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tess0906
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 Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:52 pm Post subject: gmat prep software scores |
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for those who have already taken the gmats, are the prep software scores fairly representative of actual scores? the disclaimer that it is not meant to indicate scores, but only type of questions makes me a little nervous...
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BlueRain
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| Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:08 pm Post subject: |
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From my personal experience, the GMATPrep score was a VERY accurate indicator of my actual score.
One thing I've seen other people mention on this forum: do NOT skip the AWA section. Simulate the fact that you will not start the Quant. section until an hour into the actual test. You might find that you need to regain mental focus much more intently given your mental stamina.
NOTE: I did not actually follow that advice.  |
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Stacey Koprince
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:54 am Post subject: |
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BlueRain's right about the essays - make sure you do them so you can develop stamina!
Most people find GMATPrep the most accurate indicator of any of the practice tests (which makes sense, seeing as it is written by the same people who write the real thing!). It also has a standard deviation, just as the real test does. The standard deviation on the real test is about 30 points. I haven't actually seen a published number for SD on GMATPrep so, depending upon how closely, exactly, it mimics the real thing (which we don't know), expect either the same or a little worse (higher number) for GMATPrep.
In other words, even the real test is not that precise in terms of its scoring ability - the SD is fairly wide. (It's actually a pretty good number for a standardized test - it's just that standardized tests in general have fairly wide error margins, especially a test that is only taken by about 200,000 people a year.)
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Ian Stewart
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 11:49 am Post subject: |
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I agree with everything Stacey says above, with just one clarification:
| Stacey Koprince wrote: |
In other words, even the real test is not that precise in terms of its scoring ability - the SD is fairly wide. (It's actually a pretty good number for a standardized test - it's just that standardized tests in general have fairly wide error margins, especially a test that is only taken by about 200,000 people a year.) |
The standard error of GMAT scores is a function of the number of questions on the test, and not of the number of people taking the test. If the test had more questions, the error would be lower. The computer adaptive version of the GMAT was designed to be long enough so that the standard error would be 'acceptable' (that is, similar to the standard error of the paper tests) without being so long as to be unduly taxing for the test-taker.
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tess0906
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| Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 7:58 am Post subject: |
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| thank you all for the thorough and helpful responses!! |
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