If you’re planning to take the GMAT to apply to MBA programs, you may be wondering what the test is like, how long preparing will take, and what prep materials you’ll need. A great way to help yourself answer these questions is to take a GMAT baseline test. By taking a baseline test, you can get a sense of your current skill level and experience the GMAT exam firsthand. Then, you can use the insights you gain to make decisions regarding how best to prepare for the GMAT.
At the same time, many people take a first GMAT practice test without getting the full benefit of doing so. In fact, in some cases, the scores they get are so inaccurate that they are tremendously misleading. The reason for such outcomes is that many GMAT aspirants aren’t aware of some key aspects of getting good results from taking a first GMAT practice test. So, in this article, I’m going to provide some tips for getting the most out of taking a test and getting an accurate baseline score.
Here are the topics we'll cover:
Let’s begin by discussing which test you should use.
Tip 1: To Get An Accurate Baseline GMAT Score, Use an Official Practice Test
Often, when taking a baseline test, people are reluctant to use one of the official practice tests because they know there are only six of them. So, they consider using a third-party, i.e., test prep company, practice test. While this concern makes sense, there’s really no good way around using an official practice test. Here’s why.
Even the best third-party practice tests don’t quite accurately represent the GMAT or produce completely accurate scores. So, by using a third-party practice test, you may not get an accurate score. Also, you won’t get a chance to see what exactly the GMAT is like.
Meanwhile, you can take each of the six official practice tests twice without seeing many repeated questions. So, even if you use one official test, you’ll still have the ability to take eleven more.
So, for best results, when taking your first practice GMAT, use one of the official tests available on mba.com.
PRO TIP:
To get good results from taking a first GMAT practice test, use an official test.
Tip 2: Prepare Some Before Taking Your First GMAT Practice Test
My next important GMAT baseline tip is to prepare some before taking the test. This may be different from what you’ve heard from other MBA applicants. Many people believe you should take a first test “cold,” i.e., with no GMAT prep. Here’s the issue with that approach.
If you take a first test with absolutely no preparation, you won’t get an accurate baseline score. After all, you won’t be familiar with the GMAT’s format or question types or with the basics of answering the questions. Rather, you’ll be learning about the test as you’re taking it. As a result, your score won’t really reflect your skill level. Instead, it will be affected to the downside by your lack of familiarity.
Accordingly, what works better is to prepare some, for perhaps ten to fifteen hours, before you take a first practice test.
In this initial preparation, you should learn the number of questions in each section, Quant, Verbal, and Data Insights, and how much time per question you’ll have. You should also learn about how the GMAT is scored.
Also, you can do some official practice questions of each type. As you do so, get a sense of what it takes to answer questions correctly. For Quant, notice how important it is to carefully read the question to understand exactly what’s being asked. For Verbal, get used to the pattern of reading the passage and the question stem and then eliminating choices to find the correct answer. For Data Insights, familiarize yourself with its functionality, such as the tabs and the table sorting.
Once you’ve done this preparation, you’ll be in a good position to get an accurate baseline score.
PRO TIP:
To get an accurate baseline GMAT score, prepare some before taking your first practice test.
Tip 3: Take the Test Realistically
Another key aspect of getting an accurate baseline score is taking your first practice GMAT realistically. It’s not necessary to completely duplicate the conditions under which you’ll be taking the GMAT by taking the practice test in an unfamiliar place and using a laminated GMAT-style scratchpad. At the same time, to get a reasonably accurate score, you need to take the test in basically the same way you’ll take the real thing.
So, when taking the test, use only the allotted amount of time, and don’t pause the test during a section. Also, take just the one break normally allowed, and don’t do anything not allowed during the real test. For instance, don’t make calls during the test or use a calculator during the Quant section. Basically, make the test-taking process similar to what you’ll experience on test day.
That way, you’ll get not only an accurate score but also an accurate sense of the challenges of the GMAT.
PRO TIP:
To get an accurate baseline score and an accurate sense of what you’ll face on test day, take your first GMAT practice test in a realistic manner.
Tip 4: Do Your Best to Come Up With Ways to Answer Questions
One thing you’ll come to understand as you prepare for the GMAT is that GMAT questions are often like little puzzles that can be solved in multiple ways. Also, often, some of the ways a question can be solved don’t take much knowledge. In other words, you might be surprised about how little you need to know to answer many GMAT questions.
