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# GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios

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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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19 May 2013, 07:33
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Hi Guys,

I have implemented strategy # 7 by Bunuel for MGMAT practice test in quant section.
and my quant score was Q47
Bang on!!!

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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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10 Jun 2013, 10:46
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I actually verified the "guess the last 10" strategy on an ACTUAL GMAT about 18 months ago. The quant score was 49. While I can't be absolutely sure that my first 27 questions were correct, I was probably sitting on a 50 or 51 before I ditched (guessed A on all) the last 10. So my score only dropped 1-2 raw points. I had seen the results you have seen on the GMATPrep software and wanted to verify that the same pattern held for the actual test. It does.
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GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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21 Nov 2016, 19:44
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The GMAC has never given us any reason to believe that time spent per question is considered whatsoever in the scoring algorithm. This would suggest that completing the test faster would lead to higher scores, which is untrue as far as I can tell.

I suppose that someone could do the same simulations to the newer GMATPrep tests to see whether there are similar results, but there isn't much of a point, given that we now know the scoring algorithms on the GMATPrep Exams and the actual GMAT to be different in nature.

These scenarios are amazingly helpful in understanding the general GMAT scoring algorithm, but not the exact one. For one, there are zero experimental questions on the GMATPrep tests, but around 25% of the questions on the actual GMAT are experimental.
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Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 06 Feb 2017, 23:11, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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30 Jul 2017, 14:35
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mcelroytutoring wrote:
Anyone who claims to know the exact specifics of the GMAT algorithm (and corresponding score conversions) vs. the GMAT Prep algorithm (and corresponding score conversions) is either lying, or in serious breach of a GMAC confidentiality agreement.

I gather this is directed at me. I don't know where you've gotten your information about the scoring algorithm, but you are misinformed on some important questions.

It is true, in a literal sense, that some of the algorithm is secret. If someone is administering an IRT-based test, there are certain parameters he or she can freely set without affecting the integrity of the test. Only the designers of the GMAT would know how they've set those parameters. But those are really just technical details. The mathematical basis of the algorithm, which is what is important, is well-known. The GMAT uses a three-parameter IRT model, a fact confirmed in many official research reports. I invite you to research that on your own if you are unsure if what I am saying is true, but someone repeating that is neither lying nor in breach of any confidentiality agreement.

The important information that is not public knowledge, and which you would absolutely need to reverse engineer your score from your responses on a GMATPrep or real GMAT test, are the statistics associated with each test question - the difficulty, discrimination and guessing parameter values. Because those question statistics will vary from test to test, a particular response pattern (right/wrong/right/wrong/etc, for example) will typically produce different scores each time. But those statistics have nothing to do with the underlying algorithm, in the same way that the difficulty levels of questions on a traditional multiple choice test, where your grade is the percentage of questions you answer correctly, have nothing to do with how the test is graded. The GMAT's underlying algorithm is just based on probability theory.

I've read dozens of academic papers in this area, and have programmed an IRT-based algorithm using the same model as the GMAT, so while I'm not a specialist in this area, (anyone doing a graduate degree in the field would know more about it than I do) I do know something about it.
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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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22 Jan 2013, 18:15
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Gr8 initiative by Bunuel. Interesting stuff!

I feel to get a more realistic assessment that can be close to the test day performance we can test -

scenario 1] 3-4 questions wrong per every 10 questions ie around 12-14 questions wrong out of 37

scenario 2] getting alternate questions wrong (may be 2 correct then 2 wrong and so on..)
Thanks
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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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24 Jan 2013, 23:43
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Are the results for each scenario consistent if you repeat the experiment?

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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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25 Jan 2013, 08:12
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Bunuel wrote:
carcass wrote:
another scenario could be 2 right one wrong (the third) regardless the difficulty and the question.

A sort of a balance approach. I think is woth to taste

best regards

carcass

Just tested this scenario (4th): Q49, 85th percentile.

Interesting.

This thread must be read first by a novice. It's $$essential$$
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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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25 Jan 2013, 20:21
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souvik101990 wrote:
Excellent stuff Vercules
One thing that I needed to clarify
I am not entirely sure if I interpreted GMAC correctly but what I understood was that:
For example in the first 10 questions for example, if you answer all the SC questions correctly but all the CR questions incorrectly, the next SC question is going to be difficult but the CR question is going to be easier.
Do you think its right in the GMATPrep scene?

