GMATPrep Logs and how to use them One of our forum members discovered that you can get a view behind the curtain of the GMATPrep software. Perhaps it will be useful to someone.
1. Open the c:\program files\gmatprep\exams directory.
2. Copy the exam logs. These are called practice test 1.log and practice test 2.log
3. Open the files in notepad.
4. Locate the section that reads:
2006-04-16 14.12.23.989:INFO :Item "QuantInstruction1" presented
Immediately after that, you will find:
2006-04-16 14.12.25.208:INFO :Navigate next requested
This is now your first Math question.
You will see something like:
2006-04-16 14.12.15.451:INFO :Item "187:009380" eligibility from STRICT to NONE - [SELECTED].
2006-04-16 14.12.55.438:INFO :Item "187:009380" presented
2006-04-16 14.13.23.515:INFO :Selecting response option D
This means you selected D.
You picked one answer and only one answer and hit submit.
Want to know which questions you flaked back and forth on?
If you see:
2006-04-16 14.34.99.324:INFO :Item "187:008920" presented
2006-04-16 14.35.28.230:INFO :Selecting response option A
2006-04-16 14.35.38.327:INFO :Selecting response option C
2006-04-16 14.37.54.208:INFO :Selecting response option A
2006-04-16 14.37.49.304:INFO :Selecting response option C
This means you went back and forth on options A and C.
Which question is this? Count the number of times you see "Item:" from the line "INFO :Item "QuantInstruction1" presented". The number of times you see it = the number of questions you answered. So in this case, if I saw Item: "....." 13 times before this section above, I know that question 14 had me going back and forth.
Same thing for verbal:
2006-04-16 15.29.45.218:INFO :Item "VerbalInstruction1" presented
2006-04-16 15.29.40.035:INFO :Navigate next requested
2006-04-16 15.29.40.156:INFO :Item "188:002908" eligibility from STRICT to NONE - [SELECTED].
2006-04-16 15.29.40.163:INFO :Item "188:002908" presented
2006-04-16 15.30.31.671:INFO :Selecting response option D
2006-04-16 15.30.23.634:INFO :Navigate next requested
Means I selected option D.
You are looking for the lines that say "presented" or lines that contain a set of choices. Lines that read:
2006-04-16 15.41.45.518:INFO :Item "188:000009-04" eligibility from STRICT to NONE - [SELECTED].
2006-04-16 15.41.45.528:INFO :Selection set "188:000009" eligibility from STRICT to NONE (responsible child: "188:000009-04" - [SELECTED]).
2006-04-16 15.41.55.538:INFO :Item "188:000009-01" eligibility from STRICT to NONE - [SELECTED].
2006-04-16 15.41.75.528:INFO :Item "188:000009-07" eligibility from STRICT to NONE - [SELECTED].
2006-04-16 15.41.15.518:INFO :Item "188:000009-05" eligibility from STRICT to NONE - [SELECTED].
Mean that you were presented question 188:000009 and options 01,04,07,05 were random answer choice selections. This counts as one question.
When you see something like this:
2006-04-16 15.58.26.311:INFO :Item "188:000553-01" presented
2006-04-16 16.01.32.121:INFO :Selecting response option A
2006-04-16 16.01.43.833:INFO :Selecting response option C
2006-04-16 16.01.31.254:INFO :Selecting response option E
2006-04-16 16.02.61.735:INFO :Selecting response option A
2006-04-16 16.02.14.641:INFO :Selecting response option B
2006-04-16 16.02.21.859:INFO :Selecting response option D
You know you really had a hard time picking!
How to match your incorrect questions with questions that you flaked on - a quick way to review
There is any easy way to do this. REVIEW ALL THE QUESTIONS YOU GOT WRONG IN BOTH VERBAL AND MATH.
Then close the GMAtPrep software and open up the software log.
Find:
2006-04-16 16.30.14.383:INFO :Item "EXIT" presented
2006-04-16 16.30.34.156:INFO :Navigate next requested
2006-04-16 16.30.25.452:INFO :Review screen displayed.
You are now reviewing your exam.
2006-04-16 16.30.29.235:INFO :Review incorrect items requested
2006-04-16 16.30.11.344:INFO :Item "187:003387" presented
This means that I got item 187:003387 wrong.
So now just go to the top of the file and search for 187:003387
2006-04-16 14.13.12.124:INFO :Item "187:003387" eligibility from STRICT to NONE - [SELECTED].
2006-04-16 14.13.33.367:INFO :Item "187:003387" presented
2006-04-16 14.15.45.116:INFO :Selecting response option B
This means I did not flake on this question. I selected only option B and hit next. I was wrong though.