How many can you miss to get upper percentiles?

[arielle]

I understand that my question cannot be answered with absolute accuracy due to variations in the difficulty of the test one receives, as well as how one does on the first section determining how difficult a second section one receives. However, do you have any inkling, for instance, about how many (if any) you can miss to score above a 166 on the math section? And what about the verbal section?

From the Manhattan tests it seems that they differ greatly, with the verbal section allowing a lot more miscues.

[tommywallach]

Hey Chris,

So you're not going to like this answer, but I think you'll understand why it's the most honest one: we don't know exactly.

Because of the new section adaptivity, the second section of the test will not be scored exactly the same as the first, even if you get the same number of questions right/wrong. In other words, if you get 20 questions right on the second section of quant, but it's the EASY section, that will be worth less (in terms of your eventual score), then if you got 20 questions right on the second section if it were the HARD section.

As for how many you can get wrong on the FIRST section and get put in the "easy" bucket, versus the "medium" bucket or the "hard" bucket, I don't know the answer, but remember: if you get placed in the medium bucket and got everything right, that could be the same as getting placed in the hard bucket and getting a lot wrong. So it's just more complicated than simply number right/wrong.

I encourage you not to think about it in those terms. Your goal should be to get as many right as you can!

-t