Actual GMAT Score Higher than MGMAT

[joshua.gelfand]

Hi Manhattan GMATers,

I took the GMAT for the first time this weekend and scored a 770 (Q: 50, V: 46). I was very happy with this score and a little surprised at where the score came out given my practice test scores.

I wanted to write this post (similar to a previous post) to highlight the large difference between my MGMAT scores and my actual GMAT score, and hopefully add to the dialogue on this forum.

I did the self-guided program since I had a short window (6 weeks) before my actual test date. Over those 6 weeks, I took all 6 of the MGMAT CAT exams - 3 under actual test conditions (Essay and IR included) and 3 more abbreviated (Quant and Verbal only). Under real test conditions, the highest I scored was 690 (47 Q, 38V). In the abbreviated session, I scored as high as 710 (47Q, 41V). 47Q, 41V were the highest scores I received on any practice test.

How then did I end up with an actual GMAT score that well exceeded my practice tests? In short, I'm not 100% sure, but I have a couple thoughts that I hope are helpful.

I thought the MGMAT Quant CATs were more difficult than the quant portion in the actual exam. I typically had a tough time finishing the MGMAT CATs, but my timing on the actual exam was spot on.

I didn't notice a significant difference in the difficulty of the Verbal section. The question breakdown and difficulty were similar to the MGMAT tests.

As far as test strategy and preparation goes, my recommendations are below:

1. Start with the fundamentals to make sure you have a good basis of knowledge in all of the areas. I hadn't done geometry in a long time and I had never dissected a critical reason prior to my study sessions. Following the guides and watching online labs (and Thursdays with Ron) gave me solid a footing for all of the question types.

2. Put a BIG effort on honing your timing. Other than learning fundamentals, I believe timing strategy is the most critical part of the exam. Take all of the practice tests if for no other reason than to practice timing. Do timed sets. Practice with the question banks. Develop an internal clock of when to guess and move on. And last, monitor your timing diligently using a system that makes sense to you. For quant, I typically checked in after every fifth question (every 10 minutes), but I would also monitor in between. During the test, I got ahead of the pace and knew I was ahead. This left me more relaxed when I got a difficult question that I knew I could solve (it was in an area of strength), but needed an extra 30 seconds. If I was behind time, I would have guessed and moved on. I also had an extra minute at the very end of the test so I double and triple checked the final questions before submitting. In one problem, I found a simple math error that I would not have caught without the extra review.

3. Construct a game plan. Know your strengths (for me, FDP, ALG, and Crit Reas) and weaknesses (Geometry, Idioms). Your timing strategy should take these into account.

4. Practice practice practice. If you have an option between more review or more practice problems, do the extra practice problems (with the caveat that you need to review the answers to the practice problems in detail). By test day, you will get a sense of how the testers like to ask their questions and phrase the responses. This will help when you need to guess on a question.

5. Slow down the studying a couple days before the test. Extra sleep is better than an extra study day.

Thanks Manhattan GMAT for the great materials and very helpful online tutorials.

[RonPurewal]

congratulations!

one caveat should be added here: with regard to point #4, yes, it's good to practice, but you should be extremely selective about the materials you practice with.
in the case of verbal, the best advice is "stick with the official materials" - especially if you are going to try to notice the kinds of things mentioned here (e.g., the style in which questions are asked, and so on).
the vast majority of non-official problems are written in styles that don't come anywhere close to approximating the actual GMAC problems. the worst ones can even cause you to un-learn the things you need to learn.

[MeghaV113]

Hello all,
I have recently given the free test from manhattan.I have access to remaining 5 tests too which I will be writing some time soon now. My concern is that does the difficulty level of the free test and other 5 tests vary at all?

[NV135]

Don't really know if this is going to be helpful to anyone, but i will still share my experience and thoughts on Real GMAT-MGMAT CATs relation.
My first real GMAT attempt was on 20th of November. Preceding the test date i studied for around 2,5 months, used many sources i guess everyone is familiar with - Princeton Review, GMAT Club, Kaplan, Veritas, etc. Used one free MGMAT test as well, scored 640. At the same time, Kaplan's test score was 700, GMAT Prep Official Software score was 710, got me excited and all. Relay test day - went out of the room with 630, disappointed as never before.
As i am aiming for top B-schoolsrescheduled my exam exactly one month from the first test date, this time, however, i approached my preparation differently. I got MGMAT 5 CATs and started taking them and then reviewing. In the end i got four 650 results and one 670 with never getting above q44. Math was tough in terms of time - i knew i could solve almost any problem when reviewed them, but i continued to run out of time.
When i got to the second test day, i was surprised that math was extremely easier than on MGMAT, if not for two careless errors that made me recalculate entire question and thus stealing a lot of time from me i think i would've gotten 50, but these errors and as a consequence of them 3 randomly guessed questions led me to q48. So, all in all MGMAT's quant questions are harder than real ones and take longer as on the real exam my carelessness was the result of running out of time a little, apart from that pacing was more than fine.
In terms of verbal - i cannot really compare, as it is really hard for me to distinct from various difficulty question levels on GMAT's verbal in general - i can struggle with 500-600 question in verbal sometimes, but easily get a 800-700 one correct. Still, my MGMAT's highest verbal score was v37, whereas on the second attempt i got v42.
To sum up, big thanks to Manhattan and your CAT's, they really made a difference, as due to practicing and reviewing such hard questions i've improved my score from 630 to 740 in just one month! Without these tests, it would't be possible, so my gratitude is fully yours, i believe there's hardly anyone on the GMAT preparation market that helps as much as you do. I will recommend you guys to literally everyone i know is considering taking the gmat!
As for comparing MGMAT CATs and real test i can say one thing - if you master MGMAT tests continually (taking all 6 tests and and some prep programs as well) to the 680-700 level, you will almost certainly break the 700 mark on the real deal. Cheers :)