GMAT Prep Vs real thing

Question

for those who have taken the GMAT recently, how would you compare GMAT Prep CAT with the real thing... I mean in terms of difficulty etc... and the the score range...i.e how much you scored on the GMAT PREP CAT and what you got on the real one...

coffeeloverfreak · Answer

I found the questions on the GMATPrep were much harder than the "real thing", but the scores were similar. The interface is much more like PowerPrep, though PowerPrep's questions seemed easier than those I encountered on the real GMAT.

Macedon · Answer

aaa

rahulraao · Answer

If one has done the OG thoroughly, then Power Prep is of no use! Most of the questions in the Power Prep test are directly from the OG! PP test 1, I got 800 - which is ridiculous!
So I dont think we should use the Power Prep scores as a benchmark. I cant compare with the actual test as I have not yet written that!

TOUGH GUY · Answer

The new PowerPrep is a good estimator of the real score. Most of the questions, are new questions and are not in the OG 10th edition.

I totally agree that the questions are tougher than the real GMAT questions . The real GMAT is very stressfull, and sometimes when we are under pressure, we do see some easy or moderate questions as tough questions...

kimmyg · Answer

I have been wondering the same thing. I did both GMAT PREP tests and found that they were quite challenging. The first one I scored 690 and the second one, my score slumped to 640. The biggest drawback with the GMAT PREP is that there are no explanations provided for the test questions so I had to try to solve my mistakes on my own, or post them here (not like that's a bad thing!)

TOUGH GUY · Answer

Guys, don't try to crack their system. You will never be able to do so. The CAT is a combination of experimental, tough and easy questions. 
If you do well on the first 15 questions, the CAT will have another flavor. 
If you do less well on the first questions, the CAT will get tougher and tougher till the end, even if you do very well after the first 15 questions.

rahulraao · Answer

#$&@ GMAT Prep quant questions are much tougher than any other questions that I have come across - including Kalpan, PR, OG and other sets!

Just took the first test - got a 680!
A bit surprised though - I ad 13 mistakes in quant and still got 48 and 11 mistakes in verbal gave me 39!

Just wondering - is this any indication of how the real thing is gonna be????

FN · Answer

Rahul:
hey thats a good score...

I got 620 and 660.... 

yeah on the first exam I too had 13 mistakes and score 44 (just because I got the first question wrong...) on the second attempt (again had 13 mistakes) I had 49 on the quant with 13 mistakes...(difference, I did not have any mistakes in the first 10 questions)...
so really even though the difficulty was the same, because I got the first question wrong on the first attempt my quant score was down by 5 points...

so 5 points and my entire score dropped 40 points...I think those amongst us with the quantative niche can see the pattern..

I think the verbal was a bit tough what do you all think?

rahulraao · Answer

RCs were terrible!! SC and CR were pretty much ok!
I did a couple of very silly mistakes in SC..2 CRs I had no clue about what was being asked!
RC was HOPELESS! In one RC, the entire 45 line passage was one paragraph. The first line was almost 25 lines!
When I see such RCs, I get panicky and also very irritated...so the toughest part for me was to keep my cool!

FN · Answer

yup...got RC were tough...

I think GMATPREP collects all the toughest problems from OG and other sources...so even though I think the verbal and math are tougher than the real deal...good I got this b4 the real exam...good practice..

rahulraao · Answer

But I wonder....whether the actual GMAT will have quant problems as tough as the ones in GMAT Prep? I hope not!!

ywilfred · Answer

It'll be a mixture, depending on how you perform on the test itself. Remember that the GMAT is adaptive, which means the next question's level of difficulty depends on how you did previously. Usually the first question you get is moderate diffculty, then if you get it right, the next one will be harder and the process goes on until you get a question you can't answer, then it goes back one level. However, this will be done several times, so people who guessed and got the question right by fluke, will not be able to capitalise again the next time a question of similar difficulty comes up later. You also do not need to be obsessed with the first question. Even if you got it wrong, there's still plenty of time to make things right. All you have to do is to avoid more mistakes and move up the curve. 

Finally, the score is not determined by how many questions you got wrong. It's a wrong conception that if you get many wrong answers, your quant score will be low. It all depends. If you consistently get many intermediate and easy questions right, and the bulk of the questions you make mistakes on come from the diffficult pool, then obviously you will score better than someone who got all the answers for the easy pool right, but got most of his/her answers for the intermediate/difficult pool wrong.

rigger · Answer

Hi,

What is this GMATPrep CAT everyone is refering to? Where can I get the software?

Cheers,
Rigger

mohish · Answer

Yes, please someone clarify...is it the same 'free' test paper that we get access to, once we register at https://www.mba.com? Also, is GMATprep and Powerprep the same thing?

ywilfred · Answer

GMATPrep is the new software that is provided free when you apply to take the GMAT. You can get it from mba.com as well. Powerprep is the old software.

rigger · Answer

Hi,

I signed up to take the GMAT last September. My test date is in early November. However, the CD that came in the mail says " POWERPrep." Does this mean the GMATPrep only recently became available?

Cheers,
Rigger

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