GMATPrep/PowerPrep Test Results

Question

Just finished my first PowerPrep full test (including AWA as recommended by Rhyme)... did well I think. 

Q48 : 90%ile
V40 : 90%ile
Overall : 710 95%ile

I made about 3 (average speed, job rate) silly mistakes in Quant, while I didn't do as well on verbal. Mostly my SC was *BAD* followed by RC and then CR.

Got 29/41 of Verbal and 30/37 Quant correct. 

Of the 11 wrong in Verbal, I got 6 wrong SC, 4 RC (??) and 2 CR.

Question now is, should I focus on just specific areas and work on them or cover all basics ?

The timing was a bit close for Quant, had to guess the last one with just 2 seconds remaining. Verbal timing was pretty comfortable although I am now thinking maybe I hurried a bit. 

Any comments or suggestions?
Thanks/

rhyme · Answer

Did well you think? This is your first practice exam? !@(#!@(#. Its an AMAZING score for any practice exam, its an unreal score for your first. 

Huge congrats!

Have you scheduled your real deal?

haas_mba07 · Answer

Thanks for the kind words Rhyme, but being the fist test and a spread of +/- 30-40 points I am looking at anywhere from 670-720 with emphasis on the -ve. As for the G-Day its on Oct 2nd... decided to give myself sometime to prep as opposed to last time. As for the congrats, I think its a bit premature.. but I'll take it anyday over "sorry you gave it your best".. :-)

Thanks again for the encouragement.

rhyme · Answer

You deserve a congrats for a prep score that high. Thats a (!@#(!#@# damn good prep score.

walletless · Answer

Wow, thats a good score for the first test. Keep it up haas!

chiragr · Answer

you are correct that there is +-30 point variation but still your score is good.

I would suggest that shoot for 750+ Q 50-51 and V 42-45.

Use divide and concur, find out your errors divide it in sub types-- for eg. in math not comfortable with rate/work problem or in SC idiom or comparison is issue than try to improve upon it.

More over work carefully on your timing so you can finish test, best luck with preparation.

likar · Answer

From my experience, I think it's very important not to get too excited about PowerPrep scores. I took both of these tests and I don't think they are as hard as GMATPrep. Quant is really easy and Verbal is simply different and in addition contains many repeated questions (especially in CR). On the other hand the new format of RC is much easier for me, since I don't have to scroll down the screen.

You could maybe take the first GMATPrep test, which would give you much more precise information, but it's also important to save some tests for the end of your preparation.

haas_mba07 · Answer

Thanks for the suggestions chiragr. 

I will classify my errors and start focussing more on them. As for timing, even for practice questions I am using the excel worksheet timer just to get within the timing range.

haas_mba07 · Answer

Thats an interesting point. I didn't realize that GMATPrep and PowerPrep have different difficulty levels. When you say quant is easy you mean relatively GMATPrep is much tougher? And I do agree, I shouldn't be too excited about a good practice score. :-)

And actually am I not, just pleased that things aren't as bad as they could be. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me, especially in SC and Quant where I haven't seen the most difficult questions at all. Will take a GMATPrep in a couple of weeks (first week of Sept) and see how that goes. Thanks for your input.

walletless · Answer

I think he means that PP quant is easier than actual gmat; while Gmatprep quant is roughly equivalent to the actual gmat.

I know a lot of member-posts before on this and other forums agreed with this statement.

haas_mba07 · Answer

Its good to know that... I didn't know how the PP and GMATPrep compare relatively. 

I will know my trend better when I take some other test for the next two weeks and then work on the GMATPrep.

likar · Answer

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Most people think that PowerPrep Quant is easy.

GMATPrep should be very similar to the real exam (in both, difficulty and concepts). GMATPrep Quant has more DS questions and more questions on number properties. I have also noticed that you can make more mistakes in GMATPrep Quant and still get a high score (48+), so I'm assuming that the scoring algorithm has probably changed as well.

However, scores from PowerPrep and GMATPrep don't differ that much. In my case, PowerPrep scores are approximately 20-40 points higher than GMATPrep scores. That's why I would say that PowerPrep is the second best indicator of your performance.

Good luck! :wink:

deepak232 · Answer

well i think the new software is quite different from the earlier version that was sent by the ETS.. 

The new GMATPrep software is not only tough but it is actually harder as compared to the actual test... Although some people say that questions based on Permutation-Combinations are the ones which come in first 5 questions.. which were seen previosly by high scorers only...

i m not sure but i would like to hear from members who have taken the test in recent months...

walletless · Answer

The correct phrase is not only .... but also. The use of "not only... but is" is both, unidiomatic and awkward. Sorry, could not resist! Gotta love some OG explanations

deepak232 · Answer

thnx a lot for your "sentence correction" exercise....

haas_mba07 · Answer

Took the first GMATPrep results today morning with AWA.
The results echoed the previous postings as a lot of people have said : GMATPrep quant is definately more tougher. However, I had a bad timing issue, had to guess on the last 8!!!! Verbal was ok... but still had a timing issue... last two were guessed.

 I need to work on my timing : BIG TIME... 

Results: 
Q44 (73%) ..this sucked! 
V38 (85%)

Overall : 670 (89%).

Given the scores, I think I now know the things that I must work on. 

Thanks for all the comments on this topic.

rhyme · Answer

Hey, dont say a 44 sucks! I got a 45

Good score - keep in mind, everyone I know does worse on their second exam --- too much in your head, too many strategies, a lot of people find their timing goes off on the second exam.

haas_mba07 · Answer

Rhyme,
 Can't apologize enough to you and everyone else for unknowingly implying anything.. I didn't imply that 44 or for that matter any other score was bad.. it was more a reflection on my disappointment at my timing problems.

Thanks/

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