640 - First MGMAT CAT test...

[dapplegate]

Week 1 of the 9 week MGMAT prep course was last Monday. Last night, Sunday, I took my first ever GMAT practice test - the MGMAT CAT. My score was a 640.

TYPE: SCORE: ESTIMATED PERCENTILE RANK
Quantitative: 42: 66 %
Verbal: 35: 77 %
Total: 640: 80 %

My question is, HOW accurate do you think my score of 640 is? I missed a lot of questions.

Quantatative: ?'s Right = 19 & ?'s Wrong = 18
Verbal: ?'s Right = 22 & ?'s Wrong = 19

[StaceyKoprince]

That's exactly how this test works. You will always get a lot of questions wrong.

I recommend that you log into your student center and find your PDF copy of our free e-book, The GMAT Uncovered. This will explain how the scoring algorithm works (among many other things about the GMAT) and it will be very useful for you to have that info as you study. This test does NOT work the same way a paper test in school works, and if you try to take the GMAT in the same way that you took paper tests in school, you will not get the best score that you could get.

Nice job, by the way - that is a really great starting point!!

(Oh, and I just want to add: did you take the test under official testing conditions? If not, or if you're not sure what official testing conditions are, please talk to your instructor and make sure that, in future, you take tests under strict official conditions. If you don't do that, then there is a very real danger of artificially inflating your score, and you obviously don't want to think that your score is higher than it really is.)

[dapplegate]

I skipped the essays... I didn't know those were going to be asked for the MGMAT CAT & I wasn't prepared for those (time wise). Also, I knew they wouldn't affect my score.

I'm pretty sure I used an accurate "test day" simulation. In regards to the timer, I entered 75 minutes for "each section". For the math, I used the erasable yellow graph paper MGMAT sent me in the mail.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm pretty sure I used an accurate "test day" simulation.

You didn't, unfortunately, because you skipped the essays. In future, do actually do the essays. I know yo don't care about the score from the essays, but you do care about your ability to perform at a high level on the multiple choice until the 3.5 hour mark, after having had to write an hour's worth of essays first. If you don't actually practice that way, your score may be inflated on your practice tests and you may experience a drop on test day.

This is one of the most common scenarios I hear on the forums, by the way - someone never does the essays on practice tests, has a drop on real test day, and doesn't know why. They come here to ask and we have to break the bad news. So be glad you know now! :)

[dapplegate]

Technically speaking, you could skip the essays and get a perfect GMAT score. So, skipping the essays doesn’t necessarily inflate my score. I get your point though.

Being my first CAT ever, I had no idea MGMAT would be asking me to do an essay. In fact, I thought we woudn't because of the emphasis that it isn't that important. Long story short, I didn't schedule enough time to include the essays.

That being said, I actually got stronger towards the end... the essays might be a nice way to "wake up" and "get in the groove".

[StaceyKoprince]

Technically speaking, you could skip the essays and get a perfect GMAT score. So, skipping the essays doesn’t necessarily inflate my score.

And it would be easier to get a perfect score if you skipped the essays, wouldn't it? That's kind of my point. The point is that, if you have to start the quant section an hour in, and the verbal section 2.25 hours in, your performance is potentially going to be lower than if you can start quant right away and start verbal at only 1.25 hours in.

You could do a lot better on a marathon if you only had to run 2/3 of the route. :)

And, yes, as you said, for some people the opposite is true! More people, I think, fall into the category I described above, but for some people, it takes them a while to get into the test and "peak." For those people, doing the essays first allows them to get going without sacrificing anything on the multiple choice.

[dapplegate]

That score included missing 6 out of my first 8 math questions. It was a SLOW start.

I followed my horrible start with answering 13 correct out of the next 17.

Unfortunately, I only got 4 right out of my last 12.

[StaceyKoprince]

What was your timing like in that sequence? Were you moving noticeably slower or faster during any of the "high" or "low" chunks?