MGMAT CAT accuracy?

[rishabdhar1988]

Hi.

I have taken 5 MGMAT CATs till now and my scores are:

CAT#1 710 (Q48 V 39)
CAT#2 690 (Q48 V38)
CAT#3 730 (Q48 V40)
CAT#4 750 (Q51 V41)
CAT#5 740 (Q51 V40)

The second CAT was taken after a hectic day,,so I believe it doesn't count.

In the first 4 CATs I took quant untimed,but verbal timed.I always found that I used to short on time,solving those crazy quant questions.

As I started reviewing those questions my paced picked up.Also,you can see that in the last 3 CATS the verbal is in 40's.There is a very definitive reason for that-an improvement in CR and RC.During that period I started solving super crazy LSAT CR questions,as a result CR questions of MGMAT were walk in the park.

In the last CAT, I took both quant and verbal timed.For the first time I finished quant on time! During this CAT, I just forgot about the clock and simply concentrated on the questions.This helped me to grasp what the question was asking much more quickly.In the last CAT I made 2 silly mistakes in last 2 questions,which were SC[my strong area],as a result my percentile dropped from 93 to 89".

I dunno whether it was just me,I got robbed of 4 minutes on quant and 3 minutes on verbal automatically after I answered the first question".I wasn't able to submit answers on last 3-4 questions on verbal,so I was scared that I might be robbed of time again,so I hastily chose answers on SC,causing silly mistakes.

Now my question is:

"People say on MGMAT forum that MGMAT verbal is of the same level as that of real GMAT.But the number of questions that I get wrong for a score of 40-41 are usually 10-12,as compared to usually 6-8 needed on GMATPrep.Does this mean that my real verbal level is only 36-38. I know that is a silly question for this is a CAT."

This is one thing that is making me very nervous.

[StaceyKoprince]

First, no - the number wrong means next to nothing. :) That's not how the test is scored.

Second - you ask how accurate your scores are. The tests on which you took the quant untimed are pretty much meaningless in terms of gauging what might happen on the real test. It is extremely dangerous to take the test untimed, because you teach yourself to react to the test in ways that you will never be allowed to do on the real test.

That craziness you feel when you have to work too fast and can't really do everything? The real test is going to feel like that too - you can't get rid of that (on the real test). You actually have to learn to deal with it. So giving yourself the luxury of all the time on you want on a practice test - and not learning to deal with the insane time pressure on this test - is really dangerous.

You took the last test timed and still got a great score - that's fantastic, but I want you to check something. Your score has been quite high from the first test. Check the number of 700+ questions you had on the last test, and check the last time you got a 700+ question in each section. It's possible to run out of 700+ questions on the 5th or 6th test if you are getting lots of 700+ questions right from the start - the algorithm isn't allowed to give you questions you've already seen. So check and make sure that the last score actually does hold up.

If you were still getting 700+ questions towards the end of each section, then it holds up (and it means that you did learn how to deal with the quant time pressure!). If it didn't, then you may have two problems: your score will be inflated, and you may still have quant timing problems but didn't experience them on this test because you were getting an easier mix of questions than usual. It would suck if that were true - but it's better to know now rather than go into the real test expecting a 740 and then having problems.

From now on, all tests must be taken under 100% official conditions, including the essays. Skipping the essays = another potential source of an inflated score. (And for anyone else reading this, DO NOT take tests untimed!)

I dunno whether it was just me,I got robbed of 4 minutes on quant and 3 minutes on verbal automatically after I answered the first question

I haven't heard of this particular bug before, but there are certainly bugs sometimes. Please send an email to techsupport@manhattangmat.com and explain the problem that you experienced. Tell them which test it was and also give them the full name on your account so they can look it up. They'll figure out what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again!

Okay, so check into what I wrote above and write me back to let me know what you think. If the 5th test score holds up, then I think you're ready to take the real test! :)

[rishabdhar1988]

Hi

I have taken GMAT 2 times.I never felt the pressure with time on quant [finished 1 time with 6 minutes to spare and the other time with 9 minutes to spare].The first time I got a 44.The second time I got a 49,almost same as my MGMAT first 3 quant scores.

I know that taking the quant is a bad habit,but since I knew that I rarely get out of time on quant,I decided to get as many 700-800 question from the manhattan algo so that I could learn something new.I learnt a very important thins "REPHRASE YOUR QUESTIONS and YOU WILL DO WELL".This way my entire attention was focused on just 1 thing.

