Effective gmat practice tests

i have just started with the same...but my first score itself was 520..what do u think seeing at this score..my princeton scores were ranging frm 620 to 650

MGMAT tests, though a tad tough are the best indicator of your prospective score on the real GMAT. I would go a step further and say, they give a feel of the real score even better than GMAT prep. My scores on GMAT prep varied between 680-720 before the exam and my MGAMT varied around 660. I finally got a 680 on the real GMAT.

So gauge yourself based on the MGMAT scores. You may end up with some (20to30+your best MGMAT) on the real GMAT.

What would you say regarding improvement of scores in mgmat tests..as u are experienced what measures you took to improve in mgmat...for me the concern is RC as these are the questions i have got wrong upto 70%...rest all are righ ranging frm 80% to 90% for sc and cr

IF you already are in the range of 80-90% accuracy rate in CR and SC....how coem your scores are still in the low 600's??

That high accuracy is too good on the MGMAT and an accuracy of 75% on RC is equally good. I am not sure if my advice is of any use, as I myself am in the 75% accuracy range in RC and pretty happy about it. May be you can try the RC99 passages. A good selection of 99 passsages with three difficulty levels.

@Ruturaj - I agree with Mattapraveen. I took the Princeton course last year and then wrote the GMAT. I started off with roughly 640 on Princeton, and worked my way up to 710-730 by the time I hit my last Princeton test. I got a 640 on the real GMAT. I'm rewriting this August again.

I think my experience is particularly skewed, but I can tell you the Princeton tests are not good indicators. I didn't take the Manhattans seriously because their math is much tougher - bad idea. Overall, MGMAT prepares you really well, I'm writing them this time and all my friends who have scored 700+ recommend them.

I don't want to alarm you Ruturaj as I'm sure with focused prep you will improve, but don't make the same mistake as me. If you're hitting ~650 on your practice tests, take a step back, analyze what you're doing wrong at a conceptual level > Buy targeted books for those topics > Only write the next test if you feel you've done something specific to improve upon weaknesses highlighted from the previous test. >book a date once you start getting 680+. Good luck buddy, sure you'll do great.

Guys check out the grockit CAT's and their bank of questions for Q and V. Just stumbled onto the stie a week back and have got hooked onto it for the last week. Thye have tons of questions and you can choose between timing them or not timing them and can choose from specific topics, like a set of 15-20 questions on CR or RC or Probability or DS etc and they keep a track of your accuracies and record of all the correct and wrong questions.
I am impressed with it. They have a 20$ per month membership and long term membership also and I have my test in a month, so a good investment for me. Do check it out.

hey mattpraveen, grockit u say? let me check it out. my test is on August 3rd too! are there any sample tests to get a flav of what its like?

are you asking that taking which mock test will improve your score? Then I got to say none! Tests are to gauge your ability, improve mental stamina and endurance and to give you a feel of the test!

What you do after the test will improve your score I.e by understanding your performance!

First see how many you got incorrect.
Re-solve them under untimed conditions and see if you get the ans
then check out each and every solution to see: whether your reasoning for an answer matches that of the explanation ? Or it was just a fluke?
Is there a simpler way to solve the question in less than a minute?
If you performed badly in the test wht was the reason? Timing ? Pressure? Conceptual issues? Knowledge gap?
Then hit those weakness to remove them.

Seeing a high or low score does have impact but don't fret over it too much try to analyse!!
If you are taking MGMAT tests you should do all this else it's just a waste! Mgmat questions are beautifully designed and Donot usually digress out of what you need to know for the GMAT.

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

Yeah...grockit....as usual practise....google it out..... , you will find it. Yeah, they did give me a three day trial period. But not sure, if the compelte CAT is part of the trial period. Check it out.

btw i like ur status, getting me motivated too haha

@Ruturaj - I agree with Mattapraveen. I took the Princeton course last year and then wrote the GMAT. I started off with roughly 640 on Princeton, and worked my way up to 710-730 by the time I hit my last Princeton test. I got a 640 on the real GMAT. I'm rewriting this August again.

