Did you know that although there are only 90 questions on a single diagnostic GMAT from the GMATPrep software, that there are roughly 1,500 questions in the overall Question Pool of the free "Default Exam Pack" that includes Exams 1 and 2? This means that you could re-take these 2 GMAT exams a dozen times, and see different questions every time (albeit with some overlap).
When you take a GMAT that contains questions you've seen before, some might consider this test ruined and therefore useless. I disagree. Although exams containing questions to which you know the answers will surely ruin the score-predictive element of the tests (in other words, your diagnostic score will be inflated) of the test, the learning element still remains. Remember that repetition is not to be avoided--it's quite helpful for improvement. Despite what many GMAT test-takers think, not every question you try needs to be brand-new...sometimes it takes until the 2nd or 3rd attempt until the concepts, strategies and techniques needed for a particular question really start to "click."
How to best use your free GMATPrep exams as diagnostic tests, and then later reset them for practice (non-score predictive) purposes:1) Download the
free GMAT Prep Software, which contains Exams 1 and 2. Exam Pack 1 ($50) contains Exams 3 and 4, and Exam Pack 2 ($50--you can also buy Exam Packs 1 and 2 as a bundle for $90) contains Exams 5 and 6. Be warned, however, that Exams 3-6 (EPs 1 and 2) draw from a much smaller pool of about 400 questions.
2) Take Exam 1 for the first time (a score predictive test).
3) Take Exam 2 for the first time (a score predictive test).
4)
Take screenshots of every question, at the beginning of each question (a good idea anyway for additional timing information / in case the GMATPrep software crashes), and review the questions until you understand them. Alternatively, you can train yourself to automatically take a screenshot at the start of every new question, which should save you some time. For your screenshots, use either the "Print Screen" (Windows Key + PrtScn) button on a PC or (Shift + Command + 3) on a Mac. If you do so, however, then make sure to take note of which ones you got wrong--not just the numbers, but the actual text of the questions--before resetting the software.
5) Now that you've taken the first 2 tests as diagnostics, and backed up your questions using screenshots, hit "reset" and try the tests again. This time, feel free to use the software simply as a practice tool for short sets of questions. The new "Select Section Order" feature has made this much easier, since you can now start directly with the Quant and Verbal sections rather than having to click through the AWA and IR sections first.
PLEASE NOTE: unless you are using a very old version of Windows, you do not have to manually save your screenshots! On Windows, they are auto-saved in the "Pictures/Screenshots" folder, and on a Mac they are auto-saved in the Desktop folder. Thus, screenshots only take about 1 second each. On Windows, the screen will dim for a moment to confirm that your screenshot has been saved, and on a Mac you will hear a camera sound.
5) Hit "reset" in the lower left-hand corner of the software, and repeat as many times as necessary. The tests are no longer score predictive due to question overlap, but they will still make for great, realistic practice, and you will see plenty of new questions as well.
A couple of FAQs:
1)
Q: This doesn't seem to be working...my first 12 multiple-choice questions are the exact same, even after I hit "reset."A: That's because the IR section is not adaptive. So just click through the 12 questions in the IR section and pick random answers. Yes, it’s annoying.
UPDATE 6/15/17: In order to reflect the test changes coming July 11th, you will soon be able to re-order the sections of your GMAT Prep tests using the latest version of the software, allowing you to go straight to the Quant and Verbal sections (in either order). This should make the process I have just described much more convenient! Check the upper-right hand corner of your GMATPrep software for update notices: according to the GMAC website, the software should be updated by July 31st, 2017. 2) Q:
GMATPrep seems to have hijacked my computer! I can't escape out of it. A: Hello, fellow Mac user. For some reason GMATPrep on Mac is immune to the Escape key. Use the (command + tab) shortcut instead.
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Updated on: 18 Jun 2021, 13:32
