{"id":18215,"date":"2019-10-21T17:57:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T17:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/?p=18215"},"modified":"2019-10-21T17:57:04","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T17:57:04","slug":"gmat-enhanced-score-report-analysis-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/gmat-enhanced-score-report-analysis-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Analyzing Your GMAT Enhanced Score Report (Part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"gmat-enhanced-score-report-quantitative-analysis\"<\/p>\n

Welcome to part 3! In the first installment, we talked about the <\/span>overall Enhanced Score Report<\/span><\/a>, how to interpret your scores, and how to analyze the data from the IR and Essay sections. In the second installment, we talked about how to <\/span>analyze your Verbal data<\/span><\/a>. Now, it\u2019s time for Quant!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the first page of the Quant section of a GMAT Enhanced Score Report (as with Verbal, not my own report because my data was atypical):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"gmat-quantitative-section-performance-graphs\"<\/p>\n

What jumps out at you as worth analyzing?<\/span><\/p>\n

This test-taker did much better at <\/span>Data Sufficiency<\/span><\/a> than at <\/span>Problem Solving<\/span><\/a>, even though the average time for DS was <\/span>lower<\/span><\/i> than for PS. What does that mean?<\/span><\/p>\n

First, it means that the test-taker should be quicker to bail on some PS problems. They\u2019re costing more time but not actually providing a better return\u2014it\u2019s wiser to spend extra time on DS, not PS, given the data.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, the fact that the test-taker is better at DS than PS tells me that she understands math rules and concepts pretty well but is struggling more with actual calculations and solving to the end (which is what we have to do on PS but not DS). So she needs to practice more \u201cmath on paper\u201d but she also probably needs to practice alternative strategies that let her avoid that kind of computation, such as estimation and logicking it out. (We have an entire chapter called Logic It Out in our <\/span>All the Quant guide<\/span><\/a>. If you told me I couldn\u2019t logic stuff out or estimate any longer on the GMAT, I\u2019d refuse to take it again! <\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

The student was much better at Algebra \/ Geometry than at Arithmetic. Likewise, the student will want to be faster to bail on pure Arithmetic questions that she finds too complicated\u2014she might as well reallocate that time to Alg \/ Geo, since she\u2019s better at those areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking of \u201cthose areas,\u201d wouldn\u2019t it be nice if they gave us more detail on our content strengths and weaknesses?<\/span><\/p>\n

GMAT Enhanced Score Report:<\/strong> Quant Performance by Fundamental Skills<\/span><\/h3>\n

They do! Take a look:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"gmat-enhanced-score-report-quantitative-performance-by-fundamental-skills\"<\/p>\n

Geometry is awesome! But ouch, Counting \/ Sets \/ Series is…not. The <\/span>FAQ section of the ESR<\/span><\/a> tells you what falls in each of these areas. Here\u2019s what it says about Counting, Sets, and Series (indented material copyright GMAC):<\/span><\/p>\n

Counting (Combinatorics)<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n

Problems whose primary focus involves basic combinatorial ideas, such as permutations, combinations, counting paths in a grid, etc.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Estimation<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n

Problems whose primary focus involves one or more numerical estimations.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Series And Sequences<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n

Problems whose primary focus involves a numerical sequence (a finite or infinite list of numbers) or a numerical series (the sum of a numerical series), such as arithmetic sequences, geometric sequences, sequences defined by recursion, etc.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sets<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n

