The difficulty of these questions is usually in the "above 700" range. Ideal for candidates who are aiming for such as score.
Perfect type's of questions to train your brain to endure.
Check out the GMAT Weekly Quests Forum.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Manhattan GMAT Article: Breaking the 700 Barrier
Breaking the 700 Barrier
By Kevin Fitzgerald of Manhattan GMAT
Many students ask me what it takes to break the 700 barrier on the GMAT. Let's take a look at crossing that increasingly important threshold.
One of the great GMAT myths is that the first 8 questions in each section "make or break" your score and that nothing you do after that point has much of an effect on the score you end up with. False! Eight questions are not enough to determine your score. If they were enough, each section would consist of 8 questions.
One of the consequences of the myth is the belief that in order to break 700, you must answer those first 8 questions correctly. Untold numbers of test-takers have labored over the first eight, afraid that any mistake will send their scores plummeting to unthinkable depths. While it is true that you should give each question your best shot, the absolute number of questions answered correctly is not as important as their difficulty level. Better to have a 50/50 success rate at a high level than a 50/50 success rate at a lower one, even though the percentage of right and wrong answers is the same.
The most serious upshot of this myth is that its believers spend far too much time on the first eight questions and then find themselves racing to finish the section. Often, these test-takers run out of time and leave some questions unanswered at the end of a section. Given that unanswered questions are essentially counted as incorrect answers, it makes more sense to move at a steady pace throughout the entire section rather than concentrate on any particular subset of questions. In fact, spending too much time on early questions may actually damage rather than help your final score.
Also, keep in mind that even for a test-taker of very high ability, getting the first eight questions correct in a section is highly unlikely, even if that test-taker spends a lot of extra time on those first eight questions! Remember, due to the adaptive nature of the exam, if you get the first question in a section correct, you will be bumped up to a very difficult second question. If you get that second question right, your third question will also be at an extremely high difficulty level. You will continue to see questions at this very high difficulty level until you get a question wrong, at which point the exam will adjust the difficulty level downward somewhat. Even test-takers of very high ability levels usually cannot sustain accuracy through the first eight questions in a section.
Do not become a victim of the "first 8" myth: give every question your best shot, but do not let any one group of questions drive your entire performance.
Many people come to GMAT preparation in mortal fear of the quantitative section. Probability! Exponents and roots! The entire section seems like a parade of horribles. Unfortunately, many of these people spend the bulk of their study efforts honing their math skills at the expense of their verbal preparation. Certainly a great performance on each section is ideal, but experience has shown that an excellent verbal performance affects one's overall score more dramatically than does an excellent performance in quantitative.
Let's take a look at what happens at the highest levels of the exam: 700+. A recent test-taker received a scaled score of 45 in verbal (98th percentile) and 40 in quant (66th percentile) and an overall score of 700 (93rd percentile). Notice how much closer the overall percentile is to the excellent verbal percentile. If the overall percentile were simply an average of the individual percentiles, this person would have received about 640. But because the combination of an outstanding verbal performance with a fair quant performance is so rare, the overall percentile and score will be much higher than the lower quant percentile. Another person, who scored 49 in verbal (99th percentile) and 37 in quant (56th percentile), received 710 (95th percentile), even though the quant performance here was a full 10 percentile points lower than that in the previous example. Again, an outstanding performance in verbal significantly offset a middling performance in quant.
Does this work in reverse? That is, will an outstanding performance in quant so dramatically offset a middling performance in verbal? No. This combination is much more common, given the increasing number of international test-takers, who often have excellent math skills but relatively weak command of English. Even among native speakers of English, it is more common to see relatively high quant scores coupled with fair to middling verbal scores. Because these combinations are less rare, they are not rewarded as highly. For example, a test-taker recently received a 50 in quant (97th percentile) and a 37 in verbal (82nd percentile), but "only" a 670 overall (89th percentile). So the truly excellent quant performance was not enough to pull the overall score above 700.
While an excellent verbal performance can indeed take up some of the slack from a weaker quant score, keep in mind that most business schools want to see strong skills in both sections. In fact, some of the top 20 schools apply the "80/80 rule", which requires that successful applicants reach at least the 80th percentile in both sections. So do not put all your eggs in one basket: make sure you prepare well for both sections.
By Kevin Fitzgerald of Manhattan GMAT
Many students ask me what it takes to break the 700 barrier on the GMAT. Let's take a look at crossing that increasingly important threshold.
One of the great GMAT myths is that the first 8 questions in each section "make or break" your score and that nothing you do after that point has much of an effect on the score you end up with. False! Eight questions are not enough to determine your score. If they were enough, each section would consist of 8 questions.
One of the consequences of the myth is the belief that in order to break 700, you must answer those first 8 questions correctly. Untold numbers of test-takers have labored over the first eight, afraid that any mistake will send their scores plummeting to unthinkable depths. While it is true that you should give each question your best shot, the absolute number of questions answered correctly is not as important as their difficulty level. Better to have a 50/50 success rate at a high level than a 50/50 success rate at a lower one, even though the percentage of right and wrong answers is the same.
