Are Kaplan's Prep tests harder than the actual GMAT?

[Gregory]

I have not taken the GMAT yet, but would like to start up in the spring semester. Which means ive gotta take it within the next couple of weeks and start applying the next day. so far i have been studying from these four books:

GMAT for dummies 5th edition

Barron's GMAT 2007-08

Kaplan GMAT Premier Program 2008 edition (very difficult practice problems) With CD

McGraw Hill's 2009 GMAT prep with CD

the first two books on the list here taught me the basics on a lot of the math stuff what i wasnt familiar with, and then i got the kaplan with the cd companion where i took my first CAT practice, and started with making 200-440 scores. (VERY HARD) then i got the Mcgraw hill cd and book, and started at 400, and now make 600 scores. I thought i had made a lot of practice, and was feeling more comfortable, But today i went back to the Kaplan cd, and made a 500.

This leads me to my first question for you guys on this website. Does anyone know if the Kaplan Prep is more difficult than the actual GMAT?

[vidabella417]

Dear Gregory,

The short-and-sweet answer to your question is NO, the Kaplan tests on the CD are NOT harder than those from other test prep companies or the actual GMAT.

Back when the GMAT went from a paper-based test to a computer-adaptive test (CAT), the Kaplan folks who created the CATs set the curve for the scores chose to err on the safe side to avoid having students going in on Test Day and receiving an unexpectedly low score. Therefore, it was well-known to business school applicants that those using Kaplan CD should expect to go up 70 - 100 points from their CD scores on Test Day. You could possibly read as much on this blog and other GMAT blogs. Therefore, since you said you got a 500 on your last Kaplan test, you are actually scoring in the 570 - 600 range.

By the way, the scoring has been corrected in the 5 CATs that are now available in GMAT Premier's Online Companion. And for the next edition of Kaplan's GMAT Premier, we're planning for the all the tests provided with this prep program to have increasingly more sophisticated diagnostic tools, along with corrected scoring.

Your satisfaction with our product is very important to us, and I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. I hope this has been helpful, and I wish you the best of luck on your exam!

Sincerely,

Monica P. Lugo
Editor - Kaplan Publishing

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We build futures one success story at a time. Visit us at www.kaplanpublishing.com

[cartera]

I dont find that answer sweet, I rather preparation tests be harder than the actual test

[ego227]

You mention Kaplan CD practice tests score 70-100 points lower than the actual GMAT. Is the same true for classroom practice tests? I've taken two CATs and have received lower scores than expected. I have time to improve, but don't want to shatter my confidence unnecessarily.

[Jen Kedro]

Hi ego227-

Our classroom courses and any comprehensive online courses offered by Kaplan that include online CATs (as opposed to a CDROM) have the most accurate and up to date scoring and CAT questions available, and we continually test and assess our scoring to ensure its validity.

So there isn't a specific differential at all. That said, if you have only taken 2 CATs, you are still early in your prep, and as you said, you have plenty of room for improvement. I always remind people, do not take the early CATs for scores as much as to learn what your strengths and weaknesses under test-like conditions are, and use them as a training tool. If you are still learning, practicing, and developing your skills, then the CAT will not yet be reflective of what you'll do on test day. BUT it is one of the best learning and practice tools available, so do use them and review your wrong answers thoroughly.

I personally didn't do as great on my practice tests when I was studying for the GMAT many years ago, but pulled it together at the end for over 700, so I was happy about that, and I have seen impressive increases among my students over the years as well.

Good luck on your studies!!

[Carloblacksun]

Dear Kaplan friends

Last saturday I went to the Paris Kaplan center for a FREE DIAGNOSTIC test, and I scored an impressive 750 !!

However, though I bought the Kaplan 800 book, I have downloaded some tests from a website called CATPrep GMAT...I already made 4 of these tests and I score all the time between 650 and 670...with an EXTREME difficulty on Verbal part (especially on RC)...

Just to let you know that I found that test much more similar to the OG questions than the CATPrep Gmat material, which is destroying most of my confidence...