Best Practice Tests?

ivanoski · Thu Dec 04, 2008 7:08 am

ive noticed nobody has really stated anything about the 800score CAT flash based tests

Elderas · Wed Dec 17, 2008 6:47 am

I did the following CATs:
- Kaplan CATs (both Internet & CD-ROM from Kaplan Premiere Program 2009)
- Manhattan Review
- Manhattan GMAT
- officials (GMATPrep & POWERPREP)

I voted for Manhattan GMAT. BUT: I would never recommend to do just CATs from one vendor. I liked doing some CATs from multiple vendors as all had different challenges.

Short overview:
- Kaplan: CD-ROM rating not working, Internet rating seems fine. Question pools seem to overlap which is the most important disadvantage from my pov, explanations and difficulties are fine, though overall difficulty seems to be a bit more challenging than other CATs
- Manhattan Review: Quant part seems way too easy, always finished ahead of time. This happened to me just for MR tests and one of the PowerPrep tests. Verbal seems fine, overall the scores also seemed fine, no overlaps in question pool
- Manhattan GMAT: killer CATs, very sophisticated analysis, exceptionally good explanations (especially for verbal), no overlaps in question pools
- Official: from my point of view the difficulty of the CATs varied strongly between the 4 official tests (2 GmatPrep, 2 PowerPrep).

Back to top

timedout · Thu Dec 25, 2008 11:24 pm

guys,

two questions..

1. gave my first gmat prep test yesterday. scored a 690, BUT (yeah always a big but Wink

).. i had 18 wrong in quant (incl missing the last Q). still scored a 47 on it. i started of very well and my whole paper seemed one tough Q after the other. still, 47, after 18 wrongs!! possible?
speed was a major issue, had like 12 min for last 10 questions.

2. to resched or no to resched: have my exam sched for monday, the 29th. i started preparations only 3 weeks ago. and i feel i can boost my score by 20/30 points in a week or so. my worry is, everyone would feel the same. so should i take the risk of rescheduling (not only does it mean another week off from work, but also the whole fees again). cant make up my mind.

Back to top

DavoodBeater · Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:40 am

1- it is because of CAT; that means almost everyone can answer 50-60% of the questions, but will get his own grade! weird, isn't it?
2- It depend on your target score, but it is possible to handle that improvement in a week.

Back to top

Donkey_man_88 · Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:30 am

Of all the people who have taken the official test, which CAT is most representative. I've taken Kaplan and Gmat Prep. I scored really well on both, but only a 600 on the real thing. Are the Manhattan Gmat tests worth taking? I took a few about a year and a half ago, but they contained a lot of errors (in the questions and in the algorithm). Any help is greatly appreciated.

-Donkey

Back to top

Urbnengineer · Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:02 pm

Hi,

So I am starting to plan out my GMAT prep and I took a free Kaplan "in person" timed paper test for free and got a 550 Q36/V39 back in October. I haven't been studying in earnest until recently when I had a few days off around the holidays. I did about 150PS, 30DS, 30RC, 15CR, 30SC, questions (all from the OG11) mostly because the test I took in October said that PS was my weaker area, along with RC/SC and I'd never done anything like the DS sections, so I wanted to get some experience. I took these untimed, as I'd finished very very early in the practice tests in October (like 15 minutes!!) After this, I thought I could stand to take another practice test and I'd bought the Kaplan GMAT Premier 2009 book, so I did one of the CD-ROM CATs. I got another 550!! (Q30/V35).

First...How can I get Q36/Q39 and then Q30/V35 and they're both 550?

Second, how long should I give myself to prep if my goal is a 700? I'm planning to do a night part-time program which will start in the fall of '09, so I'd need my score finalized by the end of June in order to apply. I was thinking March?

Third, should I be worried about the lack of improvement and the relatively low starting score(s) (compared to my goal)? I saw here that several people said that the Kaplan scores were lower than other preps, so maybe I need a different test to try?

