Hi,

I will be appearing for GMAT on 24th Jan. I have taken a few practice tests (free ones) to identify the areas to focus on. However, I am now a bit confused regarding the scores.

20th Dec - Veritas (Free test) - Q45 V29 (Overall-610)

Performance in verbal was dismal, with the only exception of about 80% accuracy in RC. Identified the problem areas as SC and CR.
Fully focused on Verbal for next 5 days and then attempted the GMAT Club Test.

25th Dec - GMAT Club - Q46 V28 (Overall-610)

Was absolutely disheartened again. Went through the OG again, specifically for SC. Did a LOT of practice for SC and CR.

30th Dec - Economist (Free Test) - Q48 V35 (Overall-670)

I want to be happy seeing the above score, but I wanted to confirm if someone out there has an idea about the free tests and how accurate they are. The reason for asking is -

1. From 80% accuracy in RC (in Veritas test), I went down to 30% accuracy in Economist's
2. I had 22 incorrect questions in Verbal (22!!!) and still got a V35 in Economist test. This does not look right to me, because I had 15 incorrect in Veritas test, where I got V29.


I have been saving the GMAT Prep tests for this last leg of preparation. Although I will be giving next mock in about a week, I wanted to know if anyone can provide any observations they have for Veritas / Economist / GMAT club tests. (like if they know Veritas Verbal to be harder or any insights about Economists algo for calculating scores)

Thanks.

Hey devanshi11 ,

Can you do me a favour? Download GMATPrep official mocks from www.mba.com and give the test in examination conditions.

None of the tests is as close as GMATPrep software. Hence, trust only GMATPreps

My personal experience says use Manhattan Mocks, GMATPrep Mocks and GMATClub Quant tests for your preparation. You don't need anything else.

To be honest, I never used the other resources you mentioned.

We look forward to see where you actually stand on an official Mock.

Just to answer your query : "I had 22 incorrect questions in Verbal (22!!!) and still got a V35 in Economist test. "

Although I have never taken Economist mocks, the number of questions incorrect has no bearing with the final score.

All that matters is the number of HARD questions that you are getting correct.

All the best
_________________

Hi devanshi11,

In my experience, GMATCLUB Tests and Veritas Prep tests are both great and can indeed help you with your preparations, however you should take those scores with a grain of salt. The most accurate indicators of your preparations are GMATPREP Mocks. Please note that I will highly recommend you to buy the GMATPREP Exam Pack 1 and GMATPREP Exam Pack 2. They are worth the investment and will accurately help you keep track of your progress. If you also want some great practice questions also consider buying the GMATPREP Question Pack 1. The questions in QP 1 are amazing and the closest to those of actual GMAT.

Hope this helps. All the best!

Hi devanshi11,

The scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize. Since that algorithm is proprietary, no GMAT company has an exact match for it, thus CAT scores can vary a bit based on the 'biases' involved in their respective designs. The most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC (the 2 free CATs, and each of the 2 that come with Exam Pack 1 and Exam Pack 2), so it would be useful to know how you performed on one of those CATS. Have you taken any of the Official CATs yet (and if you have, then how did you score?)?

There are likely other issues to consider (besides which practice CATs you use) regarding how you should these next 3.5 weeks of study time, so it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each)?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
_________________

Thank you abhimahna rohan2345 . I'll start taking GMATPrep Mocks and see where I stand. Thanks for your advice

Hi Rich EMPOWERgmatRichC ,

I am actually taking the Empower GMAT course itself. I did self study for a month where I covered all OGs, and then started with 1 month prep from EmpowerGMAT. I am absolutely delighted with the results so far, because I am much more confident in answering the questions (and triaging them) and this has resulted in quite a boost in my scores.

