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Pranjay19
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Official Mock vs GMAT 18 Jan 2025, 04:39
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Hi Everyone,

I attempted a GMAT mock a few days back in which I took the order Verbal to Quant to Data Insights. I heard that the first few questions are section adaptive from the previous sections and as Verbal is my highest performing section I tried to put it first. This is the first time I tried this as usually I do it 2nd and was overperforming my other sections so don't fix what's not broken.

Despite one early mistake in Verbal which was in a 705+ question, my performance was not the worst. (91st Percentile). However, I made stupid mistakes in the first 3 questions in quant. But, after analysing my results I could see the algorithm was quite forgiving and still gave me good questions. Comparing this to my last actual attempt where I did quant first I got the first question wrong and then wasn't given good level questions. In the mock, I got 8 questions wrong, a lot of which were careless compared to my actual where I got 3 wrong. I have got a higher score in the mock than the actual. (78 in exam and 79 in Mock). I have noticed in a few other mocks where I did quant first that the algorithm was quite forgiving despite getting early questions wrong. This has confused me and so I wanted to know if the kindness of the algorithm this time is due to my better performance in Verbal or that the Mock Exam just has a more forgiving algorithm.

This will be critical to choosing my section order next week so I would greatly appreciate any help and advice I can get.

Thanks a lot
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GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
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Official Mock vs GMAT 18 Jan 2025, 23:34
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Pranjay19
Hi Everyone,

I attempted a GMAT mock a few days back in which I took the order Verbal to Quant to Data Insights. I heard that the first few questions are section adaptive from the previous sections and as Verbal is my highest performing section I tried to put it first. This is the first time I tried this as usually I do it 2nd and was overperforming my other sections so don't fix what's not broken.

Despite one early mistake in Verbal which was in a 705+ question, my performance was not the worst. (91st Percentile). However, I made stupid mistakes in the first 3 questions in quant. But, after analysing my results I could see the algorithm was quite forgiving and still gave me good questions. Comparing this to my last actual attempt where I did quant first I got the first question wrong and then wasn't given good level questions. In the mock, I got 8 questions wrong, a lot of which were careless compared to my actual where I got 3 wrong. I have got a higher score in the mock than the actual. (78 in exam and 79 in Mock). I have noticed in a few other mocks where I did quant first that the algorithm was quite forgiving despite getting early questions wrong. This has confused me and so I wanted to know if the kindness of the algorithm this time is due to my better performance in Verbal or that the Mock Exam just has a more forgiving algorithm.

This will be critical to choosing my section order next week so I would greatly appreciate any help and advice I can get.

Thanks a lot
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Hi Pranjay19,

1. Although some people have reported that the first few questions are locked in, it's possible that only the first question is affected by performance in the previous section.

2. Although you can absolutely start with your strongest section, you should do it because it helps you in some real way, not because you think it'll help you game the algorithm.

3. You may want to tag quant experts on this, but as far as I know, in at least some cases scoring is extremely harsh in the quant section.
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Pranjay19
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Official Mock vs GMAT 19 Jan 2025, 01:28
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Thanks a lot for the reply AjiteshArun. The quant strictness is very puzzling to me. With so many scores between the 50th and 75th percentile regardless it now feels like GMAC is trying hard to ensure most people remain in the range without actually testing the candidate. Also, the limited 6 Official Mock Exams which are so precious having a different more forgiving algorithm (in my experience) is a bit weird too.

Is there any way to address this tendency of the quant algorithm with my strategy or do I just pray I get the right questions. Should the standard strategy of leaving a tough question by targeted guessing be changed for the early quant questions? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Bunuel bb GMATNinja KarishmaB
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Pranjay19
Hi Everyone,

I attempted a GMAT mock a few days back in which I took the order Verbal to Quant to Data Insights. I heard that the first few questions are section adaptive from the previous sections and as Verbal is my highest performing section I tried to put it first. This is the first time I tried this as usually I do it 2nd and was overperforming my other sections so don't fix what's not broken.

