Just took official GMAT Prep practice test (700)

agreed. A 42+ on your Verbal will give you a very good score.

Hey Guys, Thanks.

Also whats the difference between Manhattan GMAT and Manhattan Review... which CATS are better ?

I think the Manhattan GMAT is the Manhattan Review, and the CAT is provided by Manhattan Review.

Thanks so far everyone
Hey Kryzak can u answer these questions:

1) Are the MGMAT tests comparable to the GMATPrep ? I took one of their tests and got a 31 on the verbal .. Their logic seems way different from the GMATPrep esp on CR and RC.

2) I have an issue with SC. A lot of times i realise I am down to 2 responses but I choose the wrong one. (maybe time i dont know) Is there any way to remedy that ?

3) I am making stupid mistakes on the math... calculation errors or just dumb errors.. Its like I know how to do the problems but I make a mistake and it gives me the wrong answer. How do I remedy this ? Esp on word problems .


4) I have about 2 weeks to go. i am done with the OG guide .. what should be my strategy from here on out ?

hi tlntd42,

I'll try my best at answering these:

1) the Manhattan GMAT (supposedly different from MGMAT, whatever that is) CAT are VERY different from GMATPrep. I was pretty surprised when I first took them. Their Quant section is TOUGH. I got almost all 700-800 level questions even though I missed 3-4 in a row. The questions generally take 3-4 minutes to solve if you're not perfectly used to them, and I found myself with only 10 minutes for the last 10 questions, forcing me to guess. My Quant score in GMATPrep was 50, and it was 44 for the Manhattan GMAT.

the good news is, even though I missed 18 questions (versus 9 on GMAT Prep) on the Manhattan GMAT CAT, the scoring is very lenient, and if I didn't run out of time in the end, I probably would have gotten the same score for Quant.

Verbal was very strange, but some forum people have mentioned that the real GMAT test is trending towards what Manhattan GMAT CAT presents. A lot more bold face CR, longer RC, and full sentence (3 lines) SC. They were tough, but my score was somewhat similar, 41 vs 44 on GMAT Prep. But I agree that the logic and the way they ask questions are different from GMAT Prep.

2) I HIGHLY recommend Manhattan GMAT's Sentence Correction Book. It's $26 off Amazon, but it's very good as it teaches you the most commonly tested grammar rules, refers to the OG11 for practice problems, and gives you 25 more SC CAT questions on their website. I'm more than 1/2 way through the book and it has helped me on numerous occasions to pick the right answer when I narrow them down to 2. The hard part is you have to remember all the rules and what to look for, so practice practice practice!

3) Yeah, same here. I would say do more questions so you get used to the format and you know the equation/technique to use down cold. Then spend an extra 10 seconds at the end of each question double checking what the question was asking for, and if you answered the questions. I think after making enough of the careless errors, I started to check things like "a side of a square is the perimeter divided by 4, not 2" and "x > 9 means x cannot be 9" and stupid errors like that. Other than that, I'm in the same boat trying to figure out how to reduce my careless errors.

4) Well, I have 2 weeks to go, and you're way ahead of me. I would get Manhattan GMAT SC book and go through that, even though you've done the OG book already, it'll help you focus on looking for the SC errors and reinforce the education. Maybe some of the GMAT Club Challenges (I haven't done any nor do I think I'll have enough time to) would help.

Another benefit of getting the Manhattan GMAT books is you get access to 6 online CAT tests. Those quant sections will kill you because of how hard they are, but you'll learn a LOT of tricks when it comes to consecutive integers, rate/work problems, prime factors, and things like that.

Other than that, try to read RC faster and look back in the passage for answers after you read the questions, that may save you some time in verbal. Check and double check common math errors. Do a lot more CATs to improve timing. That's all I can offer for now. You definitely have a lot more prep and practice than I do at this point. Good luck!

Hey Kryzak

I plan to get the OG verbal Guide and go through that with the Mnahttan Guide. I seem to do well on individual problems, but when I get to teh actual CAT test I think I get tired after Math and I am slower on the verbal.
or maybe I was just tired yesterday ...lol but thanks for the 10 second tip... on Math . I will definitely try to read faster on RC ...

