VeritasPrepKarishma wrote:
In the actual GMAT, people expect to score similar to their prep test scores. But in the last few days, I have come across quite a few cases on the forum in which people score much lower on GMAT verbal than they do on prep test verbal. So I thought of digging up a bit on why this might be taking place.
Here are some of Brian's thoughts (and my comments in brackets):
A lot of prep RC passages are old in the longer-winded 400+ word count days, but the newer passages are shorter and denser *and* everyone seems to get 4 passages (I have also heard about people getting 5).
I have to bet the official SC is getting tougher. Especially among the forum crowd you have a lot of memorizers who might have gotten by on previous memorize between vs. among or memorize such as vs. like questions but now theyre more reasoning-based (more questions based on accurate meaning). And I doubt the most popular tests have caught up, so theyre practicing for older questions.
Really the best explanation I have is that the test is evolving faster than some popular practice tests.
ALSO I wonder how many prep tests are from people doing AWA/IR first. I bet IR saps peoples energy more than they think and theyre losing focus toward the end.
Perhaps a downside to a lot of forum time - I wonder if students had seen enough practice test questions discussed on the forums - or direct ripoffs and variations of them - that their scores were a little inflated.
On the whole, the point is that actual GMAT is tougher than some popular practice tests. These tests have probably been the same for the past 3-4 yrs though the pattern especially of Verbal has changed drastically.
My suggestion going forward will be to adapt yourself to the new GMAT - shorter but denser RCs and reasoning based SCs. Try to get hold of some latest tests for two reasons - the questions would be better suited to the current GMAT and the questions would be *new* i.e. they wouldn't have been discussed on the forum before. Also, web based tests are better than downloadable one. (Let me add here that one neat feature of our new tests is that they're web based and easy to update, so we can update, add, and delete questions instantly.)
Here are some of Brian's thoughts (and my comments in brackets):
A lot of prep RC passages are old in the longer-winded 400+ word count days, but the newer passages are shorter and denser *and* everyone seems to get 4 passages (I have also heard about people getting 5).
I have to bet the official SC is getting tougher. Especially among the forum crowd you have a lot of memorizers who might have gotten by on previous memorize between vs. among or memorize such as vs. like questions but now theyre more reasoning-based (more questions based on accurate meaning). And I doubt the most popular tests have caught up, so theyre practicing for older questions.
Really the best explanation I have is that the test is evolving faster than some popular practice tests.
ALSO I wonder how many prep tests are from people doing AWA/IR first. I bet IR saps peoples energy more than they think and theyre losing focus toward the end.
Perhaps a downside to a lot of forum time - I wonder if students had seen enough practice test questions discussed on the forums - or direct ripoffs and variations of them - that their scores were a little inflated.
On the whole, the point is that actual GMAT is tougher than some popular practice tests. These tests have probably been the same for the past 3-4 yrs though the pattern especially of Verbal has changed drastically.
My suggestion going forward will be to adapt yourself to the new GMAT - shorter but denser RCs and reasoning based SCs. Try to get hold of some latest tests for two reasons - the questions would be better suited to the current GMAT and the questions would be *new* i.e. they wouldn't have been discussed on the forum before. Also, web based tests are better than downloadable one. (Let me add here that one neat feature of our new tests is that they're web based and easy to update, so we can update, add, and delete questions instantly.)
Eye opener..
