Quant Question of the Day Chat

When was the last time you took the test? just want to know if you share recent experience like us

I took the test earlier this year - however, I also heard similar stories when the GRE swapped formats

Also a high variance in scores means that some fundamental is missing

the GMAT tests many concepts in ~30 questions. It is entirely possible that you get lucky with the mock exam pool, and then come test day your weaker areas get exposed

Which is similar to what happened to me - I was weaker in Geom, but quite strong in proability and combinatronics - i got 4-5 geom questions and 1 pnc, and my Q score was on the low end

If you truly feel the GMAC is cheating you, feel free to take a GRE - GRE and GMAT are highly correlated (a lot of the math carries over ,and GRE math is even somewhat easier) and see how the two tests compare

Always keep in mind that the people who post experiences online are usually those who had exceptional scores, or those who had exceptionally bad test days - most people do not fall in either extreme.

If you are referring to the quant section, I would say that is the section that most people are well prepared for, and the data shows this - a Q49 (2 pts from a perfect score) is 80th or so percentile. The material that GMAC provides is clearly relevant to scoring well in the quant section, otherwise students would not score that high.

I was just giving a hypothetical example for the relative difficulty scenario but yea i get your point scoring in quant should be easier according to the percentiles but the whole debate in the thread here is about the last 1-2 months and the sudden rise in difficulty level

This is why your comments seem inconsiderate "People are anxious enough over test scores as is, there is no need to spread baseless rumours". If you go through the comments detailing the experiences of most of us, it’s apparent that passing such judgments is unwarranted. The initial comment highlights who recently took the test are reporting significantly lower scores than their previous attempts. Many of us have undertaken the test multiple times this year, putting in more effort than before, yet our scores have dropped by about 100 points or more, and such a significant decrease is abnormal. Please be mindful of your words in this group and consider the experiences of others before making statements.

But again, what you are saying (100+ point drop) is not new. It has been happening for ever (you can search GMAT experiences here from past years and see the same theme)

There is no reason to draw a conclusion that the GMAT has suddenly made the GMAT classic significantly harder

And, from my experience, it usually comes from a mix of poor test preparation, usage of bad third party materials, and (the biggest one) test day anxiety and lack of sleep leading up to test day.

Again, if you truly feel the GMAC is cheating you, I urge you to take the GRE - the quant section is very similar, and so if you are well prepared you should have no problem doing well on the GRE.

Having taken the GRE before, I find it dissimilar to the GMAT, the only similarity is that they both demand serious study time. I believe the GMAT offers a more practical skill set compared to the GRE’s extensive vocabulary. Considering the challenges for non-native speakers, I question the need to invest more time and resources in another test. The main query is whether we should pursue another GMAT Classic or focus on the GMAT Focus. But I guess you don’t get what we are discussing here so never mind.

And I would disagree with you - I prepared for the GRE in very little time and found that most of my prep carried over.
But if you think the GMAC is cheating you by artifically reducing your scores, I am not sure why you would go ahead and take the Focus Edition - they could just do the same thing again.

Our levels differ; what’s easy for you might not be easy for others. Nobody is accusing GMAC of cheating; we’re awaiting their response. This might prevent others from spending money on another Classic; but could simply opt for Focus, especially as the deadline approaches.

I have been active here since a good period of time and its evident that there is easily 20+ test takers in this thread itself today claiming the sudden rise in difficulty. Something is definitely up you can track the concurrent number of people from past months complaining about the same issue as well you will see the difference

Sorry to miss out on the conversation My two cents is that GMAT focus appears to be more predictable because of how the algorithm works. In the classic Gmail, you get a pretty severe penalty for missing questions in the first eight or 10 and one additional mistake can be responsible for 40 points. Make two and you may be much more behind. On the focus, it seems the position of the mistake is not as significant and I think that makes the test less jumpy. Welcome feedback from anyone, especially if you disagree. This is a new theory I’m testing out.

Can u pls advice me which test should I consider because I have been preparing for a while for this test?

Can someone please suggest when should I start taking the mocks? They are very limited and expensive so I don’t want to exhaust them.

Are you close to your GMAT classic score goal?

It doesn’t hurt to try the new one take a practice test and see how it goes. The new gmat prep contains all new questions

Everyone’s a little different but I can tell you what I did. I only took practice testS after I have completely finished quant and I would only take the quant portion of the tests. Then I went down to verbal and after I was done with verbal I would take full tests. I know that some people study both at the same time and so this strategy may not work well. However, taking tests only after you covered half of math or half a verbal is not very productive because your scores will be jumping over the place because you can only Answer the questions intelligently.

I feel your test strategy will depend on your prep strategy but if you didn’t study something, it doesn’t make sense to be testing yourself on it that was my approach.

Then I would suggest maybe focusing on FE - you will not be able to take the classic later on.

A lot of the material carries over, you just have to practise a new section (DI)

Agreed. You should have a foundation built and then use the mocks to verify what you have learned.

You think this is verifable on mocks?

I had given one focus mock 2 months ago before I began my prep and I’m almost done with the official guide. I only have one free official mock remaining.

As suggested I would attempt the free mocks of Focus Edition then will make a decision which one should I opt for.