Hi Souvik,
From what I recollect , in one of the forum posts Ron had answered a similar question about RC. The individual question types are not separately adaptive (Just like you,I earlier thought that was the case). So for instance, say you are at question #30 SC & you are performing at 700+ level then your next question #31 CR/RC/SC will be of the same or higher difficulty level. How it works for RC? the QP1 and Gmat prep software have a collection of 5-6 RC questions per passage, you will face a easier question from the mix if you are not doing well(depending on your performance on the previous CR/SC questions) and vice versa. So indeed the RC/SC/CR are not separately adaptive.

HTH
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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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29 Jan 2013, 08:03
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http://www.mba.com/the-gmat/prepare-for ... -that.aspx
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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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31 Jan 2013, 11:11
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Expert's post

Testing Scenario 7:

7 EQUALLY SPACED questions incorrect with a gap of 5 correct questions in-between. Therefore, the incorrect questions are 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 41, the rest are correct.

Vercules
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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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03 Feb 2013, 22:47
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Expert's post
Deal All,

Verbal Scenario 8 added to the second post.

8) What if you get ALTERNATE questions incorrect/correct

Vercules
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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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12 Feb 2013, 05:27
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Deal All

I have created a new post on GMATPrep software analysis on Integrated Reasoning sections. Suggestions are most welcome

gmat-prep-software-analysis-and-what-if-scenario-ir-147106.html#p1181172

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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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12 Feb 2013, 11:47
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Souvik, Its k no issues i ll try to search on google, i do not remem .....I took test on 5th feb....once i get i ll PM you and no issues you can post it in your link.Let me search!!!!

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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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12 Feb 2013, 11:53
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Link to first RC passage: historians-have-identified-two-dominant-currents-in-63470.html (Easy one)
Link to second RC passage : in-its-1903-decision-in-the-case-of-lone-wolf-v-hitchcock-91506.html (realtively tough)

Last i do not remem , I ll endeavor to search, if i can find i ll post. These two were the first two passages.

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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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16 Oct 2013, 12:04
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vivek1303 wrote:
Hi All,

First of all... great analysis. But I have some doubts of my own

Day before yesterday I gave my GMAT prep and I must say I am shocked. Let my present a few stats -

GMAT Prep 1 - 760 (9th Sep, 2013). Q50 V43

Q - 8 Questions wrong (2,3,20,31,34,35,36)
V - 9 Questions wrong (13,15,20,21,29,31,32,35,40)

Here I must admit that the scores are a bit distorted. One of the RC passage was as is from OG Verbal Review so I almost, somehow, knew the answers. Plus, I had seen 2-3 CR questions in some forums or PDF's so knew the answers. This helped me save quite some time and I completed the section with 2 minutes in hand.

GMAT Prep 2 - 690 (13th Sep). Q50 V32

Q - 4 Questions wrong (1,26,36,37)
V - 11 Questions wrong (1,2,14,22,23,24,26,28,32,34,38)

Here, I had seen none of the questions previously anywhere. I got 4 wrong in each CR and RC, and 3 in SC.

Is it because of the importance of first 10 Ques ? But then again I got 17/20 in both my mocks for the first 20 Questions.

V32 was a shocker. And, the bigger shocker was that I got only 2 more wrongs than my previous mock and my score fell by 11 points. Damn..!!

Additional Info - I had given GMAT prep on 8th August as well. Somehow, my laptop crashed which was having the GMAT prep software and hence I had to download the software again on a different laptop. On this test, which was given with much lesser practice, following were the stats to the best of my knowledge.

Score - 690. Q48 V37.
15 Questions were wrong each in Quant and Verbal.

As the time left for GMAT is thinning fast, these results have left me jilted. Please guide as to where do I need to improve. Is it a software scoring issue because such massive variations over 2 question is illogical.
Is it because of the importance of 1st 10 Questions?
Or, is it because I got back to back wrongs (22,23,24 in GMAT prep 2) ..??

Any help in this regard is highly appreciable. Please guide..

