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I felt like sharing with you fine internet savvy people that I just finished the GMAT and the GMAC are the most sadistic people ever.
Well it's over. 710 according to unofficial score report. I didn't bomb it, and odds are pretty good I'd have to study every night for a year to raise it significantly, so I'll take it.
This is the most sadistic test ever and here's why: after you bust your keister on this thing for hours on end after weeks and weeks of preparation, uncertainness, and anxiety, there's this final screen which says:
"Would you like to report or cancel your scores? You have ten minutes to decide, this choice is permanent. If you do not decide to report them within the ten minute time limit we will automatically cancel them for you."
Right after you finish the GMAT you feel like you've just completed one of the labors of Hercules and you are very much anxious about how you did. The temptation to toss away $250 + the 90 mile drive to get there is just tremendous.
Those sadistic bastards. I hate multiple choice answers which determine your future.
To make it even worse I had to leave my CCW in my vehicle the whole time, because you can't have anything on your person besides your locker key and ID. I really didn't want to put my gun in a testing center locker with a bunch of people I don't know watching either.
Not as good as I'd hoped but better than a sharp stick in the eye. And I knew I wasn't getting an 800 when I went in there...
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Is that a "good" score?
In any case, it does not determine your future, only you do that.
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Yup just took the GMAT last year as well. Evil test that is.
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Try taking a bar exam.
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They've changed it since I took it 13 years ago. Back then, we took it on paper and didn't get the option of discarding our effort. I also don't recall it costing all that much. I don't remember my score, but the biz school admissions guy was impressed.
Chris
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I took the GMAT back in 2000-ish.
Not exactly a fun test and proctoring it on a computer is a fine money-saver, but harder on the taker. Especially the written portion.
I also took the LSAT & GRE back then.
The most interesting pick-n-pray exam I took was hte Navy flight test, which is their officer weed-out test. It had a lot of interesting spacial-type questions that had me spinning solids in my brain. Not exactly fun, but beat the GMAT every day of the week & twice on Sundays.
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In any case, it does not determine your future, only you do that.
Well yes and no. It's just a hard fact of life that, just for example, a high school senior who scores a 1500 on his SAT could have more opportunities than one who scores a 1200.
One of the other posters mentioned other great examples like the bar exam and some tests in the military, and there are other specialized "pick and pray" tests (haha) in many other industries. Doing well on them is always better than not.
On the other hand I get what you're saying, because usually your score reflects how hard you tried and not how smart you really are.
In an idea world we would make a comprehensive evaluation of each candidate for any particular opportunity rather than rely on a written test score, but in the real world people want and need something quick and dirty to compare with, so I guess it will always be that way.
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On the other hand I get what you're saying, because usually your score reflects how hard you tried and not how smart you really are.
Standardized tests really only show how well you can regurgitate what you have learned over the years, and to some extent your critical thinking skills, relative to others who took the same test.
I think they are good at weeding out the really hapless among us, and pointing out the extremely bright ones. I am not so sure they do much to tell us all that much about the other 90% who take the test.
My guess is that trying harder will get you a better score than not, and it is clear some people are better test takers then others, but overall I suspect that it does not make that much difference. Most smart people have learned over the years how to take tests, especially multiple guess type questions, since usually at least one or two of the answers given are so far off you can eliminate them as possible answers. That takes it from being a problem solving type exercise to one that merely requires you to prove an answer is not correct, something that is often far easier.
Essay type questions are often easy to game, since all you really have to do is come up with a coherent few paragraphs to get a good score, but it is amazing to me how few people can do that.
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After all those round of testing, you might enjoy the story at this link . . .
http://manybooks.net/titles/piperh1894918949-8.html
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I think they are good at weeding out the really hapless among us, and pointing out the extremely bright ones. I am not so sure they do much to tell us all that much about the other 90% who take the test.
That was the original rationale behind the SAT. Top schools knew that there were smart kids at bad/no-name schools, but could not rely on transcripts & class rankings to find them.
A standardized test was determined to be the best way to find the diamonds in the rough.
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I took the GRE about 5 years ago.
The "Would you like to report or cancel your scores?" took me by surprise. I finished answer the last question of the last question, confirm it, then you get two more confirmation screens. It slightly unnerved me since I thought I was done answering questions.
I didn't do this next part for the GRE, but I had to go to the same testing center for many of finals for college. I would have to work up my courage to look at the score of my test (if it was automatically graded) on the screen for a couple of classes. One time I just clicked by the screen without looking at my score and sat in my car for about 10-15 minutes before I would look at the printed report.
I squeaked by a couple of classes.
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The average * GMAT score at Harvard is 707
from http://www.800score.com/c1p2.html