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Hey everyone,
I am a pretty anxious test taker and a lot of things other than the question itself used to make me anxious now after 9 official mocks and 1 official attempt (I have another planned for next week), I think I just wanted to give some insights for other test takers like me. I used to find the answers of these questions, so now after all this experience I guess I am in a position to answer these questions.
Scoring
I know a lot of people will disagree with me, saying the scoring can't be predicted but for elite scores the margin of error is very minimal, i personally realised the difference between a 675 scored and 750 scorer isn't much in terms of the questions they get wrong, as even 1-2 extra mistakes can cost you 50 points once you breach the 625 mark.
Mock vs Real is almost identical for Quant, and there is a lot of variation based on what questions you go wrong but I think in my mocks I have seen enough patterns to say if you want to score 85+, you can't get more than 1 wrong and the same is true for the real thing. Very rarely after 2-3 mistakes your quant score would be 84-85.
For Verbal, still I think there is more room for mistake in both of them like in real thing I just got stuck in verbal and in the end i guessed a lot and still scored a 82, whereas in Mocks even after just 4 mistakes I have scored similar. But I think here you can't get more than 2, maybe 3 wrong to score a 85.
For DI, definitely the percentile is better when your score is 80+, but again not more than 2 mistakes if you wish to score a 85. 3-4 mistakes will usually make you stand at a 82-83.
And also getting initial questions wrong definitely impact your score, I have seen in almost all my mocks and even in the real test but in case you know that you are anyway bound to make some mistakes like I know about me that in Verbal i can't get all right, so don't waste your time on initial questions that much that rest of your exam is ruined.
Remember about the experimental questions in the real test, some folks might argue that they got 2 wrong and still managed to score 87-88, they probably got one of the experimental question wrong.
Pattern
Quant: There is no pattern in quant to begin with as you can see similar topics again and again if you are making mistakes in the same topic but rest it's a mixed bag. And even though yes P&C, Probability and Absolute values are not tested that much in the real exam, but you will always find at least one question and don't assume it is hard question so you can get it wrong, my score was 83 in one of the exams in which i only got 2 wrong in quant and each of the questions was from these topics. And if you see an easy question, doesn't mean you are getting it all wrong before sometimes when you are on a hot streak the exam actually gives you questions which help you gain back the lost time on the harder ones.
Verbal: 3 RC's or 4 RC's, depends on your luck but in case the 4th RC does show up in question number 18-19th then probably it will be shorter one with 3 questions. Other than this there is no other pattern which the test taker should know. And it is well established that Assumption, weaken and strengthen are the most frequest questions types followed by Logical flaw, Evaluate and Bold faced in my personal observation. (Real thing had harder RC's and longer CR's stem for sure)
DI: This is the section with the most variability but in mocks the MSR is pretty predictable that where it will show up but in real thing be wary the same is not true so if your strategy is based on position of the MSR then you need to rethink your strategy. Rest, only DS is guaranteed to have 6 questions minimum, rest of the topics will vary and specially if you get 2 MSR's then expect that probably Graphs/Tables to go down in frequency. Also if you get a short MSR then actually it could be better as it will have 3 questions and you can gain a lot of time if you are confident with MSR.
Timing
Quant: If this is your forte, I will enough time is there in quant if you already know where to start the attempt. Usually if you are struggling for time, either you are overestimating your ability (I am guilty of that) and sticking with the question even though you know you should skip or you need to work on your quant before the next step. I understand everyone is trying to achieve a Q90 but knowing when to skip is a necessary skill which will help you break the Q80 barrier if you are stuck there.
Verbal: I feel RC's are your friend and they will actually make you save time so that you can think about the tougher CR questions. Take a reset CR question if needed in between if you are always skipping in the end. The chain of errors will impact your score.
DI: This is a tough one, don't be overambitious if you struggle to complete this section. Accept the fact that you would need to skip a few in the end or in the middle if you know you have a particular weakness. I personally think if you can master DS then you might not struggle for time in DI as those are real time savers. And if you get better MSR even better then probably you will find more than enough time similar to Quant. Best question type to skip is also DS as you can make an educated guess whereas rest of the questions have multiple answers you need to mark.
But overall for my fellow anxious test takers, don't worry the test center would actually make you even get more into zone they are pretty great. The markers could be improved but they won't abruptly stop. And whatever your scores are on the mock are not the actual scores, they are just indicative a lot can go your way on the test day as well. Additionally, the pattern might vary but all other aspects are the same. The scoring is pretty harsh in my personal opinion but i guess that is what seperates the top 1%ile from the rest.
ALL THE BEST!
GMAT is not as tough as you think, but the process to get there could be tolling and that is what makes it tough. The challenge to accept such a harsh algorithm took me sometime to get around as getting 1-2 wrong and still not seeing my target score used to make me disappointed and demotivated, just accept it as it is and believe in yourself and the process, there is nothing you can do about the algorithm just the question in front of you.
