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Discrepancies in practice CATs and GMAT prep CATs....

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Discrepancies in practice CATs and GMAT prep CATs....

by BLee123 » Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:43 am
Hi All,

I've taken the Gmat multiple times now and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

I've scored a 560 and a 580 when I've been scoring consistent mid 600s on my practice CATs. I was using Kaplan CATs but my friends told me Manhattan GMATs CATs were way better... bought the books - really only used the SC guide and took some practice exams. I scored the same on the Manhattan GMAT CATs.

The biggest discrepancy I'm finding is my verbal. It's not where my practice CATs are saying that I am. I am happy with my Quant score - if I could improve my verbal, I can get the score that I need. After the offical GMAT, I even went home the next day to take a GMAT prep CAT (Skipping the AWA and IR), I scored a little higher at 600. Which makes sense - my score would be a little inflated because my mind wasn't as fatigued. (Quant was the same as the real GMAT but my Verbal improved a little.) Taking a look at the answers - I didn't get strings of questions wrong either... I don't understand why there are such big discrepancies? What is the GMAT prep software testing vs the Manhattan GMAT Practice CATs?

I've read a lot of posts talking about official test day conditions - but I have taken practice exams at the same test center and under the same test-day conditions... I don't believe it's official test day conditions.

I also don't believe it's timing issue because I'm not really pressed for time - I sometimes spend more than 3 minutes on a question but I always make up for it some way... If anything, I usually have more than enough time and need to pace myself to slow down. When reviewing the wrong answers - I wouldn't have gotten those answers correct if I read the question again.

What is my problem? I am in a tight situation with MBA applications/deadlines approaching and need to figure this out ASAP. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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by digvijayk » Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:07 am
I think the practice scores are fine. Here are somethings you could do to improve:

1. Try to accept that you need a good timing strategy. For all you know, the only reason you may be doing great as far as timing is concerned, is because you aren't facing too many tough problems! The whole purpose of the exam is to keep facing tougher and tougher problems till the point where you are facing problems which may seem time consuming.

2. Practice scores and real test scores are not always supposed to match. You have not mentioned your target score, but whatever it is, try to score atleast 30-40 points above it with consistency. For example, if you wish for a 700, you should be scoring somewhere around 730-740 on GMATpreps and 700-720 on the MGMAT tests. If you are not scoring in that range, you really have a lot of learning to do.

3. You know that your verbal is the problem, but what specifically is needed within which sections also needs to be looked at. For example, MGMAT tests offer beautiful assessment reports, divided exactly as they should be. Using these reports find out your weakest areas and then look to improve in those, also find your strengths and work on those too.

Other than that, you could try to watch videos from experts or read specific articles on your problem areas. Please do not take too many tests and don't think your scores are inflated because you are fresh. You are supposed to be fresh on G-day too! Scores could be inflated in case you retake the tests. Do not focus too much on test day conditions, I think you should focus on concept building with timing strategies right now. Some other concepts that may help you include the concept of quitting. Slow and steady wins the race, don't rush into the test, take your time.
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by lunarpower » Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:06 am
hi, we appreciate your confidence in our practice materials; a great deal of work has gone into them.

i don't really see anything here that would answer the most pressing question: how did you prepare for the test, especially the verbal section?

in studying for GMAT verbal, a lot of people make the mistake of trying to memorize lots of lots of facts/"templates", and/or trying to look for overly specific "patterns" in the problems.

first, this kind of approach won't work -- really on any of the verbal sections, but especially on the critical reasoning section, on which too much memorizing usually has a negative impact on a test-taker's score. (the problems depend fundamentally on your ability to think about the situations presented, but memorizing specific "templates" will actually impede your ability to think freely and/or intuitively.)

the same kind of approach may also lead to artificially inflated practice-test scores, too. see, here's the deal: existing practice materials (including ours) must be based, however loosely, on official materials that actually exist; we can't just go around making up stuff that we think might show up on the test.
as a result, if someone has memorized a large proportion of what's in the official problems, then just about any practice material is going to have this eerie sense of familiarity to that person -- enough to give an artificial boost and/or to make the problems seem "easier".

on the other hand, if your studying is more strategically oriented -- if you realize that there isn't really anything you can memorize for this exam (except for your high-school mathematics and the fundamental structure of written english), and you concentrate on how the problems work and on what kinds of thought processes (as opposed to "knowledge") are necessary to solve them -- then you will usually see a closer correlation between your practice-test scores and your official score.

so, the key question: have you been studying by trying to remember stuff, or by trying to classify everything into "templates"?
if so, that would not only explain the discrepancy you've described here but also point to a better way to study.

on the other hand, if your studying thus far has already been strategic in nature, then the problem must be ... something else, possibly stress-related or something like that.

how have you been studying?
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by brianlange77 » Sat Jan 26, 2013 7:53 am
Totally agree here with Ron's points and wanted to share a few links that may help you with some more detail on how to really formulate a study plan here.

https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-2/

I'll build on Ron's advice with one more thought here. Too often, people use the litmus test of "Did I get the question right?" as a way to decide if they are ready on a particular topic/content area, etc. Then, when they feel that they have enough positive indicators there -- they say "Okay -- I am set for the test!!"

Here's a different way to think about it. Rather than worrying if you get the question right, instead, focus on determining the answer to this question .. "Could I teach this to someone else and be prepared to answer almost any question they might ask on the topic?" That's when you've made the mental switch from 'got it right' to 'I know the content that feeds this test.'

Thoughts?

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