How difficult is the MGMAT CAT #1?

Question

Three weeks into my GMAT prep, I decided to take MGMAT's free diagnostic test (CAT #1). I found the exam to be significantly more difficult than the questions that I am accustomed to practicing with, especially in the quant section. I finished with a score of 670 (43Q 38V) - while this is below my target of 700 (and I feel that a fair amount of my success can be attributed to some fortunate guesswork), I was generally pleased with the result as I still have plenty of time to improve before I take the actual exam in mid-August.

I'm interested to hear about others' experience with the MGMAT exam - specifically, how does it stack up against the real thing in terms of difficulty and content? Have others found MGMAT exams to be a decent predictor of their final scores?

Thanks!

I'm interested to hear about others' experience with the MGMAT exam - specifically, how does it stack up against the real thing in terms of difficulty and content? Have others found MGMAT exams to be a decent predictor of their final scores?

Thanks!

Av · Answer

In my experience, MGMAT CATs give you a score that's within 10-20 points of your GMAT Prep score. The scoring for each of these CATs is quite different though, which is probably because MGMAT uses such ridiculous questions for added difficulty. MGMAT CATs are great for building speed and stamina, as well as another tool for predicting your score, but they risk sending you down the wrong path to work on problems you won't see on the real GMAT. Most notably, MGMAT's quant section requires excessive calculation to make the questions difficult.

Nevertheless, good job on the 670. You're probably capable of hitting 680-690 on GMAT Prep now, which places you well within range of your 700 target score.

Nevertheless, good job on the 670. You're probably capable of hitting 680-690 on GMAT Prep now, which places you well within range of your 700 target score.

topher · Answer

I'm guessing MGMAT is pretty close. I took a GMATPrep on a Sunday and scored 680. Then I studied for a few days and took MGMAT #1 on Saturday and scored 680 again. My split was similar both times. So I would say it's on par in terms of difficulty.

mohater · Answer

I agree with Avernusaur.

On the GMATPrep tests, I scored 670, and 680 (which was consistent with my MGMAT practice exams).

On the real thing, I was within the +-30 of my GMATPrep score.

waiwai · Answer

I scored 670 in the MGMAT free test. And found quants on a tougher side.
Verbal, I cant comment, because its always difficult to me.
I am yet to take the GMATPrep. Do you think I should take more tests than these 3 ? My test-appointment is on 5th Aug. Not much time left you see.

nightwing79 · Answer

Hi Waiwai - I am taking the gmat for the 2nd time in 2 weeks. I did just okay the first time - 95% percentile on the verbal and 65% on the quant. I should have done much better on quant but I paniced somewhat, spending 5 minutes on the first question.

It seems you have just over 2 weeks. You should definitely take the GMAT prep and my suggestion would be to do Gmatprep1 asap then mgmat tests in between and then Gmatprep2 towards the end and the prep1 again.

Also one important thing I have learnt in my 2.5 mths of study is that the key is not to do as many questions as possible but to to makes sure the problems and questions you have tackled you know why you got them right or wrong and that you will not make the same mistake again. To reiterate, I believe doing 3 tests twice (create an error log of sorts and revise everyday) and making sure you understand all the concepts is far better an idea than doing 6 tests once but not being able to revise and properly understand where one has made mistakes.

I am not a big fan of RC and CR in mgmat (to be honest as mentioned on this forum there is hardly any good replica of the real thing available other than on gmatprep) so make sure you work on the SC's you got wrong in mgmat. For CR and RC you should make sure you have gone through the latter questions on OG at the least.

Best of luck and 670 is a good place to be at given how much time you have.

I hope that helps.

waiwai · Answer

Thanks for the advice. I am keeping an error log, would definitely revise....

bipolarbear · Answer

i have not taken gmat prep (saving them for when i need them) but have done much of the OG11 + math official guide + gmatclub tests 1 and 2, and honestly I felt that MGMAT quant was definitely on the tougher side. However the quant section does have a VERY generous scale when you're consistently doing 700-800 level questions, so the score you get is probably close to the real thing.

snipertrader · Answer

Did not quite follow you.. are you referring to the MGMAT scoring pattern to be very generous or GMATPREP ?

scorcho · Answer

On MGMAT CAT #1, I didn't fully appreciate this thing called "time" and didn't finish: 620.

You can read my story at the url below, but I ultimately fixed most of the time issue in and was scoring in the 680-710 range on their CATs. I think the MGMAT quant definitely runs a bit more challenging than the OG and the test itself, although it's not as tough as the gmatclub challenges.

690-q39-v45-surprised-likely-retake-73916.html

It was a decent predictor for me the first time through, whereas gmatprep was not.

axat · Answer

I feel the correlation between MGMATs and GMATPrep or the Real GMAT depends on where you are in your prep. When I started my prep, I score a 720 on Gprep and a 680 on MGMAT 1. That was 1 month ago. Yesterday I wrote MGMAT 4 and scored a 730. And my score consistently increased over the MGMATs, but I think that's because I figured out the strategy to deal with MGMAT's QA, and this strategy may or may not work with the Real GMAT.

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How difficult is the MGMAT CAT #1?

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