Understanding GMAT scoring

Question

Hi All,

I had taken an official GMAT practice paper and got 13 incorrect questions in Verbal and my score slipped to V27 (45 percentile). I missed answering the last 3 questions as I was out of time. Can someone please guide me on how this scoring is done? How many wrong questions will get me a 37 or 38 in Verbal?

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

How many wrong questions will get me a 37 or 38 in Verbal?

Probably fair to say there isn't a direct correlation between the two. Other factors such as the difficulty level of the questions may come into play.

I missed answering the last 3 questions as I was out of time.

https://www.gmatknight.com/post/5-verba ... gmat-tutor

Rishav7 · Answer

GMAT is a dynamic paper and it bases the scores considering many factors. It does not matter how many questions you get wrong but what matters is which questions you get wrong. You need to ace the easy questions otherwise your score can fall dramatically

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Sk567,

The scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize - and it factors in more than just the number of correct/incorrect answers. With a V27, you likely lost significant points in all 3 major Verbal categories (RC, SC and CR) - so your focus at this point should be on learning and practicing the proper Verbal Tactics so that you hone the skills needed to earn a V37+ (and not think in terms of 'how many questions can I afford to get wrong').

Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

760+: What GMAT Assassins Do To Score at the Highest Levels

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

S567k · Answer

Hi Expert,

The break up of the 33 questions were SC(5C, 6I), CR(7C, 2I) and RC (9C, 4I).

Studies:
I have been studying for the past 3 months with approximately 3-4 hours a day. 
I am referring to E-GMAT for Verbal and have given 2 official mocks till now. 
1st Mock-13th October -670 (Q48, V33); 2nd Mock- 28th October- 640 (Q50, V27)

Goal:
Goal Score- 710-720
I'm planning to apply to ISB R2- Deadline 5th December. I was hoping to be done by GMAT in this month itself so that I have enough time to work on my applications but that does not seem like an option now.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Sk567.

To score in the upper 30s to 40 in GMAT verbal, you have to get around 75 to 80 percent of the verbal questions correct. Also, you have to get close to all of the easy and medium verbal questions correct, and the ones you don't get correct have to be mostly hard questions. If you get 80 percent correct but miss easy ones, you'll score lower than the upper 30s to 40.

As you may have noticed, the verbal section is different from the quant section in that, if you get 80 percent of the quant questions correct, you'll score in the upper 40s rather than in the upper 30s in quant.

So, to achieve your score goal, you'll have to get a high percentage of the verbal questions correct.

To do so, you have to prepare for verbal effectively, and the truth is that many people don't know how to prepare for GMAT verbal effectively and end up doing things that don't really work, such as answering massive numbers of verbal practice questions in 1:48 each without learning much.

For some insights into how to prepare for GMAT verbal effectively, you could read this post on  How to Score High on GMAT Verbal .

RetaketheGMAT · Answer

No one has a complete understanding of the GMAT scoring algorithm except those on the inside at the GMAC, but here's the good news: You don't need it!

The question you're really looking to answer is: What test taking strategies and performance levels will get you to your target score? ie. How should you be approaching the test?

Here are the key things:
1. The scoring on the GMAT is progressive not additive. They don't add up your rights and wrongs and give you a score (it's not like most of the other tests you've taken). The 'system' keeps a dynamic score range on you as you start, progress and complete the test. Since the test is adaptive, it keeps moving you up and down in difficulty to fine turn that score range until at the end it has narrowed it down to a specific number out of 60.

2. There a few things that can really hurt you. Getting the first couple of questions wrong. Getting last few questions wrong (or even worse -- not finishing questions at all). Getting easy questions wrong often. Never getting harder questions right.

The critical strategies to keep you out of trouble and maximize your score:
1) Maximize your Test Taking Skills (not just content knowledge) like Visualization and Preprocessing in Quant and Vertical Reading and Lawyer like reading in Verbal.
By doing that, you'll maximize the value of all your concept study and practice, give yourself a better chance to answer (some) of the hardest questions and avoid the "silly mistakes" throwing away of easy and moderate questions.

2) Come with a DYNAMIC timing strategy that you keep aligning to through out the test. This includes regular time benchmarking, strategic skipping of questions and smart guessing (by partial elimination) to regain time.

