Dear Kaplan/Manhattan Experts,
I am very frustrated as the accuracy level in CR, RC, and SC sections is varying inconsistently in my recent mock exams.
Please explain these inconsistencies in the CR, RC and SC sections in these exams.
Relevant reports of Kaplan and Manhattan CATs are attached here.
kaplan cat-4: 640............................7th Aug'12
kaplan cat-5: 640............................9th Sep'12
GMAT PREP-1(Old version): 650 (Q49, V30).....16th Sep'12
Accuracy:- CR: 12/14, RC: 10/13, SC: 6/14
Manhattan cat-3: 670(Q45,V36)................16th Sep'12
Significant Variations in verbal areas' Accuracy
This topic has expert replies
- KapTeacherEli
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Hi imskpwr,
That's a lot of data, and I'm sorry if you're feeling frustrated--but can you please specify what your concerns are, and how I can help?
Regards,
Eli
That's a lot of data, and I'm sorry if you're feeling frustrated--but can you please specify what your concerns are, and how I can help?
Regards,
Eli
- imskpwr
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On 09/08/12, I wrote Kaplan Cat-4, It reflected a weakness in SC, but CR result was good.KapTeacherEli wrote:Hi imskpwr,
That's a lot of data, and I'm sorry if you're feeling frustrated--but can you please specify what your concerns are, and how I can help?
Regards,
Eli
On 09/09/12, I wrote Kaplan Cat-5, It reflected a weakness in CR,SC,RC
On 16/09/12, I wrote GMAT PREP-1, It reflected a weakness in SC(6 correct out of 14), moderate result in RC, and a strength in CR.
On 16/09/12 only, I wrote Manhattan Cat-3, It reflected a weakness in CR, moderate result in RC, and a strength in SC(11 correct out of 15).
I have no idea now about my current strengths/weakness.
Furthermore, the pattern of my strength and weakness is very ambiguous. Therefore, I am unable to plan my strategies properly.
I have no idea if I need to spend more time on SC or RC or CR.
Hope experts can help me at this juncture.
- KapTeacherEli
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hi imskpwr,
You shouldn't expect identical performance across tests. Notwithstanding the fact that no practice test is perfect, random chance, and physical and psychological factors that vary from test to test.
Looking at your overall performance across multiple tests is the best way to judge your performance--use your aggregate and average scores for focus your study.
Regards,
Eli
You shouldn't expect identical performance across tests. Notwithstanding the fact that no practice test is perfect, random chance, and physical and psychological factors that vary from test to test.
Looking at your overall performance across multiple tests is the best way to judge your performance--use your aggregate and average scores for focus your study.
Regards,
Eli
- imskpwr
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The kind of fluctuation in SC and CR is unexplainable.KapTeacherEli wrote:hi imskpwr,
You shouldn't expect identical performance across tests. Notwithstanding the fact that no practice test is perfect, random chance, and physical and psychological factors that vary from test to test.
Looking at your overall performance across multiple tests is the best way to judge your performance--use your aggregate and average scores for focus your study.
Regards,
Eli
- imskpwr
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No help till date. Still confused and frustrated.
My recent scores:
Kaplan 5: 640. I got stuck at high level in all: SC, CR and RC.
GMAT prep-1: 640: Stuck in SC? I did well in CR and moderate in RC.
Manhattan 3: 670: Stuck in CR? I did well in SC and moderate in RC. I got stuck at high level in CR.
Why all three tests indicate different weaknesses?
What actually went wrong?
What can I do at this juncture?
Please help me...
My recent scores:
Kaplan 5: 640. I got stuck at high level in all: SC, CR and RC.
GMAT prep-1: 640: Stuck in SC? I did well in CR and moderate in RC.
Manhattan 3: 670: Stuck in CR? I did well in SC and moderate in RC. I got stuck at high level in CR.
Why all three tests indicate different weaknesses?
What actually went wrong?
What can I do at this juncture?
Please help me...
- imskpwr
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Please anyone?imskpwr wrote:No help till date. Still confused and frustrated.
My recent scores:
Kaplan 5: 640. I got stuck at high level in all: SC, CR and RC.
GMAT prep-1: 640: Stuck in SC? I did well in CR and moderate in RC.
Manhattan 3: 670: Stuck in CR? I did well in SC and moderate in RC. I got stuck at high level in CR.
Why all three tests indicate different weaknesses?
What actually went wrong?
What can I do at this juncture?
Please help me...
GMAT/MBA Expert
- lunarpower
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i received a private message about this thread.
i know little about other companies' exams, so i can't really weigh in on the kaplan tests.
one thing that might matter is this: which materials have you been using to study? and how have you been studying them?
remember that there's going to be a decent amount of overlap between any company's prep materials and its practice tests, especially in terms of SC. although you won't see exactly the same sentences, you'll see the same patterns in the practice problems as in the study books. so, if you've been using the MGMAT SC book -- especially if you've been memorizing the example sentences, rather than just noticing more general patterns of usage -- then that might explain the disproportionately high performance on SC in the mgmat exam.
in any case, a fairly large amount of fluctuation, like this, isn't unheard of. your overall scores are actually remarkably consistent (remember the standard deviation of the real exam is about 30-40 points, so the standard deviation of prep companies' exams is almost certainly a bit higher than that), so this sort of variation isn't too wild.
