Diagnostic Test PR, Kaplan, MGMAT or

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nislam: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 29; Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2007 5:45 am; Location: Houston, Texas; Thanked: 1 times

by nislam » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:07 am

I'm about to give a diagnostic test and am having difficulty deciding which to give for starts.

PR - Gives Overall, Math and Verbal Scores. Gives detailed analysis including correct, incorrect, time taken and problem type. Heard questions are easier than Kaplan and MGMAT.

Kaplan - Same as PR but heard questions are more difficult. Detailed analysis also provided.

MGMAT - Gives better detailed analysis e.g. question type, right, wrong, avg time right, avg time wrong, avg difficulty right, avg difficulty wrong. Does MGMAT give overall score, math score and verbal score?

GMAT Prep - Supposed to be most realistic. Does not give detailed analysis. Only score and answers to questions.

I've eliminated Kaplan. I'm also thinking of saving GMAT Prep for close to the exam since it'll give most realistic score. I'm juggling between MGMAT or PR.

Anyone have any other advice?

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:07 am

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Stacey Koprince: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2228; Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pmFollowed by: 694 members; Location: Montreal, Canada; Thanked: 639 times; GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Sun Aug 12, 2007 10:23 am

FYI: you do get overall and subscores for MGMAT. Also, our standard deviation is about 50 points, compared to about 30 points for the official test. The other companies haven't publicized their standard deviations. I don't know why, but it makes me think that either they don't even calculate it or they do calculate it and don't really like their numbers. I would guess it's more likely that they just don't track that kind of data. (Certainly, when I worked for one of the other big companies, we didn't track that kind of stuff - but that was more than 10 years ago).

Ours is also built using the same algorithmic theory (IRT) on which the official test is based.

I agree you should save GMATPrep for closer to the end.

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fsar45: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 80; Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:51 pm

by fsar45 » Sun Aug 12, 2007 3:30 pm

Everyone's tests are easier than Kaplan's!! LOL. Definitely don't use those to gauge your score.

Princeton Review or Manhattan GMAT would be fine to use as a diagnostic.

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