have many wrong aswers can i afford?

Possible explanations:
1. It's not just the number of errors, the score depends a lot on the type of questions that were correct/incorrect.
2. Different test prep institutes have different scoring algorithms (according to their assessment of the GMAT scoring algorithm). The scores received from Princeton are not directly comparable to scores received from Kaplan. Scores of two different tests using the same algorithm are still a little more comparable.

All I would take away from the scores is that I need to hit my basics hard.

Hey Knesl,

Scores on the GMAT are not based on the percentage of questions answered correctly. Tests you took in school were generally based on percentage of questions correct: the more you got right, the higher the score you received. On the GMAT, most people actually answer similar percentages of questions correctly, typically in the 50% to 70% range (even at high scoring levels).

If test-takers all get a similar percentage correct, how does the GMAT distinguish among different performance
levels? “Regular” school tests gave everyone the same questions and performance was determined based upon percentage correct. On the GMAT, everybody answers different questions, some easier, some harder. You can think of the GMAT as a test that searches for each person’s “60% level,” or the difficulty range in which the person is able to answer approximately 60% of the questions correctly. (This is not exactly what happens, but it’s a good way to think of the difference between “regular” tests and computer-adaptive tests.) Your score will be determined by the difficulty of the questions that you answer correctly versus the difficulty of those that you answer incorrectly.

Best,
Matt Mapplebeck
Student Services Associate
Manhattan GMAT

Power Prep 1 320 Q22 V11 (01/07/11)
Power Prep 2 500 Q36 V22 (03/08/11)
Kaplan CAT 2 460 Q28 V26 (09/09/11)
PR CAT 1 360 Q32 V09 (11/09/11)
MGMAT CAT 420 Q33 V17 (12/09/11)

I guess it rare to see scores declining like this......I know i need to work in both the sections but majorly in Verbal......Confused where to start ? should i again start reading my basic books.....

I have.....
Princeton review
Kaplan premier
Kaplan 800( havent started yet)
Manhattan SC(started reading)
OG 12 (completed)

Havent Test myself on Gmat prep yet..Guess will write it day after!!!!!

any suggestions on how to improve my scores drastically are welcomed.....

Thanks

Hi Prateek - Don't worry about your scores for the time being. I have been into this situation and belive me it can really disappointing for anyone after seeing a string of low scores.

Here is what I did to increase my score from 460 to 530 [I am still preparing though]. GMAT is a test which is not all about the prep but also about other factors such as time management skills, your confidence level and of course your prep. I have found the "Confidence Level" the most important factor that can affect the performance on the test.

Now this is what I did to raise my confidence level:

1. Start from Basics. Even if you think that your basics are strong then also I would advise go thorugh the basics. Always remember that unless you answer the easier questions correctly, you will not get questions of higher difficulty and to score higher on GMAT you have to answer the hard questions correctly.
2. Do topic wise prep. Divide both Quant and Verbal Section into sub-sections. For example: Lets say you are doing Quant, so try to do Number properties first and make sure you understand the concept. Utilize GMATClub as much as you can .There are some great people over here who are willing to help as much as you want them to.
3. Use standard material. I think BB has very kindly did an analysis on what material to use. Make sure unless you understand the concept, not to move from that question.
4. Make a study plan and try to stick with that plan. GMAT doesn't need 12 hrs of prep in a day, but make sure you devote deligently 4-5 hours a day if possible.
5. Increasing the score on verbal is difficult than increasing the score on Quant. Please do not take this as a criticism. Score can be increased though, but thorugh very thorough and careful preparation. For example, SC is based on rules, so if you master the rules then you should be fine. The same applies to Question types of CR.

The gist is - DO NOT FEEL DOWN - get on with it with an attitude that this test will not intimidate you this time and you will kill it and you will do fine. Beleive me I may be repeating myself over here, use the experience of people of gmatclub. Its invaluable.

Anything more you want to know please feel to ask.

