Hi Stacey,
I would like to get your advice on which additionnal CAT should I purchase.
I have already used 4 out of 5 MGMAT CAT and 1 out of 2 GMATPrep exam. I am still far from my GMAT score goal (I would like to grab at least 120 more points). I mainly use CATs to figure out what are my current strengths and weaknesses and what is my current scoring level. On this basis do you think that it would make sense for me to purchase the GMATPrep Exam Pack 1 which does not provide with exam feedbacks ?
Purchasing the 800 score CATs is an alternative option but I don’t know whether these CATs offer detailed feedbacks and how close are they from the real test.
Many thanks for your help !
Yannick
GMAT Forum
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- yannickdago
- Course Students
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2011 10:48 pm
- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9360
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
Re: NEED SOME ADVICE ON CAT
Hi, I'm sorry I'm just getting back to you now. FYI to everyone, this is Crazy Season and everyone should expect a long wait for replies (through the end of the year).
First, just a note: we have a total of 6 CATs. If you did the first one free, then you have 5 more after that - so maybe that's what you meant by 4 out of 5?
Re: the GMAT Exam Packs, as you noted, the good news is that these are real test questions - so the test is the closest to the real thing.
The bad news isn't that they don't provide explanations (they're explanations aren't typically fantastic anyway - they're not in the business of helping you get better!). The potentially good or bad news is that, as far as I've been able to tell (so far), many of the questions used in Exam Pack were originally released many years ago and are floating around out on the internet.
The good news is that lots of people have discussed them, so you can find solutions by searching. The bad news is that you might already have done these questions yourself if you spend lots of time on forums / searching for free problems floating around.
(I really don't recommend doing that, but I know lots of people do!)
800Score does offer more detailed feedback. I haven't taken them myself (I can't, because I work on our own CATs - so I have to avoid competitor products!), so I can't tell you how good they are. I've talked to at least one instructor who liked their quant but didn't care as much for their verbal, and one instructor who felt the opposite. :) So they're probably good but not great.
Re: feedback, data, you can track one important thing yourself for Exam Pack CATs: timing. Use the "lap" feature of a timer (most smart phones have this built in) and just hit the button every time you finish a problem. Finish, put your answer in, hit the lap button, start the next problem.
When you're done, you'll at least have your per-question timing which is huge!!
You won't be able to see at a glance that you were struggling with, say, triangles, or SC modifiers. You'll have to look at the individual questions to figure it out (and google the problems to find solutions - the solutions will tell you what was being tested). So it will take some more work, but that is one option.
My next question for you: You've taken 5 exams so far. Did you spread those exams out over a long period of time? I just want to make sure that you're not taking exams too frequently. Read this:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... many-cats/
First, just a note: we have a total of 6 CATs. If you did the first one free, then you have 5 more after that - so maybe that's what you meant by 4 out of 5?
Re: the GMAT Exam Packs, as you noted, the good news is that these are real test questions - so the test is the closest to the real thing.
The bad news isn't that they don't provide explanations (they're explanations aren't typically fantastic anyway - they're not in the business of helping you get better!). The potentially good or bad news is that, as far as I've been able to tell (so far), many of the questions used in Exam Pack were originally released many years ago and are floating around out on the internet.
The good news is that lots of people have discussed them, so you can find solutions by searching. The bad news is that you might already have done these questions yourself if you spend lots of time on forums / searching for free problems floating around.
(I really don't recommend doing that, but I know lots of people do!)
800Score does offer more detailed feedback. I haven't taken them myself (I can't, because I work on our own CATs - so I have to avoid competitor products!), so I can't tell you how good they are. I've talked to at least one instructor who liked their quant but didn't care as much for their verbal, and one instructor who felt the opposite. :) So they're probably good but not great.
Re: feedback, data, you can track one important thing yourself for Exam Pack CATs: timing. Use the "lap" feature of a timer (most smart phones have this built in) and just hit the button every time you finish a problem. Finish, put your answer in, hit the lap button, start the next problem.
When you're done, you'll at least have your per-question timing which is huge!!
You won't be able to see at a glance that you were struggling with, say, triangles, or SC modifiers. You'll have to look at the individual questions to figure it out (and google the problems to find solutions - the solutions will tell you what was being tested). So it will take some more work, but that is one option.
My next question for you: You've taken 5 exams so far. Did you spread those exams out over a long period of time? I just want to make sure that you're not taking exams too frequently. Read this:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... many-cats/
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
2 posts Page 1 of 1