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digthelongball
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Dramatic Difference Between GMATPrep and real GMAT Score - 660-730 Updated on: 10 Apr 2016, 19:54
Originally posted by digthelongball on 10 Apr 2016, 19:23.
Last edited by digthelongball on 10 Apr 2016, 19:54, edited 1 time in total.
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Hey Everyone,

Used the GMAT Economist course for the last 3 months mostly because I travel a lot for work and dragging books around isn't really an option. Helped me a ton but got some pretty inconsistent scores from them ranging from 620-730 (Quant 43-51, Verbal 24-40 over 4 tests.) Took the actual GMAT 13 days ago and for some reason just bombed Quant, coming in with a 38. Somehow pulled it up to a 660 with a high verbal score but I canceled it on spot because of the low Quant. Needless to say, I was concerned.

Fast forward to this week, after some serious prep I take the GMATPREP official test under re-created testing conditions - markers, 8min breaks, no water at the testing station, the whole 9 yards. End up with a 710 (47 Quant, 40 Verbal.)

While the GMATPREP test was reassuring that it could have just been stupid mistakes in the last test, I am a little thrown off by the difference in scores (9 points!) Re-taking the GMAT on Friday and fingers crossed for 700+ --- any recommendations or help on understanding the testing vs. practice test difference are welcomed!
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Dramatic Difference Between GMATPrep and real GMAT Score - 660-730 10 Apr 2016, 19:40
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digthelongball
Fast forward to this week, after some serious prep I take the GMATPREP official test under re-created testing conditions - markers, 8min breaks, no water at the testing station, the whole 9 yards. End up with a 710 (47 Quant, 40 Verbal.)

While the GMATPREP test was reassuring that it could have just been stupid mistakes in the last test, I am a little thrown off by the difference in scores (9 points!) Re-taking the GMAT on Friday and fingers crossed for 700+ --- any recommendations or help on understanding the testing vs. practice test difference are welcomed!
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Was this a "new" GMATPrep, or were you already familiar with some of the questions?

By the way, why do you think you can't get any water at the testing center (did that happen to you last time)? You can always take your own food and water.
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Dramatic Difference Between GMATPrep and real GMAT Score - 660-730 10 Apr 2016, 19:51
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digthelongball
Fast forward to this week, after some serious prep I take the GMATPREP official test under re-created testing conditions - markers, 8min breaks, no water at the testing station, the whole 9 yards. End up with a 710 (47 Quant, 40 Verbal.)

While the GMATPREP test was reassuring that it could have just been stupid mistakes in the last test, I am a little thrown off by the difference in scores (9 points!) Re-taking the GMAT on Friday and fingers crossed for 700+ --- any recommendations or help on understanding the testing vs. practice test difference are welcomed!
Was this a "new" GMATPrep, or were you already familiar with some of the questions?

By the way, why do you think you can't get any water at the testing center (did that happen to you last time)? You can always take your own food and water.
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Brand new, I hadn't taken any of the GMATPrep tests or questions before I took the practice test. Honestly, wasn't aware of them until I made a complaint to Economist GMAT about the discrepancy between their test scores and my day of score... their suggestion was the GMATPrep was the best predictor so I downloaded the software about 5mins prior to the test.

In terms of water, yes I brought a Gatorade and they had water, but you can't drink it during the exam! As a naturally sweaty dry mouthed guy its hard to concentrate in the last 20mins of a 75min test when you can barley swallow! Its an affliction but I am used to having water access at all times so somehow that aspect of the test messes with my mental state.

Thanks!
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Dramatic Difference Between GMATPrep and real GMAT Score - 660-730 10 Apr 2016, 20:04
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digthelongball
Brand new, I hadn't taken any of the GMATPrep tests or questions before I took the practice test. Honestly, wasn't aware of them until I made a complaint to Economist GMAT about the discrepancy between their test scores and my day of score... their suggestion was the GMATPrep was the best predictor so I downloaded the software about 5mins prior to the test.

In terms of water, yes I brought a Gatorade and they had water, but you can't drink it during the exam! As a naturally sweaty dry mouthed guy its hard to concentrate in the last 20mins of a 75min test when you can barley swallow! Its an affliction but I am used to having water access at all times so somehow that aspect of the test messes with my mental state.
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You mean inside the testing room. Yes, they're crazy that way. Even handkerchiefs are not allowed inside :)

Your GMATPrep result looks really good. If I were you I'd take a few more of those before the retake, to get the process down, but that 38 does look like an aberration, especially since you made sure that you took the full GMATPrep. It's not often that I see an IR score of 8 but a low quant score, so that's another positive sign.
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Dramatic Difference Between GMATPrep and real GMAT Score - 660-730 11 Apr 2016, 19:38
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I got a 710 on GMAT Prep and a 630 on the real thing. On the quant section I got a lot of problems that I thought were suppose to be uncommon (think along the lines of problems dealing with surface area of a sphere and standard deviation) and I didn't get a lot of problems that are supposedly common (think along the lines of RTD and overlapping set problems). My own personal opinion after sitting for the exam is that the proportion of the different types of problems in the OGs is not a good indicator of the types of problems you will see on test day. Also, I ran out of time and guessed on the last two. This kind of threw me off because I had never ran out of time in quant before. Good Luck!
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Dramatic Difference Between GMATPrep and real GMAT Score - 660-730 17 Apr 2016, 16:54
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Hey Everyone,

So I took the GMAT on Friday and came back with a 42 Quant (50%) and 42 Verbal (96%) for a combined 690 (86%). While this is an overall good score, I was hoping to break 700 and just for review, I took a GMATPrep test the week before that put me at 47Q/40V and a 710. While I obviously under performed on Quant, I also scored higher than any practice test I ever did on Verbal. What I am wondering is how important is it for adcoms to see similar percentiles for each category? I am planning on applying to some top 10-15 schools and I'm worried that the combo of right below average with a low Quant score will automatically eliminate me before they get the chance to look at my actual application/work experience which I think will be my strongest part. That being said - I am also concerned about retaking the GMAT and possibly getting a lower score. This was my second time taking the GMAT in 20 days - first time I kinda freaked out on the pacing and got a 37/38 which I promptly canceled.

For background, I am not a strong math student but I do have two A's in college level Calc and Stats.
Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks!
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Dramatic Difference Between GMATPrep and real GMAT Score - 660-730 17 Apr 2016, 21:01
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digthelongball
So I took the GMAT on Friday and came back with a 42 Quant (50%) and 42 Verbal (96%) for a combined 690 (86%). While this is an overall good score, I was hoping to break 700 and just for review, I took a GMATPrep test the week before that put me at 47Q/40V and a 710. While I obviously under performed on Quant, I also scored higher than any practice test I ever did on Verbal. What I am wondering is how important is it for adcoms to see similar percentiles for each category? I am planning on applying to some top 10-15 schools and I'm worried that the combo of right below average with a low Quant score will automatically eliminate me before they get the chance to look at my actual application/work experience which I think will be my strongest part. That being said - I am also concerned about retaking the GMAT and possibly getting a lower score. This was my second time taking the GMAT in 20 days - first time I kinda freaked out on the pacing and got a 37/38 which I promptly canceled.
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It's a 690. No one will "eliminate" you (I hope you didn't cancel this like you canceled your 660).

If you do choose to take the GMAT again, it won't hurt you. You might want to wait a bit this time around though. The score increase that I think you're looking for (10-20 points, correct me if I'm wrong) won't make as much of a difference as a really solid (overall) application.
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