Veritas Prep, Manhattan Prep, GMATPrep, ...

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Do you guys think that these tests are harder than the real GMAT test?

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by MartyMurray » Thu Feb 25, 2016 12:09 am
Veritas quant questions are sometimes slightly more complex than those on the real test, and the verbal can be trickier somehow. At the same time, most people score pretty much the same on the real test as they do on Veritas tests. That being said, occasionally people score significantly lower on Veritas tests than they do on the real GMAT.

Many Manhattan quant questions are so constructed that getting to the right answer to them takes more steps than one needs to get right answers to questions on the actual test. Real GMAT quant questions tend to be designed to test vision. In other words, often just seeing a key thing is most of what you need to do in order to get them right. Many Manhattan quant questions often require doing more actual math. Also, some Manhattan quant questions are simply more challenging than quant questions on the actual GMAT tend to be.

Manhattan verbal is often pretty close to official verbal, but because of weaknesses in some of the questions, people taking a Manhattan verbal section may get more wrong answers than they get when taking the real GMAT.

So, because of the combination of more math heavy quant questions, challenging quant questions and some flawed verbal questions, people tend to score a little lower on Manhattan tests than they do on the real GMAT.

GMAT Prep? I can say that from what I have seen and heard, SC on the real test probably has become more logic based than it is in GMAT Prep. So in a sense that change makes SC on the real test easier in that maybe there are not on the real test as many somewhat arcane idioms to deal with as there are in GMAT Prep. Another way to put it is this way. I like nice logical, hackable SC questions and the last time I took the test, I felt that I liked the SC questions I saw more than I like those in GMAT Prep. Is quant a little tougher in GMAT Prep than in the real test? Maaaaaybe slightly, but maybe not. I guess probably GMAT Prep quant is pretty much the same as quant on the real test.
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by [email protected] » Thu Feb 25, 2016 9:43 am
Hi didieravoaka,

Based on the information that you've provided in these posts...

https://www.beatthegmat.com/gmat-practic ... tml#765973

...you've taken TOO MANY practice CATs over the course of the last month. You should plan on taking 1 realistic, FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections) every week or so. Taking more CATs than that is rarely beneficial.

Given your practice results so far, you appear to be in position to achieve your score goal.

1) What is your exact Test Date?

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by didieravoaka » Thu Feb 25, 2016 11:53 am
Hi Rich,

You're probably right about the fact that taking so many tests as I've been taking is rarely beneficial. Indeed, my scores have been declining since the last scores that I have posted. Here there are since then: 410, 330, 310, 430, 420. They are all from Veritas Prep.

I scheduled my test for March 16.

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by didieravoaka » Thu Feb 25, 2016 11:59 am
Hi Marty,

Thanks for the information.

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by [email protected] » Thu Feb 25, 2016 5:09 pm
Hi Marc.,

Since your overall score goal is so modest, you could very easily hit that score (or higher) on your scheduled Test Date. You also won't have to correctly answer ANY questions that you think are too hard or too weird. As such, you can (and should) 'dump' any question that feels too tough. You can use the time that you save from quickly dumping those hard questions to double-check your work on the 'gettable' questions that you face. You really just have to keep the little mistakes to a minimum on those questions AND get a fair chance to see (and respond to) every question in each section. Given some of your prior CAT scores, hitting your goal score should be a fairly straight-forward process on Test Day, but you will have to do the necessary work to EARN those points.

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by didieravoaka » Thu Feb 25, 2016 5:16 pm
Thanks Rich,

As you said I think I better 'dump' any question I find tough and spend more time on easy ones and make sure I 'get' them.
So basically, you're saying to guess on questions I find tough. You mean that I don't have to waste time on those tough questions, instead guessing and moving one would be a good way to handle them. Right?

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by [email protected] » Thu Feb 25, 2016 5:20 pm
Hi Marc.,

Yes, that is exactly what I mean.

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