Quant bias in scoring?

Hi mattagardiner,

Each CAT that you take gives you the opportunity for a realistic outcome that you can use to evaluate your progress. As such, you should strive to make each CAT that you take as realistic as possible. This means that you should take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections), at the same time of day as your Official GMAT, away from your home, in a test-like environment and not do anything that would be considered unrealistic (listening to music, pausing the Test, etc.). There's no substitute for this part of the training process, so it's important to take all of this seriously.

You should post back here with you score results and I'll be happy to offer some additional advice (or if you prefer, you can message me directly).

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

It partly depends on whether you're looking at the scaled scores or the percentiles. For instance, someone might score Q42 and V40, but be ranked at 57% and 91% respectively. Therefore they might put more effort into improving quant rather than scaling the heights of verbal. Much of this is due to the population taking the test--quant-oriented folks and international students. Also, I think here on gmatclub you might see a higher percentage of international students than in the general test-taking public, and the verbal is definitely more challenging for those whose native language is not English. Many of my students here in San Diego really struggle with quant, but everyone is different!

Hi guys,

Thanks for your feedback. I had a family emergency last week so had to delay my first CAT until today (a Manhattan one) and was pleasantly surprised with the result as a baseline.

Q33, V36 and an estimate of 600. I wouldn't walk into the real deal with mock scores like that, but it's OK for now. I have barely studied verbal and it's my natural strength so that will rise naturally as I practice. But I found the quant very challenging on the CAT, more so than the OG questions - I understand MGMAT CATs have a reputation for tough quant questions.

I figure if my quant score is pushing close to 40 then my verbal score can carry me the rest of the way.

My challenge on quant is taking the first step and identifying the path to the solution. Plus my maths is still a bit rusty. If you have any tips that would be very much appreciated.

Cheers,
Matt

Decades ago, when the GMAT was first designed (before it was even called the GMAT), the scores for the Q and V sections were designed so that 30 would be average, and so that 10 would be the standard deviation for each section (so if you graphed test taker Quant scores or Verbal scores fifty years ago, you'd get a bell curve, with a peak at 30 and a substantial majority scoring between 20 and 40). So Q and V scores were, a long long time ago, equal, on average. But that was back when people didn't take prep very seriously (even 25 or 30 years ago, it was extremely common for people to not prepare at all). Subsequent tests were all calibrated against earlier tests, to ensure scores would be comparable from one year to the next, and since Quant is easier to improve at with prep, Quant scores have climbed a lot in recent years as test takers take preparation more seriously, while Verbal scores haven't changed much at all.

So that's why a high Verbal score is so much rarer than a high Quant score these days - the test-taking population is much better at Quant now than it was many years ago. You're in a great position to do very well on the GMAT. It's a lot better to be naturally good at Verbal, but weaker at Quant, than the reverse, since it's much easier to improve at Quant. And I normally find people who have great natural Verbal skills can always become good at Quant with work, because they have the logical ability for it, and just need to learn how to apply that ability in a mathematical context. Good luck!

Hi Matt,

A 600 is a good first CAT score (the average Official GMAT score hovers around 540-550 most years).

Since it sounds like you're early on in your studies, I'm curious about your timeline and goals:

1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

Rich I'll PM you.

Thanks for the feedback Ian. Interesting history. I imagine there'd be some significant philosophical discussions going on within GMAC about the future of the test, given the divergence of Q and V scores, the changing test-taking population and the need to keep it relevant to schools.