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Which test is a better indicator of my actual score?

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Which test is a better indicator of my actual score?

by Abhijit K » Sun Feb 15, 2015 8:30 am
I received the following scores on my mock GMATs:-
Veritas Test 1 680 Q49/V35
Veritas Test 2 700 Q48/V38
Manhattan 660 Q43/V37

I am little concerned about my Quant score in the Manhattan Test. Is the score low because the Manhattan Tests are more difficult? Also is Veritas score a better indicator of my actual score on the GMAT?

Please advise. Your help will be highly appreciated.
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by [email protected] » Sun Feb 15, 2015 11:33 am
Hi Abhijit K,

All of the available CATs on the market have some 'biases' in them; as such, none of them is perfectly accurate - but the ones that you're using are close enough. The most realistic CATs are the ones from www.mba.com, but even each of those has a fixed, limited pool of questions.

Your overall scores on each of those practice CATs is 'in range' of the others, so it's reasonable to assume that you can score in the high 600s or low 700s on the Official GMAT, IF.....you are taking these CATs in a realistic, 'test-like' fashion.

As long as you are.... taking the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections), in a test-like environment, away from your home, without doing anything that won't be allowed on Test Day (pausing the Test, listening to music, etc.), then these scores are likely accurate. The more these CAT experiences differ from the Official GMAT experience, the more likely that the scores are "off" though (and that usually means 'artificially inflated').

When are you planning to take your Official GMAT?

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by manyaabroadtpr » Thu Feb 19, 2015 7:18 am
Hi Abhijit,

You can take the GMAT Prep test as this would be best indicator of the actual score. Also try The Princeton Review test to get a fair idea of the actual GMAT test score.

Wish you the best.
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by Abhijit K » Thu Feb 19, 2015 7:35 am
Hello Rich,

Thanks for your suggestions.

I am planning to appear for the GMAT somewhere at the end of this March.

I would like to breach the 740 mark.

Any suggestions would be welcome...


Regards,
Abhijit K.
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by [email protected] » Thu Feb 19, 2015 11:02 am
HI Abhijit K,

With the CAT scores you listed, you don't appear to have any huge "weak spots", so the missing points that you're looking for are going to found in the minor, nitpick details. To that end, when you reviewed any of these CATs, how many questions COULD you have gotten correct BUT you made a silly/little mistake? THOSE are the areas that you have to work on first - and it's mostly a "mechanical" issue. WHY did the mistake happen? What could you have done differently to keep it from happening (and to keep it from happening again)? In the Verbal section, how often do you "narrow it down to 2 choices and then 'guess wrong'?"

Do you finish any of the section early? Do you have to rush to finish questions at the end? Those are also areas worth looking into. Finishing early is NEVER a good thing. Rushing through a bunch of questions at the end just to finish means that you're likely missing out on some easy points.

What resources have you been using during your studies?

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by Abhijit K » Thu Feb 19, 2015 9:15 pm
Among the Quant questions that i got wrong in the Mock CATs, a few were really easy and when i reviewed those i solved the puzzle in less than 30 seconds. On verbal there have been many instances where i narrow down to two choices and then pick the wrong choice. As far as pacing the sections is concerned, Quant is well balanced. However, when it comes to verbal i have 5 minutes to spare for the last question. I personally feel my concentration drops at the end and i start answering questions too quickly not thinking about the possible trick choices i shouldn't pick.
My resources for GMAT have been
1. Veritas Guide
2. Manhattan Guide.
3. OG 13th Edition.
4. IMS Class notes
5. Assorted Tests
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by [email protected] » Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:58 pm
Hi Abhijit K,

It looks like your studies have been "book heavy", which might help to explain some of the inconsistencies (and pacing issues) in the Verbal section. There's a "mechanical" aspect to taking the GMAT on a computer that just CANNOT be matched with book-work. Working with more computer-based resources might help you to better prepare for the 'mechanics' of dealing with the Verbal section (and the fatigue/endurance issues that are likely to occur on Test Day).