Despite one early mistake in Verbal which was in a 705+ question, my performance was not the worst. (91st Percentile). However, I made stupid mistakes in the first 3 questions in quant. But, after analysing my results I could see the algorithm was quite forgiving and still gave me good questions. Comparing this to my last actual attempt where I did quant first I got the first question wrong and then wasn't given good level questions. In the mock, I got 8 questions wrong, a lot of which were careless compared to my actual where I got 3 wrong. I have got a higher score in the mock than the actual. (78 in exam and 79 in Mock). I have noticed in a few other mocks where I did quant first that the algorithm was quite forgiving despite getting early questions wrong. This has confused me and so I wanted to know if the kindness of the algorithm this time is due to my better performance in Verbal or that the Mock Exam just has a more forgiving algorithm.

This will be critical to choosing my section order next week so I would greatly appreciate any help and advice I can get.

Thanks a lot
Hi Pranjay19,

1. Although some people have reported that the first few questions are locked in, it's possible that only the first question is affected by performance in the previous section.

2. Although you can absolutely start with your strongest section, you should do it because it helps you in some real way, not because you think it'll help you game the algorithm.

3. You may want to tag quant experts on this, but as far as I know, in at least some cases scoring is extremely harsh in the quant section.
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Official Mock vs GMAT 19 Jan 2025, 02:29
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Pranjay19
Hi Everyone,

I attempted a GMAT mock a few days back in which I took the order Verbal to Quant to Data Insights. I heard that the first few questions are section adaptive from the previous sections and as Verbal is my highest performing section I tried to put it first. This is the first time I tried this as usually I do it 2nd and was overperforming my other sections so don't fix what's not broken.

Despite one early mistake in Verbal which was in a 705+ question, my performance was not the worst. (91st Percentile). However, I made stupid mistakes in the first 3 questions in quant. But, after analysing my results I could see the algorithm was quite forgiving and still gave me good questions. Comparing this to my last actual attempt where I did quant first I got the first question wrong and then wasn't given good level questions. In the mock, I got 8 questions wrong, a lot of which were careless compared to my actual where I got 3 wrong. I have got a higher score in the mock than the actual. (78 in exam and 79 in Mock). I have noticed in a few other mocks where I did quant first that the algorithm was quite forgiving despite getting early questions wrong. This has confused me and so I wanted to know if the kindness of the algorithm this time is due to my better performance in Verbal or that the Mock Exam just has a more forgiving algorithm.

This will be critical to choosing my section order next week so I would greatly appreciate any help and advice I can get.

Thanks a lot
Show more

Think about it this way - the algorithm does believe that test takers usually perform consistently across sections, and there is a good reason for that. One who is strong in reasoning will likely be strong in all sections. So a great score in one section MIGHT (speculation) prompt it to be a bit more forgiving in the next section. In the beginning it has no data on you and hence may not be that amenable. That said, a strong section taken first could mean harder questions to start off with and errors in first few questions could lead to a lower score. Look, we don't know how the parameters balance off exactly. What takes precedence in which situation - an infinite number of possibilities are there.
Some days ago, a learner had an interesting theory - what if your wrong answer penalty (and selection of next question) also depends on which wrong choice you select!? Though it is pure speculation, still can I emphatically deny that it is not the case? Not till the time GMAC emphatically denies it. After all, say there is a trap in the question - a learner who solved the question but did not identify the trap is likely better placed than one who did not know how to solve the question at all. There is some information to be gained from "which incorrect answer did the learner pick?"
But then again, this is pure speculation - something we love to think about but only to entertain ourselves. It is not a productive activity, I admit! :)

Hence what is it that you should do?
- Take the section order with which you are most comfortable, in which you experience minimum exhaustion, which is more natural to you and how you think. What impact one will have on the other - there is no way to say.
- Give each question that you come across your best within a limited time and move on. Think in the NOW only. It sure is fun to think about the rules they are using in the algorithm but at the end of the day, we never do arrive at any clear guidelines. We need to give each question our best and let the algorithm do its job (and keep our fingers crossed!)
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Pranjay19
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Official Mock vs GMAT 19 Jan 2025, 04:32
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Thanks a lot KarishmaB. With the newer Focus Edition and its algorithm, it makes sense to just do my best and pray.:blushing:
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Pranjay19
Hi Everyone,

I attempted a GMAT mock a few days back in which I took the order Verbal to Quant to Data Insights. I heard that the first few questions are section adaptive from the previous sections and as Verbal is my highest performing section I tried to put it first. This is the first time I tried this as usually I do it 2nd and was overperforming my other sections so don't fix what's not broken.

