If my brother claims 800 on practice tests, is he lying?

Question

I am not studying for the GMAT, but am only posting here due to an argument with my brother. He scored a 710 on the real GMAT, but claims it was an off-day and he was nervous. He says that he had been routinely scoring 800's on his practice tests. I said that this was a complete lie and there is no way he was achieving such high scores (he said he used the Kaplan practice tests and official ones and got these scores the first time through). He very well may have had scores above 750, maybe even 780, but he insists that he got nothing less than 800's.

I have searched the forum and read the discussions on 800 scores and found no one claiming to have ever received the score even on a practice tests.

So am I wrong to insist that he is lying? I have refused to concede that what he says is possible and he is absolutely furious. Is it possible that he scored lower, lied to himself, and is now so thoroughly convinced of his own lie that he really believes it?

Thanks for any help or advice.

jb32 · Answer

He's most likely lying, but if he's so sure of himself, then make him prove it. Have him take one of the CATs in front of you and show you that he can get 800. Otherwise just let him believe whatever he wants. I mean, who cares if he wants to tell everyone he got an 800 on his practice GMAT? I can promise you no one thinks he's any cooler even if they do believe him, which most people probably don't.

rhyme · Answer

I'd vote lie.

refurb · Answer

Considering all the people who have posted their practice scores on this site, I don't think I've once seen an 800. A number of 780s and 790s, but no 800s.

The fact your brother says he "routinely" scored 800 makes me think he's full of it, but then again, what kind of a brother would he be if he didn't try to screw with you?

RF

Jerz · Answer

I'd say he's probably lying. If he insists on bragging about it I'd suggest you point out to him that bragging about practice test scores is like saying someone deserves to be in the hall of fame for hitting a lot of home runs in batting practice. All people really care about is how you perform when it counts.

Hades · Answer

You need a hobby

Mihir008 · Answer

haha.. looks like fun.. he's for sure lying.. why do you care so much anyways, now that the real GMAT test's scores are out..?

bb · Answer

Why would he be nervous?

bigoyal · Answer

May be he is true. But for "Kaplan practice tests", it would be big NO NO. Kaplan tests are very tough as compared to GMATPrep tests. If he has scored 710 in actual GMAT, he would have been scoring something like 600 - 650 in Kaplan Tests.

megafan · Answer

LIE for sure, I heard somewhere that out all the people who take GMAT only ~20 get 800 and some of them work for test prep companies (like Kaplan).

atlmba2009 · Answer

Great thread idea.

megafan · Answer

Yeah, this guy must be some kiddo.

eresh · Answer

Most probably a lie.

DanaJ · Answer

I know this might sound crazy, but hear me out: Kaplan tests are not necessarily tougher than the real thing. Kaplan CATs will appeal to someone who is more "academically" oriented, so to speak. If you're still in school and doing a quant-heavy major, then Kaplan won't seem that hard. However, if you've been out of school for some time (as most test takers are, I believe), then they do look scary. These tests focus on straightforward math problems and neglect word problems. That's a really bad thing, IMO, since on test day the toughest problems for me were word problems. 
Also, verbal is... meh: RC passages too long/convoluted as compared to the OG/real thing, CR really subpar. When I do a CR from the OG or PowerScore, the explanation is clear-cut and the answer logical. However, I found myself "arguing with" the authors of Kaplan on several occasions. It's really difficult to write a CR question and I understood this by reading PowerScore; IMHO, Kaplan is not quite "there".

I do believe that one can score 800 on Kaplan. I actually did, with about 20 mins left for quant... However, it's harder with GMATprep...

bigoyal · Answer

Hi DanaJ, by the way, by any chance are you the same brother about whom "nasd" is talking about :wink:

hehe.......just kidding, keep up the good work.

eresh · Answer

LOL....that is a good probability.....hehe......... Hei apart from jokes, is Kaplan that easy? Or the GMATpreps are harder? :shock:

DanaJ · Answer

Not a chance, since I'm a "sister"...

Don't believe me, let me know and I'll attach a print screen from the syllabus... Told you: Kaplan is all about personal taste. I found Kaplan easier than GMATprep (max score on GMATprep - 760, real thing 770), but some may disagree... I suggest asking for some other opinions as well...

bigoyal · Answer

oops...

anyway, I believe you. Actually I found Kaplan verbal very difficult compared to GMATPrep, specially the comprehensions. Though quant, I think, is kindda similar or even easier.