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by Abhijit K » Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:16 am
Hi,

Need help. Gave a GMAT prep test today. Got Q50/V31.

Why is there such a huge variation in my Verbal score for GMAT prep and veritas and manhattan scores??


I have been scoring in the range of 36 to 38 in those Tests.

Any guidance as to how i should improve my Verbal score??
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by [email protected] » Sat Feb 21, 2015 10:57 am
Hi Abhijit K,

Have you had a chance to do a full review of this CAT? Since you've just taken the CAT today, my guess would be that you have not. So the first order of business is to figure out WHY you were getting questions wrong. Was it because of little mistakes? Was it because the question was too hard? Was it because you "narrowed it down to 2 choices and 'guessed' wrong?" How many of each category (SC, RC, CR) did you get wrong?

When it comes to comparing different "brands" of CATs, the fact is that no company's CATs perfectly match the Official GMAT in every way, so the issue might be in those slight differences. However, the issue could just as easily be in how YOU went about taking this CAT, the "work" that you did (or didn't do), your pacing, external factors, attitude, sleep, etc.

If you've been performing at a high level for some time, and suddenly you see a score drop, the "cause" is almost always some type of inconsistency on your part. Since you're the only one who truly knows the details of how you've been studying, you have to figure out what that inconsistency is and fix it.

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by manyaabroadtpr » Mon Feb 23, 2015 11:41 pm
Abhijit K wrote:Hi,

Need help. Gave a GMAT prep test today. Got Q50/V31.

Why is there such a huge variation in my Verbal score for GMAT prep and veritas and manhattan scores??


I have been scoring in the range of 36 to 38 in those Tests.

Any guidance as to how i should improve my Verbal score??
You should be quite equipped to understand the vocabulary in the GMAT CR and RC passages. However the RC passages require that you are able to understand the words used in the context of the passage.Hence it would be best if you start reading articles, science journals , business tabloids and read them online and figure out for yourself if you can understand the language and the main idea present in the passage. This would be a better way to tackle vocabulary on the GMAT.

Good Luck
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Feb 24, 2015 10:19 am
Abhijit K wrote:Hi,

Need help. Gave a GMAT prep test today. Got Q50/V31.

Why is there such a huge variation in my Verbal score for GMAT prep and veritas and manhattan scores??

I have been scoring in the range of 36 to 38 in those Tests.
On one hand, you have the official GMAT practice test (GMATPrep), which uses official GMAT questions and the official GMAT scoring algorithm. Also keep in mind that the test-makers (GMAC) collect a lot of data on every question, and every question has been asked in a formal testing environment, so that well-prepared test-takers are trying their very best to answer every question. While many test-prep companies have great practice tests, those companies would never suggest that their tests are as accurate as the official practice tests. The 3rd-party tests don't use retired GMAT questions, they don't use the official scoring algorithm, and the data collected on each question cannot be as accurate, because the students taking the tests aren't doing so in a formal testing environment.

So, while 3rd-party tests are great for practicing your test-taking skills, and for identifying weaknesses, you shouldn't use them as the sole basis for determining your current abilities.

Cheers,
Brent
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by ReasonGMAT » Tue Mar 03, 2015 7:26 pm
I would also add that it is much harder for companies to write verbal questions that properly mirror the logic and nuances of the real questions than it is to write Quant questions that do so. So while using 3rd party tests is often necessary, the Quant will tend to be more accurate than the Verbal. Verbal questions from the non-official tests tend to miss the mark much more than do Quant questions in my opinion. So I think you need to be careful and not read too much into the scores that you get on the non-official tests and in particular the Verbal component of those scores.
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by VivianKerr » Fri Mar 06, 2015 1:27 pm
I'd say GMATPrep 3 and 4, no competition. But if you're taking a lot of practice companies CATs, this is a fun little generator to help guess at your actual score:

https://gmatclub.com/gmat-score-calculator/

Bottom line: If you're scoring BELOW your target score on MORE than one private company's CATs, you're not in the safety zone yet.
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