GMAT Strategy

I took the GMAT Prep test for the first time and scored a 650 (42,38).
What I am unable to figure out is how these scores are scaled.
In the Quants section I got a whooping 15 errors whereas in Verbal I got 10 wrong,
so how come my Quants score are more than my Verbal Score?
Could someone please explain how the scores are scaled.
Also which are the best Test Preps available?

in terms of percentile ...you have a far better score in verbal as compared to quant...

your score depends on a number of factors such as : have u made consecutive mistakes..mistakes at lower level ques vs those at higher level..also on real thing experimental ques play a big role...your mistakes on experimental ques have no bearing on ur score...

rest experts can share the details...

2010gmat: Thank you so much for that much needed information.
I am also perplexed with my scores in the Kaplan CATs. Till now I have taken the Power Prep, Princeton and one of the GMAT Prep tests and have scored in the range of 600.But when it comes to the Kaplan CATs, my scores dip terribly. I am not able to gauge my level of preparation as the Kaplan scores are confusing me.
Can you please help?
Also which are the other good CATs that can be taken.

I've personally not tried Kaplan CATs. But a universal opinion of Kaplan CATs is the scoring algorithm is horrible and one must not consider the score it shows. So, for the sake of practice, Kaplan is good test. But don't bother about their scores.

Official GMATPrep is the best prep test for GMAT. Apart from that, Manhattan GMAT Prep tests are considered good next to GMATPrep.

Kaplan's quant is way too easy and verbal is damn too hard....gud if you want to train at altitude for verbal....

i personally found Manhattan CATs close to GMAT prep {for verbal only...quant here too is way off mark...involves lot of calculations and combinatorics etc...} ...

GMAT prep is gold standard...i would say re-take gmat prep as many times as you can...

papgust: thanks a lot for that input.

GMAT2010 : Thanks again.
I actually found the Verbal section to be much more tough than what it isin GMAT Prep.
How is retaking the same test going to help?

pallavi, gmat prep has a a big pool of questions...even if u retake...u will get only few repeats....at the max 3-5 repeats per section...that might inflate your score a bit but you will be working with real questions....

2010gmat : Thanks a ton!!!

I just took my first MGMAT test... scored 660. 40V; 40Q. Not bad, but I'm looking to score >700 so I definitely need more work.

Hi everybody..

I am preparing my GMAT: for the moment I am completing the official review (and then I'll move on to gmat advanced and sample tests online) and I wanted to get an idea of what could be my score before trying the sample tests.. I can tell that i am preatty confident not to miss more than one or two questions in the math part and actually i don't think it's really unlikely that i get it all correct.. the verbal part is tougher (I am not a native speaker!) from the questions i did in the official review i got 95% right in reading, 95% in critical reasoning and 85% in sentence correction ( i have almost finished the book so basically I tried more or less 150 questions for each type)... Can anyone give me an idea of my score.. just a broad range.. I want to understand what I can achieve.

Thanks

I've now taken all of the Kaplan CAT exams (all 8), the two official GMAT practice tests, and the actual GMAT.

I'm taking the GMAT again, this time at pearson's expense, b/c I experienced an administrative error on the actual exam. So since I have another few weeks to study I went ahead and renewed my Kaplan online course (per the higher score guarantee) to get some more practice before I take the GMAT again. I am absolutely convinced that the Kaplan CATs are more difficult or are scored differently than the actual GMAT. Even now, after having studied for the past 3 months, I can hardley ever break 600 and have only once achived a 650. And a 650 is where I believe my current ability resides.

On the official GMAT practice tests I was scoring in the 680 range and on the actual GMAT I experienced two sizable distractions that have resulted in my eligibility to take the test again free of charge but STILL got a 620 (which is higher than 7/8 of my previous Kaplan CAT exams)

Using the Kaplan program to prepare for this exam was rather discouraging at first because I kept scoring so low, but now I just use it for practice and don't consider the score it gives me to hold much value. My personal opinion is that both the quant and verbal questions are more advance than they should be from the first question on. I take it for what it's worth though-good practice and don't let the low score get to me.

Alec: Given your efficiency in solving the questions from the Official Guides, you can expect a very good score in the Verbal section(38 and up), as the level of difficulty in the actual GMAT is the same as that in OG.
For first attempt at taking a full length mock test, I feel Princeton would be good.
All the very best for your prep!

thank you very much pallavi.. I will keep on focusing on SC, I think I can improve a lot.

I was wondering: the quant score is from 0 to 60 but I have never read that someone had more than 51. If you get all questions right do you get 60? I just don't understand why then everybody drops down to 50..

Alec : Even I have never heard anyone getting more than 51 in Quants. In any case getting a near 60 score is almost impossible for most.