Study and Strategy questions relating to the GMAT.
BlasP747
Course Students
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2018 5:53 am
 

Algo used in Manhattan CATs

by BlasP747 Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:22 pm

Hi Everyone

Hope this message finds you all in great shape and killing the GMAT

I am wondering how Manhattan calculates CAT scores... Strangely enough I have had 580 twice even though I scored Q38+V31 and Q40+V31... :shock:

Any idea why this might have happened?

I've used the basic score calculator provided by Manhattan and actually first one should have been 570 and second one 590...

Help will be very much appreciated!

B
StaceyKoprince
ManhattanGMAT Staff
 
Posts: 9360
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
Location: Montreal
 

Re: Algo used in Manhattan CATs

by StaceyKoprince Mon Feb 19, 2018 4:46 pm

Hello! Did you notice the text in the blue box at the top of the score calculator page? Here's what it says:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/gmat-score-calculator/

Did you know? It’s possible for one pair of sub-scores to map to as many as three different Total scores. For instance, if you look up the pair of scores Verbal 41, Quant 49 on the table, you will see a score of 730. On the test, though, this pair of scores (V41, Q49) can actually map to a 720, a 730, or a 740. Click here to learn more.


So, yes, a specific score pair can map to a 570, 580, or 590. (And different score pairings can map to the same Total score.)

If you'd like to know more about why this can happen, go back to that page and cick on the link. (It's fairly technical. You can also just know that this does happen and the reasons are valid—and maybe you don't really care to learn the technical details regarding exactly why. :) )
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep