Best full-length computer-based GMAT practice exams?

One way to see going about increasing one's GMAT score is this. You look to put more points on the board. So if you want to raise your score, you look for ways to put more points on the board.

For instance, if you are having difficulty with a certain type of question and there are often three questions of that type on a given quant section, then by getting better at handling that kind of question you are pretty much assured of getting a higher quant score. So by learning to handle that type of question, you can put more points on the board. It's almost guaranteed.

So to get practice focused on certain question types I used various resources that provided categorized quant questions.

Verbal works similarly. You can drive up your score area by area, skill by skill. You get better at seeing issues in SC answer choices, you get more points on the board. You get better at noticing key details of CR and RC questions and that is good for more points too.

The GMAT Prep CATs and PowerPrep CATs were parts of my program too.

I figure that by playing the GMAT like a video game one can develop gamer type skills, and that approach has worked well.

Thanks, those are helpful tips.

My Quant background is a litter stronger than my Verbal one. On the last paper test I took, the 730 score, I got a 50Q.

On the Verbal side, the section with the most incorrect responses was actually the Sentence Correction! I hear that's the most "learnable" one, though. I think I only got one question wrong on the Critical Reasoning and two wrong on the Reading Comp.

One tactic that instantly boosted my RC score was note taking. The jump from 680 to 730 was almost all from the RC section (first time taking notes while reading the passages). I was surprised how much that exercise helped me, and I'd recommend it to others. (The CR has always been the easiest section for me, it came naturally, so I don't have much advice there).

So, since the SC is my biggest weak spot, are there good resources for improving grammar?

Hi jz4analytics,

When you take CATs, you should plan to make each of those experiences as realistic and 'test-like' as possible. That means that you should plan to take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections), at the same time of day as your Official GMAT, away from your home, in a test-like environment, etc. The more realistic you can make the experience, the more accurate your score results should be.

Since you've been focused on the paper tests, you'll likely see a short-term 'dip' in your scores as you try to adapt to the Computer-Adaptive program, but that's okay.

What resources have you been using so far during your studies?
When are you planning to take the GMAT?

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

I have used two main resources so far:

1) The OG book. I have done about 1/3 of the questions.
2) Magoosh. I've finished about 1/2 of the videos and questions.

Those are the only things I've used besides taking a paper test once every week or two.

I plan to take the GMAT in the summer, and apply in Sept/Oct.

FWIW, before I did ANY studying I took the free VeritasPrep CAT and got a 690. Don't know how realistic that is.

Hi jz4analytics,

Since you have given yourself plenty of time to study, and you seem to be doing well, there isn't any immediate reason to change any of your plans right now. You might actually choose to take your GMAT earlier, if you end up consistently scoring at a high level on your CATs.

Was that free Veritas CAT a FULL-LENGTH CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)? If you took the FULL Test, then that too is a good sign that you have the capacity to score at a high level.

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

That first CAT I took was only V+Q, not IR or AW... but I've already learned some easy tricks/caught some common mistakes.

From now on, I plan to take full CATs in more realistic settings. Started this thread to get an idea of which ones are more realistic (since I saw a lot of different brands out there).

Your comments have already been helpful, thanks! Let you know if I have other questions.

Hi jz4analytics,

There's an endurance/fatigue aspect to taking the GMAT that many Test Takers don't properly prepare for (and their scores drop on Test Day because of it). There is NO substitute for that part of your training, so you MUST take the FULL CAT each time and make the experience as realistic as possible. Pencil and paper tests do NOT 'wear you down' the same way that a FULL CAT does and skipping sections does not force you to learn how to still work properly when you're getting tired. Everyone faces those issues on Test Day; preparing yourself to deal with those issues will improve your ability to score at a high level.

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

SC has been evolving. It is less grammar and idiom based and more logic and reasoning based than it was in the past.

See this article for reference.

https://www.mba.com/us/the-gmat-blog-hub ... -exam.aspx

When I took the test I found the SC questions to be rather hackable.

So maybe the first thing you should do is take a full GMAT Prep exam and see how you do on SC, not to mention CR, RC and quant. Seek to hack all of SC, although the SC questions on GMAT Prep may not be as hackable as those on the current tests.

Then you will be in a better position to assess what you need to do going forward.

My way of learning SC involved learning a few key rules such as those related to parallelism, subject verb agreement and modifiers. From there I learned other key things based on what I was not getting right on practice tests.

