What's your GMAT/GRE/SAT score?

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Dr. Zaus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2008
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Would you say that some of the grade inflation has been caused by people having more time to study for the exam after getting let go from their jobs? I know that a lot of my friends who lost their jobs in the past 2 years and didn't have luck finding a new job ended up dedicating themselves full-time to studying for either professional certification exams (CPA/CFA/etc.) or grad school exams (GRE/GMAT/etc.) and going back to school...
GREAT question!

There are a few factors: 1.) Asians have thrown the V vs. Q sores WAY off (they don't speak english and they ace the math) 2.) The ability of prep-books to teach you to beat the GMAT has gone way up 3.) People are preparing very hard for these tests, the "I just took it" portion of the population is very low when it comes to a professional degree like the GMAT 4.) Cheating is horrible in the math section, you can pay some people a few K and they will give you the 200ish questions you are likely to hit when you take the GMAT Q

And 5 is a BIG deal! GMAT is for people who want to advance their careers. I have always thought of the MBA as the professional degree for the person that couldn't be a doctor or lawyer. Not to say the standards at high end schools are low, but how low the standards go for in other schools is MUCH lower than how low they go for doctors and lawyers.


I made a 680 a few years ago and it was about the 90th percentile; by the time I re-took three and a half years later, that 680 had fallen to the 85th percentile!

Overall, I think both a higher class of person and a higher class of cheater has been taking the GMAT.
I took it about a month ago, and my 700 = 90th percentile
Don't let smarty pants on forums make you feel bad about 'only' being in the top 10% of university graduates perusing a carer in business; remember you are up against not only university grads but also professionals who have probably been business persons for years and cheaters who have the money to pay for questions ahead of time.

your social circle, what would you call the average SATs result? Better?
the three people that call me their best friend and I have known since high school had (V&Q only) a 1280, 1480 and 1340. The average for my graduating class was 1200, but the average for people in my local region is 740.

I live in a land of stupid.

I used to teach GMAT quantitative for the local university and I once had 10 out of 30 people in the room score in the 200s on their first try... with five people in the 200-220 range.
 
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HAL9000

Lifer
Oct 17, 2010
22,021
3
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the three people that call me their best friend and I have known since high school had (V&Q only) a 1280, 1480 and 1340. The average for my graduating class was 1200, but the average for people in my local region is 740.

I live in a land of stupid.

OK cool thanks I don't really know anything about american test scores. Our sats are all Level 4/5/6/7 and ABC if I remember correctly.
 

thegimp03

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2004
7,420
2
81
GREAT question!

There are a few factors: 1.) Asians have thrown the V vs. Q sores WAY off (they don't speak english and they ace the math) 2.) The ability of prep-books to teach you to beat the GMAT has gone way up 3.) People are preparing very hard for these tests, the "I just took it" portion of the population is very low when it comes to a professional degree like the GMAT 4.) Cheating is horrible in the math section, you can pay some people a few K and they will give you the 200ish questions you are likely to hit when you take the GMAT Q

And 5 is a BIG deal! GMAT is for people who want to advance their careers. I have always thought of the MBA as the professional degree for the person that couldn't be a doctor or lawyer. Not to say the standards at high end schools are low, but how low the standards go for in other schools is MUCH lower than how low they go for doctors and lawyers.


I made a 680 a few years ago and it was about the 90th percentile; by the time I re-took three and a half years later, that 680 had fallen to the 85th percentile!

Overall, I think both a higher class of person and a higher class of cheater has been taking the GMAT.

Don't let smarty pants on forums make you feel bad about 'only' being in the top 10% of university graduates perusing a carer in business; remember you are up against not only university grads but also professionals who have probably been business persons for years and cheaters who have the money to pay for questions ahead of time.

the three people that call me their best friend and I have known since high school had (V&Q only) a 1280, 1480 and 1340. The average for my graduating class was 1200, but the average for people in my local region is 740.

I live in a land of stupid.

I used to teach GMAT quantitative for the local university and I once had 10 out of 30 people in the room score in the 200s on their first try... with five people in the 200-220 range.

Interesting. I had no idea that cheating would be so rampant on an exam like that. In the end the cheaters are just cutting themselves short. The days of high profile c-level execs getting outted over a fake MBA are probably over like the CFO for Veritas (now Symantec) back in '02. In 25 years it might be some tool who cheated on the exam to get his/her MBA. Wonder which is worse.
 

Dr. Zaus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2008
11,764
347
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I had no idea that cheating would be so rampant on an exam like that. In the end the cheaters are just cutting themselves short.
It got so bad in a number of countries (somallia, Iran) that there have been short and long term bans on testing in those countries. A few years ago the scam I described was uncovered, thousands 'unintentionally' were involved and 80 had their scores pulled and are now refused testing.

In 25 years it might be some tool who cheated on the exam to get his/her MBA. Wonder which is worse.
I doubt people will ever be caught for it, they would have to link anonymous forums posts to a particular individual...
 

halik

Lifer
Oct 10, 2000
25,696
1
0
1340 or 1350 on GRE

I think the volatility on those is huge, I got full score on the quant part when i took it before. Alas it got me in the grad program I wanted (Michigan / Applied Economics)
 
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Dr. Zaus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2008
11,764
347
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1340 or 1350 on GRE

I think the volatility on those is huge, I got full score on the quant part when i took it before. Alas it got me in the grad program I wanted (Michigan / Applied Economics)

I knew I liked you for a reason.
 
