Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
May 1212:00 PM EDT
-11:59 PM EDT
Make the most of your break with the most realistic GMAT™ prep. Take up to $700 off select products.
May 1207:30 AM PDT
-08:30 AM PDT
Join the Live and learn more about Picking the Right Schools- May 13
08:30 AM PDT
-09:30 AM PDT
In Episode 4 of our GMAT Ninja CR series, we tackle the most intimidating CR question type: Boldface & "Legalese" questions. If you've ever stared at an answer choice that reads, "The first is a consideration introduced to counter a position that... - May 14
08:30 AM PDT
-09:30 AM PDT
Most GMAT test-takers are intimidated by the hardest GMAT Verbal questions. In this session, Target Test Prep GMAT instructor Erika Tyler-John, a 100th percentile GMAT scorer, will show you how top scorers break down challenging Verbal questions.. - Jun 10
06:00 AM PDT
-06:15 PM PDT
Register for the GMAT Club Virtual MBA Spotlight Fair – the world’s premier event for serious MBA candidates. This is your chance to hear directly from Admissions Directors at nearly every Top 30 MBA program..
08 Feb 2020, 08:22
Kudos
Bookmarks
Is it true that most or all of the combinatorics & work-rate problems will appear as experimental questions on the official exam? My instructor claims that to be the case and since he has achieved a 99th percentile score I strongly believe him. He said that many of the prep companies have done multiple experiments by guessing those types of questions on purpose and, by doing that, have arrived at this conclusion. Also, I do remember that, on two of the official exams that I have taken in the past, I have had some combinatorics & work-rate problems appear in the middle of the test (sort of out of nowhere). I was curious to see if there are any thoughts about this & if my confirmation bias is making me draw these conclusions:) Thanks guys
08 Feb 2020, 09:20
Kudos
Bookmarks
tomiant
I think it is better not to rely on this conclusion since combinatorics problems are among the hardest problems and one must learn how to solve them. Moreover, there is no official communication from GMAC regarding the case. I have concluded from the discussions on experimental questions that it is better not to overthink or guess which questions are experimental. It may also be possible that only 99th percentile scorers get tougher combinatorics problems and since these problems don't necessarily appear in quick succession, it may be possible to get 99th percentile score even after avoiding these problems.
08 Feb 2020, 09:24
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hello, tomiant. I suspect there is something of a confirmation bias at work here. I imagine that students will not see a ton of combinatorics questions because one or two questions would suffice to test that area of mathematical knowledge, and since many test-takers find combinatorics in particular to be rather difficult, they might or might not see any of those questions on their test, particularly if they are not scoring at a higher level. That is, perhaps GMAC™ has more Hard questions on combinatorics in its database, since its question difficulties are based on normed test-taker data (mostly from previous exams on non-scored questions). Although I know test prep companies and private tutors are always on the lookout for inside information, I am skeptical that someone with the potential to earn, say, an 800 (and use such a score for advertising purposes) would deliberately miss certain types of questions just to test a theory about which areas of mathematics would not be scored. Regarding work-rate problems, I have seen those run the gamut of difficulty levels, from Easy to Hard, so I see no reason why that particular type of problem could not be integrated into a scored exam, regardless of how the test-taker might be performing.
I think it would be wise to take this supposed knowledge of the test and maybe take a little pressure off yourself on those question types. If there is an iota of truth in the claim, then you might feel better about not wasting time on a problem that you feel is over your head, and that sort of mental edge can make a difference in your score.
Good luck with your studies.
- Andrew
I think it would be wise to take this supposed knowledge of the test and maybe take a little pressure off yourself on those question types. If there is an iota of truth in the claim, then you might feel better about not wasting time on a problem that you feel is over your head, and that sort of mental edge can make a difference in your score.
Good luck with your studies.
- Andrew