--
in terms of verbal preparation, here's a post with a number of suggestions for what you can do:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/retaking-gma ... tml#464164
i know little about other companies' exams, so i can't really weigh in on the kaplan tests.
one thing that might matter is this: which materials have you been using to study? and how have you been studying them?
remember that there's going to be a decent amount of overlap between any company's prep materials and its practice tests, especially in terms of SC. although you won't see exactly the same sentences, you'll see the same patterns in the practice problems as in the study books. so, if you've been using the MGMAT SC book -- especially if you've been memorizing the example sentences, rather than just noticing more general patterns of usage -- then that might explain the disproportionately high performance on SC in the mgmat exam.
in any case, a fairly large amount of fluctuation, like this, isn't unheard of. your overall scores are actually remarkably consistent (remember the standard deviation of the real exam is about 30-40 points, so the standard deviation of prep companies' exams is almost certainly a bit higher than that), so this sort of variation isn't too wild.
--
in terms of verbal preparation, here's a post with a number of suggestions for what you can do:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/retaking-gma ... tml#464164
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
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Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
--
Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
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Learn more about ron
- sam2304
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I would suggest you to use the other mocks for identifying the weak topics alone and not an entire section as every test prep mocks will be a bit biased to their strategies and none is as close to GMATPrep in imitating the verbal part. That is why you should use different materials for practice or use different strategy books and apply it only on official problems. If you find that you are totally weak in one particular section from GMATPrep, then you should probably put in more efforts to improve that section. GMAT SC is very difficult compared to whatever is available in OG, and you are comparing it with other test prep companies, which are not even close to OG. GMATPrep is the only thing reliable, others are useful only to certain extent.
Getting defeated is just a temporary notion, giving it up is what makes it permanent.
https://gmatandbeyond.blogspot.in/
https://gmatandbeyond.blogspot.in/
- imskpwr
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Yup!sam2304 wrote:I would suggest you to use the other mocks for identifying the weak topics alone and not an entire section as every test prep mocks will be a bit biased to their strategies and none is as close to GMATPrep in imitating the verbal part. That is why you should use different materials for practice or use different strategy books and apply it only on official problems. If you find that you are totally weak in one particular section from GMATPrep, then you should probably put in more efforts to improve that section. GMAT SC is very difficult compared to whatever is available in OG, and you are comparing it with other test prep companies, which are not even close to OG. GMATPrep is the only thing reliable, others are useful only to certain extent.
I agree to you.
GMAT PREP vs MANHATTAN vs KAPLAN
SC:
In MANHATTAN, SPLITS are very clear with moderate difficulty level(lower than GMAT-PREP).
In KAPLAN, SC is difficult and more similar to GMAT-PREP type questions.
CR:
MANHATTAN is more difficult than GMAT PREP.
KAPLAN is moderate and similar to GMAT-PREP.
RC:
MANHATTAN is very similar to GMAT PREP.
KAPLAN is very HARD and no way near to GMAT-PREP.
- imskpwr
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Kaplan-4,lunarpower wrote:i received a private message about this thread.
i know little about other companies' exams, so i can't really weigh in on the kaplan tests.
one thing that might matter is this: which materials have you been using to study? and how have you been studying them?
remember that there's going to be a decent amount of overlap between any company's prep materials and its practice tests, especially in terms of SC. although you won't see exactly the same sentences, you'll see the same patterns in the practice problems as in the study books. so, if you've been using the MGMAT SC book -- especially if you've been memorizing the example sentences, rather than just noticing more general patterns of usage -- then that might explain the disproportionately high performance on SC in the mgmat exam.
in any case, a fairly large amount of fluctuation, like this, isn't unheard of. your overall scores are actually remarkably consistent (remember the standard deviation of the real exam is about 30-40 points, so the standard deviation of prep companies' exams is almost certainly a bit higher than that), so this sort of variation isn't too wild.
--
in terms of verbal preparation, here's a post with a number of suggestions for what you can do:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/retaking-gma ... tml#464164
Kaplan's RCs are, in general, extremely hard. I wanted to increase my CR and RC accuracies so I spent considerable amount of time on both. But, I spent very less time on SC.
Kaplan-5,
I wanted to increase my SC and CR accuracies so I spent considerable amount on both SC and CR.
GMAT-PREP,
I wanted to increase my SC, CR and RC accuracies so I spent considerable amount on each.
MANHATTAN,
I wanted to know what went wrong with my SC so I was extra cautious with it.