Are KAPLAN Tests Reliable??

Question

Hello.

KAPLAN GMAT Diag(Free) --------> 640

GMAT Prep I ---------> 640

(bought kaplan live online premier with some hopes. did not study much though(first week) and after not even barely studying for next 15 days)

KAPLAN CAT I ----------> 770 (Q-54 V-48. Did 4 mistakes in Quant and 11 in Verbal !!)

KAPLAN CAT II ----------> 760(Q-55 V-44. Did 3 mistakes in Quant and 9 in Verbal.Yippe,some progress but alas not reflected in score.)

Now I am stuck. Obviously, these latest scores are not genuine.I had thought that if my level is around 720 I would go and schedule my test.But right now I am not able to gauge my present level. I even emailed KAPLAN regarding this issue saying that please resolve the technical difficulty which culminates in this exaggerated score.They replied back that it "should be a genuine score".(something like that.)

What is the way out?? How can I get to know my present level (which I believe cannot be more than 680) without wasting another precious Computer Adaptive Test ??

(Even after committing so many mistakes in Verbal I do not think I can get a score above 750. Can I?? )

Waiting for some suggestions regarding what to do.
(Because if the level is even above 720 the next thing I would do is to schedule a Test as soon as possible.)

Abhinav

(P.S.-hope some body replies.)

Abhinav (P.S.-hope some body replies.)

drisss · Answer

In general, GMAT prep test are closer to assess your score, even if they are a little bit inflated.
You could use the score calculator tool in GMAT Club, that might give you some info.
What I would suggest is using the GMAT prep Version 1 (this way you have 2 additional test). 
let me know if this was helpful

drisss · Answer

btw: several members of GMAT Club community have complained about the lack of accuracy of Kaplan test score... just to let you know

myside88 · Answer

so i should use the second (and probably the last) GMAT Prep Test.. isn't it advised generally that this valuable test be taken in the last week of preps??

score calculator tool gives a score of 710.(690 to 730) ( input given was KAPLAN-760 and GMAT Prep-640)

hmm.. can one estimate a score based on the number mistakes committed.. in a test.. a vague score.. can these scores..(770 and 760) by any chance be really genuine... is it almost certain that my level is around.. 700's.(because if it.. is then i would really try to put in more efforts. i have already done a lot though.)

drisss · Answer

it is better to use the last gmat prep test a few days before d-day indeed.
The score calculator is just a statistic based tool, so you have to be aware of that. The Gmat prep test are the best way to have a more or less accurate estimate of your score.
What I suggest is to hae a look at that: this way , you will have access to more thatn the two test you think you have!!!!!! (that is one of the magic trick from GMAT Club community

gmat-prep-power-prep-official-free-gmat-tests-77548.html

Let me know if this was helpful, and if you need further info

gmat-prep-power-prep-official-free-gmat-tests-77548.html Let me know if this was helpful, and if you need further info

ViG · Answer

I have taken a bunch of full tests scoring in the 680 range.

Just took a Kaplan one 610. Their algorithm is seriously effed up. I've also read bad things about their tests - as I was doing the quant it seemed much easier than the MGMAT ones but I got a 40 (usually get at least 45).

If you are going to do the Kaplan tests (if you bought a package for example) do them at the beginning of your study plan then do the MGMAT/Veritas ones and finish with the official ones. (MGMAT tests also have a serious flaw - the verbal section offers some very ambiguous answer choices).

redjam · Answer

I found after GMATPrep, Manhattan GMAT are probably the next best in terms of accuracy. MGMAT tend to be a little tougher for quant so if you're hitting your target score on the MGMAT then you're probably ready.

I think many people on these forums used MGMAT for their prep. If you do a search, I'm sure you'll find a lot of opinions on MGMAT, mostly positive too.

KapTeacherEli · Answer

Hi folks,

I'm sorry you guys have felt frustrated by your test scores. The GMAT doesn't share its scoring algorithm, and spends thousands of dollars  per question  evaluating its materials for statistical accuracy; unfortunately, this means that neither we at Kaplan nor anyone else in the test-prep industry can produce a perfect practice test. Our tests are not as close to the real thing as are the GMATprep tests, which is why we recommend that all of our students take them.

However, we stand 100% behind our test material. Our internal surveys show that our practice test results correlate strongly with test-day performance--the most important measure of the correctness of our tests. We also continuously to test our materials both for the spread of question content and for the accuracy of individual questions to ensure that our materials remain as test-like as possible.

