Knowing where you stand: Scoring considerations

Posted by Test Preparation on November 6th, 2009

Okay, you know the GMAT’s format and how many questions it has and so on. But what about what’s really important to you, the crucial final score? Probably very few people take standardized tests for fun, so here’s the lowdown on scoring.

How the GMAT testers figure your score

Because the GMAT is a computer adaptive test, our verbal and quantitative scores aren’t based just on the number of questions you get right. The scores you earn are based on these three factors:

The difficulty of the questions you answer
The questions become more difficult as you continue to answer correctly, so getting tough questions means you’re doing well on the test.

The number of questions that you answer
If you don’t get to all the question in the verbal and quantitative sections, your score is reduced by the proportion of questions you didn’t answer. So if you fail to answer 5 of the 37 quantitative questions, for example, your raw score would be reduced by 13 percent and your percentile rank may to from the 90th percentile to the 75th percentile.

The number of questions you answer correctly
In addition to scoring based on how difficult the questions are, the GMAT score also reflects your ability to answer those questions correctly.

GMAT essay readers determine your analytical writing assessment (AWA) score. College and university faculty members from different disciplines read your responses to the essay prompts. Two independent readers score each of the two writing assignments separately on a scale from 1 to 6, with 6 being the top score. Your final score is the average of the scores from each of the readers for each of the essays.

Understanding the computerized format

Posted by Test Preparation on November 5th, 2009

The GMAT can be taken only as a computer-adaptive test (CAT). The CAT adapts to your ability level by presenting you with questions of various difficulty, depending on how you answer previous questions. If you’re answering many questions correctly, the computer gives you harder questions as it seeks to find the limits of your impressive intellect. If you’re having a tough day and many of your answers are wrong, the computer will present you with easier questions as it seeks to find the correct level of difficulty for you.

With the CAT format, your score isn’t based solely on how many questions you get right and wrong but rather on the average difficulty of the questions. You could miss several questions and still get a very high score, so long as the questions you missed were among the most difficult available in the bank of questions. At the end of each section, the computer scores you based on your level of ability.

Answering in an orderly fashion
With the CAT format, the question order in the verbal and quantitative sections is different from the order on paper exams that have a test booklet and answer sheet. On the CAT, the first ten questions of the test are preselected for you, and the order of subsequent questions depends on how well you’ve answered the previous questions. So if you do well on the first ten questions, question 11 will reflect your success by being more challenging. If you do poorly on the initial questions, you’ll get an easier question 11. The program continues to take all previous questions into account as it feeds you question after question.

Perhaps the most important difference of the CAT format is that because each question is based on your answers to previous questions, you can’t go back to any question. You must answer each question as it comes. After you confirm your answer, it’s final. If you realize three questions later that you made a mistake, try not to worry about it. After all, your score is based on not only your number of right and wrong answers but also the difficulty of the questions.

Observing time limits
Both the verbal and quantitative sections have a 75 minute time limit. Because the quantitative section has 37 questions, you have about two minutes to master each question. The verbal section has 41 questions, so you have a little less time to ponder those, about a minute and three quarters per question. You don’t have unlimited time in the analytical writing section either; you have to write each of the two essays within 30 minutes, for a total of 60 minutes spent on analytical writing.

These time limits have important implications for your test strategy. Your GMAT score depends on the number of questions you’re able to ansewr. If you run out of time and leave questions unanswered at the end of a section, you’ll essentially reduce your score by the number of questions you don’t answer.

Honing your computer skills for the GMAT
Technically challenged, take heart. You need to have only minimal computer skills to take the CAT format of the GMAT test. In fact, the skills you need for the test are far less than those you’ll need while pursuing an MBA! Because you have to type your essays, you need basic word-processing skills. For the multiple-choice sections, you need to know how to select answers using either the mouse or the keyboard. That’s it for the computer skills you need to take the GMAT.

Forming first impressions: The format of the GMAT

Posted by Test Preparation on November 4th, 2009

The GMAT is a standardized test, and by now in your academic career, you’re probably familiar with what that means: lots of questions to answer in a short period of time, no way to cram for or memorize answers, and very little chance of scoring one hundred percent. The skills tested on the GMAT are those that leading business schools have decided are important for MBA students: verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing.

Getting familiar with what the GMAT tests

Stadardized tests are supposed to test your academic potential, not your knowledge of specific subjects. The GMAT focuses on the areas that admissions committees have found to be relevant to MBA programs. The following sections are an introduction to the three GMAT sections:

Demonstrating your writing ability
You type two original analytical writing samples during the GMAT. The test gives you thirty minutes to compose and type each of the essays. One of the samples asks you to analyze an issue, and the other presents you with an argument to analyze. You’re expected to write these essays in standard written English. Although you won’t know exactly the nature of the issue and argument you’ll get on test day, examining previous topics gives you adequate preparation for the types of topics you’re bound to see.

