Confused about the difficulty level of questions in the GMAT

Question

Hi , I gave my online GMAT today but am little confused about the level of difficulty of Quant questions . More than 50% of them seemed extremely easy.

I am kinda of worried that this is a bad sign for the score

Is that the case?? Please help

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ramlala · Answer

Hi,

If it was 50%, than there are two possibilities.
either you are conceptually clear that seems was easy or you have chosen wrong choices.

GMATCoachBen · Answer

Rockstar20  I wouldn't necessarily worry. As  ramlala  accurately noted above, it is very possible that you were conceptually clear. Even if you are doing very well, my experience has been that it gives you a lot more fundamental questions than most people think you will get, and many more basic questions than you would likely see on CATs from GMAT Club or MGMAT or Veritas.

Please let us know how it goes, and best wishes with everything!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Rockstar20,

Since you haven't received your Official results yet, there's no benefit to 'second-guessing' your performance at this point. Once your Scores arrive, we'll use that data - and your Score Goal/Plans - to plan out the next phase of your studies (assuming that that is even needed).

As far as how the overall Quant section "felt", even if you were "acing" that section, you wouldn't see more than about 5-6 questions that you would consider to be really challenging. By extension, if half the questions felt 'easy', then it's possible that your overall Quant skills are strong enough that those questions were essentially easy to you.

While we're waiting for your Official Scores, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

760+: What GMAT Assassins Do to Score at the Highest Levels

warrior1991 · Answer

I think Ramlala and GmatcoachBen have perfectly summed up. Do let us know when you receive the score.

CEdward · Answer

Little confused here. How can the exam be difficult based on easy questions? I am expecting to wage a Cold War against this thing.

GMATCoachBen · Answer

CEdward  It very much depends on your fluency level with the content. Indeed, it may take a Cold War, but it may not. Many questions will  feel  easy if you've mastered similar ones -- you feel "no problem, just another one of these, I just follow my standard process". However, it will still be hard for others who have less fluency. Also, time pressure is an issue for many people -- in particular, spending a long time on hard questions that they miss anyways. The official practice tests are the best gauge of your level. My point above is that people often assume that you will get almost all hard/complex/confusing/unique questions when you're doing well, and this isn't accurate. Furthermore, if you start strong and the average difficulty level is relatively high (but still includes a range of difficulties), you do have a decent amount of room for error for a solid quant score -- for example, a client scored Q49 with 9 errors (68% correct).

CEdward · Answer

GMATCoachBen

I am currently averaging 60-70% ish on LSAT CR, what do you think that says about my readiness for verbal?

GMATCoachBen · Answer

CEdward It's a bit hard to say how that LSAT accuracy would convert to your GMAT readiness level. LSAT question difficulty varies a lot, and time pressure can also be an issue. I recommend taking an official practice test at mba.com as an accurate diagnostic test. For your reference, here is a great post by GMATNinja on using the mba.com practice problems to create "fake tests": https://gmatclub.com/forum/experts-topi ... 44293.html (Also, I added some details about the " Official Practice Questions 2 " product that was released last year, on this topic: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmac-announc ... l#p2524875) In that article, GMAT Ninja says: "If your goal is a 40+ on verbal, you should get at least 75% of the medium and hard questions right, give or take a few." For those with a goal of V40-V42, I often recommend that clients shoot for around 80-85% accuracy on timed sets of medium/hard official verbal questions at efficientlearning.com (OG questions) or mba.com ( Official Practice Questions 1 & Official Practice Questions 2 ).

studybuddy · Answer

I’m in the same boat! I took the GMAT Online yesterday morning and it felt eerily easy. I’m freaking out! I did not get any permutation questions, SD or tough probability questions which I usually view as a sign that I’m on my way to my target score. I guess all we can do is wait at this point...

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Rockstar20,

I would try to not overthink your exam. I mean the fact is it's quite possible you are just very good at the GMAT, and perhaps you were doing very well on questions that seemed easy to you when in actuality, they are not. So, do your best to rest easy and let us know when you receive your official score.

studybuddy · Answer

Update: Just received my score tonight and got a 740!!! Beyond what I was aiming for (720/730) and could not be more stoked!!! Guess the test feeling easy meant it all finally clicked when it mattered

Thanks to GMATClub for the support through the many ups and downs of this journey!!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Rockstar20,

That's outstanding news! What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for this attempt?

With a 740, you can comfortably apply to any Schools that interest you. While it's not clear which Schools you plan to apply to (or when you're planning to apply), you shouldn't hold back when it comes to your applications!

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

CEdward · Answer

Did you feel like the practice exams were reflective of the real thing?

azizalghamdi · Answer

Congrats!! Could you please share your verbal strategy and how would you compare OG quant questions to the actual exam in terms of difficulty and scope?

Congrats again

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