PR and Kaplan CATs - Pass 1 - Gurus help!!

Question

Great weekend: Took 1 PR and 1 Kaplan. I was literally hitting and shouting at my screen in the Kaplan tests. Ouch.

Here's my report:
 PR Test 1: 650 
Math: 25 right. 12 wrong. 5 of the wrong were calculation mistakes because I got nervous and pressed for time
Verbal: 34 right. 7 wrong. Mostly RCs. I get these right on paper. I hate reading them online

Kaplan: hahaha I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
 Test 1: 540. 
Math: 23 right. 14 wrong. Again 4 were calculation mistakes because I got nervous for time. Last 3 were unseen clicks.
Verbal: 18 correct. 23 incorrect. God almighty what happened. Verbal is supposed to be strong for me. Most RCs wrong. Had to click through last 8 becuase of lack of time.  I also lost it mid way (my first 12 were all right, then I started getting annoyed at Kaplan for their crazy wording.  

Here's my  question: How do I improve time management?  Esp. on Math. I know the general answer = practice more, I just get so nervous after a while.

Cashmere · Answer

Honestly, don't even worry about the Kaplan score. I'm sure you've seen by now that their tests are a whole lot harder than the real thing, and that their verbal questions are awful (I didn't use Kaplan, but I've read this soooooooo many times in all of the b-school forums I'm glad I didn't).

PR is much more accurate. If you can get your nerves in check (remember, the last few questions really only affect your score by 10-30 points), you won't make careless mistakes.

Also, don't go on from one test to another until you work through mistakes you've made on the previous one. In your case that might involve doing yoga :wink:

but I would especially work on reading RC on the computer. Totally agree that it makes boring passages even worse, but if you use PR's method of reading the answers and question first, then skimming the passage, it's not so painful because you don't read the whole thing.

hector81 · Answer

hey saumster.. 

even i gave kaptest 1 yesterday.. i got 560 in that.. got thirteen wrong in maths and 19 in english.. made a lot of silly mistake in maths & sc.. but the rc was a real bouncer. it was really tough...

and i wanted to know one thing.. i have heard that kap score + 100 marks is where u lie in real gmat.. is that true.. 

anyways will try to work upon my score in the next test..

ps_dahiya · Answer

KAPLAN tests suck big time. They are not at all representative of the real exam. Why?
1. They are not adaptive.
2. It seems their RCs are written in an alien language
3. In maths they try to trick you more on wordings and less on the concept. For example, all dimensions are given in cm and answer is asked in inches. In real GMAT, GMATPrep and OG, I have never seen a question like that;If asked this way it is always underlined.
4. Their scoring alogorithm sucks. In maths, with 6 wrong I got 44 in KAPLAN but with 8 wrong I got 50 in GMATPrep.

Want more reasons????
So don't try to gauge your performance from KAPLAN tests. Just use them as practice.

Futuristic · Answer

I have heard so many bad things about Kaplan, that I'm going to do precisely what psd mentions here, run through the questions only to practice, and possibly learn some new techniques. 

As for Princeton, I've only done 1 test from there. The verbal was too easy and the math while easy, punishes you for getting even a few wrong... I got a 48 in quant after getting 2 questions wrong. Duh!!

However, Princeton gave me a score that was close to what I got on my 1st GMATPrep, which is what everyone here recommends as the best representative of the actual exam, and I completely agree with that.

saumster · Answer

Hey, thanks for the kind words. I beat myself up all of yesterday, but slept over it and think its not a monster that cannot be overcome. My biggest concern was math, but thankfully Kaplan and PR were about the same range with similar mistakes. My verbal on the PR was pretty decent. 
I think one problem that remains is  Time Management . I spend a lot of time upfront (1st 10) to get them right (which I did), but then panic because of all the time I've spent.  Any tips?

saumster · Answer

I made silly mistakes in Math. English was over the top. No clue. No excuses, I was too mad and pissed at my screen

... BTW - just based on my Kaplan experience from GRE, I would agree with the general statement you heard if you continue to make the same mistakes . If you analyse where you went wrong and improve then its not true, you can score whatever you want.

Cashmere · Answer

Time management can be tough. The first 10 or so questions are pretty important, but you definitely don't want to run out of time. On your next practice test, record how much time you spend on the first several questions. See if you can shave some time off to free up more time for the rest of the test. Once you learn to pace yourself, you'll be good.

GMATT73 · Answer

Saumster, nobody (and I mean NOBODY) in this club is as math dumb as myself. Nevertheless, I will tell you this: I did manage to pull up from a low Q30s to a low Q 40s by doing two things.

1. Do as many GMAT math problems as you can, period. (with error log)

2. Buy a $2 stopwatch and time sets of 40 problems. (post any probs that take you more than 100 seconds to solve because there is ALWAYS a shortcut and this site is filled with math savvy gurus who will point it out)

For somebody like myself, an innumerate linguist, it has been a slow, painstaking process. For a biz guy like you, 20-30 hrs should put you right in the game.

gmat_stuff · Answer

I am finding the CD-ROM test too tiresome to read, the font sizes are way too small compared to what I see from the PowerPrep software and the Kaplan's online Tests.

Is it just me? something wrong with my computer? (My screen resolution is set to 1024 X 768 ).

Are the exams found online similar to the ones in CD-ROM or are they different? 

I asked the same question in other place, but looks like posting it here would have been better idea.

saumster · Answer

GMAT73 you are kidding! All your answers to the Math questions are sound. You deserve a 'guru' title.

What has helped me thus far is the MGMAT books, they have some conceptual strategies that seem universally applicable. I agree with the practice as much as you can part. 

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PR and Kaplan CATs - Pass 1 - Gurus help!!

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