This chapter will show you how the computer-adaptive GMAT really works. You will learn to pace yourself and to take advantage of the test’s limitations.
To understand how to beat the computer-adaptive GMAT, you have to understand how it works.
Unlike paper-and-pencil standardized tests that begin with an easy question and then get progressively tougher, the computer-adaptive test always begins by giving you a medium question. If you get it right, the computer gives you a slightly harder question. If you get it wrong, the computer gives you a slightly easier question, and so on. The idea is that the computer will zero in on your exact level of ability very quickly, which allows you to answer fewer questions overall and allows the computer to make a more finely honed assessment of your abilities.
During the test itself, your screen will display the question you’re currently working on, with little circles next to the five answer choices. To answer the question, you use your mouse to click on the circle next to the answer choice you think is correct. Then you press a button at the bottom of the screen to verify that this is the answer you want to pick.
What you will never see is the process by which the computer keeps track of your progress. When you start each section, the computer assumes that your score is average. So, your starting score for each section is around a 30. As you go through the test, the computer will keep revising its assessment of you based on your responses.
Let’s watch the process in action. In the left-hand column on the next page, you’ll see what a hypothetical test taker—let’s call her Jane—sees on her screen as she takes the test. In the right-hand column, we’ll show you how GMAC keeps track of how she’s doing. (We’ve simplified this example a bit in the interest of clarity.)
To regard the overwhelming beauty of the Mojave Desert is understanding the great forces of nature that shape our planet.
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understanding the great forces of |
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to understand the great forces to |
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to understand the great forces of |
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understanding the greatest forces in |
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understanding the greater forces on |
When you start each section, the computer assumes that your score is average. So, your starting score for each section is around a 30. Jane gets the first question right (the third answer down—what we’ll call C), so her score goes up to a 35, and the computer selects a harder problem for her second question.
Hawks in a certain region depend heavily for their diet on a particular variety of field mouse. The killing of field mice by farmers will seriously endanger the survival of hawks in this region.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the conclusion drawn above?
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The number of mice killed by farmers has increased in recent years. |
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Farmers kill many other types of pests besides field mice without any adverse effect on hawks. |
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Hawks have been found in other areas besides this region. |
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Killing field mice leaves more food for the remaining mice, who have larger broods the following season. |
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Hawks are also endangered because of pollution and deforestation. |
The computer happens to select a critical reasoning problem.
Oops. Jane gets the second question wrong (the correct answer is the fourth answer down—what we call choice D), so her score goes down to a 32, and the computer gives her a slightly easier problem.
Nuclear weapons being invented, there was wide expectation in the scientific community that all war would end.
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Nuclear weapons being invented, there was wide expectation in the scientific community that |
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When nuclear weapons were invented, expectation was that |
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As nuclear weapons were invented, there was wide expectation that |
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Insofar as nuclear weapons were invented, it was widely expected |
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With the invention of nuclear weapons, there was wide expectation that |
Jane has no idea what the correct answer is on this third question, but she guesses choice E and gets it correct. Her score goes up to a 33.
You get the idea. At the very beginning of the section, your score moves up or down in larger increments than it does at the end, when GMAC believes it is merely refining whether you deserve, say, a 42 or a 43. The questions you will see on your test come from a huge pool of questions held in the computer in what the test writers call “difficulty bins”—each bin with a different level of difficulty.
Unfortunately, approximately one-fourth of the questions that you answer won’t actually count toward your score. The difficulty of an experimental question does not depend on your answer to the previous question. You could get a question right and then immediately see a fairly easy experimental question.
So, if you are answering mostly upper-medium questions and suddenly see a question that seems too easy, there are two possibilities: a) you are about to fall for a trap, or b) it’s an experimental question and really is easy. That means it can be very difficult for you to judge how you are doing on the section. So, don’t try! Your best strategy is to simply try your best on every question.
Remembering that experimental questions are included throughout the section can also help you use your time wisely. When you get stuck on a question—even one of the first ten questions—remember that it might be experimental. Spending an inordinate amount of time on one question could cause you to rush and make silly mistakes later. Would you really want to do that if the question turned out to be experimental?
Eliminate what you can, guess, and move on in those situations.
The GMAT keeps a running tally of your score as it goes, based on the number of questions you get correct and their levels of difficulty—but there are two other important factors that can affect your score:
At the beginning of the test, your score moves up or down in larger increments as the computer homes in on what will turn out to be your ultimate score. If you make a mistake early on, the computer will choose a much easier question, and it will take you a while to work back to where you started from. Similarly, if you get an early problem correct, the computer will then give you a much harder question.
However, later in the test, a mistake is less costly—because the computer has decided your general place in the scoring ranks and is merely refining your exact score.
While it is not impossible to come back from behind, you can see that it is particularly important that you do well at the beginning of the test. Answering just a few questions correctly at the beginning will propel your interim score quite high.
Make sure that you get these early questions correct by starting slowly, checking your work on early problems, and then gradually picking up the pace so that you finish all the problems in the section.
Still, if you are running out of time at the end, it makes sense to spend a few moments to guess intelligently on the remaining questions using POE rather than random guesses or (let’s hope it never comes to this) not answering at all. You will be pleased to know that it is possible to guess on several questions at the end and still end up with a 700.
On the next page, you’ll find our pacing advice for math and verbal. The charts will tell you how much time you should spend for each block of ten questions based on a practice test score.
To help you ace the computer-adaptive GMAT, this book is going to provide you with
According to classic theory, the average test taker spends most of his or her time answering questions at his level of competency (which he gets right) and questions that are just above his level of competency (which he gets wrong). In other words, most testers will see questions from only a few difficulty “bins.”
This means that to raise your score, you must learn to answer questions from the bins immediately above your current scoring level. At the back of this book, you will find a short diagnostic test to determine your current scoring level and then bins filled with questions at various scoring levels. When combined with a thorough review of the topics covered on the GMAT, this should put you well on your way to the score you’re looking for.
But first, let’s learn with some test-taking strategies.
