Different GMAT scores from GMAT prep, Kaplan, veritas prep

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almond: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2014 5:23 pm

by almond » Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:02 pm

Hi,
1st GMAT prep showed 460, next I took Kaplan free test and scored 560, next I took veritas prep and scored 620. The I repeated with GMAT prep and scored 490. Kind of not very happy and do not know which one is more reliable. Any suggestions?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:02 pm

David@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2193; Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:30 pmFollowed by: 512 members; Location: Vermont and Boston, MA; Thanked: 1186 times; GMAT Score:770

by David@VeritasPrep » Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:18 pm

You must be doing something differently on the practice tests. I would be strange for you to go from the 23rd percentile on the GMATPrep (a 460) to the 70th percentile on the Veritas test (a 620) back down to the 31st percentile (a 490).

It is not really about which test is more reliable (GMATPrep has retired official questions so it is most reliable) at this point. You have to think about what you have been doing differently on the exams.

Did you study a lot in between these exams or did you just take the sort of within a couple of weeks?

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almond: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2014 5:23 pm

by almond » Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:22 pm

I took Kaplan and veritas tests on weekend while I took 2nd time gmat prep after work on weekday. Can that cause such a big variation?

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ThomasLHall: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 25; Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2014 8:23 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 5 times; GMAT Score:750

by ThomasLHall » Thu Mar 20, 2014 7:29 pm

Taking a CAT when you are tired after a workday, you should expect your score to dip a little (about 10-30 points). So, if you had taken that second GMATPrep CAT fresh, on a weekend, you would have likely scored a 500 or above.

The key thing here is that you took CATs from three different sources and are trying to compare scores from them. That can be a little difficult because each company does their best to simulate the problems and scoring algorithm of the official test, but they are all a little different. As David mentioned, the GMATPrep CATs are the best indicator of your current GMAT ability level.

What are you using the CATs for? Are you trying to get a baseline score or measure improvement after doing significant prep? I recommend thinking of your current score as around a 500.

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by [email protected] » Thu Mar 20, 2014 7:54 pm

Hi Almond,

When one's CAT scores vary as much as they have in your situation, it's worth defining the details behind each exam. To that end, here are some things to consider:

1) What time of day and day of the week did you take each CAT?
2) How well-rested were you before taking the CAT?
3) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including Essay and IR)?
4) Where did you take each CAT? Were there distractions? Was it test-like?
5) Did you have pacing problems on any of your CATs? Did you ever have to guess on a bunch of questions just to finish? Did you leave any questions unanswered?

There are plenty of other details to consider, but the answers to the above questions will help to define WHY your score varied (and should help you to define your situation a bit better gong forward).

How long have you been studying?
When do you plan to take your Official GMAT?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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David@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2193; Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:30 pmFollowed by: 512 members; Location: Vermont and Boston, MA; Thanked: 1186 times; GMAT Score:770

by David@VeritasPrep » Fri Mar 21, 2014 5:56 am

When you understand the role that sleep plays in clearing the brain of information in order to allow more adaptive thinking you will find that taking the test after a hard day of work can result in a severe decline in your scores.

The biggest problem is that most of our jobs are not just physically tiring but are mentally tiring and may involve tasks that are not unlike those of the GMAT.

Deep waves that pass through your brain when you sleep gently take away all of the minutia from the past day so that you are ready to once again fill your brain with words and numbers, etc. What you are talking about is not just taking the test at a different time of the day, but taking the test with a tired brain.

The Veritas test does not try to copy the algorithm from the official GMATPrep Test. The Veritas test uses the same basis (Item Repsonse Theory) as the official test does and the difficulty levels of the questions are based on millions of responses. Generally the Veritas tests give a score that is close to that of the official GMAT test and the GMATPrep.

Where there is some variation between different types of tests - and indeed between different exams of a single type - for example your GMATPrep tests varied from the 23rd to the 31st percentile - I think the explanation here is probably the circumstances of the exam.

The two tests that you took on the weekend were both above the 50th percentile. The tests you took after work were the 23rd and the 31st percentile!

Clearly your next step is to retake the first GMATPrep test that you took - and this time take it on the weekend.

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almond: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2014 5:23 pm

by almond » Fri Mar 21, 2014 5:33 pm

Thanks for the replies. I will take GMAT prep on weekend and see how I score. I also have OG 13 edition. Would it be recommended that I start going through these practice questions and repeat the GMAT prep. I need one source that I can baseline for reference. Something that can help me understand if I need to step up my prep. I have just about 6 more weeks.

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almond: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2014 5:23 pm

by almond » Sat Mar 22, 2014 10:53 am

Darn, it is so frustrating. I repeated the GMAT Prep test today and scored 460!

When I looked at how I had done in the last test when I had scored 490, it turned out I finished my quant 15 minutes last time. This time i decided to spend little more time reviewing the answers and gosh, i ended up running out of time for last 10-12 questions! I feel like just not doing any more of GMAT! Feels like it is not for me.
Am lost here... don't know how i should proceed further with the prep. Anybody, have you neen in similar boat?

Also, is it good strategy to take a test each week? I seem to have already taken 6 tests already (GMAT Prep 1, GMAT Prep 2, Kaplan prep test, Veritas prep test, GMAT Prep 1 retake, GMAT Prep 2 retake ). May be I need to change the strategy to practice more for next 1-2 weeks before attempting any new test. What are your thoughts?

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[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:01 pm

Hi almond,

It might be that you're stuck in a particular scoring range because of how you've been studying. There's no "magic plan" that works for everyone - some Test Takers can put together study plans for themselves that work great, others need consistent, professional expert guidance to hit their goals. You might be one of the many Test Takers who needs a specific study plan and specific resources from an expert.

Regardless of how you choose to proceed, you should probably spend the next 2 weeks on your practice before you take another practice CAT.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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David@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2193; Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:30 pmFollowed by: 512 members; Location: Vermont and Boston, MA; Thanked: 1186 times; GMAT Score:770

by David@VeritasPrep » Sun Mar 23, 2014 12:11 pm

I totally agree with what Rich said about waiting for another couple of weeks before taking another practice test. Remember, you use practice tests to see where you are and to work on things like timing strategy and overall test strategy. But when you are a little down and need to see some improvement don't keep taking exams. Study the weaknesses that the exams revealed and come back to another exam in a couple of weeks.

In terms of quant timing strategy it seems like you are having some trouble knowing how long you have spent vs how long that you should give a question before you move on. One one test you finished way early on the other you were way behind. Here is an article that has a couple of exercises that may help you to gauge your time better.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/04/ ... at-success

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almond: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2014 5:23 pm

by almond » Mon Mar 24, 2014 6:04 pm

Thanks Rich and David for your replies. I realize my folly. I have been using practice tests as a medium of practice itself. I have spent much less time at practice itself. For next week to 10 days I will work on OG practice questions and will attempt the test later. Am not going to give up so easily.

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