Difficulty Level of Manhattan CAT Exams

[piyush]

Hi,

This question is in reference to the following thread

http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/sco ... y-t90.html

One user on this thread commented that the level of Manhattan CAT exams goes down with each test. I have experienced the same thing. I just took my 5th test and scored 760. I was delighted, but then when I started reviewing the exam, I found that for the quantitative section I kept getting questions in the 600-700 difficulty range even though I kept getting them right. I feel that either there aren't too many 700-800 level questions or something going on with the algorithm.

Can anyone with similar experience or MGMAT staff comment.

Thanks,

[StaceyKoprince]

First, although you only see ratings of "600-700" on your score report, the questions themselves are rated to a 10-point increment (that is 630 vs. 680). So you may be getting a harder question and you just can't see it.

Second, the algorithm doesn't just base its decision (as to what to give you next) on difficulty level - the difficulty level is only one of several important parameters. The test also has to make sure to give you an appropriate number of, say, DS vs PS problems. On top of that, the test also has to make sure to give you an appropriate number of, say, algrebra vs. geometry problems and, within those, the right number of basic algebra vs. exponential equation problems. So the parameters don't strictly (and only) adhere to difficulty levels (on our test or the real test - same process).

The database has more than 1,000 questions, so there are certainly enough to give you entire tests with only 700-800 level questions - but that's not how the real thing works.