Scoring 560 on Kaplan CAT, test day two weeks, need 500

[winkwink1314]

Hello Everyone,

First here's a little background, I have been given a conditional offer to my dream MBA program pending a 500 minimum gmat score. After months of studying with the Kaplan Online Course, I took the gmat exam the first time and scored a horrifying 350 even though scoring an average of 470 on the Kaplans Cats.I had realized my errors and then focused on my weaknesses by purchasing the Verbal ManhattanGMAT prep and purchased two months of Targettestprep for quant along with OG 2013.

Currently, I'm taking the exam again in two weeks and now have been scoring an average of 560 on Kaplan practice exams. I am aiming for a score of 500. So would it be reasonable to believe that if I am scoring 560 on my kaplan practice exams, should I expect to score on test day a 460? And how accurate are Kaplan's cats? I am not using my previous experience with practice tests because during my test day I was mentally fatigued and my brain had literally shut down due to stress and information overload.

Any advice or experience would be so helpful.

Thanks!

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Hi winkwink1314,

Practice CAT scores are only as realistic as YOU make the process of taking the CAT. Kaplan CATs, when properly used, are reasonably accurate. However, the more the 'CAT-taking event' deviates from what you'll face on Test Day, the more likely the score is to be inaccurate (and in most cases, that means "inflated").

Here are some details to consider: When you took each CAT...
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take it at home?
3) Did you take it at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you do ANYTHING during this CAT that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, listen to music, etc.)?

What is the latest date that you can submit your score for the Program you mentioned?

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

[MartyMurray]

If you have not used the GMAT Prep tests made by GMAC, you could try one of those, as they are provide a fairly accurate representation of the actual test.

Also, there is actually another reason to use the GMAT Prep practice tests.

I have seen people who in preparing for the GMAT use only practice tests from a particular company. Then they go to take the actual test and they are surprised by the differences between the actual test and the test prep company tests that they have been using, and therefore they don't score as well as they likely would have had they just included official GMAT Prep tests in their training program.

So if you haven't used the GMAT Prep tests or if you have not used one lately, likely doing so makes sense. If you have not used them at all, then probably in the next two weeks before your test, you should use both of the two free ones so that you become more accustomed to the feel of an official test.