21/36 correct but Verbal score of 25?

Question

Hi,

I recently took my second practice test and achieved a  verbal score of 25  even though I answered  21/36  correctly. 
In the last practice exam I scored a  verbal score of 38  by answering  24/36  correctly.

I don't understand how my score can be so low and what I can do to ensure that that is not the case on test day in 3 days, since I feel like answering as much as possible correctly doesn't automatically lead to a high score.

Thank you in advance!

Best regards

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

The same correct/incorrect ratio does not necessarily result in the same section score. The difficulty level of the questions can play a factor. May be worth checking out the myth vs. fact info in the beginning of the Official-Guide.

bb · Answer

What is this an official Gmat prep test?

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vB2023 · Answer

Hi,

thanks for your answer. 
I know that, however shouldn’t the algorithm give me harder questions after answering many correctly? 
Otherwise I could answer all correctly and still not get a good score.

Best regards

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vB2023 · Answer

Hi,

yes it was.

Best regards

bb · Answer

Good. I was fretting it was gmat club tests 😬 because always harder to explain when it is our product and unofficial.

Unfortunately because the test is adaptive, and because of how the adaptive mechanism works, the number of correct questions does not have a strong correlation of the score.

For example, if your mistakes a bunch of stuff together versus spread out, you’re score will be lower if they’re bunched up together. Also if the mistakes are frontloaded in the first 10 questions of the test, your score will also be lower if they are in there The middle or the end portion of the test. You can see the illustration of this concept very well in our GMAT prep analysis topic https://gmatclub.com/forum/new-format-g ... 69682.html

vB2023

Hi,

yes it was.

Best regards

bb

What is this an official Gmat prep test?

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

PS. The score has a greater correlation to the number of hard questions you’re able to answer correctly. So you can look at it that way but it’s still somewhat imperfect because of the mechanism of the test

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

vB2023 · Answer

Thank you for your answer, I understand. 
I answered 9 out of the first 10 correctly. Maybe it Iwas because of 5 consecutive mistakes in the middle of the section.

So would you suggest me to change something regarding my strategy or study something specific so I can score 600 points? 
Or should I just hope for some luck?

Best regards

bb · Answer

My suggestion is to review the 5 questions in the middle you missed answering correctly and make sure you know why and rules behind them so you don’t make these mistakes again.

Otherwise, take 1 question at a time and don’t worry too much about anything but getting every question right within 2 mins.

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vB2023 · Answer

Got it. Thanks a lot!

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi vB2023.

It sounds as if, by missing 5 consecutive questions in the middle of your test, you drove the difficulty of the questions you were seeing down. Then, you got some correct and others incorrect, keeping the difficulty at that relatively low level.

That situation, combined with the fact that you missed 15 questions, resulted in your scoring much lower on this test than you scored on your last one.

Do you know why you missed 5 in a row? Sometimes people miss multiple GMAT questions in a row because of a loss of focus, which sometimes occurs because they got thrown off by the first question in the group they missed.

If you can figure out why you missed 5 questions in a row and address the issue, you'll hopefully keep yourself from doing the same thing on test day.

vB2023 · Answer

Hi Marty,

That makes sense, I probably answered to many easy questions incorrectly.

I suppose it was actually a loss of focus (I already felt that during the test) since I normally answer that type of questions easily. 
I hope during the official test it will be easier for me to focus.

Thanks a lot for your answer.

Best regards

Posted from my mobile device

KarishmaB · Answer

Much as we are bound to compare our performance from one test to another and try to figure out the algorithm, it is mostly wasted effort. GMAT does penalise heavily for silly mistakes (getting questions within your reach wrong) and is much more forgiving in case of hard questions. 
So as bb suggested, take one question at a time, give it your best shot within limited time and move on. 
Identify the areas in which you make "silly mistakes" e.g. forgetting to note that the question does not say that x and y are integers etc and be extra careful with these. Rest, the calmer you stay, the better your score will be.

vB2023 · Answer

Hi Karishma,

Ok, then I will try concentrate on the question rather than the outcome on exam day. 
Thank you for your help.

Best regards

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi vB2023,

I see your test is tomorrow. I hope you are now resting up and getting ready for test day!

Good luck!

vB2023 · Answer

Thanks a lot Scott! I just got out of the exam and it went better than I hoped for

21/36 correct but Verbal score of 25?

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