FOCUS MOCK Analysis Support

Question

Dear community,

Need help with your insights in assessing my first ever Official GMAT FOCUS mock. PS - I have never given an official GMAT MOCK.

Quick background:
Scored 470 (Q36 V19) on E-gmat mock last Nov without prep
Scored 590 (Q41 V30) on Princeton mock in Feb with some broken prep

Decided to give Focus edition on coming Nov 14th (booked center already) and finally prepare over course of next 12 weeks (one official mock every 2 weeks)

Gave my first mock today... And i am not disheartened to be honest given I am not sure how to react to the score of an exam not many have attempted.
Took it same time as my original test time (8-1030 AM)

Order of test - DI, QR, break, VR

RESULTS:
Overall: 545 (47th percentile; 580 equivalent; Mean 546)
DI - 76 (58th percentile; Mean 74.4)
Quant - 80 (66th percentile Q48 equivalent but I find it hard to believe for some reason though I am practicing everyday the practice questions; Mean 77.7)
Verbal - 75 (19th percentile - here I was penalized for 'not answering' last question whose option I had selected but could not submit as I ran out of time and also had to guess the previous 2 questions due to time constrains; Mean 79)

I was actually hoping to score good in Verbal and otherwise in DI and Quant.. Results were a bit not what I expected haha

As I revisit the test again later today, would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations as I plan to move to 615 (80th percentile ATLEAST)

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Consider using question/time markers for time management. For RC, becoming familiar with how INFERENCE questions work could be helpful. Learning the negation technique for CR assumptions could be useful as well.

3 RC tips

RishS94 · Answer

I got  51%ile  in Verbal but my sectional %iles are 93 & 68.

is it possible to have lower %ile than sectional %iles?

EMPOWERgmatRichC  can you help ?

BrentTargetTestPrep · Answer

To reach 615, you'll need to boost your Verbal score by a lot (and your Quant and DI scores by a little).

If you're finding you're running out of time on the Verbal section, this article will help:  How to Get Faster at GMAT Verbal

RahulJain293 · Answer

Thanks Brent!

really helpful

RishS94 · Answer

Hi Brent,

Thanks for the reply.

Why my verbal %ile score is 51% if I have more %ile in each sections(RC & CR)?

Also I understand that there is no single way. 
But as in previous GMAT version we had a clear combinational score chart for V & Q score. Why don't we have any such guidance from GMAC.

Do you guess 80%ile each to reach 90+%ile ?

BrentTargetTestPrep · Answer

Once the test-makers collect more data, we'll be able to create similar score combination charts. 
I imagine 80th percentile scores for all three sections would combine to create a 90th percentile score.

RishS94 · Answer

Thanks .

Any idea Why my verbal %ile score is 51% if I have more %ile in each sections(RC & CR)?
It's quite puzzling

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

I agree with you. It is illogical to me as well… I can see it working the other way around. I had 92nd Quant and 96th verbal and overall 99th. That’s because a lot of people scored higher on either section but not on both.

But having 68 and 93rd result into 51st would mean people scored more on both but not on either which is impossible.

Congratulations! You found the first scoring bug in GMAT Prep Focus edition 🏆 😬

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi RishS94,

My first thought is that it's probably a 'bug' in the software. You noted that you ran out of time and didn't answer the final question, so maybe there's an error in the code that 'over-penalized' you (to an excessive degree) for that one unanswered question. Have you reached out to the Customer Service Team at www.mba.com to see what they had to say about this?

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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]
www.empowergmat.com

RahulJain293 · Answer

Likewise in my breakdown of sectionals..

Verbal - Overall 19 percentile with CR and RC at 50th and 41st percentile respectively.

Quant looks on track- Overall 66 percentile with Algebra and Arithmetic subsections at 55 and 63 individually

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi RishS94,

Those charts are not official. GMAC has never made or released any such charts, and they most likely won't for the Focus edition either.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

I agree there has to be a bug. Also, given your breakdowns, I see that RC needs the most help. So, here is a helpful article you can check out:

GMAT Reading Comprehension Tips: Top 8 DOs and DON’Ts

RishS94 · Answer

Thanks Scott that TTP post was helpful.

1.Can we be assured that these bugs will be removed till actual Exam (given that Focus mocks were available since 2 months & still was not corrected)?

2.What is your prediction 75%ile in all sections will land me at what %ile in total?

RishS94 · Answer

@experts I made 3 mistakes in CR.So 93%ile is high for it?

I got reply from GMAC.They dodged question of software is buggy. My Q & there reply. GMAC is simply fooling us.

Q.Would be also helpful if you can share the split within each sections (for ex, for Verbal 80 percentile, getting XX percentile in Reading comprehension and XX percentile Critical reasoning.
 
Reply: Percentiles for section scores do not depend on the percentiles for sub section scores. But there should be an overall trend within a section ; ex, high verbal percentiles will generally be associated with high verbal subsection percentiles. The subsection score percentiles are rough estimates because they are based on just a few items and for this reason, we have a warning in the Prep exam that they should only be used for diagnostic purposes only. They are meant to help candidates pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses and tailor their study plan best for them.

RahulJain293 · Answer

Noticed that a score of 615 in focus puts me at a score range of 650-680 https://www.mba.com/exams/gmat-focus-ed ... your-score bb any thoughts of how colleges will perceive it?

RahulJain293 · Answer

2 weeks left for my Focus Exam.. Gave another mock today after my last attempt which was at 545. Below are the results..  bb   AjiteshArun   ScottTargetTestPrep   GmatKnightTutor  Happy to hear recommendations to improve and areas to focus on to improve to a 680+ GMAT Equivalent (625 in Focus)

GMAT FOCUS MOCK 2
Order - Quant, DI and Verbal

Total 605 (75%) 
 DI 79 (79%) -  7 incorrect at Q # 3,11,14,15,17,18,19
 Quant 81 (71%) -  5 incorrect at Q # 4,8,9,10,12
 Verbal 80 (60%) -  10 incorrect (5 CR and 5 RC)

DI -  
79% in DS
70% in Graph/Tables
52% in Two part analysis
100% in MSR

Quant - 
Algebra - 43%
Value/Order/Factors - 57%

Verbal - 
CR - 75%
RC - 50%

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

If you've run out of official questions, see whether the Official-Guide(s) you purchased came with any online exclusive questions you can activate/access. You can get e-versions of different guides from the MBA website. Fair to say purchasing/doing some more official focus mocks may be worth considering as well.

Quote:

Verbal 80 (60%) - 10 incorrect (5 CR and 5 RC)

3 RC tips

RahulJain293 · Answer

Thanks a lot!!! Well noted

RahulJain293 · Answer

I got my ESR and am a bit surprised with a few things..

AjiteshArun   ScottTargetTestPrep   GmatKnightTutor   bb  would love to hear your thoughts

I got only 4 wrong in Quant and shed 10 points getting me 80 (wrong questions being 2,4, 10 & 12)
With RC, I made only 2 mistakes out of 10 RC questions and got a 50% percentile in RC which was shocking in a way.. I felt my RC went really well :/

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