GMAT Strategy

The "difficulty" level between the two tests should be about the same. They questions are similar, although PowerPrep's are older...

PowerPrep does not use the official test algorithm but GMATPrep does (though there are still some other differences that bring down GMATPrep's validity level compared to the official test). But, generally, the GMATPrep test should be a more accurate predictor of an official test score b/c it does actually use the same algorithm.

meghamehta15 wrote:I have downloaded PowerPrep from MBA.com and I scored a 720 on it yesterday morning. How is GMAT prep different from PowerPrep. Also where I can find the GMAT prep software? I took another test in the evening the Manhattan free test and scored a 590! I was tired by the end of the day and so stressed out after doing a few questions incorrect that the rest of the test was screwed. Quant was much tougher than what I had seen before. any advice on what to make of the huge difference between my scores will be appreciated.

PowerPrep is the precursor to GMATPrep--most PowerPrep questions are derived from OG 10.

GMATPrep is available for download at https://www.mba.com

Don't know where to get PowerPrep, sorry!

meghamehta - don't take two practice tests on the same day! That's like running two marathons on the same day; of course you're going to be mentally fatigued and your score's going to go down on the second test.

In general, don't take a practice test more than once a week. Tests are "read out" points: they're how you tell whether the work you did since the last test helped you to improve your performance. If you don't do much work between two tests, you shouldn't expect much difference in the scores (unless, of course, you do something like take two tests on the same day, take a test very late at night when you're a morning person, etc.). (There are also variables based upon taking tests from different suppliers, of course.)

Also, notice that I said "improve your performance" above but I didn't say "improve your score." The work you do in a week (or even two or three) may not make an appreciable difference to your score. But if you studied geometry, say, during that week, then you should look to see whether your geometry performance improved on that test, even if other areas didn't improve. Eventually, of course, we hope that our overall scores improve, but one week of study typically doesn't correspond to a huge leap.