How do u approach the RC ? I think sometimes I take too many notes b/c I still end up looking back at the passage !!!!

Three words: Take more CATs!!!

If you do well on normal problems and freeze up for some reason on the CATs, you need to take more CATs. Do the Princeton Review ones (if you have the book) and Manhattan. I heard Kaplan was unrealistic and too harsh, while others I haven't tried.

How do I approach the RC? I don't take notes. I know the Princeton Review strategies say you should take notes, but the passages are short enough that I can remember them in my head and know where to look when I try to answer the questions. If you're finding yourself looking back at the passage anyways, DON'T take notes. Try to practice remembering where things are, and just get a general idea of what the passage is about after you read it the first time. Categorize it into things such as:

- Arguing a point and listing examples
- Stating a theory/fact and disputing it
- presenting two different viewpoints and discussing the merits of each
- discussing history and the significance of certain examples

things like that. Then once you know this "theme", you can look at the questions and look back at the passage for the specific answers.

I can generally read through an RC passage in a minute or so (I read fast), and then answer all the questions in a minute each because I look back to the passage for the examples. Some of the harder ones take me 2-3 minutes, but the time I saved by not writing notes and just knowing what the passage is about allows me the luxury to spend more time on the harder RC questions.

My method won't work for everyone, but try it out and see if it works for you. =)

Sweet... Was thinking about using that strategy but was afraid to fail I guess I will try it....

THX man u have been a great help

No problem! I think this is my first time really "helping" anyone, as I'm a relative newb and have received tons of help from others. =)

Good luck and take more of those CATs. Try different strategies with each CAT for your math and Reading, and see which one works the best.

Hey Kryzak..
took a princeton review CAT scored a 720(Q=45, V=46)... Taking minor notes on the RC really improved my timing. I was able to get to the end of the verbal and i spent more time on the actual RC questions instead of the passages...
thx a lot..... that really helped my time...

My other question is How accurrate are the Princeton CATS ?

CONGRATS! That's great to hear that the new method helped you finish the verbal section! A V=46 is a VERY good score!

I think the Princeton tests are slightly easier than the GMATPrep, but there are some good threads stickied in the GMAT board that will compare the different tests.

Hope that helps!

Hey kryzak and tlntd42,

the Manhattan GMAT and the Manhattan Review are different providers.

Both offer CATs, at Manhattan Review you can buy them seperatly on their website.

(i wanted to display the link, but i am not allowed to because i haven´t posted enough so far- but you might goolge it )


one Cat Code is 8USD, there are 5 tests in total available.

As just began to prepare I have not taken one of them, but I took the intensive course in London and, even if i have nothing to compare with, i found it quite helpful to learn the the priciples and methods and some useful tricks.

Somehow it made me get started without fearing the monster GMAT

the books which you can purchase separatly as well are also good for people who want to study at home.

I also began to practice with priceton, kaplan, manhattan gmat and vertias.

So which one is the CAT that's offered by the people who make the Manhattan SC book? That's the CAT I took. I haven't seen nor used the other "Manhattan" tests or books.

the ones you meant are those of manhattan gmat, as they are much more famous. you can buy them on the manhattan gmat website separately or, alternatively, some of them come when buying the book/books.

when you buy them without the books you have to pay 39USD to have an 1 year access (as do the cat from the books have) and they do also have additional question banks to the specific topics available (also access for 1 year/1 person). i tried the question banks and they are useful as they clearly arrange and show your track record and provide you with the explanations.

the manhattan review ones are not too famous but they offer courses in ny and especially in europe, books and cat codes. nevertheless i am quite happy with the other materials they provided.

when you google the manhattan review you get plenty of links to their website. acctually they spend a lot in ad on the web

Ahh, thank you for clearing the thing up! I didn't know there was that difference!

Ahhh I thought they were different.....

I think i found my errors in the math... i need to stop trying to save paper... lol really i try to do everything on 1 page and it kills me i realize...
lol