GMATPrep,Kaplan results, test in 3 days:)

Question

Hi,

my gmat test is scheduled for friday this week. due to work, i wasn't really able to study as much as I had planned to. so "all" i did within the 10 days that i had was solving nova's gmat math bible and going through the verbal section of og12.

i have done cat1&2 of kaplan and gmatprep 1 (will do 2 later today or tmr). however, the results are kinda confusing. i took the gmatprep first, scoring 730 (q:47,v:42). then i took kaplan's cat1, scoring 630 (q:41,v:35). cat2 today brought me 600 (q:38,v:33) even though i felt a lot more confident compared to when i took cat1. i did less mistakes in cat2 (9vs12 in q and 16vs16 in v), yet my score is lower.

i only need 600 but i'd rather aim at 650-700. do i need to worry?

GMATLA · Answer

Dpark,

GMATprep is the best estimate of how you will do on test day! So you should be happy to know that your GMATprep suggests that you should score somewhere around 730 (plus or minus 30 points) also depending on how much studying you've completed since then.

Also, I see that your Kaplan tests were almos 100 points below that! That might seem crazy to you, but I just want to rule out something for you. How old are your Kaplan tests, and did they come from a CD? Some of the older Kaplan tests undervalued your score by 70-100 points! This could be the problem for you. If you have older tests, then I would not put too much worry into the actual scores, you should more concentrate on the material and questions you've missed.

If you really want another test to see how you are doing, then take the GMATprep #2 test, and see how you do. With a 730 on the GMATprep test, my guess is that you are doing just fine, and that the Kaplan tests are just throwing off your confidence. Don't worry about it, and kill it on test day.

dpark · Answer

thanks for the encouraging words. the kaplan software i used was really old, like 2003,2004? higher score 5.0 or something like that.

i was/am a bit worried as i will go abroad in two weeks for roughly 6 months during which i will have to do my grad school applications (deadlines are around july). so if i fail to get more than 600 points, things will get really complicated.

i guess i ll do the gmatprep 2 and see how it goes.

Yekrut · Answer

Let us know how the second GMAT Prep test goes. I would be very interested to see how it compares to the Kaplan tests. Best of luck in your studying.

GMATLA · Answer

Not only are those old tests on a totally different grading scale, but they also cover slightly different material and include some different question types. I would not use tests that are that old. I would recommend the GMATprep tests, or puchasing at least one of the Manhattan GMAT books. Puchasing one of the books will give you access to 6 CAT tests for approx $20.

Definitely let us know how GMATprep #2 goes! Good luck!

Definitely let us know how GMATprep #2 goes! Good luck!

Yekrut · Answer

Good insight GMATLA. I forgot about the 6 CAT tests from MGMAT

dpark · Answer

i did gmatprep 2 with a disappointing result, kind of. i got 660 (q:44,v:38). i think one verbal question overlapped with og12,but i still got it wrong. it was intentionally

it is kind of weird as my results dont show any consistency. usually i am better at ds, but this time ps was better. additionally, i had roughly 15 mins left when i was done with the quantitative section. i guess i ll try again and adjust my pacing as most of my mistakes are due to not reading the questions carefully enough .... i got the kaplan cd from 2006 with cat1-cat4. might do cat3-4 later today and tomorrow. haven't done anything for awa yet. i hope reading a couple of example essays is enough to memorize the basic structure. i hate writing passionately

anyhow, i think it is not really recommendable to do 2 tests in a row with less than 4h in between. update: doing kaplan version 2006 cat3 and there are too many questions overlapping with kaplan 2003 cat1&2

dpark · Answer

done the cat3 of kaplan v2006. as i mentioned above, there were many questions that i already knew (though i didn't remember the corresponding answer). still, i didn't need as much time to actually start thinking about the problem as i would have for an unknown question. thus, i finished the q section in 50 mins, scoring 50. the verbal section had some overlaps too, but i still kind of failed, scoring only 38. overall result was 670.

i guess i ll relax for a bit before i do cat1,2,4 of kaplan 2006 and re-do gmatprep 1&2 in hope of no overlaps.

i guess i ll relax for a bit before i do cat1,2,4 of kaplan 2006 and re-do gmatprep 1&2 in hope of no overlaps.

dpark · Answer

did gmatprep1 again yesterday. again there were a couple of overlaps. 47 in q, 37 in v. total 690.

its kind of weird as the results keep getting worse -.-
i started with 730 in gmatprep1, then 660, now 690. i am definitely better in q than v, but its always the same in the v section. i can narrow it down to two answers and then i choose the wrong one most of the time -.-

d-day is tmr, doing 2 more tests and then i am done.

dpark · Answer

Ok. Did my last mock exam. gmatprep 2. couple of overlaps (2-3 in q and v; i still took enough time to read the question and the answers as i got them wrong during the previous tests). q49,v42,740. this is probably the max i can achieve after merely 13 days of studying -.-
one strange thing though:
i did 10 mistakes in q, only 6 in v, yet the scaled scores were q49 and v42. got the 5th question in v wrong. that's probably the reason for the low score?!

GMATLA · Answer

Don't think about the scaled scores on the same level. They are two totally different scores. A Q47 is actually worse than a V40 b/c the v40 is the 90th percentile and the Q47 is the 76th percentile. So when you think about the scales, don't compare the two. Here is a site that breaks down the scaling. It has changed slightly since this was updated. Plus or minus 1-3% on all scales.

https://www.testmasters.net/GmatAbout/Scoring-Scale

Congrats on doing so well with such short studying. Scoring in the high 600s means you have tons of potential. If you studied the recommended 3 months, you'd easily be able to achieve a 700+ in my opinion. But best of luck to you and your short time frame! It looks to me like you could do quite well for such a short amount of studying.

Yekrut · Answer

Your scores seem very promising! Best of luck tomorrow and be sure to give us a debrief!

dpark · Answer

thanks a bunch guys! so much positiveness

one last thing before i leave: was is the same with you guys that every time you made a mistake you pretty much knew how it had to be done after seeing the correct answer? thats so annoying as i actually know how to solve the questions. but during the mock tests i still fail to solve them -.-

dpark · Answer

Hey. Scored 49q and 40v. total 720. More than i expected after 11 days of studying. though now i am regretting to not have started my preps earlier. anyhow i am satisfied and so is the grad school i applied at:)

Santanu76 · Answer

Many congratulations! You are probably the most efficient GMAT test taker I know...

+1 kudos fro me...

Yekrut · Answer

Congrats on the great score! You got what you needed and blew away the minimum you originally were aiming for.

dpark · Answer

thx. i only found this forum late in the prep, but it did help me a lot by calming me down. i wasn't necessarily super anxious, but it helped me not freak out due to low kaplan test results.

have been thinking about retaking the exam to get in the 750+ region, maybe taking more than two weeks of time to prepare

but in the end, its probably a waste of time and money as i won't get into any tier1 business school (nor do i really want to )

Yekrut · Answer

If you set yourself the goal of making into a top tier school I'm sure you could. You were able to score in the top percentiles of the GMAT with relatively little studying. With more time I'm sure you could score 750+ and get into a top tier school.

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