Practice Tests vs. Real GMAT

[Cnic]

Guys, wanted to get your opinion on something. I finished the Kaplan GMAT Course (regular not advanced) on Thursday. Throughout the course I have seen steady improvement. However, at the end it has gotten weird. Here is a summary so far:

Diagnostic (Paper) – 620
CAT 1 - 620
CAT 2 - 640
CAT 3 - 690
CAT 4 - 660
CAT 5 - 590 (Taken on a Friday night – BAD Idea)
CAT 6 - 710
CAT 7 - 770


Ever since CAT 3 I was in the 99% on verbal but had horrible math percentiles and could not get higher than a 43 Quant (70%). Then, this morning I amazingly went from a 70% quant to a 99% quant (53).

This all seems very arbitrary to me now and I don’t really trust the Kaplan CAT grading scale. Has anyone else run into this with the Kaplan CATs?

By the way – I would be thrilled with a 710 on the actual test.

Thanks in advance for any input.

[donkey_man_88]

Originally Posted by Hokie

Took my GMAT yesterday. This was one of my biggest questions going into the test (what is the correlation between practice and real scores?), so I thought I'd briefly weigh in.

Real Score: 700 (44Q, 41V)
Kaplan Diag: 570 (10/08)
Kaplan CAT 1: 610 (10/17)
...CAT 2: 700 (10/19)
...CAT 5: 630 (10/26)
...CAT 6: 680 (11/1)
...ULT: 690 (11/3)
...CAT 8: 610 (11/8)

Disclaimers: I had a really rocky test day (lost 2 minutes before even starting the quant section, and never quite recovered). Then my expected failure in the quant section pretty much ruined the verbal section (my strong area) for me. Basically, I feel that I should have scored a lot better than a 700, and, for those Kaplan kids, expect to gain points on test day. However, I have noticed that there was a big swing in my test scores when I was tired or distracted - just ensure that doesn't happen to you.

Good luck! : )

Hey Hokie,

What was your score breakdown on your UPT? I'm just curious. I'm been consistently scoring 710-730 on all of my Kap tests. I received a 710 on the UPT (90% Quant, and 91% verbal). I'm just curious to see how these translated into your real score. My Kaplan verbal scores have been consistently high (93%, 99%, 99%, and 91% for my last 4 exams). Wondering if this will translate into a decent verbal score during test day. I received a 56% during my original Gmat, which I took over a year and half ago.

[donkey_man_88]

Originally Posted by Hokie

Took my GMAT yesterday. This was one of my biggest questions going into the test (what is the correlation between practice and real scores?), so I thought I'd briefly weigh in.

Real Score: 700 (44Q, 41V)
Kaplan Diag: 570 (10/08)
Kaplan CAT 1: 610 (10/17)
...CAT 2: 700 (10/19)
...CAT 5: 630 (10/26)
...CAT 6: 680 (11/1)
...ULT: 690 (11/3)
...CAT 8: 610 (11/8)

Disclaimers: I had a really rocky test day (lost 2 minutes before even starting the quant section, and never quite recovered). Then my expected failure in the quant section pretty much ruined the verbal section (my strong area) for me. Basically, I feel that I should have scored a lot better than a 700, and, for those Kaplan kids, expect to gain points on test day. However, I have noticed that there was a big swing in my test scores when I was tired or distracted - just ensure that doesn't happen to you.

Good luck! : )

Hey Hokie,

What was your score breakdown on your UPT? I'm just curious. I'm been consistently scoring 710-730 on all of my Kap tests. I received a 710 on the UPT (90% Quant, and 91% verbal). I'm just curious to see how these translated into your real score. My Kaplan verbal scores have been consistently high (93%, 99%, 99%, and 91% for my last 4 exams). Wondering if this will translate into a decent verbal score during test day. I received a 56% during my original Gmat, which I took over a year and half ago.

[ekvall]

Hi guys,

I sat my GMAT yesterday and received a 740 (Q46, V46).