Jun 27, 2005
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1995 re-centering (raising median score back to 500)

The test scoring was initially scaled to make 500 the mean score on each section with a standard deviation of 100.[26] As the test grew more popular and more students from less rigorous schools began taking the test, the average dropped to about 428 Verbal and 478 Math. The SAT was "recentered" in 1995, and the average "new" score became again close to 500. Scores awarded after 1994 and before October 2001 are officially reported with an "R" (e.g. 1260R) to reflect this change. Old scores may be recentered to compare to 1995 to present scores by using official College Board tables, which in the middle ranges add about 70 points to Verbal and 20 or 30 points to Math. In other words, current students have a 100 (70 plus 30) point advantage over their parents.

So my ~1150 is worth about 1250 by today's standards. I think I was hung over when I took it. Didn't realize they let you use a calculator now. That would have been nice.

IIRC I got a 33 on my ACT.

Took the LSAT for fun a few years ago... (I had quit drinking and I needed something to do) Prepped after work for a an hour a night for a month and got a 157.
 
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TecHNooB

Diamond Member
Sep 10, 2005
7,458
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Thinking of taking the new GRE in aug or sept. Heard it's different from the old one.

I think they replaced antonyms and analogies with short critical reading sections. Also the total score is different. I made sure I took the old test.. don't want to be the new test guinea pig.
 

brblx

Diamond Member
Mar 23, 2009
5,499
2
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time of tests will matter because the score range changes so much. Also what your educational status was at the time of testing (though gmat and gre are self explanatory)

this? i'm not sure, i skimmed the thread and didn't see it addressed. i was under the impression that most standardized tests used percentile-type scores, even if they don't scale 0-100 (or 0-99, technically).

but anyway, the south generally does the ACT, which i've heard is easier questions but less time, so the bad 'test takers' can really end up with a horrible score. the reading comprehension section is what most people run out of time on.

i'm pretty sure i killed that part, as well as the other english section and science. math? notsogreat.

i think composite was 30 but my individual score in math was prob only like a 25. ~33's in english/science brought that up.

99 on the ASVAB. that's the only other test i can remember taking in high school. and i went combat MOS because i'm actually, in fact, retarded.

also i have seriously never heard of those other two tests. they sound like finance companies.
 

brblx

Diamond Member
Mar 23, 2009
5,499
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also-

I love all of these idiots with stories of getting ripped right before the SAT/GRE/GMAT, or falling asleep during the exam, etc...

fwiw i took the ACT unprepared with little sleep.

took it again with a good night's rest. less nervous, and even reviewed a few things like math stuff that i had forgotten/never bothered to learn*. scored a point lower.

*high school geometry and anything earlier was cake. and i basically got through algebra I/II on common sense. then i got to calculus and stuff, and i was like, oh shit, i actually have to memorize formulas and stuff? :( i sucked bad at that.

yet i've still never had any need to consult a reference to solve a real math problem.

imo advanced math should be for college majors that need it and everyone else should learn something they'll actually freaking use.
 

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
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Took it after high school ended on June 7, 2008. (New test) Mostly took it just because people had taken it. It didn't matter at that point what I got. I didn't study nor did I have any idea what the test was like. I went in knowing nothing. All I knew was that people took it and got a number.

Reading: 520 (56%)
Math: 660 (87%)
Writing: 320 (4%)

Summed: 1500 out of 2400

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/5972/sateo.jpg

I didn't really write anything for the writing portion because I was like, "Eh, whatever." I sat there for about 90% of the time just staring at an empty submission. Wrote gibberish at the last three minutes. Probably would've been better if I submitted it blank. Writing section again, never received a good education in it. Commas, semicolons, colons, grammar, and all the jazz are nothing I knew about; see what I mean?

Math. I remember thinking I got just about every question right. I didn't have a calculator and they didn't provide one... Everyone else had one. :/ That slowed me down at a few points where I could have easily checked some things. There was no calculus at all on there. I was disappointed by that because I was really banking on that being there for an easy win.

Reading. Whatever. I don't think I ever learned much in English class because it was never forced that hard and I never payed any attention.
 
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Whisper

Diamond Member
Feb 25, 2000
5,394
2
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I think they replaced antonyms and analogies with short critical reading sections. Also the total score is different. I made sure I took the old test.. don't want to be the new test guinea pig.

Yep, antonyms and analogies are gone and replaced with increased emphasis on critical reading portions. Also, you're provided with an on-computer calculator for the math portion. I think the new scoring scale is from 130 to 170; yeah, doesn't make sense to me, either.

I like the inclusion of the calculator, but am iffy on the complete removal of analogies and antonyms. Word knowledge, while obviously not the same thing as reading comprehension, is in my opinion an important part of linguistic ability, and is highly correlated with various other metrics of language and intelligence. Analogies also offer the opportunity for verbal reasoning in a time-limited setting.

I guess we'll just see how it pans out, although I'm definitely glad I got mine out of the way seven years ago.
 

HamburgerBoy

Lifer
Apr 12, 2004
27,111
318
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The antonyms are incredibly hit or miss for me. Sometimes I'll know every word and ace a section, ending up with a ~90th percentile practice score, other times I'll have absolutely no clue and get ~70th percentile. Reading comprehension, I'm much more consistent, usually missing a few problems but never bombing an entire section. The verbal part has me the most worried. :(
 

TecHNooB

Diamond Member
Sep 10, 2005
7,458
1
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The antonyms are incredibly hit or miss for me. Sometimes I'll know every word and ace a section, ending up with a ~90th percentile practice score, other times I'll have absolutely no clue and get ~70th percentile. Reading comprehension, I'm much more consistent, usually missing a few problems but never bombing an entire section. The verbal part has me the most worried. :(

yea, the verbal is a real crapshoot for me too. i memorized a shit ton of vocab too :|