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How to Take a GMAT Practice Test

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GMAT practice tests

While you study for the GMAT, you should take a practice test every 1-3 weeks. Here’s how to get started and how to get more out of every GMAT practice test you take. 

Which GMAT practice test should you take? 

You can take either an official practice test from the same folks who write the GMAT, or a third-party test, like the ones we’ve written here at Manhattan Prep. 

An official GMATPrep practice test is the closest you’re going to get to the real test-day experience. The test looks and feels like the real thing, and the questions are official (albeit retired) ones. The GMAC hasn’t revealed whether its practice tests use the same scoring algorithm as the real GMAT; however, at the very least, they were created by the same organization and should ostensibly be similar.

The downside to the official practice tests is that it’s harder to learn from them afterwards. The problem explanations are weak to nonexistent, and they don’t give you as much data to analyze as many third-party practice tests. That doesn’t mean you can’t effectively review a GMATPrep test! It just means that the analysis won’t be at your fingertips instantly. 

For that reason, I recommend taking third-party practice tests during most of your GMAT study process, in order to really dig into the results and analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Then, take a couple of official practice tests in the weeks prior to test day, with your final practice test being a GMATPrep test one week before the real thing. 

Which GMAT practice tests are the best?

This question can mean two different things:

  • Which practice tests are the most valuable study tool? 
  • Which practice tests will most accurately predict my GMAT score? 

I’m obviously biased, but I can vouch for the MPrep practice tests as a study tool without hesitation. Check out this series of articles, in which GMAT instructor Stacey Koprince goes over the many useful things you can do with your MPrep practice test results. Anecdotally, I’ve heard that our Quant section feels a little harder than the real GMAT (although not every student I’ve discussed this with agrees!). From a study skills perspective, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing: if you can train for a marathon wearing heavy jogging shoes, you’ll feel awesome when you’re wearing your ultra-light racing flats on race day! 

The second question is harder to answer. It’s really tough to get good data about whether any practice test accurately predicts scores. Various people have tried to compile this data, but only the GMAC has access to both the official score data and the practice test data that you’d need to do a full analysis. As far as I can tell, they haven’t revealed it. 

Even if the data were to show that a practice test gave inaccurate scores, there are a number of complicating factors: the test day environment is different from the practice test environment, and this affects people in different ways. A test that gives inflated scores on average may or may not do the same in your specific case. For more, see this article on why your official score might be lower than your practice scores.  

I recommend that you use your practice test scores primarily to track trends, test different approaches (like doing the sections in a different order), and get a very broad sense of whether you’re likely to score in your goal range. That’s really all you need to know before test day, even if it might be nice to have a perfect prediction of your score! If you’ve just scored a 700 on any reputable practice GMAT, you definitely have the skills to earn a 700 on test day. If you score a 640 when you start with Verbal and a 710 when you start with Quant, you should probably start with Quant on test day, even if you don’t end up scoring exactly 710. 

Your GMAT practice test-taking environment matters

Don’t dive into your practice test immediately. Prepare your environment first.

Make certain that you won’t be interrupted while taking your practice GMAT. Sit at a desk or table in a quiet, unstimulating room. (If you plan to wear the provided headphones or earplugs on test day, do so during your practice test as well.) Prepare a snack and a drink to have during your break; otherwise, don’t eat or drink while taking the practice test. Put your phone and electronics, other than the computer you’re using for the test, out of the way. And close any other programs running on that computer so you won’t be distracted. 

If you’re taking a Manhattan Prep course, you should have already received a “yellow pad” that’s just like the one you’ll take notes on during test day. Use it while you take your practice test! If you’re not taking a course, you can also purchase the yellow pad here. 

Before you begin, take a few minutes to quietly reflect on your goals for the practice test. Articulate two or three SMART goals. By the way, achieving a specific score isn’t a SMART goal, since it isn’t “attainable”: you only directly control your choices and your behavior, not your score. Focus on what you’ll actually do during the practice test, not on the results. For instance, you might want to guess on more problems or use timing benchmarks.

How to take a GMAT practice test

If your main goal is to estimate your score, then take the whole test realistically. Back in the day, when the essays and IR section always came first, that included taking those two sections to simulate the fatigue you’d feel on test day. Nowadays, since you can do those sections at the end of the test, you don’t necessarily have to do them on every practice test. (Do them at least once or twice before test day, though, so you know what you’re doing before you get there!) No matter what, definitely take both the Quant and Verbal sections, and take them using only the amount of time you’ll be allotted on test day. Do your best to finish each section in its entirety. Don’t pause the test, extend your break time, or take any additional breaks. That’s how you’ll get the best possible estimate of your real GMAT score. 

If your main goal is to practice test-taking skills, a practice test may not even be what you need! If what you really need is to work on Sentence Correction, only a third of the Verbal section will really be helpful: the rest might be a waste of your time and a waste of a practice test. Practice tests are valuable, but be clear about what they’ll actually help you practice: when you take one, you’re working on staying alert and attentive, managing boredom, fatigue, and anxiety, and switching quickly between different topics and concepts. Those are important skills to practice, but they aren’t the only skills you need to ace the GMAT.

What to do after your GMAT practice test

After you finish a practice test, take a break: you’ve earned it. A practice test produces mental, and even physical, fatigue. Don’t beat yourself up over the score if it isn’t what you hoped for. A score on a practice test, whether good or bad, is valuable data that will help you decide where to go next.

In a day or two, it’s time to start reviewing! In the meantime, here’s some guidance on how to do a fantastic job of reviewing GMAT problems. If you take each practice test effectively, and review it effectively, you can expect to learn a lot from each one you take. 

Tips for reviewing GMAT practice problems: 

You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. Check out our upcoming courses here.

Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE InstructorChelsey Cooley is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington. Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170Q/170V on the GRE. Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here.