Below are my scores from all the mocks I have given (These have been from Veritas, GMAT Club and Economist. I will be starting with GMATPrep Mocks from the coming week)-
1. 1st Mock - before any study - 570 (Q40 V29)
2. 2nd Mock - after self study + 1 week of EmpowerGMAT - 610 (Q45 V29)
3. 3rd Mock - in 2nd week - Q46 V28 (Overall-610)
4. 4th Mock - in 3rd week - Q48 V35 (Overall-670)

After my 3rd Mock, since my verbal score was not going up I concentrated only on Verbal for 4-5 days and then gave another mock where my Verbal score jumped up to 35 from 28-29. The sole reason for this post was to get an idea about the various mock tests in the market, so I can judge on how valid the score improvement was.




4) My goal score is at least a 700, though I will try my best to push it beyond 710-720.
5/6) I'll try for January 2019 batches for a couple of schools (Insead / IE) if I get the required score, but since R1 deadlines for 2019 batches are quite far away, I'm yet to decide on the colleges.

Thanks,
Devanshi

Hi devanshi11,

With about 3.5 weeks of study time remaining, you have to put an emphasis on taking your CATs in a realistic fashion (meaning that you should take the FULL CAT - with the Essay and IR sections - take it away from your home, at the same time of day as when you'll take the Official GMAT, etc.). Once you have your next CAT score, you should report back here and we can discuss how best to proceed.

Assuming that your last CAT is a reasonably accurate assessment of your skills, you are closer to your score Goal than you probably realize. That having been said, at higher-and-higher score levels, the GMAT becomes really 'sensitive' to little mistakes (especially on 'gettable' questions), so you also have to work on doing precise work throughout the Exam. Just a handful of little mistakes - in the wrong spots - would keep you from 700+.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
_________________

Here is a bit about our practice tests:

We designed our practice tests to simulate the official GMAT as closely as possible, both in terms of question quality and how the computer-adaptive algorithm determines your ability level and chooses which questions you see. Our GMAT practice tests draw from a pool of more than 1,400 realistic GMAT questions, each of which is measured on multiple attributes that go far deeper than simply “easy / medium / hard.”

Our practice tests are built on a platform that employs Item Response Theory (IRT), the same system underlying the real GMAT. Unlike more basic approaches that simply count correct and incorrect responses and then generate a score, IRT recognizes that no two GMAT questions are exactly the same. What question you receive at any given point on a test will be dictated by how well you have performed up to that point, and how you answer that question will impact your ability estimate and help determine which question you see next. The system also takes “content balancing” into account, ensuring that you see a mix of question types that are representative of what you will see on the real GMAT, all while gathering as much information about your ability level as possible.
_________________

Hi Rich,

I gave two GMAT Prep Mock tests, one on 2nd Jan and another today on 7th Jan. I scored 650 on both. (2nd Jan - V31 Q48 , 7th Jan- V30, Q49)
I seem to be stuck on V30-31 for the last 3 mock tests. I really need to push Verbal to 38 at least to achieve my goal score of 700.
There are no specific verbal areas which I am dreadful at, but I seem to make majority mistakes in SC. I usually narrow down to 2 answers, but seem to pick the wrong one.
I also feel that when I am doing questions from OG, my accuracy is far better as compared to actual mock tests.

Can you please suggest any tips to push the verbal score in these last 16 days. I will be able to devote majority of my time in the next fortnight to prepare for the exam.

Thanks,
Devanshi

Hi devanshi11,

"Review" is an exceptionally important part of the GMAT training process; your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining the areas that you need to work on (and the specific things that you need to 'fix'). You've defined one of those areas (SC), but I'd like to know a bit more about your last CAT. While a full CAT Analyzer or Mistake Tracker would provide a lot more information, there are some basic questions that you should be able to answer (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing each section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) How many Verbal questions (not just SCs) did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
_________________

Hi Rich,

Below are the points from my review of the last CAT -

1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
Quant - 3
Verbal - none
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
Quant - 3
Verbal - none
3) Because the question was too hard?
Quant -2
Verbal - 5
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
Quant -1
Verbal - 5
5) How many Verbal questions (not just SCs) did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?
3 SC, 2 RC

Overall I had 9 incorrect questions in Quant and 18 incorrect questions in verbal.

