After studying since about January, I finally took my first practice test. I used the first of the official GMAC GMATPrep practice exams and scored as follows:
710 Overall
42 Q 45 V
22/37 Out of the quantitative questions correct, and had to rush/guess on the last 3
38/41 Out of the verbal questions correct, with about 8 minutes to go. Could have finished even faster, but took my time on the last few
I also did the AWA before on this.
However, about a week later, I took Practice Cat 1 that comes with the Kaplan Premier 2011 CD, and scored as follows
560 Overall
33 Q 35 V
16/37 Quantitative Correct. Had about the same pressure as the GMATPrep
25/41 Verbal correct, had to essentially guess on the last 10 questions
Also, I did not do the AWA before this test.
I know that people typically score lower on the Kaplan exams, and I'm encouraged that the GMATPrep is supposedly closest to what you'll actually get on test day, but the difference is so drastic, that I'm a little caught of guard. Particularly in regards to Critical Reasoning, where I didn't miss any on the GMATPlus, and only got 40% right on the Kaplan, as well as Critical Reading, where I only missed 1 on the GMATPlus and misssed a lot on the Kaplan (Kaplan passages were much longer and more complex!). Also since I didn't do the AWA on Kaplan and took it after a week more of studying.
Does this sound normal to you guys, or might I have a problem here?
P.S.: Going through the answers, some of the Kaplan explanations, especially for Critical Reasoning, seem fishy.
710 Overall
42 Q 45 V
22/37 Out of the quantitative questions correct, and had to rush/guess on the last 3
38/41 Out of the verbal questions correct, with about 8 minutes to go. Could have finished even faster, but took my time on the last few
I also did the AWA before on this.
However, about a week later, I took Practice Cat 1 that comes with the Kaplan Premier 2011 CD, and scored as follows
560 Overall
33 Q 35 V
16/37 Quantitative Correct. Had about the same pressure as the GMATPrep
25/41 Verbal correct, had to essentially guess on the last 10 questions
Also, I did not do the AWA before this test.
I know that people typically score lower on the Kaplan exams, and I'm encouraged that the GMATPrep is supposedly closest to what you'll actually get on test day, but the difference is so drastic, that I'm a little caught of guard. Particularly in regards to Critical Reasoning, where I didn't miss any on the GMATPlus, and only got 40% right on the Kaplan, as well as Critical Reading, where I only missed 1 on the GMATPlus and misssed a lot on the Kaplan (Kaplan passages were much longer and more complex!). Also since I didn't do the AWA on Kaplan and took it after a week more of studying.
Does this sound normal to you guys, or might I have a problem here?
P.S.: Going through the answers, some of the Kaplan explanations, especially for Critical Reasoning, seem fishy.
