v28 here. How accurate are GMATCLUB CATs to the real thing.

Question

Hi,

I'm generally okay at verbal but i just got a v27 here.
Questions were good quality and I didn't feel I did too bad.

I'm curious as to how relevant are these results to the real GMAT and is the difficulty degree of the tests in GMAT club higher than the real thing?
I have my Gmat in one month.

Would really appreciate a quick reply as I'm demoralized by v27.

Thanks so much to the whole GMATCLUB community.

bb · Answer

Hi and I will start by saying - sorry for the score.
The Verbal tests we have lack a good variety of hard questions (they are mostly average). As the result, we have to punish more severely for missing several medium level questions. Simplistically, this means that each mistake carries more weight and you can make much fewer mistakes in our tests than in others (again it is not about the number of questions you miss but rather hard questions you miss but it does still translate).

So the score in the verbal is probably the lowest score you will get. Due to a small quantity of the verbal questions we have not been able to make the scoring as good as in the quant tests. (Quant is a VERY different story and the scores there are dialed in very well. )

So try not to get too discouraged. For Verbal your best bet is GMAT Prep though you are probably saving it....

gmathopeful90 · Answer

Hi,
Thanks for the quick response... I'm so relieved to hear this is the lowest score I can get in GMAT...
I scored q48... so am happy about that though a 50 would be perfect for me... Working toward that.

Also, for verbal you said that these aren't as difficult as gmat questions. So I have to be disappointed, i got 25 right and 16 wrong. 16 wrong is a lot, considering that these questions are not as difficult as GMAT.

Anyways, hope to work hard and score better.

Thanks. p.s. would still love more discussion on this.

gintare · Answer

Hi,
Thank you for posting this issue. Gmat club is great and it's been helping me a lot in my preparation. I absolutely love the toolkit app and quant tests are amazing but to be honest I had the same disappointment and was really discouraged once I took the verbal test and had no idea how my score could be so low compared to official gmat questions, which I would normally score a lot higher. That was the lowest score I ever got since I started my preparation.
Thanks bb for explaining how it actually works as I definitely feel a lot better about it

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi gmathopeful90,

It might help to have a basis for comparison. Have you taken any other practice CATs (for example, the 2 that you can get from www.mba.com)? If so, then how did you score on those CATs?

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

gmathopeful90 · Answer

In Gmat prep i scored q49, v35... for a 690

gmathopeful90 · Answer

Yesterday, on St. Patrick's i gave a few quants... first i scored 48... 
Then i scored 42 and 42... I don't know why I can't do 48 again... 
Was I too tired?? I felt I was... But 42 is too less...
I"m so tense because of it.... Just can't score 48 again here... :O

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi gmathopeful90,

I'm hoping that you can clarify some things for me (because you've done some strange things over the course of the last 27 hours).

Your initial concern and questions were about the Verbal section of a practice Club Test. You were able to provide a practice CAT score that show that you have performed better in the Verbal section at least once before. The next logical step would be to do some more Verbal practice BEFORE you take any more practice Tests.

However, you THEN turn around and work through THREE Quant sections the day after taking this Club Test. If your concerns are about your Verbal scores, then WHY did you just do all of this Quant work?

Next, the only way to truly gauge your progress (and how you might score on the Official GMAT) is to take FULL-LENGTH CATs in a realistic and test-like fashion. "Cutting" a Test into pieces is NOT realistic. Taking 3 Quant sections in one day is also NOT practical. Even if you had gotten three 51s, those results cannot (and would not) be accurate since they are the result of an unrealistic experience. You suspect that you might have gotten tired. I'm certain that you would have been too tired when you took each of those Quant sections, which is one of the many reasons why you should not have done them in the first place.

When are you planning to take your Official GMAT?
What practice materials are you currently using?
What is your score goal?

Plan to take your practice CATs/Club Tests at specific times and under very specific circumstances. The rest of your time should be spend on practice problems, review, etc.

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

gmathopeful90 · Answer

That's some tough love there...
I'd like to thank you for paying attention.

I'm taking it at the start of May. My target is between 720 and 750...
The highest I have been so far is GMAT prep 690.

About the CATs, yes the problem is that the free tests were available only for one day, so I tried to do it all on that day.
I'll keep that in mind. What you're saying is right, but I'm having that sinking feeling knowing that I just can't 48 again...
How on earth did I score a 48 then...
Questions like "is the quant difficulty of gmat club tests higher than that of the real GMAT" are getting the better of me.

Stupid decisions I must say. But can't just help it.

Thanks

littlegirl · Answer

is that Verbal score = the number of correct answer now. something is wrong w Verbal.
if your V27 is not free test ( free test is too easy). It will be nice.
Some my friends got V31 ( 31 correct) in gmat club tests almost got V 40-45 in the real test.
Also your exam is comming soon. Highly recommend you stick to Official questions. Every instituion has its own style. stick to GMAC's. i mean V not M, math gmat club is so nice.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi gmathopeful90,

There are plenty of practice materials available, so if you're concerned about one particular resource, then you can try a different one. What practice CATs have you used so far besides the one GMAT Prep CAT that you mentioned?

When taking CATs, you have to remember that you will get the score that you EARN. If you're unhappy with a score result, then you have to review the ENTIRE CAT, question by question, and figure out what you could have done better. Did you get any questions wrong because you made a silly/little mistake? Then you have to put in some effort to keep those silly mistakes from happening again. Were there any questions that you COULD have gotten correct, but didn't (for any reason)? Figure out what the reason was and fix it.

Test Takers who score in the 720 to 750 range tend to be really precise. At that scoring level, the GMAT becomes really 'sensitive' to little mistakes, so if you make too many little mistakes, then you'll lose too many points and you won't be able to score in that range.

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

gmathopeful90 · Answer

Hi EMpower gmat.

Yes I had made simple silly mistakes in about 3-4 questions, that I'd have gotten correct had I not been tired for sure.
One mistake was I solved the question, marked the wrong answer, press next, then realized what I just did immediately.

I scored 690(q49v35) on gmatprep, 660 on economist free test, 650(q47v32) on veritas test. i have 6 veritas tests remaining.
Is the difficulty of quant higher on gmatclub than the real gmat?
If it is, then I have done well with a score of q48.

thanks!

gmathopeful90 · Answer

hi little girl,

v27 was on St. Patrick's day. Haven't tried the free verbal... Will try it later when I'm a bit more mentally active.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi gmathopeful90,

Your CAT scores all hover around 670, so assuming that you took the ENTIRE CAT each time and did so under 'test-like' conditions, then this is a reasonable assessment of your current skill level. With the silly/little mistakes that you noted, you could very easily be scoring 700+ right now, but until you properly deal with THAT issue, you'll likely continue to score at this general level.

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

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v28 here. How accurate are GMATCLUB CATs to the real thing.

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