Quant questions level very various

[jeremystaub28]

Hello everyone,

I hope I am not posting a subject that is against the general rules of this forum. It is in someway a personal question but I'm sure it can be interesting to others too.

I have noticed that there seems to be big differences in the quant question difficulties. Of course this depends on the score a test taker is achieving but from a certain point onwards you always get 700 level questions so you can compare. I just scored a Q51 on gmat prep and I found the questions were total jokes compared to some of the questions I have had on MGMAT CAT's. In my 6 tests my score ranged between Q45 and Q47 (I only receive 700 level questions). Is there an explanation for a sudden Q51? Why is it although I got only 4 mistakes I was still getting some 600 level questions?

I look forward to any insight on this and of course thank you in advance :)
Best regards!

[StaceyKoprince]

The algorithm is really complicated and isn't based only on difficulty level - it also has to hit a bunch of other parameters (a certain number of DS vs. PS, a certain number of geometry vs. algebra, a certain number of triangles vs. circles, etc). So you can get questions that are within a certain range above or below your current scoring level. (This is true on the real test as well.)

(It's also the case that our quant tends to be about-the-same-as to a-little-bit-harder-than the real quant - we want to over-prepare you, not under!)

The database for GMATPrep seems to be smaller than for the real test or for our tests, and it seems to be the case that there aren't as many really hard / high-end questions, so if you're scoring at the highest end in one section, you might not see quite as many hard questions as you'd be likely to see on the real test.

You might also want to take a look at your timing. If you found GMATPrep easier, and ours harder, than you might have had some timing issues on ours, which can lower your score by the end of the section. You can use this to analyze your MGMAT CATs:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Also, just note that difficulty level is based upon the entire population, not one person. It's very common to see a question that you think is easy but the general population finds difficult (or vice versa). :)

Finally, I have to add the most important piece: you got a Q51! Congratulations! Good luck!