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Seeking advice on taking a practice CAT day before real GMAT

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Seeking advice on taking a practice CAT day before real GMAT

by tom.stackley » Thu Jul 25, 2013 2:50 pm
I recently took a class with a test prep company. One of opportunities they offer is to sit for what they call the "Official Test Day Experience". This is the opportunity to take one of their (unofficial) practice tests at the exact test center and under the same conditions as I will be taking the official GMAT. My dilemma is that the only day I can take advantage of this opportunity is the day immediately prior to my scheduled GMAT date. The practice test is schedule for 4:00pm (08/02) and my real test is at 12:00pm the next day (08/03).

Is it worth the extra stress of taking the practice the day before my real one for the benefit of getting the official experience? I've been scoring fairly well on my last few CATs, but I'm not a very good test taker and tend to get anxious. I'm concerned that I won't perform as well on the real test as on practice tests and accordingly think it might be worth taking advantage of this opportunity. I would appreciate any advice.

I've reproduced my practice CAT scores below as they might be of some relevance in answering this question?

Kaplan CAT1: 610
Kaplan CAT2: 640
Kaplan CAT3: 630
Kaplan CAT4: 670
Kaplan CAT5: 640
Kaplan CAT6: 660
Kaplan CAT1: 720 (Repeat)
Kaplan CAT7: 730
Kaplan CAT8: 720
GMAT Prep1: 740 (Q48, V44, IR 8)
GMAT Prep2: 740 (Q48, V42, IR 8)
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by [email protected] » Thu Jul 25, 2013 5:50 pm
Hi Tom,

Taking a full-length CAT the day before your real GMAT is NOT a good idea. The process of going through a realistic CAT is a draining experience and you certainly don't want to burn all that energy less than 24 hours before your real GMAT. You'd be better served doing some light review and taking it easy.

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Rich
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by AndyMann » Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:13 pm
Dear Tom,

I agree with Rich and don't think its a good idea to give your CAT a day before. Couple of things I want to point out:
First, you are definitely going to drain most of your mental energy giving the mock CAT, and you definitely need that energy to ace your real GMAT;
Second, the result from the mock CAT can mentally either discourage you or encourage you.It's not good in case it discourages you because mock CAT from any company other than GMAC are not really a good predictor of the real GMAT.
You already have pretty good scores on your previous mock tests (including GMAT prep), so you should be confident about beating the GMAT and don't really need any last minute predictors.

Best wishes for the test and do let us know how it goes!
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by tom.stackley » Wed Jul 31, 2013 6:06 pm
Rich and AndyMann,

Thanks very much to both of you for the advice. I keep hearing that finding the test centers, the actual sign-in and general lack of familiarity with the process gives many people anxiety on test day. Accordingly I'm planning on checking out the test center prior to my test day anyway.

Is there any reason I wouldn't want to fake "take" this mock CAT? I'm thinking about attending the session, but just clicking through the whole test as fast as I can (without reading the questions). Hopefully this would avoid both of the points Andymann mentions while still providing me some familiarity with the actual test center?

Anybody have thoughts?

Again, I very much appreciate anyones input. I definitely plan on posting a debrief after my exam.
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by [email protected] » Wed Jul 31, 2013 10:46 pm
Hi Tom,

Since we're talking about this Friday (proposed practice test) and Saturday (real GMAT), I'm going to suggest an alternative...

Since you've been scoring well on your practice CATs, you don't appear to have any real test day "issues", so taking the practice test would be a waste of time (even if you're rushing through it). It IS still important to know about the location, parking, etc., so you COULD take Friday off and drive to the location AT THE SAME TIME OF DAY as you will on Saturday. Many of the details won't be exactly the same (parking, traffic) because you're talking about a Friday vs. a Saturday, but you can learn about the venue (bathroom and Pearson office location) and parking. The administrative part of the check-in process has a few steps to it, but you don't strike me as someone who gets upset by that sort of thing.

From what you're describing, if you take the practice test as you've described, then you're going to deal with a bunch of traffic and nonsense for little benefit. I'm not saying NO, but I am saying that it seems like a real hassle on a day in which you should be taking it easy and doing a bit of light review. All that having been said, if you don't think that it will affect you in ANY negative way, then go ahead with your plan.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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