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Advice: scoring well on practice exams

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Advice: scoring well on practice exams

by 5abi » Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:52 pm
hello all,

I posted a little while ago, that I had seen no improvement on my scores, and with the help of a few gentle peopple on the board I increased my practice score significantly.

i was scoring 600-620 range before on the gmatprep test 1, mgmat test 1-4, and kaplan exams. After going over my weak areas in the mgmat series of books over a time of 2-weeks my scores are as follow:

gmat test prep 2: 710 48Q 39V (no crazy perms or insane overlappign sets)
gmat test prep 1 (round 2): 700 49Q 37V only 1 repeat in the Q, and verbal had a few repeats but i had to work through them.
Mgmat test 5: 650
mgmat test 6: 660

does it seem reasnable to expect 680-700 on the real deal?

best regards
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by 5abi » Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:35 am
bump
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by 5abi » Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:42 am
so yesterday I took my last kaplan cat from the 2009 premier (online cat) and scored a miserable 600 Q38 V32.

WTF? If not a close mark to the Gmatprep I was expecting an improvement from november, but there was none.

Any ideas?
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by iridebikes » Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:22 am
From what I have gathered from multiple test takers, the kaplan test is a LOT harder than most of the other prep tests out there. I think you're capable of a 700 for sure, especially because you improved in such a short period of time. Idk how many sentence correction questions you get wrong (or critical reasoning for the same matter), but it you spend 2-3 weeks really hammering one of the two, your verbal score will probably go up like 4 points. good luck
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by 5abi » Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:35 am
Hey iridebikes thanks for the reply,

I hope you are right. On the most recent take Gmatprep test 2 I only got 2RC and 1CR incorrect, but 8/13 SC incorrect.

So my obvious issue is with SC even though when studying the official guide I have a success rate of .95.

Thank you,
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by KapTeacherEli » Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:12 pm
Hi 5abi,

Kaplan tests are generally accurate--we had some errors in earlier editions of our scoring algorithms, and haven't been able to shake the reputation despite a number of programing revisions normalizing our results. Still, the GMAT prep tests are the best predictor of test-day success, as no Test-Prep company can exactly reproduce the GMAT's scoring algorithms.

Remember, however, that even the best practice test is still a practice test. Student scores can swing widely between their work at home and Test Day. For some, the pressure to succeed pushes them to work their hardest and best--and unfortunately, for some, it does the opposite. Even if you're getting consistent scores across multiple tests, don't grow complacent if you think you've already attained your goal, and don't panic if you think you haven't.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help, and best of luck with your studies!

Eli
Eli Meyer
Kaplan GMAT Teacher
Cambridge, MA
www.kaptest.com/gmat

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by 5abi » Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:21 pm
thank kindly for the reply Eli,

I understand that Kaplan has corrected their exams over time. But my concern is the contradicting information I recieve with regards to the 2009 Premier Cats Online Vs. CD.

Some reps say the exams are identical, some say the scoring algorithim has been updated.

I am absolutely confused.
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by KapTeacherEli » Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:49 am
Hi 5abi,

I'm not 100% sure which version of the tests are on the 2009 CD, but the problematic tests were circa 2006-7, so I'm fairly sure you have a newer version (if not the current one).

Eli
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www.kaptest.com/gmat

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by 5abi » Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:41 am
Eli,

Would a description of the program help? or a snap shot of the pop-up on the website?

Cheers
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by KapTeacherEli » Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:53 pm
5abi, thanks for the offer! The truth, however, is that classes and on-the-shelf books are actually handled by different divisions of Kaplan, and as a classroom teacher I don't have the information you need on hand. However, [email protected] should be able to give you a specific answer. Give it a try, and if they can't help you then I'll see what poking around I can do myself.
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Kaplan GMAT Teacher
Cambridge, MA
www.kaptest.com/gmat

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