totally confused with MGMAT & Kaplan scores...plz guide

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Hi,

Today I took Kaplan test for the first time & I am really disappointed with my scores.
I just scored 570 (Q46,V27)
In Vebal,I ran out of time and for the last 10 questions I randomly marked the answers.
I have a date in next 19 days.I am really confused.Should I reschedule the test?
before this I had taken four tests.The scores were as below.

GMATPrep Q49 V22 590
Knewton Q46 V25 590
MGMAT1 Q46 V38 690
MGMAT2 Q47 V34 670

Please guide me.

Thanks!
Last edited by prachich1987 on Sat Jan 08, 2011 5:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
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by bblast » Sat Jan 08, 2011 5:45 am
I put a similar post after a disappointing 650 in my GMAT prep-1 10 days back, but I know I can do better nd i've quit the thought of a reschedule.

dnt panick, Kaplan tests are usually low scoring, seeing ur MGMAT scores, I can say u are doing better than me.

and u have 19 days, I have 10. keep going hard, dnt let the scores affect ur confidence....
Cheers !!

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by Random Wok » Sun Jan 09, 2011 6:35 am
Yeah, the Kaplan scores can be a bit wild. I would recommend taking the GMAT Prep test one more time. If that's not up to or above your target, then maybe you should consider rescheduling.

Good luck

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by prachich1987 » Sun Jan 09, 2011 7:11 am
Thanks bblast & Random work for your kind reply!

Random work, I read your blog "My GMAT scores".It was very informative

Actually my hit rate in CR is quiet ok,but I take too much time/question.
As I have written in my above post,I ran out of time.Hence randomly answered 10 questions and couldn't attempt two questions at all :(
I think this greatly affected my score.
I am reading Powerscore CR bible.
My hit rate in RC has always been low.I tried to search for Aristotle RC 99 across many book stores.But couldn't get it.
With 16 days remaining for my actual exam can you give some tips on RCs or suggest me some other RC books.
Thanks!

P. S : I took GMAT Prep once.I read in your blog that you just got four repeat questions from earlier test.I will try GMATPrep 1 again.

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by bblast » Sun Jan 09, 2011 7:47 am
prachich1987 wrote:Thanks bblast & Random work for your kind reply!

Random work, I read your blog "My GMAT scores".It was very informative

Actually my hit rate in CR is quiet ok,but I take too much time/question.
As I have written in my above post,I ran out of time.Hence randomly answered 10 questions and couldn't attempt two questions at all :(
I think this greatly affected my score.
I am reading Powerscore CR bible.
My hit rate in RC has always been low.I tried to search for Aristotle RC 99 across many book stores.But couldn't get it.
With 16 days remaining for my actual exam can you give some tips on RCs or suggest me some other RC books.
Thanks!

P. S : I took GMAT Prep once.I read in your blog that you just got four repeat questions from earlier test.I will try GMATPrep 1 again.
aristotle rc-99 is available for 15$ prachi, u can get it in the pdf format, but I wnt recommend it so late in the prep, just practice and practice from available sources, dnt waste too much time with bible either, just read the 1st half, skip parallel reasoning resolve paradox etc, they hardly show up and i think are a bit easier as well.

regarding gmat prep dnt solve the question banks containing ques's from gmat prep.

take them under real consitions again and again,

i took my last mgmat and scored a bad 640; 2 days back(took it with full essays/ the quant irritated me with the exteme difficulty level and made the last half hour of verbal horrible nd i ended up scoring 47 in Q but only 31 in V),

but in my final 10 days I plan to take gprep 1 repeat and gprep 2 twice.

random wok has already inspired me with his words once :)
Cheers !!

Quant 47-Striving for 50
Verbal 34-Striving for 40

My gmat journey :
https://www.beatthegmat.com/710-bblast-s ... 90735.html
My take on the GMAT RC :
https://www.beatthegmat.com/ways-to-bbla ... 90808.html
How to prepare before your MBA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upz46D7 ... TWBZF14TKW_

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by Random Wok » Sun Jan 09, 2011 8:10 am
Thank you both for your kind words.

I don't know how much of this is reiterated in my blog, but the two keys to success for RC are your inherent reading ability and your standard approach to each question. Since you only have 16 days left, I would focus on the approach.

No RC process is perfect for everyone, but just make sure that you have one and you approach each RC question the same way every time. I initially didn't care about process at all, and I came to answer every question by the seat of my pants. However, when I started using the same approach, and could repeat it in my sleep, I definitely noticed an improvement. This was mine:

Step 1: Read the first question (every little preview helps)

Step 2: Read the first paragraph and take notes

Step 3: Try to jot down, in a similar shorthand format, the main idea of that paragraph

Step 4: Draw a line under your notes for paragraph one and repeat


A couple of things to note:

1. The notes I took were barely legible and I never looked back at them, but the process of doing so helped me remember what I read

2. I was scoring in the 95th percentile for verbal during my practice tests, and I felt this process was necessary to get to that level. Depending on your goal, this specific process may or may not be right for you. Some people don't take notes at all. But again, it's just important to have an approach and use it consistently.

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by gmat1011 » Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:21 pm
Hi Prachich... good luck on the test...

if i may ask - which Kaplan practice tests are are doing? the ones that come with the online companion to Kaplan Premier (4 CATs; 2 Linear Tests)? or the CD-based tests?

Thanks.

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by prachich1987 » Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:46 pm
gmat1011 wrote:Hi Prachich... good luck on the test...

if i may ask - which Kaplan practice tests are are doing? the ones that come with the online companion to Kaplan Premier (4 CATs; 2 Linear Tests)? or the CD-based tests?

Thanks.
Thanks gmat1011.
I have both.But the above refers to one from CD.