The readers of your GMAT essay score you based on the overall quality of your ideas and your ability to organize, develop, express, and support those ideas.

Validating your verbal skills
The GMAT verbal sections consists of 41 questions of three general types: the ubiquitous reading comprehension problem, sentence correction questions, and critical reasoning questions. Reading comprehension requires you to answer questions about written passages on a number of different subjects. Sentence correction questions test your ability to spot and correct writing errors. Critical reasoning questions require you to analyze logical arguments and understand how to strengthen or weaken or weaken those arguments.

Quizzing your quantitative skills
The quantitative section is pretty similar to most standardized math sections except that it presents you with a different question format and tests your knowledge of statistics and probability. In the 37-questions section, the GMAT tests your knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data interpretation with standard problem-solving questions. You’ll have to solve problems and choose the correct answer from five possible choices.

Additionally, GMAT data sufficiency questions present you with two statements and ask you to decide whether the problem can be solved by using the information provided by just the first statement, just the second statement, both statements, or neither statement.

Things to take to the GMAT (and things to leave at home)

Posted by Test Preparation on November 3rd, 2009

The most important thing you can bring to the GMAT is a positive attitude and a willingness to succeed. However, if you forget your admission voucher or your photo ID, you won’t get the chance to apply those qualities! In addition to the voucher and ID, you should also bring a list of five schools where you’d like to have your scores sent. You can send your scores to up to five schools for free if you select those schools when entering your pretest information at the test site. You can, of course, list fewer than five schools, but if you decide to send your scores to additional schools later, you’ll have to pay. If you can come up with five schools you’d like to apply to, you may as well send your scores for free.

Because you can take two optional five-minute breaks, we recommend you bring along a quick snack like a granola bar and perhaps a bottle of water. You can’t take food or drink with you to the testing area, but you are given a little locker that you can access during a break.

There’s really nothing else to bring. You can’t use a calculator and you’ll be provided with an erasable notepad (which is a lot like a mini dry-erase board), which you’re required to use instead of pencil and paper.

Timing the GMAT test perfectly: When to take the GMAT & what to bring

Posted by Test Preparation on November 2nd, 2009

Which MBA programs to apply to isn’t the only decision you have to make. After you’ve figured out where you want to go, you have to make plans for the GMAT. You need to determine when’s the best time to take the test and what you should bring with you when you do.

When to register for and take the GMAT

When’s the best time to take the GMAT? With the computerized test, this questions has become more interesting. When the exam was a paper-and-pencil format with a test booklet and an answer sheet full of bubbles, you had a very limited choice of possible test dates - about one every two months. Now you’ve got much more flexibility when choosing the date and time for taking the test. You can choose just about any time to sit down and click answer choices with your mouse.

Registering when you’re ready

The first step in the GMAT registration process is scheduling an appointment, but don’t put off making this appointment the way you’d put off calling the dentist (even though you probably would like to avoid both!) Depending on the time of year, appointment times can go quickly. Usually, you have to wait at least a month for an open time. To determine what’s available, you can go to the official GMAT web site www.mba.com and select “Take the GMAT.” From there, you can choose a testing location and find out what dates and times are available at that location. When you find a date and time you like, you can register online, over the phone, or by mail or fax.

The best time to take the GMAT is after you’ve had about four to six weeks of quality study time and during a period when you don’t have a lot of other things going on to distract you. Of course, if your MBA program application is due in four weeks, put off your books and schedule an appointment right away! If you have more flexibility, you should still plan to take the GMAT as soon as you think you’ve studied sufficiently. All of the following circumstances warrant taking the GMAT as soon as you can: Read more »

GED: Top 10 strategies to raise your score

Posted by Test Preparation on October 29th, 2009

When it comes to taking the GED (General Education Development), some test-taking skills will do you more good than others. Here are our picks for the top 10 ways to raise your score.

  1. Get to the test center early.
    Make sure you give yourself plenty of extra time to get there.
  2. Listen to the test monitors and follow their instructions carefully.
  3. Read every word of the instructions. Read every word of every question.
  4. Mark your answers by completely darkening the answer space of your choice.
  5. Mark only ONE answer for each question, even if you think that more than one answer is correct. You must choose only one. If you mark more than one answer, the scoring machine will consider you wrong.
  6. If you change your mind, completely erase your initial choice.
    Leave no doubt as to which answer you intend.
  7. Check often to be sure that the question number matches the answer space, that you haven’t skipped a space by mistake.
  8. Stay alert.
    Be careful not to mark a wrong answer just because you weren’t concentrating.
  9. Don’t panic.
    If you cannot finish a part before time is up, don’t worry. Do not let your performance on any part affect your performance on any other part.
  10. Check and recheck, time permitting.
    If you finish a part before time is up, use the remaining time to check that each question is answered in the right space and that there is only one answer for each question. Return to the questions you found difficult and rethink them.

