Are the free practice tests reliable?

Expert replies

bwhyte: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 4; Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:42 am

by bwhyte » Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:43 am

Hey

I've now done four practice GMAT exams in this order:

GMATPrep 1 - 720
GMATPrep 2 - 710
kaplan online (free test) - 660
princeton review online (free test) - 670

I'm obviously somewhat concerned that my scores are following a downward trend rather than an upward one! But it does beg the question: do you think the 'free' tests on the kaplan and princeton review web sites artifically give you a lower than expected score in order to get you to sign up to one of their courses?

After all, that would make good business sense for them.

Has anyone else noticed this trend of doing better in GMATPrep than on the free online tests? Or should I be getting worried!?

Cheers
Barry

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:43 am

GMAT/MBA Expert

beatthegmat: Site Admin; Posts: 6778; Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:30 amFollowed by: 994 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 1249 times

by beatthegmat » Sat Nov 24, 2007 11:05 pm

In general, GMATPrep is definitely the best indicator of your actual GMAT performance. I wouldn't read too much into the Kaplan and Princeton Review results because their algorithms definitely do not match that of the actual test.

I can't comment on whether Kaplan or PR actually skew down the results (I thought this was the case myself for a while but I've never seen any hard data to substantiate that). At the end of the day, you should just view any practice test as good practice.

I've seen many members on this forum report similar results like you, that they did better on GMATPrep vs. the other practice tests. The best advice I can give you is to not read too much into it, study your mistakes well, and go into your test with a killer confidence!

Good luck!

Beat The GMAT | The MBA Social Network
Community Management Team

Research Top GMAT Prep Courses:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/gmat-prep-courses

Research The World's Top MBA Programs:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/school

bwhyte: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 4; Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:42 am

by bwhyte » Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:10 am

I've just sat my actual GMAT, and I'm pleased to say that the freebie online tests definitely marked me down!

In addition to the kaplan and princeton review scores above, I did the free Manhattan GMAT exam a couple of days ago and got 670. I was starting to get worried.

In the real exam I just got 720!

You are completely correct - GMATPrep is the only practice software with a scoring mechanism worth taking notice of. I would strongly suggest the free tests deliberately mark you down as a ploy to sell expensive preparation courses - beware! (That's not to say that they aren't good practice, which they definitely are)

GMAT Course Reviews

563 reviews

1168 reviews

431 reviews

359 reviews

147 reviews

5/5

5 Star (563 Reviews)

"Target Test Prep is the closest to the official version of the GMAT exam, about 99% accuracy in terms of the quality and quantity of information. The course has excellently created singular sets of focused lessons and tests for every possible topic that one could come across in the official GMAT exam."

"The TTP course maximizes the efficiency of the time you spend studying. It will take time and effort but I could almost guarantee that if you complete the course exactly as it is laid out you will get an amazing score. They also have a very responsive team willing to help with any questions you might have."

"TTP has two things that I think no other test prep company offers: A teaching approach that reinforces understanding and an attitude that will give you the mental preparedness needed to succeed on the test. TTP gives you a deep understanding of the concept you need to know while teaching you how to think."

Write a Review