Kaplan 2010-2011 Premier - Online Test Difficulty

Question

Hi!

I just purchased the Kaplan 2010-2011 Premier, basically only for the included Tests. I just started the Practice Test 2 online (the first one is referred to be the paper test in the book). I only completed the Quant section so far and paused it.
What really surprised me was that it was really, really easy! No real hard question and no advanced concepts. Before, I read that the Kaplan tests are known to be extremely difficult. Before, I did 4 Manhattan GMAT tests, which were much harder.
Does anyone know what's behind this? Are the Kaplan Test on the Cd, the Test which are really hard and the online tests are used to train you from low level to later harder level (maybe practice test 6 is harder)???

TobiasSch · Answer

So in the meantime I completed the test, my result:

Overall: 650
Overall Percentage: 83%

Quant: 44
Quant %: 93%

Verbal: 39
Verbal %: 89%

Quant: 86% of Questions right
Verbal: 73% of Questions right

I'm quite confused. First of all the are the score a bit inconsitent with what I know/expect from the GMAT scoring. a quant score of 44 = 93%??? normally you need something around 49 to be in 93% as far as I know?
Additionally, Quant % of 93 + Verbal % of 89% equals overall 83%??? Normally as far as I know, if you score about the same % in each section, you should be in a higher % overall?!

Also for the verbal part, I was quite shocked how (relatively) easy the Questions were.

Of course, the overall score of 650 is not great, but I heard that you can easily add 100 point on that.
Anyway, I don't know how to interpret this score.... I still found the Q's quite easy and would expect the real Q's to get more difficult.

Does anyone have similar experiences? Did I maybe picked a practice exam which was made up only of easy questions for people who just started preparation? How comparable is the difficulty of the Kaplan Questions itself to the real questions?

BTW, I am aiming for a score of ~730 (Q:90%; V:70-80%)

Any input would be highly appreciated :-)

Thanks,
Tobias

edit: okay, I just learned, that this test was an linear test and no CAT test... good that this is only told, once you review your score ;-)

not sure though if the linear test is in any way representative for a CAT test?

Thanks, Tobias edit: okay, I just learned, that this test was an linear test and no CAT test... good that this is only told, once you review your score ;-)

not sure though if the linear test is in any way representative for a CAT test?

ThomasD · Answer

check through the forums here, i remember one of the kaplan teacher's mentioning (sometime this week) that they recently played with their scoring algorithm.

i agree with you though: on the gmat let's say you have an 80%/80% split you would expect a final score significantly above that (maybe around 90%) and not anything below - it frankly makes no sense!

when i went through my kaplan and mgmat practice test, i definitely thought mgmat was harder and testing more advanced concepts.

i still feel there is value in the kaplan tests to practice your timing and eliminate careless errors

now i do not know much about their linear tests, the ones i took where all cat (or so it said) 
hope that reliefs some worries

bb · Answer

Here is the official distribution of scores:

more is available here on percentiles and gmat scores: gmat-score-guide-to-gmat-scores-score-reports-83890.html

danielmacd · Answer

I took one of the CAT's offered in the the Kaplan 2010 Premium online package and scored a 680 for the second time. I am very concerned as I have a target score of 750 and it appears as though I am stagnant at 70 points below my target.

I was searching for a previous thread addressing the scoring algorithm but found none. Can someone give me some insight?

vladik210 · Answer

Hmmm.

My friend took the CAT1 (Diagnostic) and he scored 540. However, he scored 600 on GMAT recently. He gave me his access to his online tests and resources because he does not need it anymore.
So I took CAT2 Online through Kaplan and scored 590:
Overall percentile: 63%
Quant: 59%
Verbal: 40%

I had troubles finding the score (x out of 51) distribution. I see that you got it. I wonder if we had the same tests.

Please look at my screenshots. Do we have the same tests? Or at least the same system?

TimeSquareDesi · Answer

that looks way different than the one i see. i log into kaptest.com to take the practice cats. this is what my 1st one looked like.

https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4438356084_1cacb08dba_o.jpg

danielmacd · Answer

That is the exact same porthole I have. It is a great resource. I got a 620 on my Diagnostic and after a few weeks of studying I got it up to 680 and it was flat last week when I took my third CAT at one of the acctual testing centers.

