CAT tests results on free fall

[vasco_campos]

Hi,
I Took 3 MGmat Cat's with inconsistent results. My result kept decreasing, yet my 3 tests were all taken in a 4 day period. I am trying to understand whether my results where accurate or something in the software algorithm had an unexpected behavior. The differences are big, both in final score and MATH/VERBAL balance.

12/6 Exam 1: 710 47/40
14/6 Exam 2: 620 43/32
15/6 Exam 3: 590 45/27

All exams taken under same conditions, 75 min, etc.

For some reason my Verbal score is free falling. Can i fall from a 91%til to a 46%til, in the verbal section? Exam 1 and 3 were only 2 days apart. My confidence if shattered, i am afraid if i take exam 4 my verbal score will plunge even deeper. Please help, i am feeling devastated.

thanks,

Vasco Campos

[StaceyKoprince]

We haven't had any reports of anything wrong with the algorithm; that's very unlikely as an explanation here.

First, stop taking tests so closely together. This isn't how you get better at this test. It's not worth taking a test more than once a week (and, even then, that's too frequent for most situations).

Second, when there are wide swings in a short period of time, there are likely several things going on: timing problems, mental stamina issues, possibly nerves. If nothing else, by the second and third tests, your brain was getting wiped out! This test is like a mental marathon and you did 3 of them in 4 days! Verbal is at the end of each test. Hence, your verbal would more likely be affected by mental fatigue / burn-out.

Third, we need to figure out why this is happening in your case; once we do, we can figure out what to do to combat the situation.

Read this article and do the analysis described for the verbal portion of these tests:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/26 ... went-wrong

Then come back and tell us what you discovered and we'll help you figure out what to do about it. (NOTE: do the analysis as thoroughly as possible! The more data we have, the better!)