Hi,
I purchased the Manhattan SC book hence I got access to 6 MGMT CAT test as well. I wanted to know if there are any questions overlap between free MGMT cat and 6 regular MGMT CAT exam.
Thanks.
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- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9361
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
- Guest
Follow-up
've read from a lot of places that MGMAT CAT is harder than the official test (though i have seen a few people who have bombed the actual test after doing well in MGMAT) I know you say your CAT is within ~ 50 pts., but
(1) can you please comment on how that variation holds for the ~660-690 part of the scale. I feel like bc no matter what you score in an MGMAT CAT(except 800 scorers), you're going to miss ~ 40% of the questions so (a) the 'guess factor' could come into play in a big for lower scorers + (b) your verbal is kind of ~fuzzy and I assume a lot of variation happens there
(2) Is GMAT Prep (official practice cat) easier than the 'real' GMAT, it's certainly easier than MGMAT CAT
PS Overall I think MGMAT has the best CAT, I do think it is certainly harder than GMAT PREP
thanks in advance for the response, you guys always do an excellent job hitting all the points!!
(1) can you please comment on how that variation holds for the ~660-690 part of the scale. I feel like bc no matter what you score in an MGMAT CAT(except 800 scorers), you're going to miss ~ 40% of the questions so (a) the 'guess factor' could come into play in a big for lower scorers + (b) your verbal is kind of ~fuzzy and I assume a lot of variation happens there
(2) Is GMAT Prep (official practice cat) easier than the 'real' GMAT, it's certainly easier than MGMAT CAT
PS Overall I think MGMAT has the best CAT, I do think it is certainly harder than GMAT PREP
thanks in advance for the response, you guys always do an excellent job hitting all the points!!
- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9361
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
Some people think it's easier, some think it's harder. It's really variable b/c everyone has very limited data points from which to compare. You happen to get a mix of questions that plays to your strengths, and you're going to think that test is easier. You happen to get a mix of questions that plays more to your weaknesses, and you're going to think that test is harder.
In one way, our test is objectively harder, though - we don't include experimental questions, which means you never get a little "breaK' in terms of getting a question that's far below your level. That seems to affect most people more on math than verbal, b/c most people seem to struggle with timing more on math than verbal.
Re your item (1), you're going to miss that many questions even on the real test - we mimic the algorithm. So the guess factor comes into play a lot even on the real thing. :) That's part of the reason why even the official test has a wide standard deviation (about 30 points in that case).
Our 50 point figure is based on people's actual CAT results and what they report to us from the official test. We don't guess or manipulate - that's just what the numbers are. There may certainly be some error introduced b/c not everybody tells us what they got on the test, but we don't have reason to believe that there's a systemic reason why people would be more likely to report their official score to us if they score close to their practice test scores vs. if they score far from their practice test scores. We also don't have reason to believe that there's a systemic reason why people would tell us they got a different score from the score they actually got.
Re item (2), for most people, I believe that the only reason the real test is harder is b/c they know it really counts now. :) It is true that the pool of questions is smaller for GMATPrep, so people scoring at the high end may find it easier and people scoring at the low end may find it harder than the real test.
In one way, our test is objectively harder, though - we don't include experimental questions, which means you never get a little "breaK' in terms of getting a question that's far below your level. That seems to affect most people more on math than verbal, b/c most people seem to struggle with timing more on math than verbal.
Re your item (1), you're going to miss that many questions even on the real test - we mimic the algorithm. So the guess factor comes into play a lot even on the real thing. :) That's part of the reason why even the official test has a wide standard deviation (about 30 points in that case).
Our 50 point figure is based on people's actual CAT results and what they report to us from the official test. We don't guess or manipulate - that's just what the numbers are. There may certainly be some error introduced b/c not everybody tells us what they got on the test, but we don't have reason to believe that there's a systemic reason why people would be more likely to report their official score to us if they score close to their practice test scores vs. if they score far from their practice test scores. We also don't have reason to believe that there's a systemic reason why people would tell us they got a different score from the score they actually got.
Re item (2), for most people, I believe that the only reason the real test is harder is b/c they know it really counts now. :) It is true that the pool of questions is smaller for GMATPrep, so people scoring at the high end may find it easier and people scoring at the low end may find it harder than the real test.
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
4 posts Page 1 of 1