I am a pretty anxious test taker and a lot of things other than the question itself used to make me anxious now after 9 official mocks and 1 official attempt (I have another planned for next week), I think I just wanted to give some insights for other test takers like me. I used to find the answers of these questions, so now after all this experience I guess I am in a position to answer these questions.
Scoring
I know a lot of people will disagree with me, saying the scoring can't be predicted but for elite scores the margin of error is very minimal, i personally realised the difference between a 675 scored and 750 scorer isn't much in terms of the questions they get wrong, as even 1-2 extra mistakes can cost you 50 points once you breach the 625 mark.
Mock vs Real is almost identical for Quant, and there is a lot of variation based on what questions you go wrong but I think in my mocks I have seen enough patterns to say if you want to score 85+, you can't get more than 1 wrong and the same is true for the real thing. Very rarely after 2-3 mistakes your quant score would be 84-85.
For Verbal, still I think there is more room for mistake in both of them like in real thing I just got stuck in verbal and in the end i guessed a lot and still scored a 82, whereas in Mocks even after just 4 mistakes I have scored similar. But I think here you can't get more than 2, maybe 3 wrong to score a 85.
For DI, definitely the percentile is better when your score is 80+, but again not more than 2 mistakes if you wish to score a 85. 3-4 mistakes will usually make you stand at a 82-83.
And also getting initial questions wrong definitely impact your score, I have seen in almost all my mocks and even in the real test but in case you know that you are anyway bound to make some mistakes like I know about me that in Verbal i can't get all right, so don't waste your time on initial questions that much that rest of your exam is ruined.
Remember about the experimental questions in the real test, some folks might argue that they got 2 wrong and still managed to score 87-88, they probably got one of the experimental question wrong.
Pattern
Quant: There is no pattern in quant to begin with as you can see similar topics again and again if you are making mistakes in the same topic but rest it's a mixed bag. And even though yes P&C, Probability and Absolute values are not tested that much in the real exam, but you will always find at least one question and don't assume it is hard question so you can get it wrong, my score was 83 in one of the exams in which i only got 2 wrong in quant and each of the questions was from these topics. And if you see an easy question, doesn't mean you are getting it all wrong before sometimes when you are on a hot streak the exam actually gives you questions which help you gain back the lost time on the harder ones.
Verbal: 3 RC's or 4 RC's, depends on your luck but in case the 4th RC does show up in question number 18-19th then probably it will be shorter one with 3 questions. Other than this there is no other pattern which the test taker should know. And it is well established that Assumption, weaken and strengthen are the most frequest questions types followed by Logical flaw, Evaluate and Bold faced in my personal observation. (Real thing had harder RC's and longer CR's stem for sure)
DI: This is the section with the most variability but in mocks the MSR is pretty predictable that where it will show up but in real thing be wary the same is not true so if your strategy is based on position of the MSR then you need to rethink your strategy. Rest, only DS is guaranteed to have 6 questions minimum, rest of the topics will vary and specially if you get 2 MSR's then expect that probably Graphs/Tables to go down in frequency. Also if you get a short MSR then actually it could be better as it will have 3 questions and you can gain a lot of time if you are confident with MSR.
Timing
Quant: If this is your forte, I will enough time is there in quant if you already know where to start the attempt. Usually if you are struggling for time, either you are overestimating your ability (I am guilty of that) and sticking with the question even though you know you should skip or you need to work on your quant before the next step. I understand everyone is trying to achieve a Q90 but knowing when to skip is a necessary skill which will help you break the Q80 barrier if you are stuck there.
Verbal: I feel RC's are your friend and they will actually make you save time so that you can think about the tougher CR questions. Take a reset CR question if needed in between if you are always skipping in the end. The chain of errors will impact your score.
DI: This is a tough one, don't be overambitious if you struggle to complete this section. Accept the fact that you would need to skip a few in the end or in the middle if you know you have a particular weakness. I personally think if you can master DS then you might not struggle for time in DI as those are real time savers. And if you get better MSR even better then probably you will find more than enough time similar to Quant. Best question type to skip is also DS as you can make an educated guess whereas rest of the questions have multiple answers you need to mark.
But overall for my fellow anxious test takers, don't worry the test center would actually make you even get more into zone they are pretty great. The markers could be improved but they won't abruptly stop. And whatever your scores are on the mock are not the actual scores, they are just indicative a lot can go your way on the test day as well. Additionally, the pattern might vary but all other aspects are the same. The scoring is pretty harsh in my personal opinion but i guess that is what seperates the top 1%ile from the rest.
ALL THE BEST!
GMAT is not as tough as you think, but the process to get there could be tolling and that is what makes it tough. The challenge to accept such a harsh algorithm took me sometime to get around as getting 1-2 wrong and still not seeing my target score used to make me disappointed and demotivated, just accept it as it is and believe in yourself and the process, there is nothing you can do about the algorithm just the question in front of you.
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