If you took a real GMAT and a variety of other practice tests...

Question

The practice tests from which service was most similar to your actual GMAT score, and which service did you employ that you felt was most helpful to your improvements, if any.

I'm considering enrolling in one of many courses, Manhattan, Kaplan, Princeton, Veritas, the list goes on.

Forward · Answer

I didn't enroll in a course, but I did work through every single book of the Manhattan GMAT complete series (and it worked out very well for me!). I also used the Official Guide extensively.

My actual score correlated most closely with the GMATPrep exams. (Actual score was about 10 pts higher than GMATPrep CATs.) Compared to the Manhattan practice CATs, my actual score was 50 to 70 points higher than my practice CATs. Your mileage may vary, though.

luckyseventy7 · Answer

Agree pretty much with everything that Forward said. The official GMATPrep exams you get that come with registration were most indicative of my actual score. My recommendation though is to save those tests for last after you've learned all the content and tried other practice tests like the Manhattan CATs.

I did the Manhattan GMAT class and personally liked more than the other classes I sampled, especially if you're gunning for above 700. If I didn't do a class then I would have gotten just the Manhattan books.

Forward · Answer

Yes, definitely. I worked through all of the Manhattan books and did several Manhattan CATs before I did a GMATPrep test, and then I reviewed the GMATPrep test before doing another few Manhattan CATs. I did one final GMATPrep exam towards the end of my preparation.

I forgot to mention, though, the single most helpful tool for me: an error log. I wrote down every mistake in a spreadsheet, including information on the section of the test (Data Sufficiency, Sentence Correction, etc.), the specific topic if applicable (combinatorics, probability, etc.), what the mistake was, and any notes on how to avoid it. I cut out probably 85-90% of my silly mistakes that way. I could also look for patterns--for example, whether there was some connection between the critical reading questions that I was getting wrong. (There was, and the error log helped me find it.)

Good luck!

CoolKevin · Answer

Thanks everyone, just to be clear the GMATprep test is the official test that I find on the mba website, and it's actually a free software I have to download right?

On a similar note, anyway for me to find some Manhattan prep books for the cheap? I doubt the newest edition adds so much vital content that an older edition won't do.

harshaiit · Answer

I didn't use any course for Math. I read through all MGMAT Math books, OG13 and OG Adv. Quant 2ed. Tests - OG - 3 tests. 800 - 5 or 6 tests. GMATCLUB - All Questions. HTH

luckyseventy7 · Answer

Yeah that's right GMATPrep is the free software download with official practice tests.

Should be pretty easy to find used books since all the course takers, myself included, have to buy them new and almost everyone tries to sell their books when the course is over. In my city, I sold my on craigslist and there were so many copies for sale that I sold at decent discount. It's cheap enough that you might as well go for the latest versions that include the IR content. Check places you'd expect for used books - craigslist, ebay, amazon.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi CoolKevin et al.,

The GMAC practice CATs (the two that you can get for free & the extra 2 that can be purchased) are the most realistic practice CATs, since they're from the Testmaker. The other "blocks" of CATs that you can purchase (from the Companies that you named) are all reasonably close to the real thing, but have their own built-in biases.

Before you invest in any particular products, you should take advantage of all of the free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, free videos, etc.) that are offered by the various GMAT Companies - in that way, you can "test out" a product before you buy it. Then you can choose the one (or more than one) that best match your personality, timeline and budget.

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

CoolKevin · Answer

Thanks again guys for all your positive input. And thank you Rich for your suggestion, in fact it's exactly what I've been doing this past week.

I guess part of why I'm asking is that I'm getting a lot of variance on my scores from the different testing sites. For example, I've taken one from Veritas, one from Kaplan, and one from Princeton (all free ones) in that order. But my scores varied alot, with 750 on the Veritas practice, 680 on the Kaplan practice (which was REALLY REALLY hard), and 540 on the Princeton practice (which surprised me A LOT because I thought it was so much easier in comparison).

I think part of why I got a 680 on the Kaplan was that I had terrible time management. I tried to do every question, and ended up getting Hard math questions one after another to the point where I spent 3+ minutes on some only to have to guess (and often get them wrong) at the end. I learned about time management after, and how Manhanttan suggests you give yourself a few throw questions. I tried that on the Princeton which I took last, but found it almost unnecessary given how easy their questions were. Still I made a lot of careless errors, on all 3 tests in fact. Errors that if I had just read the question in its entirety I wouldn't have made.

So anyway I think I still have the Manhattan free test, and the two GMATprep/GMAC (I assume these are the same thing) practice tests left. Anyone know of another service with another set of free practice tests? And thanks again for all your contributions, I've sure learned a lot on this forum in just ONE DAY. Time to start an error log.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi CoolKevin,

When I mentioned that you should take advantage of all of the free practice materials, I wasn't just talking about free practice CATs.