Going by the 'First 6 incorrect' scenario and the fact that I fluffed my first few initial questions on my real exam yesterday, I can tell for sure that getting Q-(1,2) wrong set you up perfectly for a lower score than your V43 you got by getting the first 12 right.

In my case, I know that I'm not a Verbal stud and I got an RC way too early in the test. Q-(4,5,6) and I had a gut feeling that I fluffed all the 3 questions there, and viola, I could never recover from that.

Did some soul searching yesterday over a peg of scotch and some self introspection today and registered for the retake already. Looking to ace it this time. Now that I've seen this thread, I know what to do with Verbal. I was an idiot for missing such an important thread. You have so many insights and so much useful information here on how to fine tune your strategy for Verbal.

Get the first 6-7 in Verbal correct and then try to make as mistakes as infrequently as possible and dare I say you can easily hit the 80%-85%ile mark. And if you can repeat your performance from your Prep1 and get the first 12 correct and then make a few mistakes here and there after that, you can still end up with a 95%ile. That's a kick ass score in Verbal.

This is what I intend to do from now on for Verbal. Take more time, use your head wisely for the first 12-15 questions. Taking 30-35 mins for the first 15 questions should be okay IMO especially if you are stuck with a complex RC passage and you need to get your head around it.

I wish I had an idea of this before I took my test. I rushed through the RC set that I got up front and man, I just could not recover ever. I loathed myself so much after seeing my score yesterday. I felt like punching a wall and breaking a window. Damn!

Last edited by MysticRefugee on 16 Oct 2013, 23:18, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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28 Mar 2014, 14:25
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Hey guys explain me this shitty algorythum. First ten questions 8/10. Tehn 11 - 20 - 5/10 then 21- 30 7/10 and finally 31- 41 7/11 . A total of 27/41 , best record so far and only two series of three consequetive wrong questions and a shitty score on Verbal of 25. I am mad about this discrepancy. Previous time I scored 20/41 on verbal and I got a score of 25 back then first 10 5/10. How this shit happens please. Clearly I have performed a lot better this time and the shitty score stays the same. This shitty exam sometimes drives me crazy.

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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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13 Jun 2014, 16:10
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I Think guessing is a bad idea and planning to guess is more worse
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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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10 May 2015, 07:00
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To understand the meaning of other experiments in this thread, it's important to understand how the scoring algorithm works. There are really two parts to the algorithm:

• the question selection algorithm, which determines, based on your previous answers, which question you see next

The scoring algorithm itself is completely blind to question position. If you were to take a GMAT, and all 37 questions were 500-level, you'd get exactly the same score by answering the first 25 correctly and the last 12 incorrectly as you'd get by answering the first 12 incorrectly and the last 25 correctly. The scoring algorithm itself knows nothing about where each question was in the test; it's simply not a factor in the calculation.

So every test is different, which is why you'll get different results each time when you carry out experiments where you get questions in certain positions wrong (every odd numbered question, say). I have the impression that the assumption behind those experiments is that questions are 'weighted' by their position in the test (that early questions count more than later ones), and that's not the case.

To demonstrate this, I did just carry out two trials using two different GMATPrep Quant tests, where I answered every prime numbered question (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37) incorrectly. On the first attempt, my score was Q33, and on the second, it was Q38. That's quite a big difference.

I'm not precisely sure what the purpose of these experiments is, testing how wrong answers in different places will affect your score, but if the goal is to find certain question numbers that are especially important or unimportant, you simply won't be able to do that. It's not how the test works.
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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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27 Sep 2015, 12:40
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This might be interesting for some of you:

I answered all Quant questions correctly (I had the answers, of course), and all but one (number 20) verbal questions correctly.

The result:
Quant: 51, 98 percentile
Verbal: 48, 99 percentile
Overall: 790, 99 percentile

So it seems that for getting a 800 score, one should answer ALL (exactly all) questions correctly!

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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios [#permalink]

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25 May 2016, 22:09
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Some new scenarios have been posted here:
enhanced-score-report-analysis-what-if-scenarios-218768.html
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Re: GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios   [#permalink] 25 May 2016, 22:09

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# GMAT Prep Software Analysis and What If Scenarios

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