Tommy Wallach

Hey Everyone, Wow, great discussion! Unfortunately, a lot of misinformation has been spread both in this forum and in the greater testing world, so I want to dispel some myths. THE BEGINNING IS NOT MORE IMPORTANT! Okay...started there. Moving on: First of all, computer adaptive tests do technically penalize you more for a blank answer than a wrong answer. However, because you can't leave questions blank mid test, this will only happen if you run out of time. So don't run out of time! Secondly, the beginning of the test is not more important than the rest of it. This would not make the test very good, as it wouldn't make ANY logical sense to have the beginning actually be more important. What's really going on is far more complicated. In reality, the first few questions do MOVE the difficulty more violently, because the test is trying to work out who you are. Think of it this way: If you were an 800 level student, and you start at a 500-level question #1 (As all students do), and the test only went up by 20 points if you got a question right, it would take it 15 questions to start feeding you the 800 level questions you deserve. Instead, it swings more violently at the beginning to try to zero in on who you are. This DOES NOT make the test more important at the beginning. In truth, all the questions are equally weighted, and just as important for your score. For more info on how this works, feel free to read this article on item response theory. Thirdly, the test does not SUBTRACT a right answer based on wrong answers. It doesn't work that way at all. Like I said, it's far more complicated. Fourthly, while extensive messing about with Powerprep does make the beginning of the test look more important, Powerprep IS NOT A REAL TEST. It doesn't have nearly enough questions in its pool to simulate a real GRE, and the scoring algorithm is compromised as a result. Read up on what ETS has said about the testing algorithm, but don't pay attention to what others say, and don't trust experimentation on the Powerprep tests. As this forum makes clear, this is a subject that confuses a lot of people. Do not trust the idea that you have to get every question right after the first 10, or any mumbo-jumbo like that. It's more complicated than that. But to repeat, loudly: THE BEGINNING OF THIS TEST IS NOT NOT NOT SIGNIFICANTLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE END! Feel free to follow-up with more questions!