GMAT Strategy

I am planning to take the GMAT by the end of this month. My question is :

My scores improved on the practice exams after the first one. But, my Kaplan score is totally weird as it dropped from 660 from 4th test to 570 on the 5th one. I am totally confused.

Do you guys think whether Kaplan practice exams are set to tougher than normal standards or is this my real ability level.

Any thoughts about the kaplan exams would be much appreciated.

Practice exams scores:

MGMAT 1: 590(42,30)
GMAT Prep 1: 610 (47,27)
MGMAT 2: 640(43,35)
GMAT Prep 2: 660 (47,34)
kaplan1:570(49,28)

Thanks a lot.

I have heard from others that their actual score came in higher than their Kaplan practice scores.

SKR wrote:I am planning to take the GMAT by the end of this month. My question is :

My scores improved on the practice exams after the first one. But, my Kaplan score is totally weird as it dropped from 660 from 4th test to 570 on the 5th one. I am totally confused.

Do you guys think whether Kaplan practice exams are set to tougher than normal standards or is this my real ability level.

Any thoughts about the kaplan exams would be much appreciated.

Practice exams scores:

MGMAT 1: 590(42,30)
GMAT Prep 1: 610 (47,27)
MGMAT 2: 640(43,35)
GMAT Prep 2: 660 (47,34)
kaplan1:570(49,28)

Thanks a lot.

Hi SKR,

Practice scores can provide valuable information, but they aren't a perfect metric. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself when you are self-evaluating your performance on a low-scoring test: "Was I distracted? Was I tired or hungry? Did my overall score drop, or just one section? Were there any specific content, such as Geometry or Verbs, that I am weak at but that showed up disproportionately on my questions?"

In my experience, when a student drops noticably from consistently higher scores, the answer to one or more of these questions is 'yes'. So keep working, and remember that practice tests are practice tests. Use the experience as another chance to improve and Beat the GMAT.

Best of luck!

I have done some of the older Kaplan tests and I seem to keep scoring around 570 on these tests. However, when I do the official practice test I score consistently above 700. This is really really wierd, maybe something in the Kaplan test does not agree with me.

driekus wrote:I have done some of the older Kaplan tests and I seem to keep scoring around 570 on these tests. However, when I do the official practice test I score consistently above 700. This is really really wierd, maybe something in the Kaplan test does not agree with me.

Hi driekus,

Some of our older tests are using outdated algorithms; our newer tests are much more accurate.

Do Kaplan still do a free CAT test as a trial?
Do Kaplan sell the GMAT CAT's on there own?