Official GMAT Practice CATs vs. MGMAT CATs

Question

are the official ones worth the higher price tag?

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KyleWiddison · Answer

I recommend that you use both. The MGMAT CATs are great for databasing your strengths and weaknesses so you have some guidance on how to improve yourself moving forward. The Official GMAT CATs are the best preparation for and closest approximation of the actual exam. Use the Official CATs as you get closer to test day...

KW

KW

dabral · Answer

I am no longer active on this forum.

IvyLeagueBoundGurl · Answer

Can we still use last year's guides or is it best to get the newest ones? What is the difference?

dabral · Answer

I am no longer active on this forum.

deabas · Answer

Totally agree with you.. doing both is the est choice

Senthil7 · Answer

Hi Dabral,

That is an interesting point (highlighted portion of your comment). Would like to know more about the learning you have mentioned. Do you mean the timing strategies or even content? I presume the content itself must have been learned well before. Please guide.

AtlanticGMAT · Answer

Hi there,

I would recommend sticking to Official GMAT materials. They are the best possible thing to work on and there is a sufficient supply of them.  Most people don't need third party questions or practice tests.  There are certain situations in which third party questions are helpful:

1. You've been studying for so long that you've run through the official stuff three times and so need some new questions to chew on.

2. You are really gunning for a perfect Quant score. Not a 45, 46, 47.... a 51. In that case, some extra tough GMAT club quant can be helpful.

For test scheduling, I'd recommend a test somewhere in the beginning of your prep so you can get an understanding of what you're up against. Then I'd hold off for a bit to build up some skills. In my mind, you get the most out of the practice tests a little bit down the stretch after you're well acquainted with the exam. But, leave yourself at least a month to work through the official practice tests. The GMAT prep tests have a ton of excellent questions to learn from. And, let's say that you're starting sub-500 and want to achieve 700+ you can probably mine the practice for much longer than a month.

Happy Studies,

A.

AtlanticGMAT · Answer

I'm sure Dabral will respond on his own. I assume he's getting at the fact that the practice tests are good not only for getting you in competition mode but for revealing variations in the content that you don't necessarily see in the other materials. So don't leave the practice tests for the last minute because that might not give you enough time to get the most out of the material.

A.

mcelroytutoring · Answer

Yes, the GMATPrep tests from GMAC are worth the higher price tag. MGMAT tests are the best imitations, and do have certain advantages such as better timing and question classification information. But now that there are 6 full GMATPrep tests, I would agree with  dabral  and others that non-official materials are not necessary for most GMAT test-takers. Plus, the MGMAT scores are not as reliable as are scores from the GMATPrep tests, because Manhattan GMAT does not have access to the proprietary GMAC algorithm, or real test questions for that matter.

Pro tip: to get timing information on your GMATPrep tests, simply train yourself to take a screenshot at the beginning of each question. For question classification information, use the GMAT Club question forums (a simple search for the text of your question should do the trick) and browse for Tags.

Why You Should Use Only Real GMAT Questions

How to access all 1,500 questions from your Free GMATPrep Tests

HanoiGMATtutor · Answer

How long does it take you to take each screenshot? Do you find it distracting to take screenshots during the exam?

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mcelroytutoring · Answer

Taking the screenshots takes about 1 second each and is not distracting at all once you get habituated to it. For your screenshots, use either the "Print Screen" (Windows Key + PrtScn) button on a PC or (Shift + Command + 3) on a Mac. The timer in the upper-right hand corner will give you all the pacing information you need.

Here is an example:  https://www.drivecms.com/uploads/mcelroytutoring.com/Screen%20Shot%202016-07-15%20at%209.29.00%20AM.png

HanoiGMATtutor · Answer

You don't save the screenshots? Then how are they helpful?

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mcelroytutoring · Answer

Yes, of course I save them, but I don't  actively  save them, but that's because most computers will automatically save your screenshots to the folder of your choice. For example, I use a Mac, and Macs automatically save all screenshots to the Desktop by default. You can also go into your Preferences and specify a different folder if you like.

HanoiGMATtutor · Answer

Surely you have students that use Windows computers? How do they automatically save a screenshot then?

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mcelroytutoring · Answer

It depends on what version of Windows you have. Here is what to do for Windows 10: "The screen will dim for a moment, and you will see the screenshot appear as a file in a folder entitled “Screenshots”, inside your default “Pictures” folder. The screenshot is automatically labeled with a number." https://www.howtogeek.com/226280/how-to- ... indows-10/ As you can read in the below link, it is true that users of older versions of Windows, such as Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, will have to use a much more work-intensive method of pasting and then saving their screenshots to a folder. However, users of Windows 8 or Windows 10 should find the process of taking (and auto-saving) screenshots to be very quick and convenient. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-take- ... f-windows/

SouthCity · Answer

Thank you. It works like charm. I had no idea that this short-cut exists in Windows 10. The dim is minimal and I won't pay too much attention to it. I used to copy paste in word document and that was time taking.

Thank you again mcelroytutoring

mcelroytutoring · Answer

Happy to help! Yes, the momentary screen dimming is just a visual confirmation that you have indeed taken the screenshot (and auto-saved it into your "Pictures/Screenshots" folder).

Due to the interest in this topic, I have written  a thread of my own  with more detailed information.

pokaser342 · Answer

screenshots could be exported in a form of structured document to 8 most popular formats: PDF, Video, Word, Images, WordPress, HTML, PowerPoint, and Cloud

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