Problems whose primary focus involves the understanding of, and application of basic ideas about sets, such as their union and their intersection. Problems that appear to be best solved by the use of a venn diagram are considered sets problems.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay, we have some good material to work with here. Check it out! Estimation is on this list. That confirms our earlier hypothesis that the student needs to work on this. (I promise I hadn\u2019t already seen this when I made that hypothesis! I\u2019ve literally been writing all of this as I examine the score reports.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Next, the other three areas are pretty annoying quant areas. There are ways for the test writers to ask easier questions in these areas, and so we do want to know how to handle those. But these can also get quite hard. Since this test-taker now knows these areas are weaker, she can just put \u201charder combinatorics, series \/ sequences, and sets\u201d on her \u201cbail fast\u201d list. (How do you know which problems are officially rated harder while taking the exam? You don\u2019t. \u201cHarder\u201d means \u201charder for me.\u201d If it looks annoying and it\u2019s your area of weakness, bail.)<\/span><\/p>\n

It looks like this test taker also needs some work on Value \/ Order \/ Factors (and that goes along with the data that she\u2019s struggling more with Arithmetic, by the way). So she would also read the description for these areas and now she\u2019s got a good idea of what she can do to try to improve her score for next time. (Of course, you\u2019ll want to review all topics, even your strengths, before you take the test again.)<\/span><\/p>\n

GMAT Enhanced Score Report:<\/strong> Performance By Quadrant<\/span><\/h3>\n

Next up, we\u2019ve got the quadrant data. What do you spot here?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"gmat-enhanced-score-report-quantitative-statistics\"<\/p>\n

\"gmat-quantitative-enhanced-score-report-time-management-charts\"<\/p>\n

As with the Verbal report, analyze all of this data collectively. The quadrant 4 percent correct stat is an immediately obvious one\u20140% right. Before that, this student was doing really well. What happened?<\/span><\/p>\n

Take a look at the timing data. Yes, the student did very well in the first three quadrants, but she had to burn through a lot of extra time to maintain that performance. Then she had to rush a <\/span>lot<\/span><\/i> in the fourth quadrant, so it\u2019s no surprise that her performance dropped so much.<\/span><\/p>\n

The great news? She still scored a 45 in this section despite dropping so much in the last quadrant. The GMAT is a Where You End Is What You Get test: Your scoring level at the end of the section is your final score. So if she can make some better decisions earlier in the section\u2014which will definitely involve using our <\/span>Yellow Pad time management technique<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>choosing a small number of problems on which to bail fast<\/span><\/a>\u2014then she won\u2019t miss a bunch of questions and have her score drop at the end. And that means she\u2019s got a really good chance to score in the high 40s (if not higher!) on her next official test.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember our earlier takeaway about finding other <\/span>quicker, dirtier ways to do math<\/span><\/a>, including estimation? Getting better at that will also help her to manage her time on the test. All in all, this student has quite a bit of opportunity to lift her score.<\/span><\/p>\n

One last thing. It\u2019s sometimes the case that certain data points don\u2019t seem to be as useful (for example, if your percent correct was about the same for all content areas) but even \u201clow-contrast\u201d data points tell you something (for example, that you have a solid foundation across all content areas\u2014a good thing to know!). If you\u2019re planning to take the test again and you don\u2019t think that you already know what you need to improve, then the ESR can be a valuable tool, even with its $30 price tag.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s it! We\u2019ve analyzed the entire Enhanced Score Report. Happy studying!<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free. We\u2019re not kidding! <\/i>Check out our upcoming courses here<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\"stacey-koprince\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Stacey Koprince<\/a>\u00a0is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.<\/strong>\u00a0Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT \u00a0for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests.\u00a0Check out Stacey\u2019s upcoming GMAT courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to part 3! In the first installment, we talked about the overall Enhanced Score Report, how to interpret your scores, and how to analyze the data from the IR and Essay sections. In the second installment, we talked about how to analyze your Verbal data. Now, it\u2019s time for Quant!\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[874],"tags":[52889,329],"yst_prominent_words":[56252,54090,53741,56187,55107,54443,56250,53635,53781,56251,56186,56183,56253,56249,56248,53787,56198,53640,54357,53786],"class_list":["post-18215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat-resources","tag-gmat-enhanced-score-report","tag-gmat-score"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18221,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18215\/revisions\/18221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18215"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=18215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}