ...I have no idea about what went wrong as I was consistently scoring 41-42 in Veritas prep mocks and never scored less than 37 in any CATs.

I don't feel that the order of the section affected my scoring in first two section but I do feel that it certainly affected my IR score which again went down from 6 to 4 in this attempt...and I was literally blank in few of the IR question ..I feel exam fatigue may be or a bit tougher question ...

the best part was AWA ...had no pressure what so ever by that time and was really enjoying typing (and making key-strokes noise - later realised that it must have been pretty disturbing for others as the center did not gave us any ear buds)

Anyways, will be taking the exam again by the end of this month ....can't live with a 710/720 score !!!
Won't Rest until I score the coveted 760 !!!
Show more

Thanks for sharing your exam experience! Your score is not that disappointing as you thought though. Could you share how you study for verbal? Is verbal in Veritas similar to the one in the test?

Really appreciate!
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 12 Jul 2017, 19:05
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ramyanag
Hi,

I took GMAT exam yesterday with the new select section feature in the order: Verbal, Quant, IR and AWA. I was scoring 730 - 740 in the GMAT Prep Mock tests. I was expecting something above 700. But unfortunately got 590 (Q:49,V:24). I am really disappointed with my score. Now I am planning to take again in the old order only. Not sure what was the cause of this much score dip in verbal. Because I used to do "fake tests" as mentioned by a member, GMATNinja, everyday for 20 days with verbal first and used to score anywhere between 35-38 correct answers out of 41 questions in a timed condition. I am trying to introspect the causes for my low verbal score. I am feeling I should not have taken the exam in the new order. :(
Did anyone take GMAT in any of the new section orders? Please share your experiences.
Show more

Wow, sorry to hear about the bad experience on the exam! Were any of those practice tests repeats, by any chance? I'm just wondering if your GMATPrep results might have been inflated by familiarity with some of the questions at all?

The only other thing I can think of is that you might have felt a little bit out of sorts at the very beginning of the testing experience. The nice thing about the old order is that you can "warm up" with the AWA and IR, and get yourself settled into the testing environment. Maybe jumping right into verbal might have made you a little bit less comfortable than usual?

Just a thought. In general, I think it's good to start with a section that you're comfortable with -- whatever that might mean for you. Quant, maybe?

Sorry again to hear about the frustrating experience!
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 12 Jul 2017, 22:26
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Good news: GMAC has updated the official GMAT Prep software to include the Select Section Order feature!

Download the update here.

-Brian
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 13 Jul 2017, 00:28
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mcelroytutoring
Good news: GMAC has updated the official GMAT Prep software to include the Select Section Order feature!

Download the update here.

-Brian
Show more

I already added the 2 additional exam packs. Is there a way to upgrade without losing my test scores?
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 13 Jul 2017, 01:39
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ramyanag
Hi,

I took GMAT exam yesterday with the new select section feature in the order: Verbal, Quant, IR and AWA. I was scoring 730 - 740 in the GMAT Prep Mock tests. I was expecting something above 700. But unfortunately got 590 (Q:49,V:24). I am really disappointed with my score. Now I am planning to take again in the old order only. Not sure what was the cause of this much score dip in verbal. Because I used to do "fake tests" as mentioned by a member, GMATNinja, everyday for 20 days with verbal first and used to score anywhere between 35-38 correct answers out of 41 questions in a timed condition. I am trying to introspect the causes for my low verbal score. I am feeling I should not have taken the exam in the new order. :(
Did anyone take GMAT in any of the new section orders? Please share your experiences.

Wow, sorry to hear about the bad experience on the exam! Were any of those practice tests repeats, by any chance? I'm just wondering if your GMATPrep results might have been inflated by familiarity with some of the questions at all?

The only other thing I can think of is that you might have felt a little bit out of sorts at the very beginning of the testing experience. The nice thing about the old order is that you can "warm up" with the AWA and IR, and get yourself settled into the testing environment. Maybe jumping right into verbal might have made you a little bit less comfortable than usual?

Just a thought. In general, I think it's good to start with a section that you're comfortable with -- whatever that might mean for you. Quant, maybe?

Sorry again to hear about the frustrating experience!
Show more
Hi GMATNinja,

I had my exam today with the new selection order (Quant-Verbal-IR). My score today: 530 (Q37, V27, IR4). Needless to say, I was devastated.

I have been scoring consistently 730-750 (Q48-49, V41-43) in the mocks. Granted, my mock scores were a little inflated, but I cannot imagine my actual score dropping more than 200 points. I think there is something seriously wrong with the algorithm of the new selection order.