Despite one early mistake in Verbal which was in a 705+ question, my performance was not the worst. (91st Percentile). However, I made stupid mistakes in the first 3 questions in quant. But, after analysing my results I could see the algorithm was quite forgiving and still gave me good questions. Comparing this to my last actual attempt where I did quant first I got the first question wrong and then wasn't given good level questions. In the mock, I got 8 questions wrong, a lot of which were careless compared to my actual where I got 3 wrong. I have got a higher score in the mock than the actual. (78 in exam and 79 in Mock). I have noticed in a few other mocks where I did quant first that the algorithm was quite forgiving despite getting early questions wrong. This has confused me and so I wanted to know if the kindness of the algorithm this time is due to my better performance in Verbal or that the Mock Exam just has a more forgiving algorithm.

This will be critical to choosing my section order next week so I would greatly appreciate any help and advice I can get.

Thanks a lot

Think about it this way - the algorithm does believe that test takers usually perform consistently across sections, and there is a good reason for that. One who is strong in reasoning will likely be strong in all sections. So a great score in one section MIGHT (speculation) prompt it to be a bit more forgiving in the next section. In the beginning it has no data on you and hence may not be that amenable. That said, a strong section taken first could mean harder questions to start off with and errors in first few questions could lead to a lower score. Look, we don't know how the parameters balance off exactly. What takes precedence in which situation - an infinite number of possibilities are there.
Some days ago, a learner had an interesting theory - what if your wrong answer penalty (and selection of next question) also depends on which wrong choice you select!? Though it is pure speculation, still can I emphatically deny that it is not the case? Not till the time GMAC emphatically denies it. After all, say there is a trap in the question - a learner who solved the question but did not identify the trap is likely better placed than one who did not know how to solve the question at all. There is some information to be gained from "which incorrect answer did the learner pick?"
But then again, this is pure speculation - something we love to think about but only to entertain ourselves. It is not a productive activity, I admit! :)

Hence what is it that you should do?
- Take the section order with which you are most comfortable, in which you experience minimum exhaustion, which is more natural to you and how you think. What impact one will have on the other - there is no way to say.
- Give each question that you come across your best within a limited time and move on. Think in the NOW only. It sure is fun to think about the rules they are using in the algorithm but at the end of the day, we never do arrive at any clear guidelines. We need to give each question our best and let the algorithm do its job (and keep our fingers crossed!)
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Official Mock vs GMAT 23 Jan 2025, 19:43
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Pranjay19
Thanks a lot KarishmaB. With the newer Focus Edition and its algorithm, it makes sense to just do my best and pray.:blushing:
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I agree that your main focus should just be doing the best you can with every question and also strategically guessing and moving on once you run into a brick wall. I also wanted to address your questions about section order.

When deciding whether to take the strongest or weakest section of the GMAT first, both approaches present unique advantages and potential drawbacks.

Starting with the strongest section can boost confidence early in the exam, potentially improving overall performance. This approach allows test-takers to capitalize on their strengths while their energy and focus are at their peak. However, this strategy might lead to receiving more difficult questions in the subsequent sections, increasing the risk of mistakes due to fatigue or pressure.

Conversely, beginning with the weakest section may help avoid the adverse effects of fatigue when tackling more challenging areas. Addressing the weakest section first ensures that test-takers are freshest and most alert for their most difficult questions.

So, at the end of the day, the best thing to do is practice with various section orders and see what is right for you.
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