Reliability of 800 score tests?

[tinamahajan01]

Hi,

Just completed the first 800score test (there are 5 all together). However, I got the distinct feeling that the questions (on both sections) were not very reflective of the actual test. Could anyone shed more light on this? How accurate are the 800score scores and how close are the questions to the actual test?

Thank you,
Tina

[cyber_office]

Tina,

Are they harder or easier? I have not signed up for those tests, but I assume the "800score" indicates that they are extremely difficult and not in-line with GMAT prep or the actual GMAT.

Similarly- if you do really well on MGMAT question sets and MGMAT CAT tests, you would be well prepped for the actual GMAT. I am basing this only on what previous ISB, INSEAD..etc. test-takers have told me since I have yet to take the test.

MGMAT is hard, but it preps you completely. If you can do well on a MGMAT quant section, you are probably prepped for the actual test. Verbal is probably harder on MGMAT, but not by that much.

Just my 2 cents.

[rkim81]

I took all off the 800 score tests and here's my take on them. 800 score is NOT representative of actual GMAT AT ALL. I was working on an intensive week of verbal, so took the verbal test section each day. I finished each test within half the time allotted and got high 35-39's raw score. If you can get those kinds of scores in half the time, then I'd say it isn't very representative of your actual ability or the test itself.

For the quant sections, I noticed that the 800 score tests seemed to be more Geometry intensive. While on the actual GMAT I dealt with 1 geometry question in total! If anything I think 800 score tests are good for students who need to familiarize themselves with the format of the test, test taking conditions and question types. So far, minus Veritas Prep's GMAT Life, it's been the easiest test I've ever taken.
[Edit: The 700-800 level questions on MGMAT are definitely in line with the actual GMAT. On my official test date I saw a level of difficulty I've never seen on GMAC prep tests. MGMAT practice CAT's are the best in my opinion, and a great study tool!]

Response from Sean Selinger, founder of 800score.com:

"Many people on this forum feel grateful for MGMAT's help and look for ways to express gratitude. Saying untrue things about other companies, however, is not a good way to show appreciation. MGMAT is gracious to other companies in the industry and doesn’t appreciate this.

Rkim81, in fact, really didn’t get a near perfect score on 800score. He posted 10 days earlier ecstatic over a high Veritas score of 710. There is no account of his extraordinary performance on the 800score verbal tests. He doesn’t express any doubt about the tests he is taking, including 800score, because he says that all practice tests have a 50 point discrepancy.

I completed a practice test, GMAT Life by Veritas Prep, their newest test. I scored Q45 V39 total score of 710. This is the first time I've ever broken the 700 mark. ...The latest result has given me a shot of confidence, because it did take me about a month to get to 600 but less than a week to 710. Knowing that it is only a practice test and that I can expect there to be a 50 point discrepancy. ....Sources of practice questions are almost depleted, but I still have 3 MGMAT tests,3 Veritas and 2 800 score.
(source: practice-test-scores-are-getting-lower-help-t8654.html )

He claims that his *raw score* on the 800score tests was 35-39, but that was likely his *actual* score. His actual score on the GMAT was 37V.

I *really* doubt the geometry claim happened either. I’ve spoken to GMAC engineers and they norm the tests for question distribution. In other words, you should very rarely get one geometry question or 15 of them. Typical distribution is between 3-to-6."

[cyber_office]

Thanks. Very informative summary. In your opinion, do the questions on the actual test mirror the OG problem guides?

Thanks.

[rkim81]

I guess my answer looks like this. It highly depends on your performance. But overall, I found that majority of the questions in the OG are easier than the actual test. Just my opinion, but to summarize my own test taking experience, imagine the hardest and longest SC questions you've seen in the OG. Imagine the longest stimulus' in CR questions with lots of qualifying statements you've seen in the OG and you have a real GMAT verbal section.

