Gmat prep - verbal

Question

Hello friends!

I know that it is impossible to say how many correct answers I should have in the real test to get a 41-43 in Verbal. The algorithm doesn't work in that way.

However, in my GMAT Prep experience I noticed that even, if I get 12-13, questions wrong I can get a 49 in the quant score as long as I have answered some difficult questions.

In this sense, I would like to know that whether the verbal section works in the same way. Is it possible to get a 42 with 11-13 wrong answers? According to my experience, it seems that we have to answer correctly more questions.

Thanks!

VeritasPrepRon · Answer

Hi Danzig, it's very hard to give an accurate number of questions you can miss to still get a very high score as that depends primarily on the questions missed. That being said, 11-13 seems a little high to me, probably more in the 8-10 range. It's not a huge difference, so I guess it's always possible. Also keep in mind that different practice tests have different scoring criteria, so it'll be hard to pin down an exact answer across the board. Where are you doing these practice tests?

Thanks!
-Ron

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Danzig , This is a response to your pm. My friend, I wish I had the information available to give you an intelligent and fully informed opinion. To some extent, what you are asking dives into the mystery of the CAT. GMAC operates a proprietary algorithm designed by some truly incredible data-heads, and all of us in GMAT prep are on the outside looking in. Yes, I would love to get the inside scoop on how that algorithm worked, but even if, by hook or crook, I somehow got a hold of that proprietary information, if I started to broadcast it, they would throw my butt in the slammer and throw away the key! So, you see, I don't have quite the same authority answering this question that I would have, say, answering a math or grammar question. First of all, I know for a fact that the CAT algorithms for Quant and Verbal are at least slightly different. I know this because GMAC released an analysis of their own data, with regard to guessing strategies, which I discuss here: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/guessing-s ... -the-gmat/ I don't know much about the details of this difference, but it wouldn't surprise me at all that similar performances, in terms of number of right/wrong, would produce somewhat different raw scores in Q vs. V. Also, I would encourage you to think past the very crude measure of number of correct answers. That's how high school tests work, but that's not how the CAT works. Theoretically, two different people could have similar numbers of questions right and wrong but get radically different scores. With the CAT, what matters is the difficulty of each question --- if you get difficult questions right, then that will mean something quite different from getting easy or medium questions right. The algorithm is sophisticated enough that those of us who don't have a Ph.D. in Statistics probably wouldn't understand it even if they showed us all the details --- which, of course, they are not going to do. I know this isn't a full answer to your question, but I hope it helps. Mike :-)

danzig · Answer

Thank you both for your answers. They have been helpful. And I agree that the algorithm is so sofisticated that it is impossible to provide a clear answer.

Other detail I have noticed in the GMAT Prep is that you get a better score when you answer correctly the 10 -12 fist questions. According to GMAT, that's not necessarily true. We have to try to answer every quetion right.

I agree with that. However, should I spend an additional time (not much) in the first ten questions to make sure that I will answer them right?, what do you think?

Thanks!

mikemcgarry · Answer

At least according to what GMAC proclaims, it seems that performance on earlier questions does not matter any more than any other questions. Apparently, there's a certain amount of redundancy in the algorithm, as well as an ability to account for irregularities (e.g. you get hard questions right but happen to get an easy one wrong). I would tend to recommend: bring the same standard of excellence and efficiency equally to each question. Mike :-)

KyleWiddison · Answer

I agree with Mike on this. People will suggest ways to "game" the GMAT but the best strategy is to give your best effort on every question, strategically guess on questions you can't figure out, and manage your time so you end nearly right on time.

KW

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