The most serious upshot of this myth is that its believers spend far too much time on the first eight questions and then find themselves racing to finish the section. Often, these test-takers run out of time and leave some questions unanswered at the end of a section. Given that unanswered questions are essentially counted as incorrect answers, it makes more sense to move at a steady pace throughout the entire section rather than concentrate on any particular subset of questions. In fact, spending too much time on early questions may actually damage rather than help your final score.
Also, keep in mind that even for a test-taker of very high ability, getting the first eight questions correct in a section is highly unlikely, even if that test-taker spends a lot of extra time on those first eight questions! Remember, due to the adaptive nature of the exam, if you get the first question in a section correct, you will be bumped up to a very difficult second question. If you get that second question right, your third question will also be at an extremely high difficulty level. You will continue to see questions at this very high difficulty level until you get a question wrong, at which point the exam will adjust the difficulty level downward somewhat. Even test-takers of very high ability levels usually cannot sustain accuracy through the first eight questions in a section.
Do not become a victim of the "first 8" myth: give every question your best shot, but do not let any one group of questions drive your entire performance.
Many people come to GMAT preparation in mortal fear of the quantitative section. Probability! Exponents and roots! The entire section seems like a parade of horribles. Unfortunately, many of these people spend the bulk of their study efforts honing their math skills at the expense of their verbal preparation. Certainly a great performance on each section is ideal, but experience has shown that an excellent verbal performance affects one's overall score more dramatically than does an excellent performance in quantitative.
Let's take a look at what happens at the highest levels of the exam: 700+. A recent test-taker received a scaled score of 45 in verbal (98th percentile) and 40 in quant (66th percentile) and an overall score of 700 (93rd percentile). Notice how much closer the overall percentile is to the excellent verbal percentile. If the overall percentile were simply an average of the individual percentiles, this person would have received about 640. But because the combination of an outstanding verbal performance with a fair quant performance is so rare, the overall percentile and score will be much higher than the lower quant percentile. Another person, who scored 49 in verbal (99th percentile) and 37 in quant (56th percentile), received 710 (95th percentile), even though the quant performance here was a full 10 percentile points lower than that in the previous example. Again, an outstanding performance in verbal significantly offset a middling performance in quant.
Does this work in reverse? That is, will an outstanding performance in quant so dramatically offset a middling performance in verbal? No. This combination is much more common, given the increasing number of international test-takers, who often have excellent math skills but relatively weak command of English. Even among native speakers of English, it is more common to see relatively high quant scores coupled with fair to middling verbal scores. Because these combinations are less rare, they are not rewarded as highly. For example, a test-taker recently received a 50 in quant (97th percentile) and a 37 in verbal (82nd percentile), but "only" a 670 overall (89th percentile). So the truly excellent quant performance was not enough to pull the overall score above 700.
While an excellent verbal performance can indeed take up some of the slack from a weaker quant score, keep in mind that most business schools want to see strong skills in both sections. In fact, some of the top 20 schools apply the "80/80 rule", which requires that successful applicants reach at least the 80th percentile in both sections. So do not put all your eggs in one basket: make sure you prepare well for both sections.
Business School Rankings
World Report and US News recently published their annual rankings of the top Business Schools in the country.
This years top 5 include:
1- Harvard
2- Stanford
3- Northwestern (Kellogg)
4- U Penn (Wharton)
_______________2 WAY TIE FOR 5th
5- U Chicago (Booth)
5- MIT (Sloan)
The Methodology:
The 3 most critical facts which weigh on the overall score of the schools are...
1- Quality Assessment (based on peer schools deans/directors, and corporate recruitment agencies)
2-Post Grad Placement "Success"
3- Student Selectivity
To my surprise acceptance rates and undergraduate GPA had VERY minimal effect on the overall score each school received.
LINK TO RANKINGS
( Remember rankings are NOT something to base your b-school decision on. Pick the school that is right for you. Basing your selection of a b-school based solely on their ranking will quite possibly end up to be a BIG mistake. )
This years top 5 include:
1- Harvard
2- Stanford
3- Northwestern (Kellogg)
4- U Penn (Wharton)
_______________2 WAY TIE FOR 5th
5- U Chicago (Booth)
5- MIT (Sloan)
The Methodology:
The 3 most critical facts which weigh on the overall score of the schools are...
1- Quality Assessment (based on peer schools deans/directors, and corporate recruitment agencies)
2-Post Grad Placement "Success"
3- Student Selectivity
To my surprise acceptance rates and undergraduate GPA had VERY minimal effect on the overall score each school received.
LINK TO RANKINGS
( Remember rankings are NOT something to base your b-school decision on. Pick the school that is right for you. Basing your selection of a b-school based solely on their ranking will quite possibly end up to be a BIG mistake. )
FACEBOOK GROUP
Just created a Facebook group for the MBA Admissions Survey.