Accordingly, as you’re taking your first practice test, give answering each question at least a shot. That way, you’ll be taking the GMAT as it’s meant to be taken and applying the skills it’s meant to test, which are often akin to street smarts.
For instance, if you’re faced with a Probability question you’re not sure how to answer, you can seek to estimate a probability that’s reasonable given the scenario presented. If you’re stuck on a word problem, see what happens if you test the answers to see which one works. If you don’t fully understand a Critical Reasoning question, you can probably eliminate some answer choices and make an intelligent guess.
You get the idea. You may not be able to answer every question elegantly. At the same time, you can at least try to answer most questions to see how high you can score.
PRO TIP:
When taking your initial GMAT practice test, do your best to find ways to answer as many questions as possible.
Tip 5: Mark an Answer to Every Question
This final tip is related to a key aspect of the GMAT scoring algorithm, which is that it imposes a heavy penalty for unanswered questions. In fact, from what I’ve seen, the GMAT deducts a brutal 3 to 4 points from the 60 to 90 section score for every question you don’t answer in a section. Three section score points correspond to 20 points of your 205 to 805 GMAT total score. So, every question you leave unanswered can cost you 20 to 30 points.
Accordingly, leaving just a few questions unanswered can cost you 60 points or more. And imagine what would happen if you left unanswered two questions on each of the three sections of the GMAT. Leaving unanswered those six questions, or under ten percent of the questions on the test, could cost you 120 points.
Of course, in such a case, your baseline score would not accurately reflect your current skill level. Instead, it would be much lower than it would have been had you quickly guessed on the last few questions of each section.
In the most extreme case I know of, someone with fairly strong skills scored 205 on his baseline test by failing to complete the sections. Imagine his confusion at seeing that score. It certainly didn’t accurately reflect his current GMAT skill level.
So, don’t let this happen to you. Get an accurate baseline score by at least selecting and confirming an answer to every question.
PRO TIP:
To get an accurate baseline GMAT score, mark an answer to every question on the test.
Let’s now answer some common questions about baseline GMAT scores.
What Is a Good Baseline GMAT score?
The question of what is a good baseline GMAT score is similar to the question of what is a good GMAT score. In both cases, the answer depends on your goals.
In the case of your GMAT score, what constitutes a good score is one that’s high enough for your target business schools. In the case of your baseline score, we could say that a good starting GMAT score is one that’s within 100 points of your score goal.
At the same time, we could look at baseline GMAT scores in another way. The purpose of getting a baseline score is to determine your starting level. So, we could say that a good baseline score is one that’s accurate.
KEY FACT:
What could be considered a good baseline GMAT score is one that’s within 100 points of your target or simply one that’s accurate.
Can I Score High on the GMAT if My Baseline Score Is Low?
Many people whose starting GMAT scores are 200 points or more below their target scores end up achieving their goals. The reason is that, with effective preparation,you can continually develop your knowledge and skills and thus continually increase your score.
In fact, one person I know started in the 200s and ended up scoring in the upper 700s. You can learn about her GMAT preparation process from this interview.
So, even if your starting score is relatively low, you can achieve a high score by preparing for the GMAT effectively and looking for solutions any time you hit a score plateau.
KEY FACT: With effective preparation, you can achieve a high GMAT score even if your starting score is relatively low.
Let’s now wrap up with a summary of what we’ve discussed.
How to Get a Baseline Score for GMAT: Key Takeaways
Here’s what we’ve seen is essential to getting good results in taking a baseline GMAT:
- To get an accurate baseline GMAT score, use an official practice test.
- Prepare some before taking your first practice GMAT to avoid getting an inordinately low baseline score.
- To get an accurate score and get a sense of the GMAT’s challenges, take your first practice test in a realistic manner.
- To maximize your baseline GMAT score and use the skills tested by the GMAT, do your best to find ways to answer as many questions as possible.
- Since the GMAT imposes a penalty for unanswered questions, mark an answer for every question on the test.
Then, once you have a baseline score, develop an appropriate study plan, and make your target score happen.