Kaplan CAT vs GMAT Prep

Thanks to all!
I've looked through the forum and got the idea.
I have actually postponed my exam date because of these low scores

By the way, I would not also recommend the source called 'Ace the GMAT' which is sold at the MBA fairs. The programm is poor-prepaired: lots of repetetions, absolutely wrong answers and 'A' questions in SC representing different answers than the original

GMATPrep was really useful to me...I've heard terrible things about Kaplan as well.

i first started studying using the "kraplan" book and CAT exams. i scored anywhere from a 580-610, which made me panic and postpone the test a month, as i was aiming for 700+. i stuck to the OG book and made 690-760 on the GMATPrep and Powerprep CATs. While Kaplan teaches some decent methods, I would stick to OG. do NOT rely on kaplan's CAT scores as an indication of how you will do on the real thing!

I scored a 540 on my the first Kaplan CAT. Granted, this was early on in my studying, I was still very dissapointed. Maybe a month later, I took GMATPrep1 and scored 690. Doubtful that my ability increased 150 pts in a month. A few months later, GMATPrep2 score was 760. I ended up getting a 740 on the real GMAT. I think the Kaplan book is a good starting point for those who know nothing about the GMAT. However, OG is definitely great and repeating GMATprep over and over provides the best material, in my opinion. I repeated GMATPrep1 like 10 times and was still geting almost 50% new questions. GMATPrep and the last quarter of OG truly represents what you can expect on the real GMAT.

If you are scoring in the mid to upper 500s or higher on Kaplan, you are fine. Actually, even if you aren't, you still may be alright because the scoring algorithm and type of questions are completely whacky in Kaplan CATs.

I really hope that people from Kaplan search through this forum and see the comments about their test in order to improve it. Otherwise, they are in trouble. IMHO

ps I thought that GMATPrep is standard and doesn't change after several downloading.

Each GMATPrep test has an extremely large bin of questions to choose from. While a person is taking a test, GMATPrep appears to randomly choose from a bin level that is equal to the perceived ability of the test taker at that time. You can actually take each test 2 or 3 times before seeing more than maybe 6-7 repeats per section. In other words, you would expect that each GMATPrep test would only provide 78 pratice questions. In reality, there are literally hundreds of questions available in each GMATPrep test. Hard to predict how many (someone would have to take the test over and over until never seeing a new question), but I would guess well over 250 questions per test. All you have to do is take the test over again. Downloading and re-installing is not even necessary.

Kaplan wants people to think they are doing poorly. Low practice scores make people believe they need help and hence, they are more likely to sign up for a GMAT class and Kaplan makes more money. I have no doubt that Kaplan purposefully programs their tests to score about 100-150 pts lower than the persons actually abillity. I have read a few posts of people getting 700 scores on Kaplan tests, however the majority of people that score 700+ on the real test seem to score between 550-650 on Kaplan CATs.

My Kaplan CAT scores are as follows:

Low score 540
Mean score 600
High score 630

I have taken all of the Kaplan CATs, including the ultimate practice test (scored a 580 on that). I plan on taking them all a second time as well. I am going to save the GMATprep tests for closer to my actual test date.

I disagree with the Kaplan bashing. I have taken classes like Kaplan to study for my securities licenses and the same method is used throughout.

The practice tests are made much more difficult for a couple of reasons. The first (and most important), is for marketing purposes. Companies like Kaplan and STC (Securities Training Corporation) want you to be concerned with your low test scores in hopes that you will purchase a product/enter an expensive class. That being said, Kaplan and STC have proven year in and year out to yield the highest test scores/passing rates of any education training companies in their respective fields.

Believe it or not, applying the same techniques you would use to answer less difficult problems, to more difficult problems is going to allow you to correctly answer the less difficult problems with more consistency and efficiency (the two most important skills when taking the GMAT).

In any event, everything I am reading on the internet is telling me that I should expect 70-100 additional points on my actual GMAT when compared to my CAT scores. I have several friends who went through Kaplan and actually recommended the class to me. They all said that they picked up at least 80 points on actual GMAT. They also said the GMATprep tests are going to give you the most accurate assessment of what you GMAT score will be.

MP

I took about 4-5 of them. I scored about around 690-710. My MGMAT cat 3month ago was about 710-730.

I will take GMATprep soon. I am scheduled for the test in January.