CAT practice tests

Question

How often do many of you take practice tests? I like to take one every couple weeks or so, but more and more i'm anxious to take them and guage my progress. I'm aiming to take the gmat near the end of july. Thanks.

lsuguy7 · Answer

This really depends on what you're going for. At the begining of your prep you should space your practice test further from each other because you are learning large chunks of info that are going to help you increase your score (maybe once every three weeks). If you are having trouble finishing the tests you need to work on the practice test for time management not so much content I'd say you want to ramp this up to 1 a week.

You really need to be confident about your timing and use it in a way that is most advantageous for yourself, I myself did 2 test a day for 3-4 straight days before my test with a couple of days break between the last test I took and the real thing to let my brain recover.

oustone85 · Answer

The timing thing isn't too much of an issue for me. If anything i'm the opposite of most people, I go too fast and finish with too much time left. Time that, if I had used it, probably would save me a couple errors.

I do need to build up my mental stamina though, by the time I get to the last 10 or so questions i'm usually pretty tired and just ready to be done with the dang thing.

brism · Answer

Does it make sense to do a practice test before you start to study? Seems to be a trade-off between knowing where your weaknesses are and being completely demoralized before you've even started.

Also, what's generally thought of as the best CAT practice tests?

lsuguy7 · Answer

I think you should look at the problem types, Problem Solving, Data Sufficiency, Critical Reasoning, Sentence Correction, Reading Comp. before you take the first test. I do think you should take a test near the begining of your prep so you know how far you've got to go and where you should focus your efforts.

ritula · Answer

Yes , i also feel the same. I persaonally feel that one should start taking practice tests when one has gone thru the basics at least once. oderwise it will be demoralising oneself even b4 u begin the prep.

Yahsek · Answer

While studying for my last attempt I took 22 CATs over the course of 6 weeks. That's almost 4 full length tests a week. I found that taking a lot of tests helped me train my patience, concentration, and pacing, things often overlooked or undervalued by many test takers. Keep in mind I had already invested the equivalent of 3 months doing practice problems out of the OG11 and SC1000.

My advice to you would be to construct a study plan. Make the beginning of your study plan more practice problem heavy and focus on identifying and improving your weak areas. Sprinkle in a few CATs or timed problem sets like the GMAT Club challenges. Then as you're nearing your test date just focus more on taking timed full length tests and less on practice problems.

isa · Answer

My plan was a lot like YihWei's - I took about 4-5 tests/week for the last 3 weeks of my prep. Before that, I focused on content and made sure I could answer questions correctly when not timed. I also was not used to taking tests on the computer so the additional CAT practice helped quite a bit. 
Good luck!
ac.

Tarmac · Answer

I took a CAT just to start the crash course process, the first day I started studying. I would definitely not waste a gmatprep on this though. I took mine through my McGraw Hill CD.

marymayi · Answer

Best CATs for me were Princeton Review's and GMATPrep.

Definitely go over your fundamentals and do several practice questions for each type from the Official Guide before you start taking tests. Do one test maybe every two weeks, with plenty of practice questions and review of your errors in between.

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