Should I ignore MGMAT CAT for Verbal?

I apologize to anybody who has seen me write this way too often, but here it comes again: don't put too much faith in practice test scores from non-official sources, especially on the verbal side. It's nearly impossible for test-prep companies to perfectly copy the style of the actual GMAT, and even the very best GMAT companies can't produce consistently accurate verbal tests. MGMAT does a heroic job with their CATs, but it's inherently an uphill battle. MGMAT's writers will inevitably test you on different nuances than the actual GMAT. For some test-takers, the MGMAT CATs are accurate; for others, not so much.

Anilisanil, huge props for the spectacular CR and RC results from the OG. If you need an extra challenge on CR and RC, you might want to mix in some LSAT material, and you'll definitely want to hit the GMATPrep Question Pack for extra verbal questions. You could use the GMATPrep Question Pack to create some "fake tests" if you want--just set a timer for 75 minutes, and do 41 random verbal questions in "exam" mode on the software. You won't get a scaled score, but it will be a decent replica of the test experience. And I'm sure that you're already working like crazy on SC. Considering your CR and RC results from the OG, I can't imagine why you wouldn't top a 40 on the verbal section, as long as you take care of business on SC. Would it be correct to assume that you made some not-so-pretty SC errors on your GMATPrep test? Fix those, and you'll be fine.

Abk, is your overall accuracy in the OG at around 92%, or are you just referring to SC parallelism questions? If you're consistently getting 90%+ correct on all of the OG verbal stuff, then I might think that the MGMAT scores are inaccurate... but I'm suspicious of the fact that you've gotten 38s on both the MGMAT and the GMATPrep verbal sections. Keep doing as much official stuff as you can (OG, verbal supplement, GMATPrep Question Pack, maybe some LSATs, maybe the old GMAT paper tests), and keep in mind that the difference between a 38V and, say, a 42V is probably just a few questions. So fight for every inch and stick with official stuff as much as you can. I don't see any reason to automatically discount the MGMAT test scores in your case, unless your next GMATPrep is much better.

I hope this helps. Good luck, everybody!

mastermind

thanks
You are right about the gmat prep test. in verbal I got 12 out of 37 questions wrong.
sc 9
cr 2
rc 1
I intentionally marked 2 sc questions wrong because I solved those questions before.
I bought verbal review. will purchase question pack 1 too. Let's see how things turn for me.

Wow, that's a dramatic distribution of errors. You can absolutely succeed at this, Anilisanil.

Is it possible that you're doing the SC questions based mostly on sound and instinct? You clearly have great verbal skills, and that can sort of work against you on SC sometimes. If you're worrying about whether the sentence "sounds right" or whether it's awkward or wordy, you're going to get into trouble--the correct answers often sound like crap, especially on harder questions. The answer choices that "sound good" often contain a mechanical error or change the meaning of the sentence somehow.

I could be completely wrong, but I'm guessing that a more methodical, less "ear-based" approach might get you somewhere...