I devised a general way to approach each question [more specifically word problems,DS,and other tough PS questions].On easier questions such as exponents you can do these steps intuitively and arrive at an answer in under 1 minute

1) First read the entire question -10-15 seconds
2) Understand thoroughly what the question is asking and what clues it has given -30-35 seconds
3) Write it all down on paper in a well arranged manner -15-20 secs
4) Connect the dots and find the missing link -30 secs
5) Solve for that link.-30 secs-GMAT rarely requires much of calculation.It is more about logic and understanding.

I'm not too worried about timing on quant on the real GMAT.

My worry is that the first time I took GMAT and I barely knew anything about verbal and still got a 34.The second time I prepped hard and still got a 32 on verbal.I was getting around 40-42 on verbal in most MOCK tests,exluding MGMAT.I hadn't taken these CAT's back then.MGMAT's are absolutely amazing.The analysis tools and all are great additions.

My point is back then I used to get 720-770 on MOCK tests,with quant 48-50[same as first three MGMAT quant] annd 39-42 verbal.It was absolutely shocking for me to see 32 on verbal.That's why I'm very nervous and curious as to whether I am once again ready for the real verbal.

AS requested by you,I checked the difficulty level of the questions on the last couple of tests.On the second last-there were plenty of 700-800 level questions,but on the last test even though my accuracy was around 90% in PS and 70% in DS in 700-800 questions [10 in all that I got],I stopped getting them from question 30 onwards.So you can say I kind of ran out of 700-800 questions.

Even though I kind of cheated on the second last test,I feel much better on Quant than I previously was.The other day I took 1 GMATFocus test and got a rating of 49-51 [all right].I honestly believe that most of them were 600-700 level MGMAT questions.

The weird thing in verbal-my accuracy in CR on 700-800 questions was higher than on 600-700 questions.That's weird,but I got to add 2 of the mistakes in those questions were silly ones.The last 2 SC questions that got wrong after getting a 700-800 CR question right [39th question] were both 600-700 level.

Please advice me on verbal.

My accuracy on CR,SC,and RC for the last 2 CATs are as follows

CR

500-600 (2 q's) -0 incorrect -100% correct
600-700 (7 q's) -4 incorrect - 57% accuracy
700-800 (19 q's)-9 incorrect - 53% accuracy

SC

600-700 (22 q's) -5 incorrect - 77% accuracy
700-800 (8 q's) -3 incorrect -63% accuracy

RC

300-500 (2 q's) -0 incorrect -100% accuracy
500-600 (5 q's) -0 incorrect -100% accuracy
600-700 (12 q's)-4 incorrect -67% accuracy
700-800 (5 q's)- 2 incorrect -60% accuracy

For all 5 cat's my accuracy is as follows:

CR

500-600 (5) -100%
600-700 (21)-67% [7 wrong]
700-800 (44)-57% [19 wrong}

SC

500-600(2)-100%
600-700(33)-85%[5 wrong]
700-800(40)-65%[14 wrong]

RC

300-500(2)-100%
500-600(11)-82%[2 wrong]
600-700(24)-67%[8 wrong]
700-800(23)-17%[4 wrong]

3 of the 700-800 level RC questions that were correct were in last 2 CATs.So studying LSAT definitely helped.Before,I managed to get only 1 RC question right in 18 700-800 level questions!

It would be great,if you could comment on whether these % of correct answers is normal for a person who get 40+ verbal or my accuracy is very poor and I need to work on it?

This is absolutely critical because I need to be sure that I have a 40+ level.I have my real GMAT on 8th December.It would be great,if you could suggest on what I should do and when.I'm planning to take my 6th and final CAT on 3rd December,after completing 2-3 LSAT tests,and the GMATPrep on 6th December.

I have my real test at 9am.I am a late sleeper.Is there anything you could advice on that too? Is taking a sleeping pill a good idea or would it cause unnecessary letharginess[made up my own word] the following morning.Please also advice on some good stress busters for verbal.

Also,the only thing different that I did on the real GMAT was that I thought too much about score and didn't concentrate on the situation at hand.Usually, When I take a practice CAT,my sole motive is get as many questions correct as possible.At home when I take the CAT,I usually drink some water talk to my cousin for a couple of minutes-have a light laugh and return to the CAT to start the verbal section.