As far as those free CATs are concerned, here are a number of different factors that could explain the variance in your scores:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections) or just parts of it?
2) What time of day and day of the week did you take each CAT?
3) Was it an actual ADAPTIVE CAT or a linear one?
4) Had you seen any of the questions before?
5) Did you have a pacing problem?
6) How many silly mistakes did you make?
Etc.

There's a "reality" to Test Day that most free practice CATs don't match, so you can't rely on any of these scores as being 100% accurate. The most realistic practice outcome can really only be achieved when you take a FULL-length CAT under Test-like conditions that match the parameters of your Official GMAT. The more you deviate from that structure, the more your scores can vary.

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

dabral · Answer

CoolKevin

Yes, the most reliable predictor of your GMAT scores are the two free Official GMATPrep practice tests(https://www.mba.com/us/the-gmat-exam/pre ... p-software) and the two additional paid tests that are called Exam Pack 1(https://www.mba.com/us/store/store-catal ... ack-1.aspx). I don't really like any of the third party tests, they are all poor approximations and only end up confusing students with variability in scores and difficulty.

Also, don't hold off on taking the official tests because it is important to experience the actual test early on so you can fully understand what you are up against. A lot of students save them to the end, and then it is too late to change their approach. In fact, I would say sprinkle the four tests throughout your preparation and use them to gauge your progress. You could also add GMATfocus to the mix. That would be my key piece of advice.

Cheers,
Dabral

CoolKevin · Answer

Hi Rich,

To answer your questions:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections) or just parts of it?
Entire CAT, 30 min essay, 30 min IR, 75 min quant, 75 verbal; I did this for all 4 practice tests I took so far

2) What time of day and day of the week did you take each CAT?
I took the first 3 at 7AM in the morning, on successive days; I took the latest one at 4PM (this was yesterday)

3) Was it an actual ADAPTIVE CAT or a linear one?
I have no idea how to determine whether they are actually adaptive. Honestly I don't believe so, because then these companies are exhausting an even greater number of question in their question bank. But I'm still really not sure. Do you know of any tests that are definitely adaptive? Maybe the 2 official GMATprep ones?

4) Had you seen any of the questions before?
This is a definite no, each question was fresh.

5) Did you have a pacing problem?
YES ABSOLUTELY. On the latest test I took in the quant section I ended up spending 5~6 minutes on a few question only to get them wrong. This forced me to work through the last 15 or so in about 15 minutes. I'm bad at timing because I always try to figure each one out. I need to just throw some away sometimes.

6) How many silly mistakes did you make?
Lots and lots. Surprising how many answers become so apparent when you just read that extra word that you glanced over. I need to learn this bitter lesson: Every. Word. Counts.

So yeah overall I'm still in the prep process. The latest test I took yesterday was the Manhattan prep's CAT. Their instructions were a little weird and it allowed me to choose my own timing scheme. I still went with the 30-30-75-75. Final score was 700, but it was VERY VERY difficult.

Do you know of any additional prep services besides the ones we already mentioned? Kaplan, Princeton, Veritas, Manhattan, and the official GMATprep. Together there are 6 cats in them, of which I've taken 4 (as I'm saving the GMAT prep for a week or so from now when I've reviewed some more material). Any other good companies I should be looking into?

And thanks Dabral I've never heard of GMATfocus before so I'll take a look there. I don't necessarily have the disposable income to drop 1k on some Kaplan prep stuff, but Veritas has a reasonable test package for only $50. I just don't want to make a purchase only to realize they've been inflating my score, because that will NOT help me at all.

manyatpr · Answer

Hi Coolkevin, Every student has their own requirements and thus lots of variations in choice of institutes. In order to select the best coaching institute for you, we would suggest you to walk over to all centers of various companies located closer to your home. You can either attempt a mock test with them or simply speak to their expert counselor. See where you get the best comfort and satisfying answers to all your questions. You can then choose accordingly. You can also check GMAT online courses at Manya on the links below. https://www.manyagroup.com/gmat-online https://www.manyagroup.com/gmat-live-online Let us know if we can help you with anything else. Wish you the best. www.manyagroup.com

Forward · Answer

Yes, definitely this. But make sure you use exams from the same manufacturer so that you're comparing apples to apples. I didn't--I mixed in Manhattan with GMATPrep--and it was hard to truly gauge my progress.

GMATPill · Answer

Our students who take the GMAT PILL computer adaptive practice test generally report scores within +- 30 points of what they are seeing on the GMATprep tests. So if you are looking for another way to assess your progress or just additional questions from which to practice, you may find this online practice test useful:

www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-test/practice-test

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