PRACTICE VS REAL TEST...PLEASE HELP EXPLAIN!

Question

Hey everyone,

I'm very depressed tonight...

I took the 8 kaplan cat's, got between 650 and 720...

got a 550 today in the real test...

has anybody got some explanation to this? I would really appreciate some input...

thanks...

c41foto · Answer

By looking at your kaplan scores you can do much better on the test than a 550. Were you stressed during the test? Can give us more details about your actual test experience?

gigimat · Answer

Hi,

I was not stressed at all, I walked in there confident, not overconfident, but i knew my stuff! I dont even know how I could do so badly...

It came as a huge shock...dont know whether to give up or not...

had a similar score the 1st time....

this is starting to look kind of ugly on my record...

any thoughts?

cheers

nj_for_mba · Answer

I have the Kaplan book/cd and did a couple of the tests. I don't know if the questions are harder per se, but they are different in style than the real ones, though it is hard for me to say exactly how they are different (perhaps someone else in the forum has given this more thought?). I would recommend getting some other books, specifically the official guide first and foremost, followed by the manhattan gmat books, and then the princeton review for practice tests. There are some other math-specific books that people have touted, but I didn't purchase or download any of these.

The scores people get on kaplan actually tend to be *lower* than on the real test. You've done well to score so high.

drummond · Answer

Some thoughts;

How long did you work with the Kaplan tests, before you took the real thing?

Also, did you use the Kaplan tests under "real" conditions, trying to simulate what you would face in the actual situation? You know, use a desk, same time frame, maybe a squeaky chair?

Finally, where was the biggest difference between what you got in the Kaplan tests and the actual GMAT? Data Sufficiency? Critical Reasoning? 

Just possibilities. I am, as an example, great on grammar under normal conditions, but not so good under pressure. So I know what I have to focus on, when it's time.

nj_for_mba · Answer

Sorry for the delayed post - haven't looked closely at the board in a while.

I did the Kaplans early on, probably a month before the test. After that, I had plenty of other more "representative" tests to work on. My opinion, and others may disagree, is that while Kaplans seem harder, I couldn't put a finger on why - somewhat more ambiguous verbal content? Just "different"? So I personally had a hard time figuring out how these "harder" questions would improve my score on the real thing.

Timing might have been the biggest diff. I ran out of time on each verbal Kaplan. I had less of an issue with other tests partly because the verbals were "clearer" to me and partly because I just got better at them. I think that even after the process, the Kaplan verbals would stress me more on time though.

I did Kaplans under worse than real the first time and better than real the second time and got about the same scores. First time, I was in an open area at work where there was some din and hub-bub (even though it was evening). Second time, I decided to seat myself in a nice conference room and had plenty of space to stretch out, nice wall art, etc... you won't get that in the real gmat!

nj_for_mba · Answer

One other thing that may be useful.

I got one of my better practice scores when I was somewhat sick (750). I was tired and in a bit of a fog, but it didn't make me significantly dumber than normal. Don't ask me why I took it then, long story. My takeaway from this is that certainly if I'm "on," confidence might boost me a few points, but being "off" probably wouldn't kill me as much as panic and doubt. Don't know if this applies to others, but it applied to me.

kcng8 · Answer

I am doing Kaplan as well. But i found that there are difference between the Kaplan's question and the OG questions. 

Even though many said Kaplan is harder and will prepare you for the real thing, i find Kaplan's question ask different things. Even for math, i find the OG question focus more on the fundamentals while Kaplan focus more on tricky questions...like the question is easy, but just wanna trick you. 
The only thing that is similar is the DS questions. 

So now i am just gona focus on OG question and forget the Kaplan. 

Anyone has similar experience?

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