HERS THE LINK----- >
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=76548273727
JOIN IT!!!!
HERS THE LINK----- >
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=76548273727
JOIN IT!!!!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Cool Idea... Hope It Takes Off
So in my quest to provide as much helpful information to you guys as possible I stumbled upon a pretty interesting website.
The site ( Chiashu ) gives future lawyers, recent Law School applicants, a chance to both share their personal information ( ie. GPA, LSAT Score, and School applied to ) as well as view other Law School hopefuls information. This website is great for the sole purpose of "sizing yourself up".
The only flaw I found in the website is the inability to see the persons Undergraduate School. This would be helpful when looking at the GPA section. We all know a 3.2 GPA from "Harvard" and a 3.2 GPA from "XYZ" are looked at very differently when applying to Law School or Business School.
I thought this would be great to offer to MBA hopefuls. It would be amazing to be able to compare yourself to other MBA applicants with a click of the mouse!
The platform I decided to try this idea out with is SurveyMonkey. After I get an influx of responses I plan on publishing a useful illustration of my results.
The survey is only 6 questions. If you have multiple business schools you applied to feel free to name them all with your responses from the schools ( accepted,rejected,waitlisted).
Heres the LINK -----> Click Here to take survey
So take the survey and lets get this thing rolling. Also take a look at Chiashu which i modeled this concept after.
The site ( Chiashu ) gives future lawyers, recent Law School applicants, a chance to both share their personal information ( ie. GPA, LSAT Score, and School applied to ) as well as view other Law School hopefuls information. This website is great for the sole purpose of "sizing yourself up".
The only flaw I found in the website is the inability to see the persons Undergraduate School. This would be helpful when looking at the GPA section. We all know a 3.2 GPA from "Harvard" and a 3.2 GPA from "XYZ" are looked at very differently when applying to Law School or Business School.
I thought this would be great to offer to MBA hopefuls. It would be amazing to be able to compare yourself to other MBA applicants with a click of the mouse!
The platform I decided to try this idea out with is SurveyMonkey. After I get an influx of responses I plan on publishing a useful illustration of my results.
The survey is only 6 questions. If you have multiple business schools you applied to feel free to name them all with your responses from the schools ( accepted,rejected,waitlisted).
Heres the LINK -----> Click Here to take survey
So take the survey and lets get this thing rolling. Also take a look at Chiashu which i modeled this concept after.
Annual Scholarship Opportunity
One of the most popular GMAT Blogs, "Beat The GMAT", is now taking applications for their 2009 Scholarships. I believe there are 5 recipients this year. Scholarships include Manhattan GMAT courses, prep books, and CASH.
One ELIGIBILITY note:
- Must be a College Senior or be finished with College completely in order to qualify.
http://www.beatthegmat.com/scholarship.html
Good Luck!
One ELIGIBILITY note:
- Must be a College Senior or be finished with College completely in order to qualify.
http://www.beatthegmat.com/scholarship.html
Good Luck!
Introduction
I am currently a Junior at a second-tier University in the United States. My major of choice is Finance which I cannot say will help me very much in my pursuit of scoring a 700+ on the GMAT. I have created this blog for 2 main reasons...
1) To give future GMAT takers an outlet to view study methods and problems encountered during the studying process that can potentially be valued at a later date.
2)I feel like most Blogs like this are created from students attending top 20 Universities. In my case I go to a great school, that is well respected, but not of the "stature" as the Harvard's and Columbia's of the world. I wanted to offer future GMAT takers another possible perspective.
My plans are to study for 4-5 months for the GMAT using various resources.From my research it is best to study and take the test within a 4 month time span. After 4 months, study's show that you will get burned out and perform poorer than if you take the GMAT within 4 months.
I will post later with a list of my prep books and various online components I plan on using.
My initial goal is to study 4 days a week for an average of 3 hours on those days. Each day I study or encounter something of use i will blog it. Like I previously have said my hope is to score a 700+ when I take the GMAT in August. Lets see how it goes!
1) To give future GMAT takers an outlet to view study methods and problems encountered during the studying process that can potentially be valued at a later date.
2)I feel like most Blogs like this are created from students attending top 20 Universities. In my case I go to a great school, that is well respected, but not of the "stature" as the Harvard's and Columbia's of the world. I wanted to offer future GMAT takers another possible perspective.
My plans are to study for 4-5 months for the GMAT using various resources.From my research it is best to study and take the test within a 4 month time span. After 4 months, study's show that you will get burned out and perform poorer than if you take the GMAT within 4 months.
I will post later with a list of my prep books and various online components I plan on using.
My initial goal is to study 4 days a week for an average of 3 hours on those days. Each day I study or encounter something of use i will blog it. Like I previously have said my hope is to score a 700+ when I take the GMAT in August. Lets see how it goes!
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