Manhattan GMAT Online CAT Prep tests versus the real thing

[dave1618]

I took the GMAT yesterday and my score was a big dissapointment for me. I'm posting here to get the feedback of others who have been preparing with the Manhattan GMAT CAT tests. In my preparation for the GMAT, I took 8 of these tests, as well as one CAT test provided by the official GMAT (you get 2 free via MBA.com). The summary of my test preps are as follows:

MGMAT Adaptive Exam 1 (10/22/07)- 580 (36Q, 33V)
MGMAT Adaptive Exam 2 (4/14/08)- 680 (43Q, 39V)
MGMAT Adaptive Exam 3 (4/27/08)- 700 (46Q, 39V)
MGMAT Adaptive Exam 4 (5/5/08)- 670 (45Q, 36V)
MGMAT Adaptive Exam 6 (5/7/08)- 680 (45Q, 37V)
Official GMAT Online CAT Test (5/09/08) - 610 (39Q, 37V),
MGMAT Adaptive Exam 7 (5/12/08) - 700 (43Q, 42V)
MGMAT Adaptive Exam 8 (5/14/08) - 690 (45Q, 39V)
MGMAT Adaptive Exam 1A (5/16/08) - 710 (42Q, 45V) (Questions were repeated from previous MGMAT tests)

Real GMAT (5/17/08) - 620 (42Q, 34V)

I'll not that I used the pause button only on the first 3 or 4 tests I took from Manhattan GMAT, so take those results as you will. I got better and better at thhe test taking (so it seemed) and on the last practice tests I took was going through the entire test without a pause. What's puzzling to me is that the test conditions in the actual test were near identical to my practice test conditions with respect to timing and how the test felt. I only rushed toward the last 2 questions of each section and was on pace throughout the course of both sections. Nothing indicated to me that I would have scored as I did while I was going through the actual test.

After taking a handful of MGMAT practice tests I took a practice test from the offical GMAT , which is rumored to most closely mirror the real thing. My score on that test was way below my scores on the preceding MGMAT preps (see above). After taking 4 or 5 more MGMAT tests I dismissed the official GMAT prep as a fluke, as my score returned to it's normal range (670-710). I made the decision to schedule the test based on the conglomeration of all of the above scores and what now seems to be a false sense of confidence that I could replicate the above scores. When I took the actual GMAT my score looked almost idential to my practice official GMAT and nothing like any of the MGMAT tests I'd taken.

Has anyone else had results similar to the above? I sent MGMAT a detailed email after returning from the test with and will hear back from them this week. I'm going to have to retake this test now and will most likely be using different CAT tests to prepare. So, has anyone else had a similar experience, and which practice tests are you guys finding to most accurately follow the actual GMAT?

Thanks,

[StaceyKoprince]

It looks like your math score held up on the real test but your verbal score dropped a lot. The quant should've felt a lot like your practice tests - whatever went wrong happened during the verbal portion.

How was your stamina? When you took your practice tests, did you do the essays in full, just as you had to do on the real test? Did you have something to eat and drink on the breaks and did you get up, walk around, stretch? Etc. Sometimes people lose energy by the last third of the test and the verbal score suffers as a result.

[kevincan]

GMATPrep should be the mainstay of your CAT practice. I tell all of my students to do each of the three practice exams two or three times each. Luckily for you, you still have this invaluable resource unexploited should you wish to retake!

[StaceyKoprince]

Agree that GMATPrep is critical to everyone's prep - it's the closest to the real thing!