Low score in third party mocks but higher in Official mocks

Question

Hi,
I've scored relatively low scores in Veritas and Manhattan free mock. 660 in both.
However, in official mocks 2&3, I have scored 700 and 720 respectively.
Order of taking mocks.

Official mock 2
Veritas mock
Official mock 3
Manhattan mock. 
All of them were given in 15 days timeline.

Could anyone please explain how to best gauge my performance? How close are all of these mocks to the actual GMAT exam?

Posted from my mobile device

warrior1991 · Answer

First of all, did you attempt the official Mock first time ?

If yes, I must say your score is good and you should believe in official. If no, then there is a score fluctuation.

Second, Veritas Mocks are also good but if in official exams you are getting a good score ,why think about non-official??

Take one more official: Exam 5 or 6. These tests will give you a clear indication of your preparedness.

Coming to Manhattan. Quant of Manhattan is much harder than that of GMAT. So if official test quant score is good, you are doing good.

Good luck !

Lastly, it will be good if you also post Q and V split while reporting overall score.

Russ19 · Answer

Hi,

Like others, I also believe official CATs are the best. Manhattan prep's CATs (2-6) are more standard than CAT-1.

Best Wishes!

KVKool · Answer

No, this is after some months of preparation.

Score split - Veritas 660 (Q49, V32)
Official mock 2 700 (Q49, V35)
Manhattan mock 660 (Q47,V34)
Official mock 3 720 (Q50,V36)

Let me know your insights!

Posted from my mobile device

ayushkumar22941 · Answer

official mock 3 and 4 are easy, I got 770 and 750 in those 2. high score in official mocks is mainly because you get to solve similar questions on the GMAT club. for quants better trust GMAT club mocks

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi KVKool,

The good news is that you are scoring very well on your official MBA.com practice exam. Do you plan to take any more of those prior to your GMAT?

KVKool · Answer

Yes. I do plan on taking may be 1-2 mocks before the actual GMAT.

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KVKool,

The scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize. Since that algorithm is proprietary, no GMAT company has an exact match for it, thus CAT scores can vary a bit based on the 'biases' involved in their respective designs. It's also worth noting that while the most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC, retaking a CAT that you've already taken is NOT a realistic way to assess your skills - since you will likely see some 'repeat' questions that you have already faced. Unfortunately, seeing even a couple of repeats can 'throw off' the Scoring Algorithm and impact your pacing, energy levels, fatigue, etc. (meaning that they would likely all appear to be better than they actually are).

You listed 4 recent CAT/mock results, but have you taken any other CATs? I ask because in another recent post, you stated that you had scored 690/Q49/V35 on Official mock #1 - and you took that CAT 1 week before Official mock #2 (but you did not include that information in your initial post here). If there are other CAT results, then that additional data would help to define your 'progression' over the last several months and if you've potentially gotten 'stuck' in any particular areas.

In addition, you were initially planning to take the GMAT sometime in the last week or so. Did you end up taking it as planned or did you push back your Test Date (and at this point, when are you planning to take the GMAT?)?

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

KVKool · Answer

Spot on, Rich!

Yes. I took the official mock #1 Score- 690/Q49/V35 before mock #2.

Indeed, I had planned to take GMAT last week. But I wasn't scoring upto the mark on mocks so decided to postpone my exam by 2 weeks. Let me know your insights!

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KVKool,

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, your various CAT score results show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 690 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but "your way" of approaching the Exam leaves you open to making certain types of mistakes.

A Score Goal of 740+ requires a really high level of 'precision', so we need to better define how you've been performing. "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 your last CAT. 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

KVKool · Answer

Apologies for the delayed response Rich! I took the 4th official mock. However, I won't call it my best performance considering I missed 5 questions in verbal because I was experimenting something with RC. (Learnt the lesson of not experimenting in final days the hard way

) Anyway, I have analysed the mock. And below are the answers to your questions. 1) Because of a silly/little mistake? Verbal -2, Quant-2 2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do? Verbal -1, Quant -3 3) Because the question was too hard? Verbal -7, Quant-1 4) Because you were low on time and had to guess? Verbal -2, Quant-0 5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong? Verbal -2, Quant-0 Let me know your insights! Thanks in advance Posted from my mobile device

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Awesome. Let me know how those go.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KVKool,

I've sent you a PM with some additional questions.

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

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Low score in third party mocks but higher in Official mocks

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