Kaplan vs official GMAT?

Question

Hi guys,

I recently started my GMAT preparation, and just took my second practice test after about two weeks of preparation. My first test was a Kaplan Diagnostics, and I got 640 Q38 V40, and my second one was an official GMAT test, which turned out Q47 V31, 640.

My problem is that despite the fact that I feel as if I learned a ton of stuff in these weeks, my overall score did not move an inch, and my verbal and quantitative scores got virtually swapped. Is this just the difference between the Official GMAT and Kaplan tests, or does this possibly indicate that I need to modify my gameplan a bit?

Admittedly I have focused mainly on Quantitative these few weeks, but I never imagined that my verbal score would go down the drain like that, especially since I did not prepare for Kaplan at all. I'm confused and would highly appreciate a word of advice from someone more experienced on where do I go from here.

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

achbaa - Welcome to GMAT Club

GMAT Prep practice tests provide the closest score estimation. Typically, the real GMAT score is within the 30 points range of the GMAT Prep practice tests. However, GMAT Prep offers only 6 Practice tests and therefore we may have to take a few other practice tests offered by other test prep companies. That said, no test prep company could successfully model its scoring algorithm after the GMAT Prep. Therefore, I would strongly advise you to take only official GMAT Prep practice tests, to gauge your actual performance.

Please review the below two topics to find more information on all available practice tests.

Overview of All Practice Tests: https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-gmat-pra ... 28289.html
Practice Tests Reviews: https://gmatclub.com/reviews/other/

TheUltimateWinner · Answer

Take the official mock test again and see the difference between these 2 official mock test's score. Official mock test gives you actual indication of your real gmat score.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi achbaa,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so if you've been studying for just a few weeks, then fluctuations in your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores would not be surprising. In addition, there are a variety of factors that can influence your performance, including the time of day that you take your Exams, whether you take the full Exam or not, the number of lucky guesses and/or silly mistakes you make, etc.

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?

Goals:
3) What is your overall goal score?
4) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

achbaa · Answer

Hi, thanks for your reply! I think this could be a part of it - I took the official GMAT test late in the night, I was pretty tired both physically and mentally, which was not the case during my Kaplan test, so maybe this played a part.

Studies: 
1. I typically study around 2-4 hours a day total, depends on whether it is active learning or just doing practice questions - I can do the latter for far longer.
2. I'm using a Kaplan Self-paced PLUS, with Quant section already finished and am currently half-way through Verbal. I also attend a local GMAT 6 weeks course. 
3. My goal is to get at least 710. 
4. I was thinking around January, depends whether I'll be ready. 
5. Around March this year. 
6. I'm looking at a bunch, including LBS, INSEAD, ESADE and LSE.

Thank you kindly for your help!

achbaa · Answer

Thanks, I'll try to do this next week - don't want to waste more than one test a week, especially official ones, seeing that there are only 6.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi achbaa,

Since you're not planning to take the GMAT until January, then you've given yourself plenty of time to study - which is good. These first 2 CAT Scores imply that you're a fairly strong critical thinker overall, so you just have to be focused on learning and practicing the proper Tactics. You're already enrolled in a course, so you should complete that course as scheduled - and we should look to see how you perform on your next few CATs (note: you should plan to take a NEW CAT every 1-2 weeks) and see what patterns emerge. At this point, I don't think there's any reason for concern; you still have a lot of training to get through - and you've given yourself enough time to make adjustments later (if needed).

You should plan to post back here (or you can PM me directly) once you've finished that course and we can review your overall studies up to that point and discuss how to best continue.

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

achbaa · Answer

Hi there! As you advised, I have continued my studies and took 2 CATS I week apart. My first one was 670, Q48 V34, and the second one I just did was 710, Q45 V43. Although I'm happy with the score improvement, I'm very nervous about my dropping Quantitative Score, although I did focus most of my study last week on verbal. Nonetheless, I feel as if this may also be a question of stamina - I got Q48 when I did quantitative section first, and V43 when I did verbal first, and in the second tests I did feel fatigued closer to the end of the quantitative section. What could you advise and is there something I can do to build up my test stamina? Many thanks!

JohnDoe1989 · Answer

Does anyone have the GMAT Bible? I heard it's very good to prepare with it

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Hiachbaa.

First off, Q48 and Q45 are some pretty nice quant scores. So, nice job.
Regarding the variation in quant test scores, I believe that your issue is more of a knowledge issue than a stamina issue. Remember, you really have not been studying for that much time (about 3 weeks), so it’s likely that you have a variety of weak areas that must be strengthened in order for you to consistently score high in quant. So, rather than continue to take practice exams, spend some time truly strengthening your weaker areas in quant, and then resume taking practice exams once you are ready to do so. Certainly, if you’d like more specific advice on how to improve your quant skills, feel free to reach back out.

Lastly, you may find it helpful to read the following articles:

How to Score a 700+ on the GMAT — A Mini Guide for Success

Taking GMAT Practice Tests

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi achbaa,

Many GMATers deal with 'fatigue' issues during their studies, so you're not alone. Test Day is a rather specific 'event' though, so the way that you build up your stamina over time is to properly mimic that event every time that you take a practice CAT. In simple terms, that means that you have to take each CAT in a realistic fashion (take the FULL CAT - with the Essay and IR sections, take it away from your home, in one sitting, at the same time of day as when you'll take the Official GMAT, etc.).

The 'swings' in your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores are still likely due to little mistakes (and how frequently you make them or avoid them). "Review" is an exceptionally important part of the GMAT training process; your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining the areas that you need to work on (and the specific things that you need to 'fix'). As such, I'd like to know a bit more about these 2 CAT performances. While a full Mistake Tracker would provide a lot more information, there are some basic questions that you should be able to answer (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing each section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

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

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