2010 - Best GMAT practice tests

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Which company makes the best GMAT practice tests (excluding GMATPrep)?

Princeton Review
32
7%
Kaplan
65
15%
Veritas
26
6%
Manhattan
266
62%
Grockit
12
3%
Knewton
13
3%
Others (post a message with what it is)
16
4%
 
Total votes: 430

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2010 - Best GMAT practice tests

by hitmis » Wed Oct 13, 2010 4:34 pm
Since the last poll (sticky on the GMAT strategy forum) was held in 2007, there are a few more GMAT companies that have made their mark. I thought it would be a good idea to have a fresh poll to understand public opinion as of 2010.

Very interested in seeing what people think now.

Note : The assumption is that poll takers have taken tests from multiple GMAT companies, but this is not necessary. If you like what you tried, vote nevertheless.

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by romanisa » Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:29 am
Hi

I want to buy online some practice tests for GMAT.
Please suggest which one of the Manhattan/princeton/kaplan or any other should I buy and also can somebody give me a link for the same. I searched on the websites of Manhattan/princeton/kaplan but could not find any package of only practice tests.

thanks
Roma

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by hitmis » Sun Oct 17, 2010 6:28 pm
I would recommend Manhattan and Grockit(standard online membership includes 1000+ practice questions and 5 CATs)

https://grockit.com/gmat/products

See 'online content'

https://www.manhattangmat.com/Store.cfm

For Kaplan, they have a free test online at particular time slots in the week. See events on their website

https://www.kaptest.com

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by nychivas » Sun Oct 24, 2010 6:06 am
Interesting Poll. I've taken the Kaplan live class and am now supplementing it with the Manhattan GMAt Self Study program. The materials from MGMAT seem to be far superior. MGMAT materials provide the foundation needed to tackle the more advanced topics. On the other hand, Kaplan seems to assume you have the foundation prior to attending class. If a student doesn't have the quant foundation then they can purchase the Kaplan Math refresher. MGMAT already includes this in the materials.

I will now get off my soap box......Thanks again for the poll.
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by frank1 » Sun Oct 24, 2010 9:14 am
I use to think kaplan as their questions were bit difficult.
I think i need to take manhattan test again.

thanks
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by quyhoang » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:15 am
I think Manhattan is the best in these. If i have a change to take only one course, i will take this course.

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by cherylPTN » Mon Oct 25, 2010 9:35 am
@romanisa

You can find the link to Manhattan computer adaptive tests here.

https://www.manhattangmat.com/storeitems ... 81&catid=4

I am taking these tests now and am impressed by the detailed reports they offer after each test. Very useful. I do learn a lot from their explanations for quant and SC problems. For me, questions in RC passages seem to be different from OG ones. HTH

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by eharris012 » Tue Oct 26, 2010 6:09 pm
I definitely agree with the results of this poll.

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by paramad » Tue Oct 26, 2010 10:07 pm
I thought Kaplan was better :(
parama

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by Divya Sharma » Wed Oct 27, 2010 12:53 am
hitmis wrote:Since the last poll (sticky on the GMAT strategy forum) was held in 2007, there are a few more GMAT companies that have made their mark. I thought it would be a good idea to have a fresh poll to understand public opinion as of 2010.

Very interested in seeing what people think now.

Note : The assumption is that poll takers have taken tests from multiple GMAT companies, but this is not necessary. If you like what you tried, vote nevertheless.
Good initiative

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by ugoyal » Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:44 am
I took my GMAT in 2007 and I practiced with GMATPrep, Kaplan & Manhattan. Of these, other than GMATPrep ofcourse, Manhattan was a close to the actual GMAT.

Kaplan is a tough and low scoring test, dont take these tests if you are at the fag end of your prep.

Just my view, might work differently for others...

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by wavetool » Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:25 pm
hitmis wrote:Since the last poll (sticky on the GMAT strategy forum) was held in 2007, there are a few more GMAT companies that have made their mark. I thought it would be a good idea to have a fresh poll to understand public opinion as of 2010.

Very interested in seeing what people think now.

Note : The assumption is that poll takers have taken tests from multiple GMAT companies, but this is not necessary. If you like what you tried, vote nevertheless.
Fantastic poll, hitmis!

I've personally found a lot of success with Knewton's 5 practice CAT's. It was an uncanny predictor of my score on the actual test and the questions were of difficulty equal to those on test day.

