GMAC statistics say you can't improve your score much. I disagree!

Question

Hi everyone,

I'd like to share my thoughs on this tricky issue and, of course, ask for your feedback!

GMAC statistics show that people usually can't improve their score by any substantial ammount. Like you can improve some 40 points from 500's, 20 from 600's and less than 10 from 700's. But.. Since GMAT is not an intelligence test, this makes no sense what so ever!
I mean as long as you study correctly, how is it possible that you can't constantly improve your score? I'm asking this 'cause I just scored 540 (something I was expecting since 2 months ago I couldn't tell algebra from arithmetics.) So what, according to GMAC I can't breach the 600? Of course I can, I am learning more and more, faster and faster so it's a matter of time before I do it. And I suck at math btw. I am no genius, but I feel that now that I am really committed to it, I am improving a lot and my 540 was just due to lack of time to prepare.
Maybe the issue is that people tend to get demotivated? Perhaps the fact that they have jobs, families, etc eventually makes them become less committed? They start forgetting things? Maybe this "can't improve more than 40 points" thing is just a matter of personnal circumstances, like the life situation that most of those who study for GMAT (so like 25-30 years-olds starting their carreers, families, etc) find themselves in? And these circumstances prevent people from properly (PROPERLY) preparing for GMAT? Like, is 10h\week enough for a 700+? No it's not. Can most people get more time than that to study? No they can't. So most test takers simply can't prepare for this GMAT marathon in first place! Not because they are stupid, or the exam is hard, but simply because they only have 24 hours in a day! And of course, they can't improve either! 
All of this to say that I find these statistics to be very decieving and the low improvement in score is not due to the nature of the exam or to the intellectual capacity of the students, but due to personal circumstances that prevent most people of getting properly focused on GMAT and breaching 700, no matter what your first score is.

Thanks fore reading my "AWA" on GMAC statistics and please let me know what you think of this!

Thanks!

AjiteshArun · Answer

You should look at it like this: if you take the exam (or take it again  without studying or improving  or getting worse in any way), in approximately 67% of your attempts, you should get a score that's within 30 points of your actual ability level (as measured by the GMAT). It's important to remember that this is without putting in significant additional effort, and that the +/- 30 is  not  applicable to all possible attempts (only to 67% of attempts). And all this is  before  measurement error (something that every exam is susceptible to) is factored in.

It is definitely possible to improve, and I'm glad you seem to be gaining confidence.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi iliavko,

Can you provide a link to the original source of this information? I'd be interested to read the exact article/blog/post that you found information in.

Broadly-speaking, many Test Takers tend to be 'creatures of habit', meaning that they don't do enough work to change their approaches to the GMAT from one Test to the next. As such, the simplified idea that Test Takers can't appreciably increase their GMAT scores from Official Test to Official Test could be true (keep in mind that GMAC is dealing with LOTS of historical data). That having been said, that data would not include those Test Takers who took the GMAT just ONE TIME (since there's no comparison of scores), so a significant portion of Test Takers would not be 'counted.' The improvements that YOU can make from practice CAT to practice CAT to Official GMAT would also NOT be considered in that type of study. This is all meant to say that it sounds like the 'scope' of that original conclusion is limited and probably has no real bearing on what YOU are doing right now.

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

tarunk31 · Answer

iliavko

I totally agree with your interpretation of those stats. Unfortunately, I'm also a contributor to those stats in the way it is demotivating. But then I have seen people who have belied theses stats. Ignore all these stats. There is nothing that one cannot achieve. Just keep working hard.

iliavko · Answer

Hello everyone and thank you for your feedback!

about this links\sources:

https://gmat.economist.com/blog/student ... mat-points

https://www.gmatninja.com/2013/02/25/gma ... king-gmat/

I saw a few other articles similar to these, but these two reflect the general idea of "non-improvement"

Hopefully I will be one of those who prove the statistics wrong!

Thank you for the replies!

VeritasPrepBrian · Answer

There's a Critical Reasoning lesson in here! GMAC isn't saying that you  probably can't  increase your score. They're saying that test-takers  usually don't . "Probably can't" goes a little too far, and in classic CR form it's a conclusion that looks similar to what you read but is just different enough that you can't conclude it.

If you think of reasons that you certainly can improve but that people usually don't, there are plenty:

-Often times, people retake the test as soon as they can in order to avoid having to apply in Round 3 or to wait a year. And often in those cases they're sharing GMAT time with application essay time so that they can keep their application on track. So many test-takers don't really give themselves a great chance at improvement.

-People often think that "studying more" will be the answer, as opposed to "studying differently." So they again don't give themselves a great chance at improvement because they're just adding on 20% more of "the same" and expecting a different result.

-People often overcorrect on Quant vs. Verbal, spending limited time on the section they scored better on the first time so that they can improve the one that needs improvement the most. In doing so they forget that they had to work to get their high score on one section, and so leaving that section alone means they regress there while they improve on the other section, and the net gain on the overall score tends to be more marginal.

There are all kinds of reasons that these stats exist, but don't let them lead to the conclusion that "you can't improve" or even that "YOU won't likely improve." You're still in control, but keep in mind that it's not the mere act of retaking the test that leads to improvement, but the process of determining where you can expect to find improvement and putting in the work there.

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GMAC statistics say you can't improve your score much. I disagree!

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