My practice tests score have been a pretty good indicator of performance. They are:

• GMATPrep 1 (two weeks ago): 730 (Q48, Q41)
• GMATPrep 2 (one week ago: 750 (Q48, V45)
• GMATPrep 1 (resit two days before the exam): 750 (Q48 V46)

IMO, my low quant score on the day was not due to differences in difficulty, but more due to the centre not having a pen that worked properly. I am definately smuggling in my own pen next time, as they seemed quite slack about that sort of stuff.

[Shereen GMAT-Scared]

Hello,
Guys, what do you think of Manhattan GMAT practice tests? are they easier than the actual GMAT?
Why hasn't anyone taking them on this thread?
Where can I get good practice tests online?
Thanks a lot
Shereen

[donkey_man_88]

I wouldn't say that the Manhattan Gmat tests are easier. In fact, I think the math can be somewhat tougher. The Verbal questions aren't quite the same as the real exam. Overall, I think those tests do not correlate that well. If you are shooting for 700+, then you need to shoot for well over 700 on the Manhattan tests to receive that score on the real thing. That is just my opinion. People say Gmat prep is great, but I think those tests are way easier than the real thing as well. Overall, if you need a test that will skew lower, I think the Kaplan CATs are your best bet. This is only based on my performance throughout. A lot of test takers feel that the Gmat prep software is the best indication.

[donkey_man_88]

Hey All,

About a year and a half ago I took the GMAT and scored a 600 (45Q 28V). I enrolled in a Kaplan Advanced course. See all of my practice test scores below, along with my second official GMAT score.

Kaplan:
Diagnostic - 700
CAT 1 - 680 (49Q 35V)
CAT 2 - 710 (49Q 41V)
CAT 3 - 730 (48Q 49V)
CAT 4 - 700 (44Q 48V)
CAT 5 - 690 (41Q 51V)
Ultimate Practice Test - 710 (49Q, 41V)

Gmat Prep 1 - 710 (46Q 42V)
Gmat Prep 2 - 670 (43Q 39V)

Actual GMAT - 600 (45Q 28V)

The actual verbal is way tougher than anything else. I don't know what to do because I couldn't apply most of the rules that I learned. It seemed that I received a lot of style/usage questions. Reading comp was insanely tough. Quant wasn't so bad. I had some timing issues with Quant.

-Donkey

[Shereen GMAT-Scared]

I am sorry for the 600,
I am actually really surprised as you were scoring exceptionally well on the CAT's and the GMAT prep's ;(
I wannet to ask, did you notice the difficulty level of the real GMAT questions? do you think it was more difficult than Kaplan's?

I am facing a lot of difficulties in the verbal part
I just took a Kaplan crash course (private tuition) in London as we dont' have a decent Kaplan Center in Saudi Arabia, and I must say the techniques I learned for critical reasoning were good, but I felt they are most applicable for Kaplan questions, anyone to comment to that?

are you taking the GMAT again anytime soon? (is there another nickname I can use, it's wierd addressing you as Donkey?)

[Shereen GMAT-Scared]

Hello Guys

I would like to get your opinion on my study plan and progress,
Started during the last week of October,
GMAT Prep I 480
Manhattan GMAT 590
KAPLAN Diagnostic 550
CAT 1 640

I still have about a total of 13 full GMAT tests to go. The books I am using are:
- KAPLAN Prep
- Kaplan 800
- Manhattan GMAT (all math books and critical reasoning + SC)
- Of course the OG 10 & 11
I am to take the test on 27th of January
if you have any suggestions on my progress/study plan please feel free
I am aiming for at least 680 on the real GMAT
Thanks in advance

[jmdgirish]

Hi Shereen,

I will be eternally grateful if you could kindly let me know of some practice exams. I seem to be unaware of any right now. I am preparing but I believe it would help to go through a practice test to see where I stand. Hope you understand my concern here.

If you could let me know of any webiste links / soft copies , I would be eternally grateful.

Many Thanks.

-Girish Malik