nuisance of GMAT: Story Continues gmac-verbal-scoring-algori

Question

Hi
 I do not know why my earlier thread is blocked and I can no more add or edit comments  https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmac-verbal-scoring-algorithm-is-rigged-155520.html 
 On July 6th 2013 I took my GMAT and got a score of 580(Q47, V23). I have mentioned all these details in my last post,so wont repeat that stuff over here. Picking up the story from where I left I got the reply from GMAC that there was no problem with algorithm and the score reported by GMAC is correct. So I decided to give it a another shot and picked another date for my exam: 08.19.013. This time the idea was not to get my target score, I was more stubborn to prove a point- that even on my worst day I can never score 23 on Verbal. So in these last 4 weeks I did not study a thing. No revision, no Sentence Correction, No RC, nothing. My exam was on Monday and I was partying till late hours of Sunday. On Monday morning I just got up and went for the exam. Score Q47, V38, score 690. On July 6th I was on top of my preparation, 4 weeks from there with no time spent on studying I was not even 70% close to my preparedness. I will take the test again because 690 is not my target score. I just wanted to make a point that I was not a disgruntled test taker. I still believe that my algorithm in verbal on 6th of July did not kick off. All my verbal questions were of 400-500 level and I do not believe that I can get almost more than half incorrect. 
 This time right from start my verbal section was getting tougher and at one point I got an extremely difficult and a long passage. Well I do not have much to say anymore. May be this post helps someone or may be not. I was just not ready to accept that even on my worst day I can get a score of 580, apparently the contention looks right to me.

laserglare · Answer

yea i wish we would get score reports detailing all of the questions we got right and wrong, i still have a hard time believing i got a V29, when my practices were V36+

Elmo27 · Answer

I took the test recently and was scoring in the high 600s even though my practice exam was in the 720-730 range. I kept taking the official, I even took multiple times, but my total score actually kept getting lower each time even though I would study much harder for each exam. I think there's something in the algorithm, I just can't point to exactly what. The questions I got for verbal were tough, but I ended up getting a 31 even though the test I took two weeks prior I got high 30s.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Elmo27

Practice CAT scores are only as realistic as YOU make the process of taking the CAT. The more the 'CAT-taking event' deviates from what you'll face on Test Day, the more likely the score is to be inaccurate (and in most cases, that means "inflated").

Here are just some details to consider: When you take a CAT...
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take it at home?
3) Did you take it at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you do ANYTHING during the CAT that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, listen to music, etc.)? 
5) Were you taking a CAT that you had previously taken?

Since you posted in this thread, is it safe to assume that you're still studying for the GMAT?

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

Elmo27 · Answer

Thanks for the response Rich. I actually took the GMAT 4 times within the last 2 months (given the new rules). My verbal scores were as follows:

41, 37, 31, 31

For the last two tests, there wasn't anything different I did from the first two tests, so it really boggles me how the verbal changed so much given how close I took these exams from one another.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Elmo27,

I'd like to know a bit more about these Official Exams:

1) What was your Overall Score on each of these Tests (including the Quant Scaled Score)?
2) What time of day and day of the week did you take each?
3) Did you take them all at the same location?
4) Did you have any pacing issues on any of the sections (finishing a section early or having to rush to finish a section - and guessing on questions)?
5) Are there any details that stand out about any of these Exams (a poor night's sleep the night before, busy location, 'screw-ups' by the staff, etc)?

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

Elmo27 · Answer

Let me clarify the scores above:

1. 640 (44Q, 28V) 3/X/15 12PM (Sat.)
2. 690 (44Q, 41V) 8/X/15 1PM (Tues.)
3. 690 (47Q, 37V) 8/X/15 1PM (Fri.)
4. 620 (47Q, 28V) 9/X/15 1PM (Wed.)
5. 590 (40Q, 31V) 9/X/15 2PM (Tues.)

My quant isn't the greatest, but from the first test I took (back in March), I worked heavily on quant, so there's an improvement there. Same with verbal. I always have timing issues with quant, but verbal i usually finish just on time. What's weird is each time I took a test, I would spend the next two weeks really working on the weak spots pointed out in the enhanced score report. I've even run out of quant questions on GMATClub, and already went through all questions for the OG and OG supplements for both quant and verbal. Redid all of my mistakes. I would have expected an improvement in scores from the 3rd test to the 5th test, but I'm not quite sure what happened.

dabral · Answer

I am no longer active on this forum.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Elmo27,

Based on all of the information that you've provided, I have a few questions:

With either of your 690s, you have a fantastic score (they're both just shy of the 90th percentile overall), so you can apply to any Business Schools that interest you.

1) What Business Schools are you planning to apply to? And when?
2) You weren't particularly consistent with the location and the day that you chose to take your GMATs. Why is that? Were you just trying to schedule the next 'available' slot?

Those types of inconsistencies can absolutely impact your performance. By extension, it makes me wonder what OTHER areas you were inconsistent about. Unfortunately, since you've now taken the GMAT 5 times within the last 12 months, you are technically 'locked out' from taking it again until the end of NEXT March, 2016. While you could potentially study for the next 6 months, I don't think that retaking the GMAT is necessary.

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

AjiteshArun · Answer

The 690s are good scores. As for the drop in score, do you think fatigue was a factor? Taking multiple exams so close to each other is going to put anyone under a lot of pressure.

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nuisance of GMAT: Story Continues gmac-verbal-scoring-algori

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