Do you think there will be any review from GMAC on these inconsistencies?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers,
Aparna

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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 13 Jul 2017, 01:49
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ramyanag
Hi,

I took GMAT exam yesterday with the new select section feature in the order: Verbal, Quant, IR and AWA. I was scoring 730 - 740 in the GMAT Prep Mock tests. I was expecting something above 700. But unfortunately got 590 (Q:49,V:24). I am really disappointed with my score. Now I am planning to take again in the old order only. Not sure what was the cause of this much score dip in verbal. Because I used to do "fake tests" as mentioned by a member, GMATNinja, everyday for 20 days with verbal first and used to score anywhere between 35-38 correct answers out of 41 questions in a timed condition. I am trying to introspect the causes for my low verbal score. I am feeling I should not have taken the exam in the new order. :(
Did anyone take GMAT in any of the new section orders? Please share your experiences.

Wow, sorry to hear about the bad experience on the exam! Were any of those practice tests repeats, by any chance? I'm just wondering if your GMATPrep results might have been inflated by familiarity with some of the questions at all?

The only other thing I can think of is that you might have felt a little bit out of sorts at the very beginning of the testing experience. The nice thing about the old order is that you can "warm up" with the AWA and IR, and get yourself settled into the testing environment. Maybe jumping right into verbal might have made you a little bit less comfortable than usual?

Just a thought. In general, I think it's good to start with a section that you're comfortable with -- whatever that might mean for you. Quant, maybe?

Sorry again to hear about the frustrating experience!
Hi GMATNinja,

I had my exam today with the new selection order (Quant-Verbal-IR). My score today: 530 (Q37, V27, IR4). Needless to say, I was devastated.

I have been scoring consistently 730-750 (Q48-49, V41-43) in the mocks. Granted, my mock scores were a little inflated, but I cannot imagine my actual score dropping more than 200 points. I think there is something seriously wrong with the algorithm of the new selection order.

Do you think there will be any review from GMAC on these inconsistencies?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers,
Aparna

Sent from my SM-G925I using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
Show more
To add further, I gave my 1st exam in Apil with 2 months preparation and scored a 640 (Q44, V35). After rigorous prep of another 2 months, I was expecting a decent score of at least 700

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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 13 Jul 2017, 02:34
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suryaaparna
I have been scoring consistently 730-750 (Q48-49, V41-43) in the mocks. Granted, my mock scores were a little inflated, but I cannot imagine my actual score dropping more than 200 points. I think there is something seriously wrong with the algorithm of the new selection order.
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Aparna, underperforming on the exam is never going to feel good. However, the algorithm has nothing to do with it. In fact, the GMAT algorithm has not changed at all. And as far as I'm aware, the GMAT does not allow any internal review of the main score (external options include things like going to court) as they check the score before generating the official score report (you can appeal AWA scores though).

I suggest you get the ESR as soon as possible and see what happened on test day before you decide on next steps.
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suryaaparna
I have been scoring consistently 730-750 (Q48-49, V41-43) in the mocks. Granted, my mock scores were a little inflated, but I cannot imagine my actual score dropping more than 200 points. I think there is something seriously wrong with the algorithm of the new selection order.
Aparna, underperforming on the exam is never going to feel good. However, the algorithm has nothing to do with it. In fact, the GMAT algorithm has not changed at all. And as far as I'm aware, the GMAT does not allow any internal review of the main score (external options include things like going to court) as they check the score before generating the official score report (you can appeal AWA scores though).

I suggest you get the ESR as soon as possible and see what happened on test day before you decide on next steps.
Show more
Thank you AjiteshArun. I am applying for ESR at the moment. I am planning to give my exam again with a month. Do you think taking the traditional order will be a good idea? At least, I know it works as expected!!

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I think it may be better to give more time to study again before you take the next exam. Even the order may affect score, there may be still gaps in knowledge and practice needed to break 700. However, it would be great if you could share your ESR for further understanding of the exam date.

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kimrani
I think it may be better to give more time to study again before you take the next exam. Even the order may affect score, there may be still gaps in knowledge and practice needed to break 700. However, it would be great if you could share your ESR for further understanding of the exam date.

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Thank you kimrani.

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Thank you AjiteshArun. I am applying for ESR at the moment. I am planning to give my exam again with a month. Do you think taking the traditional order will be a good idea? At least, I know it works as expected!!
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I really think that you'd just be making things more difficult for yourself by going with the original order. Try taking a few more practice tests (with the new section order) and then take a call on this.
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Hi,

I took GMAT exam yesterday with the new select section feature in the order: Verbal, Quant, IR and AWA. I was scoring 730 - 740 in the GMAT Prep Mock tests. I was expecting something above 700. But unfortunately got 590 (Q:49,V:24). I am really disappointed with my score. Now I am planning to take again in the old order only. Not sure what was the cause of this much score dip in verbal. Because I used to do "fake tests" as mentioned by a member, GMATNinja, everyday for 20 days with verbal first and used to score anywhere between 35-38 correct answers out of 41 questions in a timed condition. I am trying to introspect the causes for my low verbal score. I am feeling I should not have taken the exam in the new order. :(
Did anyone take GMAT in any of the new section orders? Please share your experiences.

Wow, sorry to hear about the bad experience on the exam! Were any of those practice tests repeats, by any chance? I'm just wondering if your GMATPrep results might have been inflated by familiarity with some of the questions at all?