Any advice you experienced test takers have would be very helpful. I can see already that my old high school test anxiety issues are going to play havoc with this test as well. Sad

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Back to top

Stacey Koprince · Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:45 am

I wouldn't use a paper test as a good gauge of your scoring ability on the CAT. The algorithm is completely different, so how you take the test can make a big difference to your score. Also, I'm not sure whether Kaplan is using the scoring instructions that were in place when the paper test first came out or whether the company has somehow adapted the paper scoring instructions to map to the current CAT subscores + percentiles, but it sounds like the former, because that would account for the lower subscores but same overall score that you received. The scoring range has changed over the years. (The last paper tests were given in 1997.)

The single best gauge of your current scoring ability is GMATPrep. There are only two unique GMATPrep tests, though, and many people like to save those for later in the prep process. Some people will take one early, to gauge the current level, and then save the second one for close to the end.

Most people study for between 2 and 4 months. Those aiming for a 700 are more likely to spend 3-4 months (or longer, depending upon the situation).

You haven't studied much yet, so you shouldn't be worried about the test scores right now - it takes time to see any significant improvement in scores. You should be thinking, though, about whether you feel more comfortable, efficient, and effective with the types of problems and content areas you have been studying. If you are not studying in an effective way, then it will be a lot harder to get good results. So, take some time to look around here and to formulate a plan for HOW you want to study - don't just do a bunch of problems and then read the solutions without really thinking about what you want to get out of a particular problem or study session and how you would be able to recognize and effectively answer a different (but similar) problem in the future. There's a lot of good stuff in the strategy section and the resources section, so take advantage of it.

Good luck!

Back to top

rocknroll · Tue Jan 13, 2009 11:28 am

Where can i get the MGMAT tests everyone is talking about here? are they online or in a CD with a book?

thanks

Back to top

Stacey Koprince · Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:01 pm

Online only - go to www.manhattangmat.com and go to the store section. You can take the first one for free (buy the "Free GMAT Exam" that is listed for $0). You can also buy access for 1 year and take as many as you want (the first 6 tests are guaranteed to have no repeated questions).

I'd do the free one first, just to see whether you like it, and then decide whether to buy more. FYI - 1 year of free access to the tests is included with any strategy guide (book) purchase and it's actually cheaper to buy one strategy guide than it is to buy just the test access for 1 year! The only drawback is that you have to wait for the book to be delivered in order to access the tests. But if you're going to take the free test anyway, then it doesn't matter if you have to wait a week to get access to the rest.

Also a note of caution: in order to get the free test access for buying a book, it has to be a NEW book. Each book has a unique access code that is good for one-time use only, so if you buy it used and the other person has already used the code, you won't be able to use it again.

Back to top

miks · Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:18 am

Hi Stacey, Is it necessary to buy a strategy guide from the manhattan website in order to access the free tests. What if I bought a guide from a book store here in Toronto? Would that also work?

Thanks

Back to top

Stacey Koprince · Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:24 am

It should still work if you buy from a bookstore, as long as you bought either the 2007 edition or the third edition (I would assume the bookstore would be selling the latest edition - the third edition - but check the cover to make sure!).

There should be a code somewhere in the book - use that to log on. (Or contact techsupport@manahttangmat.com if you have any problems!)

Back to top

miks · Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:35 pm

Thanks, seems the local book stores dont carry the new edition. I'll check out the Manhattan office on 100 King Street West. I dont have the time to order online.

Back to top

Stacey Koprince · Mon Feb 02, 2009 8:00 pm

Call first - outside of NY, our offices are only staffed when classes are being held. Also, I'm not positive, but I don't think books are sold from the offices (they're really just classrooms) - pretty much they just get book shipments for students in the classes, and those books don't have the online access codes in them (because the students are already given access as a result of taking the class). You can call 800.576.GMAT to ask about this.

Back to top

Shivani Varma · Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:15 am

What abt the gmat prep??

Back to top

Stacey Koprince · Mon Feb 09, 2009 7:46 am

GMATPrep is the best! The reason that test was excluded from this survey is because it's produced by the same people who make the real test - so obviously, it's closest to the real thing. This survey is asking for the best non-official test, or second-best overall (after GMATPrep). Smile

Back to top

Best Practice Tests?

Free GMAT Prep Resources

Latest GMAT Articles

Latest GMAT Videos

Popular Resources