Resetting official GMATprep tests

Question

I took the 4th test in the GMATprep official series a couple of months ago (got a 690 then). Today, I reset it and saw some repetition in questions but I  didn't  know the answer to almost all of them before hand. Knew one answer before hand in verbal. Also, in Q I didn't know the answer to any repeats but did see a couple of questions which I knew I had got incorrect when I took the test previously. Got a 720 this time. How much should I deduct my score to get a somewhat accurate figure?

Leadership · Answer

Hi  keshav1895 , It would be really hard for anyone to give you the accurate answer for your question. It is a known fact that after re-setting, user will see some repetitive questions. You can consider yourself to be at 690-700 at present approximately. You should focus on why you got the answers incorrect. Was it due to silly mistake or lack of conceptual knowledge. Is there change in sectional scores? The best way will be to prepare best and give a shot on last exam pack (5-6).

keshav1895 · Answer

Hi keshav1895  It would be really hard for anyone to give you the accurate answer for your question. It is a known fact that after re-setting, user will see some repetitive questions. You can consider yourself to be at 690-700 at present approximately. You should focus on why you got the answers incorrect. Was it due to silly mistake or lack of conceptual knowledge. Is there change in sectional scores? The best way will be to prepare best and give a shot on last exam pack (5-6).

Thanks sjas31. This was insightful. I'm currently going over my mistakes and would be taking exam 6 tomorrow. Let's see how it goes.

Leadership · Answer

Controlling stress and not making silly mistakes give you extra points

You can cross 700 mark. All the best.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi keshav1895,

While the most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC, retaking a CAT that you've already taken is NOT a realistic way to assess your skills - since you will likely see some 'repeat' questions that you have already faced. Unfortunately, seeing even a couple of repeats can 'throw off' the Scoring Algorithm and impact your pacing, energy levels, fatigue, etc. (meaning that they would likely all appear to be better than they actually are). Unfortunately, there's no way to determine the exact effect that all of these issues had on your recent retake of that prior CAT. Going forward, you should make sure to take a NEW CAT each time - and take it in a realistic fashion (take the FULL CAT - with the Essay and IR sections, take it away from your home, at the same time of day as when you'll take the Official GMAT, etc.).

Going forward, the CATs from Kaplan, MGMAT and Veritas are all 'close enough' to the real thing that they will provide you with a relatively realistic score assessment (assuming that you correctly take the CAT in a realistic fashion).

In addition, the process of taking (and reviewing) a CAT requires a significant amount of energy and effort - and takes time to 'recover' from. This is one of the reasons why you typically shouldn't take more than 1 CAT per week - and your last CAT should be taken about 1 week before Test Day. Since you took a CAT today, you should NOT take another one tomorrow.

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?
3) On what 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 take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

CAMANISHPARMAR · Answer

After reading the facts that you have provided I would suggest you not gauge your capability on the basis of your performance on the 2nd exam. Use the exam for practice and review. The entire algorithm is adaptive. You might not have seen the questions you have had you answered the few of the test questions you had answered before incorrectly.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi keshav1895,

I agree that that is no way to know how much your score is inflated due to your retaking a practice exam. Moving forward, you should try to take only unused practice exams. How did you do on exam 6?

devansh18 · Answer

ScottTargetTestPrep   EMPOWERgmatRichC

Guys, an idea as to whether the questions in official mock tests (Test 3-6) are also expected to remain the same i.e. we may encounter similar questions if we have already attempted those mock tests once in the past, or GMAC replenishes the questions in those mock tests

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi devansh18,

The 'pool' of questions that comes with each of those 6 Official CATs/mocks is relatively small, so if you take one of those CATs more than once, then there's a reasonable chance that you will see some 'repeat' questions that you had already faced. By extension, score results from 'retakes' are often unrealistic and "inflated." In addition, you should NOT expect GMAC to replenish or replace any of the questions in the 'pool' of questions that come with those CATs (as there's simply no reason for GMAC to do so - it would be far more profitable to create additional CATs for purchase). 
 
Thankfully, the CATs from Kaplan, MGMAT and Veritas are all 'close enough' to the real thing that they will provide you with a relatively realistic score assessment (assuming that you correctly take the CAT in a realistic fashion) - so if you have used the 6 Official CATs, then you could use any new CATs from any of those sources next.

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi devansh18,

I don't think the pool of questions has changed, so if you retake tests 3 to 6, you likely will see repeat questions.

devansh18 · Answer

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