practice test scores

This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:16 pm
Location: Lexington, KY

practice test scores

by ctd » Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:40 pm
I would like to know peoples opinions of REA (Research & Education Association) prep books and test software. The practice test CD is CAT, and I would like to know how verbal, quant and overall scores from one of these correlates to the real thing. Thanks in advance.

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Site Admin
Posts: 6773
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 1249 times
Followed by:994 members

by beatthegmat » Wed Oct 04, 2006 7:23 pm
I am not very familiar with REA, but I haven't heard very good reviews about these books. I would recommend sticking with Princeton Review, Kaplan, and OG.
Beat The GMAT | The MBA Social Network
Community Management Team

Research Top GMAT Prep Courses:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/gmat-prep-courses

Research The World's Top MBA Programs:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/school

Community Manager
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2006 10:17 am
Location: New York, NY

by ianstrike » Fri Oct 06, 2006 6:58 am
REA books are NOT strong for test prep. They do a good job with their academic course reviews (Biology, Chemistry, etc.) However, their simulated test questions NEVER look, taste or smell enough like the real thing.

While I've never played with the simulated CAT on their CD, I am disinclined to trust it. Since their GMAT book has tons of questions that are really not test-like, it's, it's hard to imagine that they've done the due diligence to develop a CAT that FEELS like a simulated GMAC test.

If you already have the REA book, you can use it for your early content review, but I absolutely wouldn't trust it to inform your understanding of what the exam is really like.

As for their test's ability to give you a meaningful score, I would be careful to not rely on their scoring.

If you've already taken an REA practice test, take their number with a grain of salt. If you got a high score from REA, great: use that experience to build confidence when you move on to the more reliable simulated material (Kap, TPR & GMAC). If you took REA's CAT exam and did poorly, don't despair: their software is a blunt tool.
Ian Streicher