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by sashah2006 » Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:20 pm
I have signed up for the Knewton GMAT course because it was cheaper than the MGMAT course, so I had access to the 6 Knewton CATs that they now offer. After I finished the 6 CATS from Knewton, I went ahead and purchased MGMAT's 6 CATs online for further practice, and this is what I think about Knewton and MGMAT CATs:

MGMAT CATs are far superior to Knewton CATs. This does not mean the Knewton GMAT course is worse than MGMAT's, since I have not taken the MGMAT course. And in fact, I did enjoy the Knewton course. It was very helpful, with plenty of practice problems and such to help me prepare for the GMAT test.

But this thread isn't about the course lol. I felt MGMAT CATs were superior because over the 6 CATs I took, I believe my scores were logical based off the number and types (difficulty) of questions I got right or wrong. I never doubted the scores that MGMAT showed me because they honestly made sense. Also, the detailed report they provide for each test taken is phenomenal! They provide the time it took to answer each question, the overall time passed while I was on a certain question, and the biggest help for me, the DIFFICULTY of each question. Also, the explanations were simply amazing.

Contrasting this with the CATs from Knewton, I was sorely disappointed. Of course, I did take the Knewton CATs before MGMATs, and the first 3 exams, I didn't realize the algorithm that Knewton uses is flawed. But by the 4th and 5th CATs, it became painfully apparent. Although the questions in Knewton were sufficiently difficult, with a wide variety of question types, the end result was much to be desired. Normally, how the GMAT CAT works is that if you answer a question right, the next question is more difficult, and if you answer a question wrong, the next question is easier. Also, answering easier questions wrong count more against you than answering difficult questions wrong. Now, most of the questions I answered wrong on the 5th CAT were easy ones (about 8 in quants, and 7 in verbal). Ok fine, so my score should be lower due to this fact. But where I have an issue with Knewton's CATs is the fact that I was still getting "easy" questions after getting 7, 8, or 9 questions right in a row. That is the fundamental flaw in Knewton's CATs.

Well, enough with my rant.. if you read this then great, but if u didn't read the whole ESSAY (lol), then my main point is... I STRONGLY recommend MGMAT CATs over Knewton CATs!

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by MBACrystalBall » Thu Feb 03, 2011 8:08 am
No stats to prove it, but from whatever I've read and heard from guys who've done well on the GMAT, it seems like a one-size-fits-all approach isn't as effective as a customized strategy that candidates have devised for themselves.

Quite a few of them talk about picking up the best from several sources (books, online prep courses, free tests) and coming up with a personalized gameplan.
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by Adam@Knewton » Thu Feb 03, 2011 1:48 pm
sashah2006 wrote:Normally, how the GMAT CAT works is that if you answer a question right, the next question is more difficult, and if you answer a question wrong, the next question is easier. Also, answering easier questions wrong count more against you than answering difficult questions wrong.
Full disclosure: I work for Knewton, and am therefore biased. However, I, too, think the MGMAT CATs are quite excellent.

The only reason I'm posting here is that I have to chime in simply on the point above: I agree that MGMAT CATs work that way, however, the actual GMAT does not. The GMAT will not necessarily give you a harder question after every right answer. It has other factors to consider besides question-difficulty-level, including 1) the content it has to provide you (that is, it must give you a certain number of geometry questions, etc., and may not always have one available at the "correct" level; and 2) the appropriate differentiation it wants to make of your personal ability estimate at each point.

For example, the algorithm functions like this: After the first 10 questions, it thinks your ability level is a 0.8. As a result, it gives you a question that most students who are also 0.8 get wrong. You also get this question wrong; fine. It doesn't decrease your difficulty level now because it's only confirmed its theory and wants to try another, different question that can better distinguish between people who are estimated at 0.8

The difficulty level of questions is also wildly misconstrued. There is no such thing, on the actual GMAT, as a "650-level question," although MGMAT uses this notation for its CATs. The actual formula rates each question based at what ability-level-of-test-taker do 50% of them get it correct.

Basically, all of the GMAT algorithm calculations are about its estimate of your ability level, NOT a back-and-forth game played with difficulty levels. Do not confuse the idea that the test is Adaptive with the idea that you must get a certain number of easy/medium/hard questions right. And do not ask if a question is a "600-level question" -- there is no such thing!
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