Best Practice Tests?

relentlesspursuito700plus · Mon Aug 04, 2008 7:03 am

In order to answer which practice test ist he "best", the person answering would have had to taken the official GMAT AND all the tests listed. Right?

I took Kaplan, MGMAT, and PowerPrep so far.

I'd say Kaplan is the worst. I got 700 on the first one I took (3 months ago), 540 on the second Kaplan test I took about a month ago, then about 640 PowerPrep about three weeks ago, 680 on MGMAT 2 weeks ago, and 720 on the 2nd PowerPrep yesterday. I have not taken Princeton's test, but I liked MGMAT enough that I didn't want to risk wasting my time with the others ones.

I would still recommend using Kaplan's question banks for timing/stamina/and extra practice.

I also took Veritas practice tests. They were okay, but I wasn't totally impressed. The difficulty level of their tests varied greatly. MGMAT was much more consistent.

I am taking my 3rd and final test this Saturday, I hope the 720 I got on the "official" practice (Q48/V41) is a good indication of where I am. I would be happy with anything above 680.

Good luck everyone.

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relentlesspursuito700plus · Mon Aug 04, 2008 7:05 am

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shiv · Fri Aug 08, 2008 2:13 am

Hi All,

I regullarly keep on reading all the posts in this forum and gather some very valuable information from here. When i needed to practice some mock CATs i again revered back to my trusted source and i was not disappointed , to say the least Surprised

Based on the feed back from a number of people on this forum , i purchased MGAT and have given two Tests till now with score of 630 and 680. However i am still not sure how closely it predicts to my actual GMAT score Confused

Have finished GMAT prep test with score of 680 and 680. can someone please let me know how closely this predicts my actual scoring capability(althiugh i know a lot of factors contribute on how i perform on the D day, it will still be helpful to get some insights from the experience campaigners Smile

)?

I really find MGMAT very useful due to the explanations offered, although i feel some of their questions are really wordy and time consuming

Thanks,
Shiv

Oh, by the way , i have my exam on 11th August, so any last minute tips will definitely be handy

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iafmaverick · Sun Aug 17, 2008 7:56 am

Should I to purchase Manhattan GMAT tests as well? Or just focus on getting through what I already have?

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shiv · Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:43 pm

What do you already have?

I would suggest purchasing MGMAT since it gave me some valuable practice and the answer explanation provided by GMAT is also very good

Thanks,
Shiv

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iafmaverick · Tue Aug 19, 2008 7:39 am

I meant to say that I already have GMATPrep and Kaplan tests. Should I go for MGMAT as well?

I have about 10 weeks for my GMAT date.

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shiv · Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:13 pm

if you are comfortable with your Quants practice and speed then i dont see the need for it. However if you feel the need for additional practice then go for it.

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iafmaverick · Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:37 pm

Thanks Shiv!

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Stacey Koprince · Fri Aug 29, 2008 11:03 am

Re: some questions about our stats on student results (of our tests), I asked our algorithm guy to address this. Here's what he said [with some additions from me for clarification purposes]:

"Our tests are calibrated so that the mean is equal to the expected GMAT mean-and so that regardless of ability, our test is an unbiased estimator of GMAT performance. Some do better, some do worse, but the expected difference is zero.

I review data about once every 2 months to ensure this - data from practice tests coupled with actual, reported GMAT scores. I do so on an overall score basis and a Verbal and Quant percentile basis. I occasionally tweak the scoring if we get evidence that the difference is far different from zero. Usually, the average difference is between +5 and -5 points on an OVERALL scoring basis.

On the standard error issue:

(1) The 50-point std deviation is a WITHIN-STUDENT st dev. In other words, if one student takes the test 100 times [without significant additional prep in between], the st deviation of his scores will be about 50 points.

The st dev across students is a different story and not relevant (it is about 100, just like the GMAT supposedly is).

(2) The 50-point std deviation is also the st dev of the DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MGMAT (latest practice test) scores and GMAT scores. Some call this a standard error, but effectively it's the same. The STANDARD ERROR OF MEASUREMENT is mathematically equivalent to the STANDARD DEVIATION OF the error of measurement.

Those two numbers are not [exactly] equal, but both approximately 50."

Also just wanted to add - note that we calculate from the latest practice test to the official test. Most of our students take the last practice test within a week of the real test - so there isn't a significant amount of prep / improvement between the two tests.

We are, of course, comparing apples to oranges (that is, we're comparing two different tests), so that complicates things - but, even so, we can get some useful data.

GMATPrep is still the best general indicator because it is from the same people who make the official test (with all that that entails). The test prep company practice tests have the advantage, though, that you can get explanations and analysis of your performance - so there are good reasons to use both GMATPrep and test prep company practice tests.

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pepeprepa · Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:43 pm

After some tests, I advise you MGMAT ones, they make you use your brain for quantitative Wink

! And they are similar to Gmat prep for the verbal.
I do not advise you 800score test neither Veritas prep test.
Veritas prep has a quantitative based mostly on geometry (more than 30% of my questions) and the level is very low. For the verbal, I found the SC very different from what I studied in OG, and the CR were strange.

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Steve · Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:45 am

This is a fantastic survey, and I wish I'd read it earlier - I only came across it two days before my test, so I discovered Manhattan GMAT a little late!

The only suggestion I could have is to break down the "other" category listed in the survey, I'm sure other people on this forum are also curious about what resources the "other" category refers to! Wink

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hututu1 · Sun Sep 07, 2008 3:50 am

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Stacey Koprince · Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:47 am

FYI - most companies allow you to take one test for free. We don't give everything away, though, because then we couldn't afford to keep making more good stuff! Smile

As far as MGMAT is concerned, our tests are not available for download or distributed on CD; they can only be taken online. This allows us to continually update the test questions and make sure that you're getting the latest and greatest stuff every time you take a test. I'm not sure how other companies do it, but I think some do give a CD with the purchase of a book or something like that.

If you want to take a free test of ours, then you just need to go to our website and sign up .

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visa1416 · Sat Sep 20, 2008 10:38 am

Hello Stacey,

I took the free MGMAT CAT available on the website today.Scored 600(Q45 V29).How does this test compare to the real GMAT.Also, is it equivalent to the 6 CATs available online for sale?

Today,while taking the CAT, I was experiencing some delay in between some of the questions.I had to refresh the page to get the next question attimes.What could be the reason for these interruptions? How do i avoid them in future?

I could generate assessment reports for the test.However, i could not see a menu to print the answer explanations to the questions individually.Is is possible to do so by any other means?

I didn't understand how was my score "600(Q45 V29)" calculated.Could you please explain me the method of calculation?

regards,
visa1416

PS:Although the post is addressed to stacey,anybody else's comments are more than welcome.

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