Just took Knewton Diagnostic (the free one)... A big Dilemma

Question

... I just finished the quant section. I'm not sure how well i did, but it seems so much harder than the OG practice problems... I'm also having mixed feelings about the OG book (especially the OG Math book): I feel that the problems on these books are way too easy and are a huge confident booster... am I correct to assume this since Knewton was so difficult? Or should I assume the opposite, that Knewton doesn't reflect reality? The OG practice questions are more in line w/ the real exam?

Thanks for any feedback

PS: I'll post my results after I finish the Verbal section... I'm taking a good 5 min break to write this up. Also, this is my 2nd Full exam (My first was a non-CAT version of a Kaplan diagnostic test and I scored a 650). I hope to expect a least a 650 on the Knewton, but I have a feeling that they purposely made the diagnostic harder so one can beat the "50-pt increase or your money back guarantee"...

adalfu · Answer

yeah, this was depressing:

Verbal Quantitative Total 
31 / 62% 42 / 66% 600 / 70%

Gotta keep chugging along w/ my studies!

JoshKnewton · Answer

Thanks for your note, and your interest in Knewton.

Our CATs are the most test-like GMAT practice tests you can find. The original developers of the test -- Len Swanson and Rob Mckinley -- wrote our algorithms. The Knewton CAT is designed to mirror your experience on the real GMAT in every way, including difficulty.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Best,
Josh

adalfu · Answer

Josh,
Thanks for that reply.

I might have issue with timing or pacing myself (i guess) because I scored 95.6% on PS and 93.7% on DS using the OG Math book. I've been timing myself on these problems, and I can finish each problem on the avg of 1.5 mins... To be honest, this was my first CAT, and maybe that's why it has been a bit more difficult... (but darn, such dramatic difference)... I believe I missed like 12 questions (68%), a quant score of 42.

shalva · Answer

Just finished Knewton's diagnostic test:

Q49, V38 = 720 (96%)

3 mistakes in Quant section, 4 in verbal...

Knewton's site looks great, neat and simple design, content is OK too. Though I don't think I'll purchase their course. I feel there will be more value for me if I just concentrate on doing practice exams.

PS IMO questions were quite similar to those of OG and not harder at all

vivnitrel · Answer

Hi!
I took the Knewton Free CAT today
This is how i performed:

Verbal: 
37 correct, 5 incorrect.  score = 43  (96 percentile)

Quant:
 34 correct, 3 incorrect.  score = 49  (87 percentile) (I marked wrong answers for ques 9, ques 36 and ques 37)

Overall = 750  (99 percentile)

Please clarify the following:

1) In quants, GMAT prep awarded me 51 for 4 incorrect ques, 50 for 7 incorrect ques. How does the scoring method for Knewton works? Do I have to answer all questions correctly to get a 51??

2) Was it because of the 2 wrong answers at the end of quants, that I got 49?? Does finishing a section with a right answer matter so much.

3) What is level of difficulty of Knewton's free CAT compared to the actual GMAT. I need this information in order to decide whether to go for the paid course or not. I have taken 6 MGMAT CATs, which I found to be tough compared to GMAT prep.

YourDreamTheater · Answer

They just have a different algorithm. Not every exam grades on the same scale as GMATPrep.

ankitraheja · Answer

I got a 690 @ v30 Q 51

Verbal : Only 6 mistakes.. and a score of 30.. HAHAHAHA... 3 RC and 3 SC wrong. No CR wrong.

Isnt the scoring weird?

gurpreetsingh · Answer

I scored 50 with only one incorrect and v25 with 19 incorrect.

smartmundu · Answer

Just not happy with the Knewton Diagnostic...very different from GMATPREP Got 660 (Q47 V33) 86% In quant i got 5 incorrect with only one set wrong in pair that too towards the end...such a result happened to me on GMATPREP where the system awarded me with 50. So no way 47 is correct. In verbal i got total of 11 incorrect....7 in sentence correction

(missed out some easy comparison ones) Many of the CR questions directly from OG with just name change...common guys make your questions

While reading one of the RC i got a feeling that i already know the content but i am not able to recognize the source may be OG again

Here i got 3 set wrongs (means 2 continuous questions 3 times)...which may be the reason my score is 33. Can't upon the verbal scoring because haven't face similar situation on GMATPREP. But Knewton guys need to calliberate their scoring at least for verbal. One thing I like about the test is some random questions in between the sections just to have a feel of experimental questions ( i am just guessing they use this method). I think i got question 30 in quant at which i just looked and said wt... and there is a psychological effect and i got 32 & 33 question wrong (one of which is rate work which is my strength). Please share if someone else felt the same

AdventureChick · Answer

I'm just starting Week 3 of the Knewton course. It's a live online class which is completely flexible, and I can change sections whenever I need to, or watch a stored class.

I scored a 570 on the pre-course Practice GMAT. Pretty good, considering that I had done zero prep work at that point. We haven't taken another Practice GMAT in class yet, but I can tell that after only four classes I've gained skills that will bump my score up. I'm already much more comfortable with the questions, and I rarely have that "where the heck do I start?" moment any more.

I beg to differ with people who think running through practice tests is good enough. I thought the same thing before starting this course. I do well with independent study, so I wavered on taking an actual course. After four classes I'm already happy that I invested the money. The Knewton instructors all have top GMAT scores, and that insight is invaluable.

I obviously can't tell how my Knewton GMAT score compares to the real thing, but they've hired two of the people who developed the original GMAT CAT algorithm.

BTW - if you plan to sign up for the Knewton course, keep an eye out on their website, since they often offer $100 off. I got $100 of my course on the last day of the offer, and a few days later they had a different discount which included 1200 extra practice questions. The ONE TIME that procrastination would have paid off for me.

Dinah S.

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Just took Knewton Diagnostic (the free one)... A big Dilemma

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