I think my experience is particularly skewed, but I can tell you the Princeton tests are not good indicators. I didn't take the Manhattans seriously because their math is much tougher - bad idea. Overall, MGMAT prepares you really well, I'm writing them this time and all my friends who have scored 700+ recommend them.

I don't want to alarm you Ruturaj as I'm sure with focused prep you will improve, but don't make the same mistake as me. If you're hitting ~650 on your practice tests, take a step back, analyze what you're doing wrong at a conceptual level > Buy targeted books for those topics > Only write the next test if you feel you've done something specific to improve upon weaknesses highlighted from the previous test. >book a date once you start getting 680+. Good luck buddy, sure you'll do great.



Its good to hear the same experience frm u..just need ur help in other cases too...I am not gettin how shall i work out with RC ...this is the section which comes in the first 15 questions and i get almost all of them wrong..I am not gettin which strategy to use...

ya ya no issues..carry on...just do get back tomo

Ok so for RC, here are my 2 cents:
1) Start reading newspapers - Skim read and build up your speed. This may sound like a vague start, but I found it helped me focus tremendously on the content without getting distracted. Don't waste time jotting down points or para summaries. You should train yourself to summarize paras in your head and follow the development of the passage.
So for example, para 1 spoke introduced hypothesis, para 2 had contradictions with two examples, para 3 was a consensus etc. Princeton Review advocates taking down quick notes - I'd say avoid, it slows you down.

2) Art/social issue passages - read more in depth. Science/economics articles - read a little faster keeping in mind key place holders (remember defining portion of paragraph so you can refer back quickly for a specific question). The sci/econ articles generally have more direct answers as opposed to art/history/sociology ones.

3) Try this one out, see if it works for you - Read the first question quick before beginning the passage. If its a "Provide a headline" or "whats the main message" it'll make you keep the bigger picture in focus throughout. If its targeted at a sentence you'll know where to refer immediately while reading through.

4) My colleague who just got a 760 recommended this - She said no matter what the questions is, even if its one of those "What is the author implying.." type questions, the answer will always be found within 2-3 sentences. Its quite literally true - for questions in which I get stuck on in RC, I remember what she said and focus a bit harder in terms of just spotting that one or two key sentences. Really helps.

Also check this link for brief tips on RC:
https://www.topmba.com/articles/gmat/GMA ... OK,1CCKD,1

thanks for these strategies ..btw i ld like to knw more frm u...Whats ur study plan as of now...how are u planning things to improve more...

Its good to hear the same experience frm u..just need ur help in other cases too...I am not gettin how shall i work out with RC ...this is the section which comes in the first 15 questions and i get almost all of them wrong..I am not gettin which strategy to use...

ok well quick recap on my tests so far before I launch into what I've done differently:
The first 2 times I wrote the GMAT in a span of 32 days =(
640 both times (second time Quant dropped -2 to M42, Verbal went up +2 V38). Note this was in Jan 2010 and then Feb 5th 2010. I decided never to touch the GMAT again after that.
--x--
Changed my mind this January =)
Studied for a month:
GMAT Prep 1: 710 (inflated, too many OG12 repeat questions)
Veritas Free test: 690
MGMAT1: 700
MGMAT2: 700
Princeton (Free test, I wrote this today in the morning before work): 700 AGAIN (ugh)

I've now got 4 MGMATs, the free Knewton, and the free GMAT Prep2 test left. Date is august 3rd, I'm taking leave from 14th July onwards. I don't recommend you launch into tests, let me post in more detail about what I've tried to do differently this time.
Aximili

btw i time all tests, get rid of the phone, lock my room up, write all essays, take exactly the right amount of breaks (2 min between essay, 8 min between essay-quant and 8 min between quant-verbal)