Understanding Kaplan CAT Results

[gileyal]

Hi,

I've been enrolled in a course with Kaplan's affiliate at my home country called Kidum (fantastic, by the way).

We've finally reached the point where we're taking exams. We took gmatprep 1 on the first day of the course. I got a 670 (44Q, 38V).

About a month later we took the Kaplan diagnostic online on www.kaptest.com. Got a 700 (45Q, 41V). Had 5 errors on quantative and 4 on verbal.

Had plenty of free time on both exams.

Today we were instructed to take Kaplan GMAT CAT 2 on www.kaptest.com. This test was a totally different experience for me.

Quantative went horrible. I found myself with about 20 minutes left for the final 15 questions ended up having an 8 out of 9 wrong stretch and scoring 22 out of 37, barely finishing the exam on time. This translated into a 42.

Verbal was really tough as well, but I finished with some time available. Ended up with eight wrong answers... which converted into a 52(?!) on the verbal section.

Overall score - 710.

I don't really know how to treat this exam. Is the Quantative section what I can expect on the real thing? Yikes! I really hope the real thing will be easier than that...

I guess what I'm trying to ask - is this test deliberately intended to be more difficult than the real thing, so that when we reach the real thing it will seem easier?

How can I convert the 52 in Verbal to a real grade?

Thanks,
Gil

[Jen Kedro]

Hi gileyal,

Glad to hear your course at Kidum is going well, and nice job on your initial practice tests. You are scoring in the top 8-10% of test-takers already, which is extremely respectable.

Bear in mind that you have a total of 8-10 CATs or more you can take between your Kaplan materials and GMATPrep, and you should expect some fluctuations over time as you practice more and more, and as you learn additional tips, strategies, and time management techniques in class. Nothing counts until the real thing! So use the practice tests to develop your skills, but do not overly-stress about each individual score, as you are not yet ready for test day if you're still in the midst of your course. Do use the exams as a great way to learn and improve--be sure to set aside time to thoroughly review each full exam that you take, and review the explanations. Learn from your mistakes, mistakes that you made under time pressure, as this is one of the best ways to improve.

The exams are designed to be as realistic as possible, and we continually assess the scoring correlation between our exams and the real GMAT to ensure that. As for asking what the "real quantitative section" or a part of the exam is like, remember, each person's "real test" will be different from the next person's, because it is adaptive! So if you are doing well, the real exam will be getting more difficult, and vice versa if you are not doing well. So what you will see on test day depends on how you are performing. Kaplan's CATs are also adaptive, so again variations in the difficulty level often stem from how you are performing.

The math and verbal subscores are out of 60 points, so the 52 on Verbal is out of 60 and is very high. Even though you missed some questions, it was likely that those questions were of very high difficulty.

Keep up the hard work and progress, and good luck on test day!