You are in the same boat as me. I want to get a feel for how difficult these test are comparativly. I am working really hard and getting myself to a 720 level (thinking it will get me a 750 on Test Day) at these CAT they offer but am worried that this simply will not be enough to get the score I am looking for if these tests are easier than the acctual.

TobiasSch · Answer

yeah, I think the Kaplan tests are quite confusing.... especially, as they seem to underestimate your score. I read in other forums that Kaplan normally underestimates your scoure 50-100 points and I hope this is still the case :-)

On top of this, there seems to be many different kaplan sources "where" you do the test, as the screenshots are different (on top of that, there is also the Kaplan CD with practice tests) first of all to clarify some confusion, I think the "linear test" (in my case test #1 & #2) seems to have another distribution of scaled scores and percentiles. @TimeSquareDesi: it seems your score that you posted was a linear test as well Now, I did the practice test #5 (CAT-Test) and the experience was quite different. The Questions were much harder. For the Quant section, I found them still quite manageable (but I feel like I'm already on a real good level for Quant). This time I scored 50 / 94% For the verbal part, I was really bad. I felt like I was only guessing every question and scored 29 / 53%. Overall score 660. I feel like the percentiles/scaled are quite representative of my performance. Also looking at the chart of bb, if this chart is valid, I would have score more like in the 620 region. So potentially, the Kaplan tests might be closer to the real score than I think :-(

so if anyone already cracked the riddle how representative the RECENT kaplan scores are, it would be great to know it. I guess, I should soon do the official gmatprep to get a good picture where I'm standing

ThomasD · Answer

May be this helps: am-i-ready-to-take-the-gmat-88895.html Throughout the thread are my practice Kaplan, MGMAT and Gmatprep scores.

TobiasSch · Answer

Great thread! Thanks a lot, that was really helpful!!! Seems like you are a verbal expert :-)

Now I also have to attack the verbal part!! Wish you all the best with your MBA apps!

danielmacd · Answer

You really seemed to get the hang of things. Thanks for the recomendation. How did test day go for you?

ThomasD · Answer

720 Q48/V41 6.0AWA

danielmacd · Answer

Amazing congrats! Gets me motivated because it appears I am where you were when you started. I just need to log the hours of practice.

wusappenin · Answer

Kaplan CATs:
Diagnostic - 650
2: 600
3: 630
4: 670
5: 600
6: 630
GMATPrep: 680
I scored 30V on all of the Kaplan CATs and anywhere from 40-50Q.

Yesterday's actual GMAT (1st attempt): 750, 47/47. 98%
 
Keep working hard! I used the Kaplan book, did all the CATs online and all the "colored" quizzes as well. I also supplemented this with the OG 12. I found the Kaplan book to be very helpful. The tests taught me a lot about what I needed to work on and how I could make simple mistakes (solving for X when Y=2X and simply answering X). I, too, feared that I would not do well as indicated by my Kaplan CATs. However, the only thing that matters is your performance on test day. Be disciplined in your studies, learn from your correct answers as well as your mistakes. Dominate the actual test on game day.

Bon chance

danielmacd · Answer

First - Congrats! Great score!

Second - Thanks for the motivation. I am getting murdered on the kaplan verbal. I hope that same scoring trend between practice and actual applies to me.

Again congrats!

R2I4D · Answer

Well done! This assuages my fears that the Kaplan CATs were not indicative of actual performance... Thanks for the post.

wusappenin · Answer

Absolutely! My best advice is to use the tests to figure out what subjects you're weak on and what errors you commonly make.

In the end, no one cares about how you did on your practice exams. Don't let them get you down if they're low and don't let them make you think you're rocking it just because your scores are high. What matters is how you do on test day. Keep working hard and staying motivated will help a lot more than worrying about the accuracy of the practice test scores.

Besides, getting a 780 on a Kaplan CAT test and a dollar will get you a pack of gum at the store.

Bon chance.

TheGmatTutor · Answer

I just took the single free Kaplan test that is available online, and I found it incredibly easy. It's almost as if they used "model" problems of each question type, in which one could just plug values. I found the free MGMAT test much more difficult, and much more like the actual GMAT exam. Has anyone else had this experience?

prateekbhatt · Answer

Yes kapan premier got only 4 CAT + 2 Linear test.....

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