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My personal experience is Yes, I scored higher on the real GMAT than any of the practice tests I took. Below is the summary of my practice test scores and the real GMAT:
Manhattan prep GMAT CAT 1, April 2018: Total 640 Q42 V35
Official Guide GMAT CAT 1, April 2018: Total 640 Q45 V34
Manhattan prep GMAT CAT 2, May 2018: Total 590 Q42 V31 (was very distracted during this test as I was going through a breakup)
Manhattan prep GMAT CAT 3, June 2018: Total 630 Q44 V32
Economist GMAT practice Test, June 2018: Total 620, Q47 V32
Veritas GMAT practice Test, June 2018: Total 670, Q49 V34
Official Guide GMAT CAT 2, July 2018: Total 680, Q49 V35 (during the Verbal section my neighbor started blasting music and I got distracted and paused the exam for a minute or so...)
GMAT 1st attempt, July 2018: Total 710, Q48 V40, IR 7
All my tests were taken in the following order of sections: Quant, Verbal, IR, AWA. My IR score of 7 in the GMAT was also the highest I ever did, on average I got 4-5 each time in the practice tests. The official guide tests are probably the best representation of your overall skill and ability.
My overall opinion is that the Quant section on the practice tests are fairly competitive and representative of the real GMAT. The scoring scale on Quant may also be accurate for practice tests. But if you look at my Verbal scores, I scored much higher on the real GMAT than on my practice tests and I also remember the Verbal section being a lot easier than the practice tests. I am not sure if these factors vary from test-to-test or location etc. But this was my experience.
I also remember feeling pretty tense and discouraged during and after the Quant section due to the difficulty of the questions and just nerves I guess. But thankfully the verbal section made up for it to boost the overall score over 700, which was my goal.
So I think its definitely possible to score higher on the real GMAT than on practice tests. If you think about it, a lot of test prep companies guarantee a certain score increase from the free practice tests if you undertake their paid test prep program. This suggests to me that the companies would tend to underestimate your score which allows them to guarantee the score increase. Thats just my thought and opinion.
Look forward to hearing other GMAT stories.
Manhattan prep GMAT CAT 1, April 2018: Total 640 Q42 V35
Official Guide GMAT CAT 1, April 2018: Total 640 Q45 V34
Manhattan prep GMAT CAT 2, May 2018: Total 590 Q42 V31 (was very distracted during this test as I was going through a breakup)
Manhattan prep GMAT CAT 3, June 2018: Total 630 Q44 V32
Economist GMAT practice Test, June 2018: Total 620, Q47 V32
Veritas GMAT practice Test, June 2018: Total 670, Q49 V34
Official Guide GMAT CAT 2, July 2018: Total 680, Q49 V35 (during the Verbal section my neighbor started blasting music and I got distracted and paused the exam for a minute or so...)
GMAT 1st attempt, July 2018: Total 710, Q48 V40, IR 7
All my tests were taken in the following order of sections: Quant, Verbal, IR, AWA. My IR score of 7 in the GMAT was also the highest I ever did, on average I got 4-5 each time in the practice tests. The official guide tests are probably the best representation of your overall skill and ability.
My overall opinion is that the Quant section on the practice tests are fairly competitive and representative of the real GMAT. The scoring scale on Quant may also be accurate for practice tests. But if you look at my Verbal scores, I scored much higher on the real GMAT than on my practice tests and I also remember the Verbal section being a lot easier than the practice tests. I am not sure if these factors vary from test-to-test or location etc. But this was my experience.
I also remember feeling pretty tense and discouraged during and after the Quant section due to the difficulty of the questions and just nerves I guess. But thankfully the verbal section made up for it to boost the overall score over 700, which was my goal.
So I think its definitely possible to score higher on the real GMAT than on practice tests. If you think about it, a lot of test prep companies guarantee a certain score increase from the free practice tests if you undertake their paid test prep program. This suggests to me that the companies would tend to underestimate your score which allows them to guarantee the score increase. Thats just my thought and opinion.
Look forward to hearing other GMAT stories.
03 Dec 2018, 16:08
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For what it's worth, I went up 10 points on my GMAT. From 740 the day before to 750. I never scored more than 740 that I got the day before on GMAT Prep. My highest score until then was around 710 but I did not take many practice tests - I mostly did quizzes and short-practice exercises.
P.S. It is often about how you perform under stress and whether you are able to focus on your test.
P.S. It is often about how you perform under stress and whether you are able to focus on your test.
08 Sep 2019, 05:40
Kudos
Bookmarks
I scored 680 on 5 mocks from Veritas Prep in the 2 weeks leading up to the real exam, and a high score of 690 on the official GMAC mock that I reseted and retook 2 days before the real exam. In fact I was saving 2 of the VP mocks and one of the GMAC ones because I was sure I was going to score below 700, cancel, and have to retake again.
I didn't do anything the day before the exam just to rest. I'd fallen sick just a few days before and was 100% (not 99%, 100%) sure that I would cancel. The only reason I dragged myself out of bed and to the exam center was sunk cost fallacy (250 bucks spent, after all) and the curiosity of how different my score would be vs. mocks.
On the real day I found my mind much calmer and my focus much sharper than at any point when I was studying. I also swear that the algorithm didn't give me a single question that really stumped me (I guessed a few questions on the actual that were questions I could solve but using an efficient method, and so ran out of time, but on the mocks I was continuously given questions that left me staring blankly at the screen for two minutes not even knowing where to start), so probably some algorithm RNG came into play too. In any case I got 760 (when the score popped up I'd reflexively read it as 670 because I did not think >700 would be possible, selected the 'cancel score' radio button and nearly clicked submit. Thankfully the subconscious part of my brain flicked my mouse away at the last moment. I spent the rest of the day wondering if I was still asleep
So yeah, I attribute most of it to luck, and the remaining part to my ADHD. I didn't get an accommodation as I did not know about accommodations till it was too late to realistically see my psychiatrist, run the battery of tests GMAC requires, and receive an approval before my test date. Honestly, the burden of proof for ADHD seemed so high I probably wouldn't have bothered anyway even if I'd known about it before I booked my test - but I have noticed that ADHD really helps me to focus extremely well under pressure. Maybe I should consider becoming a soldier instead..
I didn't do anything the day before the exam just to rest. I'd fallen sick just a few days before and was 100% (not 99%, 100%) sure that I would cancel. The only reason I dragged myself out of bed and to the exam center was sunk cost fallacy (250 bucks spent, after all) and the curiosity of how different my score would be vs. mocks.
On the real day I found my mind much calmer and my focus much sharper than at any point when I was studying. I also swear that the algorithm didn't give me a single question that really stumped me (I guessed a few questions on the actual that were questions I could solve but using an efficient method, and so ran out of time, but on the mocks I was continuously given questions that left me staring blankly at the screen for two minutes not even knowing where to start), so probably some algorithm RNG came into play too. In any case I got 760 (when the score popped up I'd reflexively read it as 670 because I did not think >700 would be possible, selected the 'cancel score' radio button and nearly clicked submit. Thankfully the subconscious part of my brain flicked my mouse away at the last moment. I spent the rest of the day wondering if I was still asleep
So yeah, I attribute most of it to luck, and the remaining part to my ADHD. I didn't get an accommodation as I did not know about accommodations till it was too late to realistically see my psychiatrist, run the battery of tests GMAC requires, and receive an approval before my test date. Honestly, the burden of proof for ADHD seemed so high I probably wouldn't have bothered anyway even if I'd known about it before I booked my test - but I have noticed that ADHD really helps me to focus extremely well under pressure. Maybe I should consider becoming a soldier instead..