Hi Enigma

Thats a very good,motivating and important piece of advice you have given me...Really appreciate your help on this...

Well i have started doing verbal...I guess now i will do it for no less than two weeks before hitting another CAT test....

Also i just have manhattan SC ...Remaining manhattan i have few Ebooks..Which i have'nt read ....

Thanks

If anyone can explain me the reason behind my scores it will be indeed helpful.
GMat prep exam 2: Score 650 V31 Q 48
Verbal incorrect questions: 2,3,9,11,15,18,20,22,23,25,27,31,34,35,36,38,41 Total:17
Quant incorrect questions: 1,4,9,11,13,14,17,18,27,31,34,36,37 Total: 13
GMAT prep exam 3: Score 640 V30 Q47
Verbal incorrect questions: 1,2,4,9,21,22,26,28,30,34,36,37,39,41 Total: 14
Quant incorrect questions: 3,10,11,,13,15,16,18,19,22,26,27,29,30,34,36 Total: 15

Can anyone please explain the reason that even though the number of incorrect questions in my verbal has come down in 3rd exam but my score has also come down from 31 to 30. Also, out of initial 20 questions i got 7 wrong (V31) and when i got 4 wrong i got V30.

Bump this topic up just to say that Veritas gave me a V33 for getting 6 questions wrong (1, 6, 7, 14, 38, 40). The prep must be designed to kill my confidence or something, considering its hellish difficulty

awesome question..
I found what I was looking for.

I find this dubious, to say the least.

Agree, this does not seem plausible, at the same time, it is an adaptive test, so making mistakes/missing questions is a part of the process and part of the scoring. Theoretically, once you reach your personal difficulty level around Question 10-15, you would get 1 question right and 1 wrong until Q37 or Q41. That would be 10+ questions wrong, which is about 25% of questions. In reality, the test does not give you hard questions between 17 and 32, giving just average difficulty, resulting into more correctly answered questions and also experimental questions throw the picture off a bit.

I would guess for high scores (80th or 90th percentile and higher) the number of wrongs is reduced about 10% based on the ESR reports here: information-on-new-gmat-esr-report-beta-221111.html

Hi there,

In GMATPrep test I got 12 incorrect in verbal and got a score of 28! Is this correct or am i missing something?
1 3 6 8 11 14 17 25 31 37 38 41

On the contrary, i got 14 incorrect in quant and got a score of 49.
2 4 5 8 9 10 14 20 27 28 33 34 35 37

Please explain. I am worried about my verbal score.

Much thanks!

The number of right/wrong answers is much less predictive than you think.
Here is a post that will explain this and some other important scoring fundamentals.
https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2016/06 ... ems-wrong/

Dear Experts,

In my GMAT Prep EP-1 Test 2 I got a score of 700 Q49 V35.

I was surprised to see my Verbal score.Even after getting on 10 incorrect and none of them were in the first 10.

Question no I got incorrect (10,11,19,23,30,32,34,40,41).

I expected a higher score in Verbal.

In fact I was pleased with my performance except for the score!

The previous test I(EP1 Test 1) got a V37 with 14 incorrect and 2 incorrect in the first 10 and last 4 questions incorrect.

I am quite surprised at my Verbal score of 35.

Can anyone explain what exactly happened with my Verbal Score?

Thanks!

Nobody can explain what exactly happened with your Verbal score. One can only explain the factors that affect the Verbal score other than "correct/incorrect responses". This is done in the post to which I provided the link in my reply above.

I wonder if I keep getting the right answers in quantitative gmat, then how CAT computer analyzes the result? :D

If you keep doing so, the algorithm will throw harder question on you. If you get those also correct and end up doing all 37 questions correct, no one can stop you from hitting Q51.

but, what if after I get consecutive n right questions, say 25 consecutive right question, and then get 1 wrong, how my score is recorded at that point?
If my score moves down, then it is quite unfair to solve many hard questions at the same time.