Knewton: Wrong scoring? pls advise

Question

Hi The other day i took Knewton online free gmat cat test; but only the Verbal part. I got scale 32 / 69% !! Was very disappointed and took the verbal part again (with new log in id :-D

). i was in better control of the exam and confident of my answering. but in end found my score was just 35 / 77%. i had only 2-3 questions which were a repeat. . . I got the low score despite the fact that i just 4 questions wrong out of 41. my wrong answers were 7, 13, 24, & 37. why did i still get only 35

can someone throw some light. I have attached scree shot of my score sheet. pls help. i am disappointed! GS

superman · Answer

this topic should help you knewton-online-course-review-78282-20.html they have been other ppl talking about knewton scoring algorithm being incorrect ...

bb · Answer

In particular, the note from Knewton's CEO: knewton-online-course-review-78282.html?view-post=619574#p619574

Av · Answer

You're not alone. The CATs can really use some work.

Target760 · Answer

Hi. tx for response. but i did't really get you; what do you mean by "can really use some work"???

tx
GS

yoram80 · Answer

The explanation is simple:

knewton wants your initial score
to be low so that you "improve" more than 50
points compared to a low initial score, so that
they don't have to return your money if (when)
their course doesn't really help you that much..

I am not saying that their simulation tests suck in terms of the experience of the test, 
(although that may potentially also be the case), but I'd definitely ignore the scoring 
and ignore their dubious "money back guarantee"

Av · Answer

Thanks for stating your opinion in large bold text, but as someone who has completed the course   I disagree  . I wondered the same thing after I took the first CAT, but they have no reason to have all of their CATs produce unreliable results. Furthermore, the 50 point guarantee is based on your first CAT OR your highest official GMAT score, so low practice CAT results do not necessarily make the 50 pt guarantee easier to offer. The difficulty and scoring of the Knewton CATs need to be improved, but the course is still a good resource for GMAT preparation.

icandy · Answer

Aver,

I am glad you jumped on this and made it clear that this has no legs. I took the first CAT and got a 720 and definitely did not feel that way. How ever, they seem to have changed the policy on money back guarantee. When I joined the course, a base line score is the lowest of GMAT score and CAT score. Now if some one has a GMAT score, it becomes the baseline score and if some one does not have a GMAT score, the CAT score becomes the baseline score. If some one has both, the lowest becomes the base line score as opposed to the highest of the two

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Knewton: Wrong scoring? pls advise

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