On another note, with a little more determination and hacking you could probably get the rest of CR and RC correct. Even getting one more of each right and one or two more SC right would bump your score up significantly, that is if your performance on CATs matches your performance on paper tests.

I suspect you can do pretty well on verbal by using your logic skills and sheer determination to hack your way to right answers. So look to catch details and tricks and see how you do on a GMAT Prep CAT, then take if from there.

By "evolving" do you mean "evolving significantly from the paper-based era"? Perhaps I should wait on estimating my verbal score.



Yes, I plan to take a full CAT next week. I'll have a better idea of where I land after that.

Thanks again!

Yes, it has evolved since the paper based era and yes an estimate based solely on the results you got when taking the paper based tests is likely not an accurate representation of where you stand.

If you are looking for a quality full-length computer adaptive test, you may be interested in the GMAT PILL test.

After the test, we provide students a detailed analysis of their performance and timing. Here is a sample from a student who did well:

Sample student's score report: https://bit.ly/1DsR5NW

I just took one of the official full CATs from the GMAC website. The score did dip a bit, and it was mostly due to verbal taking a hit...

AWA: Felt comfortable, had a minute left at the end.
IR: 7 (ran out of time for the last two questions).
Q: 48 (timing spot on)
V: 32 (I had 14 minutes left!)
TOTAL = 650

Most of the verbal questions I got wrong were the reading comp (though I did miss some of the SC that I should have). I need to pace myself on verbal, I could have done much better if I took the time.

Hi jz4analytics,

If this is your first FULL-LENGTH CAT, then pacing problems should be expected. Many Test Takers find that they have to rush just to finish the Quant section on time. As a result, they come into the Verbal section with the "sense" that they have to move faster than they really need to. THAT is probably what happened to you on this CAT (and why you finished the Verbal section so early).

There is NO benefit to finishing a section early, so it's important for you to slow down, take more notes, and use that entire 75 minutes to your advantage. From a tactical standpoint, I would rather you have to guess on question 41 because you were out of time than have you finish 15 minutes early.

I will bet that when you review this Test, you'll find a bunch of Verbal questions that you COULD have gotten correct if you had spent more time on this. Thankfully, you DO have that time, so you just have to slow down and do a bit more work next time.

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

Thanks, and yes, this was my first full-length CAT. Like I said, I ran out of time on the IR (and hadn't studied for that part, so the 7 was higher than expected) and I got to the last Quant question with 45 seconds left (about as good of timing as any for a first go).

I think I'm naturally a litter better at math... but not that much better. My verbal skill aren't terrible. The V32 with 14 minutes left is at least better than a V32 with no time left... I think the potential is there to pace, take more notes, and raise that above a 40. I guess I felt kind of "awkward" taking so much time to answer questions, especially on the RC. I took notes on a first read, but didn't go back into the text as much as I could have.

Will go another full-length and see where that takes me... 650 isn't a terrible starting line, so here's shooting for a 750.

Hi jz4analytics,

Since you have a significant amount of study time available, you shouldn't rush in to take another CAT too soon. CATs are "measuring devices" - the same way that a scale measures your weight, the CAT measures your GMAT skills. Taking lots of CATs won't make you a better Test Taker...doing practice, honing your skills, reviewing past questions, etc. is how you improve. Taking a FULL-LENGTH CAT gives you an assessment of how you would likely score on the Official GMAT and if you have pacing/endurance problems.

As such another 1-2 weeks of study is probably in order before you take your next CAT.

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

Hi all, thanks again for your help. I have an update. After realizing that the Sentence Correction was (oddly enough) my worst section, I decided to go through the GMAC book and finish EVERY SC I had left in the past week (there were about 80 - half of the total). I did this because I wanted to take The Economist's "Brightest Minds" competition this week. I didn't realistically think I'd win, but I thought it would be a good gauge.

The Economist Score today: 700.

That is a 50 point increase from the "official" GMAC CAT I took. The Economist didn't give a breakdown, but I assume most of that improvement was through SC.

Lesson: if the practice tests tell you there is an area much weaker than the rest, switch your focus to it.

Good that you have improved your SC. As you were reviewing the OG, you could have followed along our SC video explanations here: www.gmatpill.com/official-guide-gmat/

With SC improvement, you should find that you are reading CR and RC passages more efficiently ---probably because you are able to identify sentence structure more quickly by honing in on keywords. Keep up the good work and progress.