GMAT Strategy

I have my GMAT date just 2 days ahead....I have taken 5 of MGMAT tests so far and at the very outset, I have to say that MGMAT makes the test taker sweat (always better to practice harder). However I am really disillusioned with my repeated sub 85 percentile score in quant (which is in contrast to 92 and 96 percentile in the GMAT Prep)....infact in the end I had to almost accelerate to complete the quant section

My verbal scores have been averaging 40 and above....is verbal again tougher than the real GMAT or @ par?

Finally, I see that despite 10-12 mistakes (yes I understand the percentile progression), one can get a score of 90 percentile plus in verbal - this seems to be in contrast with GMATPrep, which a. appears a bit less rigorous and b. doesnot let one get away with as many errors for a verbal score of 40+

In short, just soliciting your opinion on any equivalence between MGMAT and real GMAT from anyone who had taken the GMAT and is in a position to draw a comparison.....similarly, views on Princeton?

I agree with you, the MGMAT quant section is definitely a lot tougher than the GMATPrep and probably the GMAT too. I have given 3 CATs till date and have had to hurry on the last 5 questions on all of them. MGMAT is lenient too with the scoring, you can get a high score even after making lots of errors but I think this can be justified by the toughness of the questions. Less number of errors made on easy questions should equate to more number of mistakes on tougher ones, won't you agree? With that said I feel that some of the SC and CR is slightly on the easier side on MGMAT.

Based on the debriefs posted on this site by successful test takers I feel that the average of all your MGMAT scores would be a tad less than the actual score. This is just my conclusion based on the numbers, the key (at least the way I see it) is to improve your scores from CAT 1 thru to 6 and I am sure we will end up with a good score on GMAT as well.

Hi, not sure I followed you in the second para.....are you implying that the actual GMAT score is likely to be higher than the average score on MGMAT?

May I also solicit views from Stacey from MGMAT on my below post.....it is really important!

asamaverick wrote:I agree with you, the MGMAT quant section is definitely a lot tougher than the GMATPrep and probably the GMAT too. I have given 3 CATs till date and have had to hurry on the last 5 questions on all of them. MGMAT is lenient too with the scoring, you can get a high score even after making lots of errors but I think this can be justified by the toughness of the questions. Less number of errors made on easy questions should equate to more number of mistakes on tougher ones, won't you agree? With that said I feel that some of the SC and CR is slightly on the easier side on MGMAT.

Based on the debriefs posted on this site by successful test takers I feel that the average of all your MGMAT scores would be a tad less than the actual score. This is just my conclusion based on the numbers, the key (at least the way I see it) is to improve your scores from CAT 1 thru to 6 and I am sure we will end up with a good score on GMAT as well.

gmatmillenium wrote:Hi, not sure I followed you in the second para.....are you implying that the actual GMAT score is likely to be higher than the average score on MGMAT?

May I also solicit views from Stacey from MGMAT on my below post.....it is really important!

Yep...I do think that the average of MGMAT scores is going to be just a little under your actual score. Initially the MGMAT scores are on the lower side and after CAT 3 it kind of reaches a 'higher' equilibrium. Again, this is only based on my observation and definitely not a generalization.

In case you haven't already done so, you can google 'MGMAT practice test' and you will find some threads (one on MGMAT forum too) which raised this issue in the past and was addressed by test takers as well as experts.

The consensus is that MGMAT quant is harder than the actual GMAT, but verbal is a bit off from the real thing. Best strategy to study verbal is to focus on both OG guides and the GMATPrep tests.

uwhusky wrote:The consensus is that MGMAT quant is harder than the actual GMAT, but verbal is a bit off from the real thing. Best strategy to study verbal is to focus on both OG guides and the GMATPrep tests.

I endorse the view. The verbal will be cakewalk for someone who uses MGMAT startegy guides. The best way to tackle verbal is to stick to OG's and improve your accuracy. Again OG12 and OG Verbal 2nd edition are the only books I would recommend to evaluate where you are. Other are loaded with concepts which are too easy and too basic to come in today's GMAT.
All that said, don't botehr about these things now. Go and take the test witha clear mind. All the best for ur exam

Thanks....I guess your observation is right as I definitely observed the same in my case, which is similar to hbc's case.

asamaverick wrote:

gmatmillenium wrote:Hi, not sure I followed you in the second para.....are you implying that the actual GMAT score is likely to be higher than the average score on MGMAT?

May I also solicit views from Stacey from MGMAT on my below post.....it is really important!

Yep...I do think that the average of MGMAT scores is going to be just a little under your actual score. Initially the MGMAT scores are on the lower side and after CAT 3 it kind of reaches a 'higher' equilibrium. Again, this is only based on my observation and definitely not a generalization.

In case you haven't already done so, you can google 'MGMAT practice test' and you will find some threads (one on MGMAT forum too) which raised this issue in the past and was addressed by test takers as well as experts.

All the best for your GMAT buddy.

all the very best for the exam. look forward to see ur next post in "I Beat the GMAT" section.

BTW, MGMAT Quant is definitely lot tougher than GMATprep and hopefully the actual GMAT. MGMAT Verbal is not that bad though. So for Verbal, is there a consensus that doing OGs with MGMAT Strategy Guides should be enough for the actual exam? I'm working on improving my Verbal score.

Hi,

Even I wanted to check this out? I never seem to be able to complete my quant section in MGMAT and never face this problem with GMAT Prep.

Am I doing something wrong?

MGMAT tests are helpful - can say so in hindsight; I did take a practice test of Veritas - would not recommend; took one of Princeton - quant easier than the actual you will see on test.....MGMAT looked like the best of the ones I encountered....your actual score should be very close to your average of atleast their last 3 tests....you should see your quant score significantly improve in later MGMAT tests - the good thing about MGMAT difficulty level is that it forces you to quit when prudent to optimize your overall score.

theprophet wrote:Hi,

Even I wanted to check this out? I never seem to be able to complete my quant section in MGMAT and never face this problem with GMAT Prep.

Am I doing something wrong?