I know it can be a frustrating experience to see a score you don't think is right, whether you believe it's too high or too low. But even if you're convinced that a test score is completely inaccurate, there are a few things to remember. First, even the GMATprep tests aren't necessarily an accurate measure of test-day performance. Between the pressures of the test and the motivation to succeed, I've had students score 100 points off from their GMATprep tests (in both directions). There are too many psychological factors to ever produce a 'perfect' test. And second, you can learn from a practice test even with no score at all! As long as you are practicing your methods and strategies, working under timed conditions, and reviewing your answers (right or wrong) when you're done, any practice test can be valuable.

I'm happy to answer any other questions you may have about Kaplan's tests. If you have specific concerns about your own results, please shoot me a PM with your full name and email, and I'll pass it on to our customer support team to investigate. In the mean time, keep up the excellent studying!

Sincerely,

Eli Meyer

ViG · Answer

Internal surveys....I'd say go with what the masses are saying on these boards and other boards as an indicator.

There will always be people who don't like it if they get a bad score and let that cloud their judgement but generally speaking it sounds like Kaplan CATs are not doing a great job.

myside88 · Answer

Hello all.

Thanks for replying. Will buy MGMAT Tests i guess.

But I want all of you to know the response one of the KAPLAN Instructor gave as regards to their esteemed investigation.

"Hi abhinav,

The investigation is long term; despite our own evidence that our scores correspond to actual test-day results, we've received enough anomalous reports through forums such as this one that we are investigating our results. Scores like yours will help us check specific tests that seem to be outliers, and seem if we can spot a pattern among the tests that people have issues with.

In all likelihood, the outcome of the investigation will be entirely behind the scenes. We'll either keep our algorithms the same or change them, depending on whether we discover a previously overlooked flaw or not. Sorry if you were hoping for something more; I'm convinced our tests are on the whole accurate, but even if you did stumble into a hole in our coding, I don't think we'd be able to correct it and re-score your tests in time for your test date.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you!

Eli"

hemanthp · Answer

Kaplan's tests are definitely not good indicators. This is mainly because the QUANT is so easy that it skews the score favorably even if your verbal is low.

I cannot understand why Kaplan does not want to improve the QUANT standards. Their VERBAL questions are pretty nice actually. When I was preparing, I would take quant from gmatclub tests and a verbal from Kaplan to get a better sense of my actual scores.

All the best.

KapTeacherEli · Answer

Hi hemanthp,

At Kaplan, we definitely want our tests to be the best in the industry, so we take any concerns seriously. However, it's tricky for us to make sweeping changes. I understand that you feel like your scores on our tests are disproportionate, but many students have trouble evaluating their own performance--the adaptive scoring on the GMAT sees to that. Further, As my statistics professor taught me, "the plural of 'anecdote' isn't 'data'"; for every post I respond to saying that our tests are too easy, someone else posts that our tests are too hard! Your feedback is helpful to us (and hemanthep, if you could PM me your contact info, that would be great!), but we need to evaluate a larger pool of data points than just your tests before we can reach a statistically meaningful decision.

Please let me know if you have any other questions!

Eli

hemanthp · Answer

Hi Eli,
Thank you for the reply.

What I meant by easy QUANT is in comparison to what we see in the real GMAT. I have taken it twice and by no means was the level comparable.

I would definitely participate in the efforts to improve Kaplan because I have personally benefited from you and Kaplan books.

Thank you.

yash5990 · Answer

ive scored between 40-42 in their five exams. what do i do ?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi yash5990,

You will likely receive more of a response if you start your own thread (as opposed to piggy-backing on this old thread). Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

yash5990 · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi yash5990,

The scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize. Since that algorithm is proprietary, no GMAT company has an exact match for it, thus CAT scores can vary a bit based on the 'biases' involved in their respective designs. The most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC (the 2 free CATs, and each of the 2 that come with Exam Pack 1 and Exam Pack 2), but the CATs from Kaplan, MGMAT and Veritas are all 'close enough' to the real thing that they will provide you with a relatively realistic score assessment (assuming that you use the CAT correctly).

There are a variety of factors that can throw off YOUR performance as well as the accuracy of the CAT Score. For example, if you skip sections, take the CATs at home, see any 'repeat' questions, take the CATs at different times of day, pause the Exams, etc. then your Score could be significantly different from your actual 'ability level.' This is meant to say that you have to consider far more than just the 'brand' of CAT that you're using.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

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