how close to the real test are the Manhattan CAT tests?

[iv_stoyanov]

I took the actual GMAT last year and scored 610. I've taken the Princeton Review practice exams and scored consistently below 610 on all of them. Actually on the last one I had 610 (M:40, V:34). This was for 6-9 mistakes on each section. Today I took the Manhattan CAT 1. I scored 640 (M. 43, V. 34). This was with 18+ mistakes on each section? How similar to the actual GMAT are the MCAT tests and how does the scoring work? Are those computer adaptive?

[StaceyKoprince]

It's a good idea to search the forums before posting; often you can find your answer right away without having to wait for a response. This topic is probably one of the most frequently discussed on the forums.

You can read the first 3 paragraphs of my response here:
confused-on-gmat-scores-t9919.html?hilit=standard%20deviation

You can also read what Ron and I discuss here:
manhattangmat-test-scores-vs-gmat-test-score-t9602.html?hilit=standard%20deviation

And you should also take a look in your student center under the "Extras" tab for the free e-book The GMAT Uncovered Guide. This book explains how the scoring works on the real test (and on our test).

Short answer:
Yes, our test is adaptive. It is also the case that you can expect to answer many questions incorrectly on the real test - most people answer approximately 60% of the questions correctly all the way up into the 85+ percentile (after that, people will answer more correctly, but someone scoring in the 99th percentile still is not answering everything correctly).

We think that our test is the closest to the real thing (besides GMATPrep, the official practice test). The standard deviation on the real test is about 30 points while the standard deviation on our test is about 50 points (it is to be expected that the official test would have the smallest standard deviation and that practice tests would have somewhat larger standard deviations). As far as I'm aware, other companies do not publish the standard deviations of their tests.

Follow those links and read the free e-book for more! :)