From the verbal incorrect questions, 4 were RC, 9 SC, 5 CR.
I also had my most incorrect answers towards the end of the section.
From the 1st 10 questions - 2 were incorrect
From Q11 to Q20 - 4 were incorrect
From Q21 to Q30 - 4 were incorrect
From Q31 to Q41 - 8 were incorrect

By the time I reached Q22-23 I had about only 18-20 minutes left, and from Q17 I got 3 RC passages consecutively. So I did not make any notes in my last RC passage and got almost all wrong. (The 4 incorrect answers from Q21 to Q30 were all RC)

The same pacing problem was evident in the questions towards the end too (8 incorrect from Q31 to Q41, because I was reading too fast and skimming through the answer choices)

Thanks,
Devanshi

Hi devanshi11,

I've sent you a PM with some specific suggestions for how you can pick up the missing points that you're after (based on the information that you've provided in this last message).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
_________________

Hey!

I've been preparing to take the GMAT for quite some time now, and I was supposed to originally give my exam on the 19th of July but I'm not really happy with my score so far. When I started out initially, I took a diagnostic test from the Manhattan Prep mocks, my score was 530 with a breakup of Verbal 29 and Quant 34. After practising for a few weeks, solving questions from the OG as well as a few other books, in the subsequent weeks, my score came up to 590 with a breakup of V-31 and Q-40. In another mock from Manhattan prep my score was 590 and after some more practice, I took a mock from Kaplan about 1 week ago and my score on the first mock was 680- Q-46 and V-38. On the second mock my score was 640, Q-44 and V-34. That was when I decided to take the official mock that GMAT offers to see if these scores were reliable, however, my score on this CAT was 620 with Q-42 and V-32.
Does anybody have any suggestions on how I can pull up my score to a 700 with the time that I have left? It would be of great help!
Also, I will be giving my exam on August 5th now.
Thanks a TON!

Hi Kira27,

There are a variety of factors that can impact your performance on a CAT. "Review" is an exceptionally important part of the GMAT training process; your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining the areas that you need to work on (and the specific things that you need to 'fix '). As such, I'd like to know a bit more about your last CAT. While a full Mistake Tracker would provide a lot more information, there are some basic questions that you should be able to answer (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing each section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
_________________

Hi Kira27,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. Before I provide specific advice, it would be helpful to learn some more about your GMAT situation. I have some questions:

1) Please describe how you studied and what materials you used. For how many hours a day did you study and for how many months?

2) To what programs will you be applying? What are the deadlines for these programs?

3) By when would you LIKE to take the GMAT? By when MUST you take the GMAT?

4) For how many hours a day, on average, can you study between now and your next GMAT?

5) What is your desired GMAT score?
_________________

Hi Devanshi,

In my opinion, practice tests gives you a score with an accuracy of +/- 40 points.

For me my scores were as below:

GMAC Practice Tests:
1. 610
2. 680
3. 670
4. 640

Kaplan Practice Tests:
1. 640
2. 670
3. 670
4. 680
5. 650

Actual GMAT: 700

It all depends on the level of calmness you display on the test day.

How many practice tests can you buy from mba.com. Can you just keep buying them?

can anyone please help me out

i recently started with CATs and have been scoring in the range of 690-720 on 6 Princeton Review Practice tests....however when i took the Economist test the scores dropped significantly to 480...I’m really worried about my preparation...can’t gauge whether i’ve been preparing wrong or was the economist test really that tough
please help my GMAT exam is due on 14th November

Hi, donot trust any of these. Check your gmat prep test score, that is the best indicator.

Posted from my mobile device

We can trust anything non official 100%.Just keep feeling your gaps.
Any standard test prep is good like Manhattan,Veritas or Economist but none of them perfect.