Online CAT 2009 Test Preparation

Posted by Test Preparation on October 28th, 2009

CAT has become one of the most competitive exams for preparation to judge the potential of the candidates willing to pursue their career in Business Administration. Ending a three-decade-old paper-pencil format for the Common Admission Test (CAT), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have decided to adopt a computer based model for CAT 2009. The new Computer Based Test (CBT) will be embraced by IIMs across the country - Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore, Kozhikode, Lucknow and Shillong, and will give the students the flexibility to select a date convenient to them from a specified period of 10 days. The new system is also expected to help the Institutes of Management cope effectively with the increasing number of candidates every year. While around 95,000 candidates took CAT in 2003, the number rose to about 2,50,000 in 2008, reflecting a phenomenal growth, bringing the administrative system under severe pressure. With the online test, CAT will be similar to the GMAT test in its process.

The CAT will be conducted at Prometric centres across India.

In 2003, CAT question paper had been leaked and this resulted in a retest being held later that year. Computer-Based Test will ensure enhanced security in terms of biometric identification of candidates and video monitoring. Such a format is expected to improve communication between candidates and IIMs in terms of programme information, test delivery, receipt of admit cards and receipt of score reports. However, the nature of study preparation does not depend on whether the CAT is a paper-based or a computer-based test.

Every year, the CAT has changed in some way or the other. This year, the change is with respect to the mode of taking the test. As far as preparing the concepts are concerned, there will not be any change. However, one must go through sufficient online practice to acclimatise oneself with the online testing process. One needs material that will cover basic concepts explained in a friendly manner, CAT application-based questions for practice with explanatory answers and test papers. Also, it is a good idea to check out the material of most of the reputed MBA training institutions.

Read more »

Verbal Ability sample SAT test questions

Posted by Test Preparation on October 22nd, 2009
  1. He believed that while there is serious unemployment in our auto industry, we should not ___________ foreign cars.
    (a) build
    (b) repair
    (c) review
    (d) import
    (e) consolidate
  2. How did you get your answer?
    (a) I tried the word from each choice in the blank and came up with the best answer.
    (b) I chose a word from the choices that ’sounded good’ but that I am really not sure is correct.
    (c) I tried to figure out, before looking at the choices, what word would fit into the blank. Then I matched that word with the choices.
    (d) I guessed.
    (e) None of these.
  3. The salesman in that clothing are so _____________ that it is impossible to even look at a garment without being ____________ by their efforts to convince you to purchase.
    (a) offensive … considerate
    (b) persistent … irritated
    (c) extensive … induced
    (d) immune … aided
    (e) intriguing … evaluated
  4. How did you get your answer?
    (a) I tried each choice (two words at a time) in the blanks to see which made for the best sentence.
    (b) I tried to see what words I could come up with for the blanks before looking at the choices.
    (c) I tried the first word from each of the choices in the first blank in the sentence to see which made the most sense. Then I eliminated the choices whose first words didn’t make sense in the sentence. Finally, I tried both words in the remaining choices to further eliminate incorrect choices.
    (d) I guessed.
    (e) None of these.
  5. Many buildings with historical significance are now being ______________ instead of being torn down.
    (a) built
    (b) forgotten
    (c) destroyed
    (d) praised
    (e) repaired
  6. How did you get your answer?
    (a) I tried each of the choices in the blank.
    (b) I tried to find my own word that would fit the blank before looking at the choices. Then I matched one of the choices with my word.
    (c) I looked for a word that meant the opposite of ‘being torn down’.
    (d) I guessed.
    (e) None of these.
  7. Being _______________ person, he insisted at the conference that when he spoke he was not to be interrupted.
    (a) a successful
    (b) a delightful
    (c) a headstrong
    (d) an understanding
    (e) a solitary
  8. How did you get your answer?
    (a) I tried all the choices in the sentence and selected the best one.
    (b) I realized, from the word Being and from the phrase after the comma, that there was a connection between the two parts of the sentence.
    (c) I looked for the most difficult sounding word.
    (d) I guessed.
    (e) None of these.
  9. In spite of the _______________ of her presentation, many people were ______________ with the speaker’s concepts and ideas.
    (a) interest … enthralled
    (b) power … taken
    (c) intensity … shocked
    (d) greatness … gratified
    (e) strength … bored
  10. How did you get your answer?
    (a) I tried both words from each choice in the blanks to see which choice made the sentence sound best.
    (b) I tried the first word from each choice in the first blank of the sentence to eliminate choices. Then I tried both words from the remaining choices to further eliminate choices.
    (c) I realized that the words in spite of would create an opposition or contrast between the two parts of the sentence and therefore looked for words in the choices that were opposites.
    (d) I guessed.
    (e) None of these.
  11. Read more »

