gmatprep tests

Are you taking the MGMATs untimed ? Your quant scores look like you are doing so (more than 48 on MGMAT quant is very high !).

Anyway, the GMATPREP verbal questions have a very unique feel and I do not reckon any other test that does in the same way.

These is a big discrepancy in your test results. Any explanation?

I am taking all tests in real exam conditions.
1. My quant secret is gmatclub tests.
Once, I get on to the 4th test , quant section is easy in manhattan. I guess, I may have exhausted difficult questions.
2. manhattan tests require some minimal score in each section to elevate overall score. So, regardless of my quant score in 2nd and 4th tests, my overall score appears to be low.

Anyway, my point here is to request for some suggestions/requests about gmatprep questions?

why those are that much tough/weird? unable to grasp questions in first reading ? Usually, I perform low in RC's compared to CR's or SC's. However, in this test I realized RC was little bit crackable.
I guess, my mind is trained for difficult RC's but not that difficult SC,CR. Right from first question, I never seen a easy question that can be cracked in 1-2 min .
I repeat, does any body felt this way ? any suggestion/ motivating stuff ???

Here's the thing though - GMAT Prep is the most accurate indicator of your performance with regard to actual performance on the GMAT. So maybe you're not fully accustomed to the GMAC way of phrasing questions etc. I'd recommend going over the OG and perhaps taking another third party test like the one on Knewton or Veritas Prep and seeing what happens from there.

Good to know. Thanks for sharing your secret

Maybe you felt nervous when you did your gmatprep cat.
Furthermore the verbal scoring algorithm of the Manhattan cats are different.

yeah i don't know. I find the MGMAT verbal to be much easier while I feel that MGMAT quant is more wordy and requires you more time to focus on the problem which is a good thing. I recommend using MGMAT in combination with the 4 or 5 Kaplan CAT's. They are pretty tough I think, especially with verbal and the math is pretty tricky too. That's just my recommendation. But yes, the GMATprep algorithm is the most accurate one out there since it came from GMAC themselves.

I think part of the reason is the way GMATPrep phrases the question and of the problem ( at least in my case) is nervousness. I took my GMATPrep-1 last weekend. Got nervous at a very simple quant problem (question-3), as a result - rushed through 3 other problems that I got wrong and missed the last 6 question !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Few hours after the test, I sat down to go through my mistakes and guess what - the question that I got stuck and the three questions that I got wrong - worked them out in under 5 mins !

I think part of the game is getting used to GMAT style.

I would recommend taking full length (including AWA) tests. Do not loose focus that GMAC has set up the question back for the actual GMAT, not MGMAT or Kaplan ! There have been very contradicting statements from people on the forum who have already taken the GMAT. Some say GMATPrep and OG is the real deal to master and you have nailed the GMAT, some say OG is way too easy than the real GMAT. I cannot say who is wrong here, but still focus on OG. It has a peculiar way of framing the questions. Not much time left to experiment here, stay focused and look at your mistakes in OG and GMATPrep tests.

Also the GMAT algo is way too strict on the Verbal score. Any drop in Verbal score, will make ur overall score drop like a dead bird. I think it is just the way the algorithm is designed.

I felt the exact same way with MGMAT CAT! With MGMAT if you get the first two questions right, they will hit hard on you very early and throw hard questions at you to knock off your confidence.

The next test I'll take will be a GMAT prep one (I saved them for as late as possible) so I'll be able to report if the real GMAT difficulty curve is more gentle or as steep as MGMAT's.

Anyway, MGMAT tests are very good to train your stamina and self-control as we have only two official GMAT prep tests available.

By the way, I have a heart rate control watch (Polar competitor), so I'll monitor my heart rate during the test, and see how it evolves

Easing into the test is VERY important. I think placing the AWA right at the beginning was not random. I think it gets you use to the room, the computer and the people around you. GMATPrep curve is not very steep. The error during my test was my own doing. Anyways, steep or not steep is a discussion for another day. People have argued forever if first 10 questions are more important than the rest of the test and blah blah blah. I think the whole test is important. Do not hold the GMATPrep tests for too late also because I read in someone's debrief that OG has questions from GMATPrep. Not sure if it is true or not.

I am seeing , OG-diagnostic test questions for first time, these questions(SC), are longer than mgmat test questions.
What I realized after writing gmat prep tests, gmat is not as easy as mgmat.
One wake up call for the guys who are weak at verbal(esp. for avg. , below avg. skills) - gmat verbal is much tougher than what we have been preparing

-Prithvi.