GMAT had it out for me on that day, and gave me 2 natural science RC passages with questions that were more like CR than your typical RC specific, tone, purpose questions. It gave me 3 CR like questions just on one paragraph on a short RC passage. Overall, and maybe this is because of test taking anxiety, I felt that the verbal section on my actual test date was the hardest I had ever seen, including GMAC practice CATs. The 700-800 level questions on MGMAT's practice CATs are reminiscent of my actual test date.

Hope this helps

[cyber_office]

Thanks, very helpful! One more question - is the math equally difficult or more difficult than OG?

[rkim81]

lol cyber, had a feeling you would ask that.

Tell you the truth, for my test experience, I actually scored higher on the actual GMAT than on any practice test I've done including MGMAT. The highest I scored on practice tests were 38, and for the actual test 42! It took me a month to get from 30-33 to 38! But one practice test apart to 42.

Mind you I did spend a whole month only focusing on quant, using MGMAT quant guides (which are exceptional in my opinion, esp overlapping sets, Number Properties) And every practice test after my first attempt on the GMAT, my quant's been getting higher.

So I don't think I can accurately comment on the difficulty for the quant section. But overall, I attribute the higher score to confidence. And confidence came from a systematic review of all the sections in quant. ( Knowing the material also helps you make educated guesses) In general, MGMAT quant sections are harder because they involve more calculation, and are more layered, meaning there are more processes to complete in MGMAT quant questions than the actual GMAT. So lots of people say that if you do well on MGMAT quant you can smoke the GMAT quant, which I agree with.

Hope this helps.

[cyber_office]

Thanks! Very helpful!!

[StaceyKoprince]

Wow - lively conversation going on in this thread!

I can't contribute to the 800score discussion because I've never done an 800score test, so I don't know what they're like.

I found that majority of the questions in the OG are easier than the actual test.

Just want to add one thing here: this is going to depend upon your scoring level. The OG is not adaptive; it just presents a range of questions from very easy to very hard. If you're up at the top end of the range, then yes, most OG questions will be too easy for you. On the real test, of course, the questions will be mostly clustered around your ability level so, again, if you're at the top end, you're mostly seeing questions that are comparable to the hardest OG questions.

[nagu89]

lol cyber, had a feeling you would ask that.

Tell you the truth, for my test experience, I actually scored higher on the actual GMAT than on any practice test I've done including MGMAT. The highest I scored on practice tests were 38, and for the actual test 42! It took me a month to get from 30-33 to 38! But one practice test apart to 42.

Mind you I did spend a whole month only focusing on quant, using MGMAT quant guides (which are exceptional in my opinion, esp overlapping sets, Number Properties) And every practice test after my first attempt on the GMAT, my quant's been getting higher.

So I don't think I can accurately comment on the difficulty for the quant section. But overall, I attribute the higher score to confidence. And confidence came from a systematic review of all the sections in quant. ( Knowing the material also helps you make educated guesses) In general, MGMAT quant sections are harder because they involve more calculation, and are more layered, meaning there are more processes to complete in MGMAT quant questions than the actual GMAT. So lots of people say that if you do well on MGMAT quant you can smoke the GMAT quant, which I agree with.

Hope this helps.

@rkim, how much did you score on the actual tests? I have started writing the MGMAT cat tests and my scores are around the 700 - 710 range. What is the error margin/ what is the likely result on the actual GMAT if this is the case?

[nagu89]

Thanks. Very informative summary. In your opinion, do the questions on the actual test mirror the OG problem guides?

Thanks.

I too have taken the 800Score tests and to give an idea of the comparison, I scored a consistent 770 - 780. But the MGMAT questions were more close to reality and I got about 710 - 700.

[StaceyKoprince]

For the MGMAT tests (not 800Score), the standard deviation from final practice test to official test is about 50 points. (And SD is a +- measure, so that means 50 points in either direction.)

The SD on the official test is about 30 points.

I don't know anything about the stats for 800Score. You may want to check their website to see whether they provide any.