Does difficulty level of verbal section depends on Quant Performance?

Question

Is the difficulty level of first question in verbal section determined by performance in quant section?

bb · Answer

No; it does not. The two sections are independent.... since performance on Q section has really little to do with the V section.

P.S. Even if it did (but it does not), it does not have much bearing since we have members with low Q and high V scores....

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi prakhar88,

Are you asking because you have some concern about how you're performing in the Quant section, the Verbal section, or both?

How long have you been studying?
How have you been scoring on your practice CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

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

mbaFocus88 · Answer

Hey,

Thanks BB for a prompt reply. I hope my quant performance does not decide the difficulty level of verbal section.

EMPOWERgmatRichC : 
I gave my GMAT last year, and i was shocked to see my score report. 
Q - 51
V - 29
I knew my verbal was weak but in all the practice tests that i gave prior to the exam the distributions were: 
Q - 49~50
V - 34~40
My actual gmat score made me feel that may be my quant performance raised the bar with which verbal section started, i faulted on the initial difficult questions and never caught up with my verbal average.

P.S : Started my revisions about a month back, planning to give gmat again.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi prakhar88,

To confirm, your performance on the Quant section has no impact on the questions that you receive during the Verbal section.

You noted a significant drop in your Official Verbal Scaled Score (relative to what you were scoring on your practice CATs). When these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day.

If you can answer a few questions, then we should be able to figure this out:

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)? 
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?

Thankfully, the GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

What is your goal score?
When is your next Test Date?

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

mbaFocus88 · Answer

Hey,

Thanks for the confirmation AjiteshArun, this helps to change my mind set about the verbal section.

EMPOWERgmatRichC : would try to answer your questions to the best of my memory. 
When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
 Not for all the exams but for the last 2~3 CATS, i gave the entire exam.

2) Did you take them at home?
 Yes.

3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
 Took the CATS when ever i could find time, i.e i gave a few in morning ~ 4,5 am, a few around 10 am, few around 2 pm. My actual GMAT was at 9 am.

4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
 For the initial practice CATS i might have deviated from actual pattern, but the last 3~4 CATS I tried not to deviate from the actual pattern.

5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?
 Nope.

Regards,
Prakhar.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi prakhar88,

The extra information that you've provided is quite useful, as it helps to define what likely impacted your performance on Test Day. In real basic terms, you took your CATs in such a way that you were NOT consistently training to face the Official GMAT.

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your scores can become - and that's what happened here. By skipping sections, taking the CATs at home, taking your CATs at different times of day, etc., you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.'

Thankfully, this is a relatively easy set of problems to fix. The big question now is "how long will it take you to properly get 'used to' taking the full GMAT in the same way that you will have to take it on Test Day?" You'll certainly need a new set of practice CATs to work with and you might also need to invest in some new GMAT training materials.

What is your goal score?
When is your next Official GMAT?

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

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Does difficulty level of verbal section depends on Quant Performance?

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