Help to evaluate my Veritasprep Tests' score & improve it.

Adding to Brian's response. Yes, last 15 questions which you have got correct definitely would have played a role in getting you a higher score but as Brian pointed out number of questions you got correct is not the point, getting harder questions correct is the indicator.

If I have to share my experience, I took 4 mocks just like you from veritasPrep and I scored 710 (3 times) and 720 (1 time). In the actual test I scored 760.

Brian is very helpful person and do ask your doubts to him apart from mocks. Despite his busy schedule, he is always ready to help the aspirants.

Thanks, Kinji! And if I haven't said it before, congrats on that 760!

Sahil - really good point on getting the last 15 right. Couple thoughts there for you:

-We've been pretty fortunate to work with the former president of the International Association of Computer Adaptive Testing on our exams, and with a nod to the A/B/C parameters in that one article I can tell you that we have confirmation that the algorithm is doing what it's supposed to, even if it doesn't look like it to the naked eye at all times.

-In this case (I have your test up right now), missing 4 out of 5 from questions 16-20 hurt you, and then from that point on you had a good amount of catching up to do.

-I can also confirm from your test that the error margin at the end of that section is well within the acceptable error margin that the IACAT folks have set out, so it's a pretty valid score.

Now, what's tricky about really any non-GMAC practice test is that there's often a diminishing-impact effect as you get to the later questions, more so than on the official exam. I was just talking with a few instructors over coffee this morning about this. GMAC shifted around 2006-07 to more heavily emphasize "content balancing" (which categories of skills - algebra vs. applied word problems vs. probability, etc.) than just letting the algorithm always determine the best possible question for you based on CAT parameters. (For example, at question #6 the best possible question to serve you based on CAT parameters might be a Data Sufficiency algebra problem, but the system is controlled more by content so if it's programmed to give you a Problem Solving word problem, you'll get the best possible PS word problem at that point, not the best possible quant question overall)

The effect of that is that on the official exam you'll find that the last few questions matter a little more than they sometimes do on practice tests, which usually let the CAT algorithm run a little more freely. On a lot of practice tests, the higher-value questions get served early and so the later questions don't carry as much weight; because the official test is expertly content-balanced (and have a deeper pool of high-quality questions than most practice tests), the later questions are much more similarly weighted. The impact on your *overall score* shouldn't be much different, but you may find on practice tests that you don't get enough credit for getting the last 5 or so questions right, and even more detrimentally the last 5-10 questions are "more forgiving" (getting more of them wrong doesn't hurt your score as much as it will on test day). So as always, use practice tests to help you determine how to improve and to get a good feel for your score range, but try not to overanalyze the question-by-question metrics of the scoring algorithm. That's just energy that isn't really pointed in the right direction.

Anyway...with not too many days until your exam, that description is probably a little bit of overkill. Keep working on shoring up weaknesses and on verbal, particularly, I'd attack the problems in the GMAT Prep Question Pack and the OG (or just search by GMATPrep tag in the forums here).

Glad you're enjoying the videos and getting a good feel for using logic. Keep me posted and good luck with that impending test day!

Thank You so much Kinjal for your inputs and encouraging details.... Your results have really given me a new insight....

nd Thanks Brian......For your inputs as well as for taking pain to go thru my test.Yes I have observed this very thing that the last few questions on Veritasprep Tests doesn't affect my score- In one of my tests, I failed to answer 2 Quant questions (due to some internet connectivity error at my place), however, my score was the same as 48. Anyways, your inputs are a great help and I am working as smartly (lolzz) as I possibly can to break that 700 barrier. Lets c how things turn up on D Day... Will keep u posted for sure...

Regards
Sahil

My Veritas Test Prep Scores (all 7):
Mar 30:690 (48/37)
April 6: 680 (47/37)
April 9: 700 (49/37)
April 13: 720 (49/40)
April 18: 610 (43/31)
April 25: 590 (45/27)
April 29: 590 (43/28)

GMAT Exam Pack 1- exam 3:
April 28: 750 (49/42)... This is the second time I took it. The first time was exactly a year ago.

My score's all over the place! I'm not sure what to make of this.

The real one is 4 days away! :D

Hey Rishi,

Hope you're feeling good about this upcoming test! Lists of scores out of context (How often did you take the AWA/IR sections? Did you take the "running out of time" penalty on any sections? What conditions did you take the test under - well-rested vs. after-work, etc.) are tough to get much out of, but what I'd take from this is essentially:

-You're capable of scoring well into the 700s. You can't fake your GMATPrep, April 9, and April 13 tests. Maybe one 700+ in a sea of 500s/600s could be considered a fluke or an outlier fueled by wonky scoring or having seen some of the questions or something, but three of them including one on an official test...you're more than capable.

-But there's something in your performance that has the potential to hold you back. And good news - you have three recent blueprints for "if I'm going to bomb the GMAT it's going to look like this". So go back to those last three test and analyze: what mistakes did you make? What screwed up your pacing? What concepts popped up that you just weren't ready for?

This article can help you go back to those tests and determine what you can clean up in these last few days: https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2014/06/gmat-tip-of-the-week-woulda-shoulda-coulda-how-to-analyze-your-practice-test-results/

I hope that helps!

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the quick response!

I took all the exams with AWA and IR and did not take any extra time. All the external factors (not related to the test) were taken into account and did not impact my performance in any way.

I notice that I got more questions correct in my 590 test scores (about 70% correct) than in my late 600-700 test scores (about 55-60% correct). I also notice that the spread of the incorrect answers in each of the sections matter. Making more than 2 mistakes in the first 10 drastically reduces the sectional score.

I agree that the scoring algorithm in Veritas tests is very similar to the GMAT. However, in the verbal section, I got 3 passages each time and not 4.

Regards,

Hey Brian... Hope you doing great as always !!

Like i feared, i again landed up with exactly the same score on GMAT---680. Details as below :

Verbal Quant TOTAL IR AWA
34/71% 49/79% 680/84% 5/52% 6/92%

I was counting a lot on Verbal this time around, but somehow my concentration seems to have fluffed it again. Nyways, just want to know, whether AWA score would be of any help whatsoever, while applying to the schools of my target-- INSEAD,NUS,ISB etc. I understand that the score is too less for that, but your expert advice would be of help to confirm it.

Nd hey rishiroadster, As you may see my Veritasprep scores and official GMAT score, your scores are grt to get you well into 700s, as already said by Brian. So, just keep your concentration goin...