Actual GMAT Vs GMAT Prep

Question

Hi.. I have taken the GMAT exam twice but both the time screwed up myself. Why I screwed up my first attempt I know very well but second time when I scored just 600 I was really devastated. Just a week before my second attempt, in which I scored 600, I gave GMAT prep exam and I scored 700. I am confused whether GMAT prep test is the right tool to gauge ones performance? I also feel that the difficulty level of the questions in GMAT Prep is much more lower than the questions in actual GMAT exam. Am I the only one who feels so?

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear kevalshah , I'm happy to respond. :-)

In general, I don't think the issue is GMAT Prep. I think GMAT Prep is not flawless, but it is probably the best predictor of readiness for the GMAT. Part of the problem is that one's brain is not an industrially designed precision machine that produces the same output every time. We all have internal rhythms and cycles of all kinds, and this can cause fluctuations in GMAT score from one time to the next. I think the major culprit, though, is discussed is this blog: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/lower-on-t ... ice-tests/ I would strongly recommend: read this blog article carefully, and read all the articles to which it links. Let me know if you have any questions. Mike :-)

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi kevalshah,

I'd like to know a bit more about how you studied for these 2 attempts at the GMAT:

1) How long did you study for each?
2) What materials did you use?
3) Did you use the SAME materials before each attempt?
4) Did you take the SAME CATs before each attempt?

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your scores can become.

When it came to the CATs themselves:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)? 
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

kevalshah · Answer

Hi Rich,
Thank you for the response. The answers to your questions are as follow.

1) How long did you study for each? -  1st attempt I studied for roughly 2-3 months and for 2nd attempt I studied for roughly 6-7 months 
2) What materials did you use? -  Before 1st attempt - Read Manhattan SC book and CR book, eGmat session, 800score tests, OG13, Verbal review 2, GMAT prep exams, Manhattan CAT exams; Before 2nd attempt - Revised Manhattan SC book and CR book, again solved OG13 and verbal review, GMAT prep question pack 1, Manhattan CAT exams (I scored 700 in last exam), Veritas test (although in these tests my score hover around 600 to 640), Comprehensive CR, SC and RC question pdf available on GMAT club. 
3) Did you use the SAME materials before each attempt? -  No not exactly only the GMAT prep exams, OG13 and verbal review that I revised 
4) Did you take the SAME CATs before each attempt? -  Yes but it was almost after 1 year gap. Actually I left studying GMAT for about 3-4 months after my first attempt

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your scores can become.

When it came to the CATs themselves:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)? -  Yes 
2) Did you take them at home? -  Yes 
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT? -  Yes 
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)? -  No 
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? -  Yes but I could not recall the answers as I was writing the exams after almost one year

Moreover I feel that the difficulty level of the questions in actual GMAT is quite higher than the difficulty level of questions in GMAT Prep. I also discussed this with one of my friend and he also shared the same experience. But on various GMAT club forum I see everyone consider the GMAT Prep exam to be the closest to actual GMAT exams, creating more confusion.

Thanks for your valuable response
Keval

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Hi kevalshah,

Although I might be a slightly inclined to agree wtih you that the GMAT Prep tests are a bit easier as comapted to the actual GMAT, these tests are the best predcitors of your current standing.

From what I can sense is that while your preparation for the first GMAT, you would have appeared for the GMAT Prep test.
And so, the second time around your scores might be a bit inflated. Even if you do not remember the questions, it helps a lot if you see a passage which you have already read. This saves a lot of time of the test and can contribute towards an inflated score.

Can you provide the break up of your scores for both the attempts of the GMAT.

kevalshah · Answer

Hi Mike,
Thank you very much for the article. Just a month back somebody advised me about the deep breath and since then I have been practicing this.

Regards,
Keval

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Keval,

From what you described, there are a couple of minor 'red flags' in how you studied for your second attempt at the GMAT. Neither taking the CATs at home nor retaking a CAT that you've already used is 'realistic', so your CAT scores could very well have been a bit 'inflated.'

I have a few additional questions about Test Day itself:

1) How did you sleep the night before your Exam?
2) How long was the ride to the Test Center from your home?
3) Were there any distractions at the facility or during the Test?
4) What did you do during the two 8-minute breaks?
5) Did you finish any sections early?
6) Did you have to rush to finish any sections (and guess on questions just to finish on time)?

Have you scheduled your next GMAT yet?
When are you planning to apply to Business School?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

kevalshah · Answer

Hi The answers to your questions are as follow. 1) How did you sleep the night before your Exam? - Well 2) How long was the ride to the Test Center from your home? - Normal 3) Were there any distractions at the facility or during the Test? - No 4) What did you do during the two 8-minute breaks? - Just went for loo and had a glucon 'c' drink (energy drink) 5) Did you finish any sections early? - no 6) Did you have to rush to finish any sections (and guess on questions just to finish on time)? - Yes almost 5-6 questions were guesses in English. GMAT score break up (Q50, V22) Have you scheduled your next GMAT yet? - Yes. 24th August When are you planning to apply to Business School?- This year. I just hope things work out well this time...

kevalshah · Answer

Hi Janielle,
Thank you for your response.

GMAT 1 - Q50, V17; overall 560
GMAT 2 - Q50, V22; overall 600

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Keval,

Your 2 Official Scores are close enough that they are essentially the same performance (GMAT has publicly stated that a Test Taker's performance is within +-30 points of actual ability; with these 2 scores, your ability seems 'rooted' in the high-500s, even though you studied for a long time before your second attempt).

There's the possibility of some type of 'difference' on Test Day that we haven't accounted for yet. As such, I have a few additional questions:

1) How long (how much time?) was the ride to the Testing Center from your home?
2) What time of day did you take your Official GMAT?
3) What day of the week did you take your Official GMAT?
4) What did you do in the last 3 days before your Official GMAT?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

kevalshah · Answer

Hi the answers are as follow

1) How long (how much time?) was the ride to the Testing Center from your home? - around 15-20mins
2) What time of day did you take your Official GMAT? - 10 a.m.
3) What day of the week did you take your Official GMAT? - Friday (GMAT 2) and Wednesday (GMAT 1)
4) What did you do in the last 3 days before your Official GMAT? - went to office in the day time and did revision in the evening

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

You scores suggest that you good in the quants part and your Verbal score is the one which need to be take care of.
Did you solve the official questions from OG and Verbal Review book? If yes, did you make an error log of the questions you got wrong?
Making an error log is a very important part of your preparation, because this makes sure that you would not repeat the same mistake again in the actual GMAT.

My suggestion to you would be to build your concepts, because your scores indicate some problems with the concepts.
After that pay special attention to the official questions as they help you to get in the mind of the test creators.

You may even want to enroll in some online test preparation too to understand the concepts tested on the test.

schazamhuzzah · Answer

Mike, Thank you for pointing to a wonderful read

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