Powerprep CAT feeling good .. BUT... how accurate is it?

Question

So i took my first power prep CAT today. What are some of your feelings about its accuracy? I know it used to be official, but isn't the GMAT "harder" now?

Anyway, I won't let that rain on my parade. I am excited that I got a 720 (45V 44Q). I have 6 weeks until test day and my goal is 680-700 range. I did recognize some of the SC questions unfortunately (my weakness) so I don't know how much to bump my score down. maybe 3-4 questions at most.

my other CAT scores so far have been:

PR 540 - about three months ago before i started any real/serious prep, i was just going through the PR book getting familiar with everything
GMAT Prep - 630 about 5-6 weeks ago at the start of SERIOUS 3-4 hour a day prep
800score 630 4-5 weeks ago
ARCO 650 3 weeks ago
PR 610 two weeks ago (?) made a really amateur mistake on quant question 2, and i don't think this CAT gave me a chance to recover (?)

my challenges have been something like:
1 - 98%
2 - 59%
3 - 70%
4 - 69%
25 -58%

please share your thoughts with me and let me know if my goal 680-700 (ideally 700) is realistic based on my performance thus far.

trahul4 · Answer

you are on right track anony ..dont worry too much . keep up the tempo and build your confidence ..

GK_Gmat · Answer

Anony, 
In my experience, having taken the real thing, which I will be retaking next month, the prep tests are much easier than the real thing. I scored around 730 in all GMAT Prep and PowerPrep tests and scored 620 on the real thing. I scored 650 on PR (which I took long before the Powerprep and GMAT Prep tests). 

I got overconfident because I was scoring well on the practice tests only to realize on the test day that I hadn't prepared well enough. I'm not trying to scare you but instead, trying to give you a realistic picture. As long as you're doing a broad range of questions, especially on quant, and as long as you're maintaining a high level of difficulty (which u r since you're doing the challenges) you will be fine.

anonymousegmat · Answer

GK,

thanks for your input. based on your performance on the CAT's (especially official CAT's) i think your nerves got the best of you on test day; a difference of 130 points from official CATs and the real thing is a huge gap. you will be able to ace the gmat next time you take it!

anyway, yes i will continue w/ the challenges; although they are becoming disheartening. i have run across a few questions that either have multiple answers or contain material out of scope. some of the questions border on incombrehsible because of their akward construction, and i was expecting 
**much** more in the way of explanations for what i paid (i.e. graphical representations, venn diagrams, etc.)

csgreen · Answer

It's interesting to hear you say that GK, because I posted a question about the accuracy of the GMAT Prep tests.

 https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=45351&highlight= 

Many of the replies seemed to indicate that the GMAT Prep scores were fairly similar to actual GMAT scores. I guess the key is to not get over confident and to keep up your study regime.

helpmeongmat · Answer

I dropped from the official CAT score of 600 to 480 on the actual test day. I need to improve in the next month or so. Any advice?

trahul4 · Answer

Anony,
Even my challenge scores are disheartening,but the key here is to keep a learning approach. i started with 31 percentile and now im consistently scoring aroind 60-65 percentile .. i think you will surely reach a consistent score of 80 percentile after few challenges. 

Regarding, your prep scores, i think you are fine. I took GMAT Prep after 1.5 months of serious prep and scored a disappointing 620 . I had never taken challenges and did nothing more than PR and few OG questions in verbal. I'm retaking GMAT prep this weekend.. let me see..

I strongly believe if you can ace the challenges in quant you are on your way to your dream score .. (make sure you dont blop in verbal)

anonymousegmat · Answer

helpme,

my advice would be to really ponder if a month is enough time based on your ultimate goal. by the time test day comes i would have put in about almost 3 months at 2+ hours a day. some weekends i've spent 4 or 5 hours going through problems or studying something. everyone learns differently. i am aiming for a 700 so consistency is key...

the good news is that you have lots of room to improve from a 480; breaking through the 650-700 barrier is more challenging. i think you may have succumbed to similar shortcomings as GK_gmat... perhaps nerves got the best of you. i think 120 point deviation from the official CAT is HUGE. it is not impossible but it seems very unlikely.

perhaps you weren't really "practicing" with the CAT so to speak, ie, are you completing the CATs all in one timed session, with timed breaks, and essays as well? i have only just started practicing with the AWA before a CAT... trust me that extra hour of writing makes a real difference on your mental stamina. 

best advice is to go over your mistakes before you go aany further. i haven't done much in the way of reviewing my mistakes... so all week long i've got a month's worth of mistakes to go over... so i am hoping that is really going to help me out. the other piece of advice i have is buy manattan SC book; it is very concise and easy to grasp and has been helping me on my SC.

anonymousegmat · Answer

trahul,

if you managed a 620 on the gmatprep with only the PR book you are off to a good start. the PR book is mostly just trickery and nonsense IMHO; a good place to start but it doesn't ahve a lot of substance. you will learn more just surfing the message boards here.

my challenge scores this week were bad... i think i am experiencing GMAT burnout. so i am going to review all my mistakes and see how i do next week...

as far as verbal goes - i am steadily improving. my RC is near perfect, and my CR is top notch too... my SC needs improvement though, as it is keeping me from higher Verbal scores and tougher verbal questions

trahul4 · Answer

Thats wonderful to hear that your RC and CR are top notch .. I'm having a very tough time with these .. Basically im pretty much same on all the 3 sections . I have not mastered any one till now and this is what is bothering me. I'm consistently scoring around 34-35 in practice tests. 

One more thingi have observed, i do pretty well in RC and CR if i read those from a book like OG, but if its on a screen its a different game altogether. I dont know if anyone has expereicned this before, but im still in the midst of overcoming this . Let me see ..

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