Scoring on the SAT

Posted by Test Preparation on October 21st, 2009

Each subject area on the SAT - Math, Writing, and Critical Reading - is scored on a scale of 200 to 800. The three scores are then totaled, for a combined score between 600 and 2,400. The average SAT score is about 500 per section, or 1,500 total.

You’ll receive your score report about two to four weeks after you take the test. It will include your scaled score as well as your percentile rank, which tells you how you performed relative to other people who took the same test. If your score is in the 60th percentile, it means that you scored better than 60 percen of test takers.

One way of thinking of your SAT score is to imagine yourself in a line with 100 other students, all waiting to be seen by an admissions officer. However, the officer can’t see every student - some students won’t make it through the door. If your SAT score is in the 50th percentile, you’d have fifty other kids in front of you in line. Maybe you’ll be seen, maybe not. Wouldn’t it be nice to jump the line? If you can boost your SAT score, even by a couple of points, you move up the line and increase your odds of getting through the door.

Score Choice
Beginning with the March 2009 SAT, you’ll be able to choose which SAT and SAT Subject Test scores you want colleges to see. This is great news! Let’s say that you take the SAT in March and don’t think you did as well as you could have - maybe you had a cold that day - so you take it again in May. This time you do much better. Under the College Board’s standard reporting policy ALL of your scores would be sent to the colleges you’re applying to. With Score Choice, as it’s being called, you can have only your May SAT scores sent. But pay attention: You can specify only the test date you want sent, not the section. (In other words, you can’t have your Math score from March but your Reading and Writing scores from May sent. It’s either all of March, or all of May.) Also, while the change will go into effect beginning with the March 2009 test date, you’ll be allowed to use the new feature retroactively for scores prior to March 2009. So if you have an older SAT score from December that isn’t as good as you’d like, you’ll be able to choose not to send it out to schools.

Score Choice will be optional for students - this means that you have to opt in and actively choose which specific tests you want to send to colleges. If you choose not to use Score Choice, then all of the scores on file for you will automatically be sent when you request score reports be sent to a college you’re applying to.

Read more »

What is the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)?

Posted by Test Preparation on October 15th, 2009

The SAT is a standardized exam that most high school students take before applying for college. Generally, students take the SAT for the first time as high school juniors. If they do very well, they are through. If they want to try to boost their scores, they can take the test a second or even a third time.

The SAT tests you in three areas: reading, writing, and mathematical reasoning. As a result, each time you take the test you get three separate scores: a critical reading score, a writing score, and a math score. Each of these scores will fall somewhere between 200 and 800. For all three tests, the median score is 500: about 50 percent of all students score below 500 and about 50 percent score 500 or above. In talking about their results, students often the three scores and say, “Ron got a 1560,” or “Hermione got a 2400.” (Total scores range from 600 to 2400, with a median of about 1500.)

What is the format of the SAT?
The SAT is a 4-hour plus exam divided into ten sections; but because you should arrive a little early and because time is required to pass out materials, read instructions, collect the test, and give you two 10-minute breaks between sections, you should assume that you will be in the testing room for 4.5 to 5 hours.

Although the SAT contains ten sections, your score will be based on only 9 of them: five 25-minute multiple-choice sections (two math, two critical reading, and one writing skills); two 20-minute multiple-choice sections (one math and one critical reading); one 10-minute multiple-choice section (writing skills); and one 25-minute essay-writing section. The tenth section is an additional 25-minute multiple-choice section that may be on math, critical reading, or writing skills. It is what ETS calls an ‘equating’ section, but most people call it the ‘experimental’ section. ETS uses it to test new questions for use on future exams. However, because this section typically is identical in format to one of the other sections, you have no way of knowing which section is the experimental one, and so you must do your best on all ten sections.

How do I signup to take the SAT test?
Online: Go to www.collegeboard.com
Have available your social security number and/or date of birth.
Pay with a major credit card.
Note: If you are signing up for Sunday testing, or if you have a visual, hearing, or learning disability and plan to sign up for the Services for Students with Disabilities Program, you cannot register online. You must register by mail well in advance.

Read more »

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