Feedback needed: Am I fooling myself?

Expert replies

whatsupma: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 15; Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:35 am

by whatsupma » Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:48 am

Hey all,

First post here. So I'm taking the GMAT's one week from tomorrow (just started studying), and a bit nervous. I took my first practice exam on cd (the one GMAT sends you when you register) and got a 750. They didn't give me the breakdown, but I got about 12 wrong on the math, and 6 wrong on the reading (I didn't do the essays, I"m generally confident about my writing having already studied for the GRE's).

I was VERY surprised especially as I finished with about 10 minutes remaining in the math, and 20 minutes remaining in the verbal section. I obviously would be very happy with this score.

My question is for those who have taken the real thing, have you found the practice test offered on this CD to be realistic?

Thank you!

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:48 am

Sadowski: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 91; Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:08 am; Location: Durham, NC; Thanked: 1 times

by Sadowski » Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:42 am

That test is actually the best available indicator of how you will do on the real thing. A GMATPrep score of 750 without studying should give you a high confidence level going into the test.

I would say the only thing else you should do is take the second test on that CD, go over the questions you got wrong, and then go kick some ass next week. Sounds like you're good to go!

whatsupma: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 15; Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:35 am

by whatsupma » Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:13 am

thanks, your comments are much appreciated. best of luck to you as well.

scrambled egghead: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:10 am; Location: Mumbai

help mee !!!!

by scrambled egghead » Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:48 am

I have taken 2 tests from Princeton online

score was 680(M-51, V-33) and 650(M-45, V-36)

What should I do ? My goal score is 740-750.. What do you think ? Possible ??

Please tell me about the toughness level of Princeton tests

Sadowski: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 91; Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:08 am; Location: Durham, NC; Thanked: 1 times

Re: help mee !!!!

by Sadowski » Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:07 am

scrambled egghead wrote:I have taken 2 tests from Princeton online

score was 680(M-51, V-33) and 650(M-45, V-36)

What should I do ? My goal score is 740-750.. What do you think ? Possible ??

Please tell me about the toughness level of Princeton tests

I haven't taken any Princeton tests, but I can tell you what I've learned from reading other's posts on the forum. Princeton has a relatively accurate scoring algorithm (similar to GMAT Prep), but I've heard that the quant section is a bit easier than the real thing. If you want to score 750, you should buy a Manhattan GMAT book (sentence correction is highly recommended) and you'll get 6 free adaptive tests. The verbal is right on par with the actual GMAT and the quant is more difficult. These tests are like training at altitude. You need high resistance training if you're going to get a 750, so I'd move away from the Princeton Review and work solely from OG, GMAT Prep, and MGMAT. Kaplan 800 is a decent resource also.

Hope this helps.

Sadowski: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 91; Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:08 am; Location: Durham, NC; Thanked: 1 times

by Sadowski » Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:36 am

Anonymous wrote:Thanks a lot for your reply !!!

I am currently practicing from Kaplan800, ManhattanSC, OG + some online sources. One more thing I want to ask. I am facing problem in Reading Comprehension. It consumes most of the time in Verbal section + my accuracy is really bad in it.

Any suggestions you might have ?

RC is a tough one to give advice on. Basically, my approach is to read through the entire passage in 2 minutes or less, just to get the basic gist of the passage and how it's structured. I read through it fast so that I have extra time to look for specific answers.

I know this probably doesn't help you much, but understand that RC is something that everyone has a different approach on. I found that stopping to write down information about each paragraph didn't help me at all. I felt like it wasted precious time.

In my practice, I time myself not only on reading the passage alone, but also the questions. I try to stay at around 2 mins per question, including the reading. For example, if I read the passage in 1:45, then answer 5 questions in 8:15, the total time is 10:00 / 5 questions = 2 min per question. I've timed myself on every RC question I've done and I've gotten consistent with this method.

Try it out and maybe you'll find a better way for yourself through this method.

Best of luck.

scrambled egghead: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:10 am; Location: Mumbai

by scrambled egghead » Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:25 am

Thanks a lot for your reply !!!

I took GMATPREP 1st test yestderday. score was 720 (M50 V36). I guess now I need to work on verbal section a lilltle more to achieve my goal score of 750.

Please do let me know in case you have some useful information/strategies

scrambled egghead: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:10 am; Location: Mumbai

by scrambled egghead » Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:27 am

GMAT/MBA Expert

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 » Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:42 pm

to the poster upthread who got a great score on a practice test without doing the essays: recognize that you didn't mimic actual test conditions, and you can expect your score to go down a little bit when you have to spend an hour writing essays first. This increases the fatigue factor and affects you on the multiple choice portion of the test.

Just remember guys - when you take a practice test specifically to get an indicator of your current scoring level, you must mimic the official test conditions as closely as possible!

Still - you did a great job on that test.

Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Learn more about me

scrambled egghead: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:10 am; Location: Mumbai

by scrambled egghead » Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:36 am

Thanks a ton Stacey !!! I actually missed that point. Guess now again I need to work hard on verbal to score 750 in official exam

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