ngould wrote:
I took a Kaplan CAT yesterday and my verbal score was considerably lower than my initial GMATPrep verbal score. I took the Kaplan test with 3 months of studying and the GMATPrep right at the beginning of my preparation period without studying. Perhaps I am getting a negative return on my investment and studying is making me dumber, however, I hope that this is not the case.
I felt that the Kaplan questions, especially in the verbal section were much more difficult than questions than what I have seen in the
OG or the GMATPrep software. The Kaplan verbal questions seemed to be extremely ambiguous.
Does anyone else feel as I do about this topic, or is it just me?
Also, what are your opinions on the Kaplan quant compared to the actual thing?
Thanks.
Hi ngould,
I guess you are talking about the Kaplan CD tests which it come with Kaplan's books. A lot of questions are ambiguous in it and the scoring algorithm is bad; nothing is as accurate as the GMAT Prep tests. Don't worry much about the Kaplan test results. Move on and focus on your improvement areas.
Studying wont make you dumber and yes this is not the case
; usually, after we start prep, we try to apply the strategies that we learn and may get a lot of questions incorrect while practicing these strategies. So, do not worry, it happens. Moreover, I think that you have taken the practice test long after you started your prep; ideally you should take the tests at intervals of 3-4 weeks initially to monitor your initial progress and later on at 1-2 weeks to solidify your pacing and concepts.
The quant in the actual thing is a lot trickier than the Kaplan quant. The quant review from the GMAT contains some really good questions in quant. The problem with a lot of sources is that the difficult questions they make are more difficult than tricky. GMAT will never through you a tough/ lengthy question, and almost all the questions are solvable within the 2 minute time duration. All the best !!
Hope this helps,
Vercules
_________________