Hi,

I have been self-studying for the GMAT using the Veritas On-demand lectures as well as the Veritas course books.

I have started going through some of the practice tests.

Upon completion the Verbal section of an "800score" test I got 27/41.

According to the software, this is 97th percentile. Can this be the case?

I would have thought that a higher score would be required to be in the 97th percentile.

Please could someone explain how the percentiles are calculated?

Thanks,
OJ

OJ,
I have found the same problem, and i am also a self studier. I just took a verbal on 800 Score and received 29 of 40 correct. The test results say that this is the 99th percentile!

OJ, perhaps your situation is the same as mine. I have found that if i go slow, i completely rock the verbal... and i also flunk the last 10 questions. On this specific exam where i scored similarly to you, i missed only 4 out of the first 31 questions. However of the last ten, i missed 8. naturally this is because i was rushed.

I must also admit that i have not scored near has high on verbal with any other test, such as the GMAT Simulator. i have actually pulled this kind of score twice now with 800 score, perhaps there is a pattern?

OJ, please provide some light on how your wrong answers were distributed throughout the exam. Veritas Advisors, please provide some light on the validity of 800 Scores... because i do also believe that 800 Score provides language that is easier to comprehend than the other tests...

Thanks,
GW

Hey guys,

Thanks for sharing your results! A few points to make here:

1) Your NUMBER correct (27/41, etc.) is only one of several factors that determines your score. People are often surprised at how many questions you can miss and still score high on this test, and that's based on the adaptive scoring algorithm. To understand the scoring algorithm better, I'd check out this link:

http://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2010/08/understanding-gmat-scoring-algorithm/

The short of it - you can go 27 for 41 and, provided you're getting high-difficulty questions, still score well into the 90s in percentile.

2) The 800Score tests have trended easier on the verbal side for some reason, so you're right to notice that. I'll bring that up to their developers again to see if they can even that out a little bit.

3) What's most important about taking practice tests is what you learn from them, and not necessarily your score. Scores on practice tests are good but have some wiggle room on them if only because only GMAC has its proprietary scoring algorithm and the test manufacturers can only seek to approximate it. Gauging your performance, though - which types of mistakes do you make, how well are you pacing yourself, how do you hold up for a 3.5 hour test, etc. - gives you insight into how you can (and need to) improve, and that's where you can truly benefit from the experience. Use your practice tests as maybe 20% "indicator of where you stand" but 80% "blueprint for how you can improve" and you'll be much more successful as a result.