The only other thing I can think of is that you might have felt a little bit out of sorts at the very beginning of the testing experience. The nice thing about the old order is that you can "warm up" with the AWA and IR, and get yourself settled into the testing environment. Maybe jumping right into verbal might have made you a little bit less comfortable than usual?

Just a thought. In general, I think it's good to start with a section that you're comfortable with -- whatever that might mean for you. Quant, maybe?

Sorry again to hear about the frustrating experience!
Show more


Hi,

When I solved the problems of GMATPrep Question Pack some were repeat questions about 90 on the whole (the free ones). But not all. The mock tests of GMAT Prep were repeat. However, I took these tests after a gap of more than a year. Even though for few questions I felt like "I have read this question", I didn't remember the answer options. But still if I take scores of verbal (41,42) as inflated, even then 24 in verbal is something unbelievable for me.

Also, while taking the exam I felt strange. I was getting almost all "easy" questions. Even I felt the RC passages were way too easier. Not sure it is just my feeling. The questions following those RC passages were also easier. Got many "Details" question. For me it is one of the easier type of question in RC (not sure if you consider the average difficulty for all the test takers). For majority of the questions I was sure of the answers. During the first break (after verbal), I felt like I may not get a really good score in verbal (thought to be something between 35-38), as I felt I didn't get a chance to solve many "difficult" questions, which would have earned me more marks per question. Still it didn't affect my performance in quant or IR.

In short, all I can deduce from this is either I was overconfident (though I didn't run through all the questions without comprehending them) OR the section order Verbal- Quant- IR- AWA will not work for me as I may require some "warm up" OR there has been some changes in the GMAT algorithm.

I am planning to take GMAT exam again. What do you suggest? Which order should I consider? Or how to know which one works for me and which one will ruin my score?
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helloksin
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 15 Jul 2017, 01:39
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I was obviously not happy with my first score of 660 (Q44, Q36) . While i was considering to re-take it, many well-wishers talked me against it, asking me to instead focus on my application and shine through that (standardized tests were never my cup of tea anyway). However, somewhat feeling humiliated by that low Quant score (i was always a, supposedly, Math genius at school) and given the opportunity to take advantage of this new section order, i booked a date to give GMAT a last try.
But going by the comments posted previously on this thread, and my own experience with this new feature, there's something fishy with this change. My verbal score, just like everyone else's on this thread, dropped harder than a David Guetta's beat. (ok, maybe not so much, but V32; c'mon)! And just like all the rants here, i never scored below V36 (or Q47 for that matter) on the mocks.
My overall score this time was 630(Q44, V32) that i immediately cancelled, but not feeling surprised or shocked. I had read this thread the day before the exam, and i had a sneaky feeling about what i was going to score, irrespective of the amount of prep effort i had put in the previous weeks. Turns out my premonitions were right.

Verbal was tough this time, way tougher than when i got that V36. But my V score fell and I don't know if that has to do with the selection order (Quant-Verbal - IR/AWA). I wasn't nervous, i was finishing questions well within time, and playing by the book. And yet the result. Quant i would say was alright, i thought i did a great job, but oh well, 44 it still was. At least the experience was not like last time's, when for no reason after the first question, the system started serving me baby algebra and i was like, what did i do to deserve this!

So, essentially, i learned i cannot tame the GMAT system or understand it! I hope people looking to try out the new selection order do so with caution and after taking a few mocks.
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GMATblock
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BIG GMAT CHANGES: Select Section Order on the GMAT starting July 11 16 Jul 2017, 03:13
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Well, I just googled "exam was difficult after the exam pattern change 11 july gmatclub". I landed up on this post. I just appeared for the exam few hours ago and scored 640. I feel devastated. It was my repeat attempt after my first attempt of 650(v30). This time I prepared rigorously and was confident for a 700+ score. My mock (unattempted GMATPrep 5 and 6) scores were 690 and 730. Veritas and Manhattan consistently giving me 36-38. I am pretty much sure something is wrong with the new algorithm.

As few others have mentioned above that they were confident that they were doing well and scores depicted something else, the same happened with me today. The only reason I can figure out now is : The software was throwing easy questions from1-20 then after that 20-41 were medium to hard level. If you do easy questions wrong your score takes a great dip. But again, V28 ?, I still can not gulp it.

I am still not able to figure out what went wrong.

I would like to know from the experts about this situation. May be their experience can help the prospective students. Further, I think GMAT refreshes the question pack in 15 day cycle, so it seems this 15 day cycle- 11 July - 26 July - has got some tricky questions. These are all my speculations. But believe me, SOMETHING IS WRONG.

The guy who was sitting next to me also concurred, his previous attempt was 700, today he scored 660, again huge drop in verbal when I asked him what went wrong, he replied "I thought I did very well"

Anyways I won't be able to sleep tonight!!

Good luck to all those reading this post and have their exam in the coming days. Please post your reviews as I 'd like to know whether it just those who are getting low scores posting on this post or is this a real issue.

Regards,
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