GMAT Practice Test : Online Preparation Guide by David Dawson

Well,

You can officially consider this a rant because I'm not just going to compare various GMAT simulated practice tests online but I'm going to crib about almost all of them because as I see it, each and every single provider has something or the other that I believe are annoying at worst and useless at best.

But before I begin, I would like to clarify to everyone who is reading this or just accidently landed on this page, that I'm NOT an authority in this domain. I'm just one of the 100,000-200,000 odd students who appear for the GMAT exam every year, with a dream of turning around their career or just go for that coveted MBA degree from an "Ivy League" univ. I'm just trying to share my experience; with the hope that maybe it might help people on way to their GMAT glory.

I am also only going to focus on the Gmat practice test bit here because I've come to one conclusion that GMAT prep is 30% your initially theory or concept study and 70% how effective you're practice tests have been. So the bottom-line here it that getting down to practice will in my opinion, give a greater boost to your career than sitting down and cramming more and more concepts.

Here is what you can expect from this random musing:

1. A look at the available GMAT practice test providers: Am only talking about the "Simulated" test providers and only the TOP 5, for obvious reasons.

2. Free GMAT Test providers: this is important because you need to "test drive a car" before you invest in it. Another important reason is, that these tests form a rather good assessment tool, to understand your potential. Detail explanation will follow.

3. A straight forward comparisons: based primarily on some important factors, which I believe, are important for any GMAT test.

4. Some simple conclusions drawn out from the comparison that takes place.

So let’s begin:

1. Available GMAT Practice Test Providers: Internet evolution has spawned a few 1000 and some more test providers online and we hapless aspirant are lost in the flood of offers, when all that we want is a suitable test provider. The best out there:

- GMAT Prep from http://www.MBA.com
- GMAT Simulated test from http://www.Testprepreview.com
- GMAT Practice Test from http://www.GMATLive.com
- Practice Tests from 800score.com
- GMAT Tests from Manhattanreview.com

And why are they the best? Well I've had the opportunity to check each one out during my preparation. I've taken the free practice test from each one and finally settle for one of them.

2. Free Practice Test Providers: I can name a plenty and some more but taking into account the fact that we're here talking about the best and the most effective one, the 5 I mentioned above are the one you should be looking at.

3. Now is the time to compare each one of them and I'm not going to draw out a conclusion from them and provide a winner. I'm only a source of information and this article is written with the hope that many aspirants will read this and benefit from it by choosing the one which suits them the most.

To compare these providers, I've used 5 basic set of parameters:

a. Simulated Tests?
b. How difficult are the questions?
c. Accuracy of scores provided
d. Feedback given at the end of the test?
e. Cost

Now let’s draw a simple comparison chart based on the above mentioned parameters. Rating out of 5: 1 being worst and 5 being the best

4. Now that we have the comparison chart, let’s draw some conclusions:

- All the above tests are simulated, so on that basis, each one scores equal points

- Difficulty level of the questions: This factor becomes really important for those aspiring to score about 720. I've realised many a tests provide very simple questions and those are really not enough practice for those high score chasers. In fact I had quite a lot of difficulty finding the tests which are of good quality in terms of difficulty levels. On this parameter GMATLive scores the highest

- Accuracy of scores provided: Hands down GMAT prep. It just cannot get any more accurate that this one and that is primarily because it comes from MBA.com who is affiliated to GMAT exam council.

- Feedback at the end of the test: Here I found most tests give you the scores in each section and you can review the test at the end. But I found that GMATLive provides a detailed feedback after the test and you are sent a detailed report, which identifies your strong/weak areas of GMAT. This is excellent for all those who really don't know where to start, which areas to focus etc.

- Cost: If you are cost conscious and have a budget for your tests, the chart gives you the details in black & white and you choose the one which suits your budget.

I would really not like to reveal which one I finally opted for, but what I want to tell you is that my score was 760 and I was pretty excited about it.. I hope you like the article and could relate to what I'm talking here. Please feel free to contact me and let me know what you think of it. Suggestions, feedback, queries are welcome.

About The Author

David Dawson is a GMAT educatior with over 5 years of experience in GMAT tutoring and counselling.

http://www.gmatlive.com