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by gmat1011 » Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:56 pm
based on others posts here the CD tests use an "outdated alogrithm" as the kaplan rep himself has pointed out.
I actually took one of the online tests - no 4... and that was just too easy -- totally the reverse of the cd ones. If you have time try one of the online ones and see...

https://www.beatthegmat.com/kaplan-seems ... 69093.html

Hi Clawhammer,

I spoke to you in the Ask a Kaplan Rep thread, and I hope I was able to answer your questions. But just in case, I'll post here: the 2007 CD is using an outdated algorithm. I'm sorry that it frustrated you, but I hope you felt that it remains a valuable tool, since it can tell you your relative strengths and weaknesses and give you a sense of your relative improvement. However, we at Kaplan constantly strive to improve the quality of our product, and our CATs have only gotten more and more accurate and test-like over the years. Hang on to your 2007 CD--it's good practice, and the Kaplan methods still work!--but you may find that 2011 Kaplan Premier edition, or the comprehensive GMAT On-Demand package, will give you an even more precise gauge of your progress.

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by prachich1987 » Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:38 pm
gmat1011 wrote:based on others posts here the CD tests use an "outdated alogrithm" as the kaplan rep himself has pointed out.
I actually took one of the online tests - no 4... and that was just too easy -- totally the reverse of the cd ones. If you have time try one of the online ones and see...

https://www.beatthegmat.com/kaplan-seems ... 69093.html

Hi Clawhammer,

I spoke to you in the Ask a Kaplan Rep thread, and I hope I was able to answer your questions. But just in case, I'll post here: the 2007 CD is using an outdated algorithm. I'm sorry that it frustrated you, but I hope you felt that it remains a valuable tool, since it can tell you your relative strengths and weaknesses and give you a sense of your relative improvement. However, we at Kaplan constantly strive to improve the quality of our product, and our CATs have only gotten more and more accurate and test-like over the years. Hang on to your 2007 CD--it's good practice, and the Kaplan methods still work!--but you may find that 2011 Kaplan Premier edition, or the comprehensive GMAT On-Demand package, will give you an even more precise gauge of your progress.
Thanks gmat1011
Here the Kaplan representative is talking about flaws in 2007 CD & she is saying that 2011 CD is upto the mark
The test I attempted was from 2011 CD only.
So does it mean it is a precise gauge of my score??
It's a bad news then :(

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by bblast » Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:50 pm
prachich1987 wrote:
gmat1011 wrote:based on others posts here the CD tests use an "outdated alogrithm" as the kaplan rep himself has pointed out.
I actually took one of the online tests - no 4... and that was just too easy -- totally the reverse of the cd ones. If you have time try one of the online ones and see...

https://www.beatthegmat.com/kaplan-seems ... 69093.html

Hi Clawhammer,

I spoke to you in the Ask a Kaplan Rep thread, and I hope I was able to answer your questions. But just in case, I'll post here: the 2007 CD is using an outdated algorithm. I'm sorry that it frustrated you, but I hope you felt that it remains a valuable tool, since it can tell you your relative strengths and weaknesses and give you a sense of your relative improvement. However, we at Kaplan constantly strive to improve the quality of our product, and our CATs have only gotten more and more accurate and test-like over the years. Hang on to your 2007 CD--it's good practice, and the Kaplan methods still work!--but you may find that 2011 Kaplan Premier edition, or the comprehensive GMAT On-Demand package, will give you an even more precise gauge of your progress.
Thanks gmat1011
Here the Kaplan representative is talking about flaws in 2007 CD & she is saying that 2011 CD is upto the mark
The test I attempted was from 2011 CD only.
So does it mean it is a precise gauge of my score??
It's a bad news then :(
i would say start gmat prep's now, repeats also will serve better purpose than 3rd party cat's.
i left it too late :(
Cheers !!

Quant 47-Striving for 50
Verbal 34-Striving for 40

My gmat journey :
https://www.beatthegmat.com/710-bblast-s ... 90735.html
My take on the GMAT RC :
https://www.beatthegmat.com/ways-to-bbla ... 90808.html
How to prepare before your MBA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upz46D7 ... TWBZF14TKW_

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by prachich1987 » Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:42 am
thanks bblast
I will take GMAT prep 1 again
How many time you attempted GMAT prep 1 & what was the no. of repeat questions each time?

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by gmat1011 » Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:56 am
in my experience taking a gmat prep repeatedly will not prove to be an accurate indicator of scores... there would be 5-6 repeats in each section, if not more... so scores will be inflated if you are the type who can remember answers...

in my case if i have done a question and get it again I can generally remember the answer

it actually does surprise me when people say GMAT prep is the most accurate indicator... it may be true the first time you take it... on repeats I don't think that is true and a fact worth bearing in mind when you look at your 'repeat' GMAT prep scores.

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by bblast » Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:38 am
prachich1987 wrote:thanks bblast
I will take GMAT prep 1 again
How many time you attempted GMAT prep 1 & what was the no. of repeat questions each time?

go through the following link

https://www.beatthegmat.com/gmat-prep-re ... 12545.html


very useful on how to suck the best out of gmat prep..


I have yet not given a repeat but will give one day after will let ya know.
Cheers !!

Quant 47-Striving for 50
Verbal 34-Striving for 40

My gmat journey :
https://www.beatthegmat.com/710-bblast-s ... 90735.html
My take on the GMAT RC :
https://www.beatthegmat.com/ways-to-bbla ... 90808.html
How to prepare before your MBA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upz46D7 ... TWBZF14TKW_

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by gmat1011 » Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:45 am
I have taken each of the 2 GMAT prep exams 3 times and seen multiple repeats... I will try this method and see if it works...
If it does work... then great!