During MGMAT CAT I can't see any way of answering the first 10 problems correctly, maybe they do it on purpose as they claim that the first 10 problems are not more important than later ones.

I do consider AWA as a warm up, and I enjoy it.

review ur mistakes in verbal... find out the root causes for the mistakes( eg: Concentration, Lack of Knowledge , misread the question etc). Then you will be in a position to find out where u stand

I think MGMAT Quant is a good practice, but ONLY PRACTICE. They are the closest to the reality no doubt, but YET, having said that, GMATPrep questions are MORE CONCEPTUAL.

In my 5 MGMAT CATs, the only reason I would make a mistake is - silly mistake. Forgot to add/subtract a number hear and there, and bogus mistakes like that. BUT in GMATPrep, I see some really involved and high level concepts being tested. In each GMATPrep test I find 2-3 questions that I could seriously learn from. Even if you improve to a point that you are getting 50-51 in MGMAT, you will notice the difference as soon as you start practicing GMATPrep. Once you get to say q50-51 level in MGMAT, you can pretty much consistently crack q50-51 in MGMAT each time, BUT that's NOT true for GMATPrep (perhaps also GMAT). GMAT guys make some real, highly conceptual questions that are not easy to manufacture - they make is less computational intensive but add some extra concepts to the questions, at least in few of them.

I would suggest that you do some GMATPrep as soon as you can to start getting the feel of the reality if you test date is getting close.

Hey Abhi ....
Good to see you giving back to back tests.. Im sure ur on a roll. Do you have any insight on gmat prep scoring? I know its algorithm is same as the real gmat, but its awkward. I got only 1 incorrect in verbal at it gave me 48 today .. my last gmat prep i made 4 mistakes and it gave me 44 ... Quant looks fine . 0-5 errors I 'm scoring 51.

Man, you are killing GMAT :D. If there is anybody here who has the most chances of getting 800, then it has to be you. Good luck man - go kill it. All the best!

In Quant, I got 3 incorrect in 1st GMATPrep and it gave me 50, then 2 incorrect (#10, #31) in 2nd one and it gave me 50. Today I got 1 incorrect (somewhere in #32) and it finally gave me 51 :p

In Verbal, I am no-where close to a state, where I can judge GMATPrep to this extent. But definitely GMATPrep is more punishing than any other thing out there. I have noticed that the ONLY way to score highest with "N incorrects" (say) is if you get 1st 15 all correct and last 10 all correct - you can get these incorrects between 15-30 and you will see the least impact as compared to if these mistakes were in the start or end of the section; but again these mistakes must be scattered and not in string. So from now on I will try to be more cautious in 1st 30 mins (14-17 questions - depending on how many RCs I get) of the test, then I will increase my velocity for next 25 mins (15-18 questions), and then I will keep the last 20 mins for the last 10 questions - I MUST BE at #31+ when I have 20 mins left. That means - I will give more time on 1st 2 RCs, less time on 3rd RC (< 5 mins for the whole thing), and again more time on last RC. I will give another test tomorrow while implementing this strategy and see that helps me spread my errors - I get string of errors in the end and that kills my score.

What has your strategy been in the verbal section? Could you please share your insights my friend? What are the high-level tips would like to give and recommend me to get my score close to 40? I am not asking more - I think 40 is doable, but I am just not able to get the confidence to do so! Thanks man.

Hi Abhi ,
I spent around 4 months on verbal. The first couple of months were on understanding the underlyingconcepts, techniques of SC. I read most of the posts of Ron purewal on the manhattan forum, read through OG 11/12 to understand how gmat frames correct answers. I guess gmat uses very standard way of framing the right answers for SC and CR. I'm not sure why we from India think that SC is very difficult. Infact gmat sc = maths, just follow the rules ( in very very extreme case u will have an exception). For SC i used Aristotle SC, Mgmat SC. I think the most important thing u shud know on gmat SC is " comma+ing" modifier and no comma +ing ( adjec and adverbial)- . Preposition + appostives are also helpful. Solved around 1200+ SCs.

CR i used powerscore bible. I guess i learnt CR will lots of practice, solved og 11/12/verbal guides...kaplan (all 3 books). Solved around 700-800 CRs.

RC - I seriously dont have any tip here. I read the whole passage ..I dont note anything and answer the question . I believe that incase u understand the passage u can kill it ..otherwise

Please do let me know incase you need any specific help, will be happy to share.
Btw i will be very happy to get a 700 .. 800 shayad thoda zyada ho jayega ( i guess 800 will be quite a few !!)

All the best buddy .