3) Recognize that single questions are never worth more than 3 minutes and keeping in mind how much time you're stealing from other questions you know how to do by spending too much time on a question you're struggling to finish.

These are examples of the test taking strategies that we fine-tune for clients so they aren't 'fighting the test'. To win at the GMAT you need to have Test Taking Strategies that align with your target score and scoring system. We assess your abilities in these areas in a FREE Testing Simulation Session which we setup after a brief initial conversation.

Arvind

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Sk567, Let me share my insights. For scoring 700 and above, you need to get the easy medium questions right as GMAT test is adaptive in nature. You can afford making mistakes only in the latter half of the Section, not in the beginning. You have to make the GMAT algorithm serve you difficult questions and get them right. For that, being conceptually clear on all topics is really vital. Not only this, you have to be good with application of concepts because GMAT is a test of application of concepts. As evident from your score breakup, you have a good command over Quant. However, , you definitely have consistency issues in case of Verbal. There are wild swings in your scores which implies that you haven’t followed a very structured approach. Your verbal score clearly indicates there are many conceptual gaps and you may need to start from scratch, revisit the concepts and get a clear understanding of them before you solve the questions. Verbal questions on GMAT are very tricky. Let me help you with the right way to approach your Verbal Prep. How to Ace your Verbal Prep? For GMAT Verbal, it is very important that you follow the right methodology and the logical approach . Your focus has to be on eliminating four incorrect choices rather than choosing the right one . The key is to develop a solid understanding of the concepts that are typically tested on the GMAT and master the process skills that are required to solve GMAT questions. Only then, you will be able to smartly avoid the traps set by the test makers. Before you start learning, it's important to understand what is actually tested using the questions. Each module in Verbal (SC, CR and RC) has to be approached in a different way. For example, before you start learning the concepts of SC, you need to understand that SC questions on GMAT test your ability to convey the right meaning without any ambiguity. So, it's important to approach them from a meaning stand-point. You might have often come across answer choices which are both grammatically correct and convey a logical meaning but are indeed incorrect because they do not convey the intended meaning. So, the process to approach SC questions is to: • Comprehend the original meaning of the sentence • Identify errors if any (both grammatical and meaning wise) • Eliminate answer choices which either are grammatically incorrect or do not convey the intended meaning You can go through the link below to understand the process in a better way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SGA8bwFNJM Once you start solving SC questions using a systematic approach as detailed above, you will be able to avoid taking too much time in SC questions as there will be no confusion in your mind regarding the approach. Also, improving in SC alone won’t fetch you the desired score. You need to prepare for RC and CR as well in a structured and efficient manner. You have to follow a methodical and systematic approach while solving the questions in order to work on your accuracy and increase your score. For example, • In CR, you have to understand the argument, identify the premise and the conclusion and then pre-think the answer before looking at the solutions. • In RC, you need to have the right reading strategies to understand the inferences which are not directly stated in the passage. The importance of using a standard resource: The only method to make sure that you invest your time, money and effort in an effective way is to use a standard resource which teaches you the concepts, strategies and also helps you work on your weaker areas. Studying using OG or a few random resources might help you to solve GMAT like questions but I’m afraid that they won’t be able to help you much from a strategy perspective. I would suggest you to go for some standard course for your Verbal preparation at least which can help you prepare in a structured and efficient manner thereby increasing your productivity. It’s always better to spare some more time on your preparation until you are ready instead of missing out on your dream colleges/ b-schools in hurry. GMATWhiz helps you with all these things as we follow a structured and methodical way of teaching things , which makes the learning process simpler and efficient. It also helps you to develop an understanding of the test maker’s intention behind asking the question. It uses an AI powered learning platform to provide you with real time improvement modules after every practice quiz. It provides you with additional concept videos and practise quizzes which helps you overcome your weaker areas in a specific topic right away without having to put in additional effort to identify your weaker areas. You can check out GMATWhiz and go for its Verbal Prep Course. Here’s a link to our free trial – https://learn.gmatwhiz.com/?page=signup Hope this helped and feel free to contact if you have any further queries. You can always write back to me here or the better way would be to connect over a call and have a discussion. You can schedule a free consultation call using the below link. Click here to schedule a call

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Sk567,

I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions.

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

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