When I took the breaks I was thinking about the score.Can this have a negative effect ? Though I think it might be a superstition.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm not too worried about timing on quant on the real GMAT.

Okay - you've convinced me. Not because you just said so, but because of the data you provided to back up your assertion! :)

You had plenty of 700+ questions on even your last test it sounds like (though you possibly ran out towards the end), so I think you're okay there.

We actually need three pieces of interrelated data in order to fully assess your performance: accuracy, difficulty level, and timing. Timing is missing from the data you gave me. I can advise you to some extent, but timing is a huge component.

I do like the fact that you didn't miss any sub-600 Qs at all - that's important. Little mistakes can take a big toll by the end of the section. I'm not so worried about the distinction between 600-700 and 700-800 level because a lot of that is just due to individual strengths and weaknesses (while the difficulty levels are pegged ot the strengths and weaknesses of the entire population). Your numbers are still good for both of those - that's good enough for me.

And you're also showing progress on later tests (eg RC) - that's also a great sign.

From what you've shown me, I do think you're ready. We can't predict the future, of course (and there's always the wildcard of anxiety / nerves, since we know practice tests don't count and the real thing does), but things look good.

GMATPrep on 6th December.

Please DON'T DO THIS. DON'T take a practice test within 5 days of the real test - today is your last practice test. You don't learn much from the act of taking a practice test - you just test yourself to get data to know what to improve and you practice improving your stamina. You aren't going to be able to learn much from the test in 1 day AND you risk actually reducing your stamina by taking a full-length test too close to the real thing. Think of it this way: the GMAT is a mental marathon. Would you run a practice marathon two days before you ran a real marathon? (I hope you wouldn't. :)

I have my real test at 9am.I am a late sleeper.

Ugh - me, too. Some people can benefit from various sleep aids, but it's really not a good idea to try something new at the last minute - you might end up with some unexpected side effects that linger during the test.

Go to bed at the same time every night from now till the test and get up at the same time (the time you have to get up on test day). Figure out what gives you a good energy boost in the morning. Exercising for 10-15 minutes? Getting outside into the sunshine (if there's sunshine where you live)? Certain things to eat or drink? Music? You can try different things over the next several days and see what works for you.

Usually, When I take a practice CAT,my sole motive is get as many questions correct as possible.
When I took the breaks I was thinking about the score.Can this have a negative effect ?

Both of those mindsets could have serious negative effects on your performance.

Here's your mindset: Think of this as a tennis match, not a test. You're going to win some points and the other guy is going to win some points; you're not going to win them all, right? Your goal is to put yourself into position to win the LAST point.

Translated, that means you have to put yourself in position to answer the last question - you have to have time to address it. Otherwise, you've lost the last point, and by extension the match. When the other guy hits a winner, don't go running after it so fast that you hit the fence and injure yourself, thereby hurting your chances on the later points. (Translation: don't try to win EVERYTHING at the expense of using up too much time and hurting yourself later in the test.) Don't do the opposite either - don't go so quickly that you "give away" a point due to a careless mistake. But do still expect to lose a decent number of those points.

Re: the "thinking about the score" thing, here's the problem with humans: we fixate on the bad stuff. Do you notice when you're in the fast-moving lane on the highway but some other lane is slow? No. You notice when you're in the slow lane (and plot how to move to the fast lane!). The same thing happens on tests - you'll remember the things that gave you trouble and you'll just psych yourself out.

Also, it's a waste of time anyway. You really can't tell how you're doing on the test. The score isn't just a matter of adding up the ones you got right - it's so complex that there's a whole computer program just to calculate it! :)

[rishabdhar1988]

Hi stacey,

Just to keep you updated.I took the GMAT on 8th Dec and scored 720 (Q49 V40) on the real gmat!

I finally didn't screw up on verbal.

Thanks for the amazing advice!

Rishab

[StaceyKoprince]

Awesome!! I'm really happy for you!!

If you're interested in sharing, I think your fellow students would appreciate any advice you can give them over in the "GMAT Test Day" folder. Explain what your difficulties were and what helped you most to overcome them - then, other students in a similar position can learn from you!

Now, on to applications, right? Good luck with everything - let us know how it goes!