Is any of the Mock tests biased in termps of scores

Question

Hi everyone

When sitting for a Manhattan mock today I felt that the questions I was getting were fairly easy and was quite confident about myself but for my big disappointment I got 590 Q42 V30 whereas I thought my baseline score to be 640 Q44 V34 (taken on GmatPrep 10 days ago) after I finished the whole OG 2016.

Is any of the two tests biased? Should I take another different mock before proceeding or should just review maths classics ?

I'll take the gmat in two months time, are 8 weeks sufficient to get a 700+?

Need some help guys, any advice would be appreciated

Regards

Larbi

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Larbi,

The scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize. Since that algorithm is proprietary, no GMAT company has an exact match for it, thus CAT scores can vary a bit based on the 'biases' involved in their respective designs. The most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC, but the CATs from Kaplan, MGMAT and Veritas are all 'close enough' to the real thing that they will provide you with a relatively realistic score assessment (assuming that you use the CAT correctly).

In addition, GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, your 2 CAT score results are 'in range' of one another - and show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 620 +/- a few points).

Before I can offer you the additional advice that you're looking for, I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) What is your exact Test Date?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Larbi · Answer

Hi Rich

Thanks for the reply.

Actually when I reviewed my mistakes I realised that I made some silly ones on 500-600 questions whereas I got most of 600-700 correct. Pretty confusing.

Anyway, my answers to your questions are as follow:

1) I haven't booked yet, but should be around the very end of September.
2) Certainly October or November
3) LSE, Imperial, CASS, Erasmus or alternatively Top 20 US.

Regards

Larbi

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Larbi,

With 8 weeks of potential study time, you could potentially improve a great deal (although there's no way to determine at this point whether that would be enough time for you to consistently score at 700-level or not).

"Review" is an exceptionally important part of the GMAT training process; your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining the areas that you need to work on (and the specific things that you need to 'fix '). As such, I'd like to know a bit more about your last CAT. While a full Mistake Tracker would provide a lot more information, there are some basic questions that you should be able to answer (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing each section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

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

Larbi · Answer

Hi Rich

1) Probably 5 or 6 silly mistakes, but the thing is in every CAT I take I make some silly mistakes on questions that I could've gotten correct.
2) Can't remember but should be around 3 to 5
3) Only one question seemed quite hard
4) I finished 1 to 2 minutes ahead of time in each section so I hadn't have to guess any
5) So many questions I narrowed down to 2 options but still couldn't get them, and the worst part is, some of them I was pretty sure I was getting them correct especially on SC type.

Regards

Larbi

Black5tar · Answer

Ive always had my suspicions too. I got 700+ on all my mock tests the first time through, but in the end scored much lower than that on my actual...

rohan2345 · Answer

Hi Larbi,

Please do not be discouraged. I would encourage you to trust the GMATPREP as it is the best representatives of your real GMAT performance. Other prep company's Mock though may contain good questions, surely cannot replicate the real GMAT algorithm and hence their scoring may not be as accurate. MGMAT is surely one of the best Mock tests available for GMAT however take the scores with a pinch of salt and do not look to much into it. No Mock can come close to the real GMATPREP (Default pack, EP 1 and EP 2).

Hope this helps. All the best!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Larbi,

The way that you phrased your answers to my questions makes it sound as if you were trying to answer those questions 'from memory' - and that's not the type of review I'm talking about. A CAT is really a 'measuring device' - when used correctly, it will give you a realistic score and help define your strengths and weaknesses, but it will NOT help you to fix any of those weaknesses. To raise your scores, you have to learn the necessary Tactics and put in the proper practice and repetitions. To that end, you have to define WHY you're getting questions wrong (is it a 'content'/knowledge issue? a Tactical one? Are you making lots of organizational mistakes? etc.) - and the more detailed you can be with that analysis, the better. As such, reviewing each CAT that you take - question by question - is a really important step in your improvement.

Between the Quant and Verbal sections, there are only 67 total questions (and some of them are 'experimental', meaning that they do NOT count towards your score). From what you describe, you're missing 10% of the questions because of little mistakes - and potentially a lot more are lost because you can narrow a Verbal question down to 2 choices but you don't have a clear Tactic for what to do NEXT. Thankfully, these are all issues that you can be improved on, but you might need to invest in Course-oriented materials if you want to make those improvements in just 8 weeks.

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Larbi,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. One thing to keep in mind is that when you take practice tests from companies other than GMAC, you may find some variation in algorithms used and thus variations in your score. However, it’s also possible that you are seeing variations in your practice test scores because you currently have weaknesses that were exposed on your latest practice GMAT. Thus, rather than focusing on the differences between the two algorithms, you should spend your time and effort improving your quant and verbal skills, which will lead to more consistent scoring on the GMAT. So, before taking any more practice GMATs, make sure that you have fully mastered GMAT quant and verbal. Taking too many practice tests before you are truly GMAT-ready can damage your confidence and potentially hinder your study process.

To answer your last question, while it’s possible to raise your score 60+ points in just two months, such an increase is not guaranteed. Can you describe your study plan? What resources are you using for your prep? For how many hours a day can you study?

You also may find my article about  how to score a 700+ on the GMAT  helpful.
 
Please reach out with any further questions.

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