thmp945 Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 While I was studying for the GRE I wondered how similar the practice tests I was taking were to the real thing... So I thought starting a thread comparing practice test scores vs. actual results on the real GRE might be helpful for those still studying. If you agree, add your information! Princeton Review 1: 158V / 148Q Princeton Review 2: 161V / 149Q Powerprep 1: 161V / 149Q Powerprep 2: 160V / 155Q / 3.75AW REAL GRE: 166V / 150Q / 5.5AW Hours studied: approx 115 RolandSr, bollymemes and YashRR 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iowaguy Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Powerprep 1: took it untimed 2 months before test date, estimate mid-160's on V & Q Powerprep 2: 168V / 169Q, took 1 week before test date Real GRE: 168V / 168Q / 5.5AW Hours studied: 100+ Adilbek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wa29 Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Average Manhattan GRE Scores (6 tests): V: 158 Q: 161 Powerprep 1: V: 160 Q: 169 Powerprep 2: V: 154 Q: 165 Real GRE: V: 162 Q: 161 I felt that the best indication of how one will perform on test day comes from the Manhattan GRE online tests. The average score from the six tests were the closest to my actual score. However, the best practice material is definately from ETS Powerprep. I should also note that Magoosh is also accurate with their range of scores that they provide after you do their practice questions. Don't waste your time with Kaplan. Barn, Arezoo, HayleyH and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dylandylan Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Powerprep 162V / 151Q Powerprep 161V / 149Q Real GRE 163V / 152Q AW4 HRS studied: ~50 I guess I should have studied more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen of Kale Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 My test day score was exactly the same score I had on my first (of nine) full length practice tests. Each of my weekly practice tests improved a bit but I ended up with the same score I had on day one. BUT, I'm still glad I put in those long hours of studying because I imagine that those gains I saw in my practice tests canceled out the points lost to test anxiety. For this reason, I can only imagine that how well your test score matches to your practice test scores is more a testament to individual quirks or test anxiety than to the accuracy of a particular manufacturers practice tests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uromastyx Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 I studied for about 6 months. I regularly performed substantially better on the practice tests than the real GRE. And I took it twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 I did about the same on the practice tests as I did on the actual GRE, and my strengths and weaknesses were consistent. I have no idea how long I studied. I relied mostly on practice tests for review/"study" by taking them and then going over what I missed; I don't necessarily recommend this method, but I found it to be better than doing nothing. However, I should've done more back-to-basics review for quant, and I feel I could've done quite a bit better with more focus and direction. I met my lowest target for quant by the skin of my teeth. demonyob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wsc215 Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I did better on the actual GRE than any of my practice ones, and I took 18 of them. 164/169/4.5 Q was expected but my verbal score (didn't want to say "my V" ) was consistently 156-161 range. I used PowerPrep and Manhattan, studied 72 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laylas Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Dear all Im using Kaplan but i feel that its usless in verbal ! my score still bad (no more than 140 !!!) my score in Q is good (155) but still need to work on my Verbal , but realy im confused b/w books should I learn more Vocabs (words lists ) or concentrate on what ? my scores in comprehension passages are good my problem is im Text completion ..etc. ! plz i need ur advice regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soporific Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 POWERPREP II: Math 169/Reading 170/Didn't do writing Actual: Math 170/Reading 170/Writing score not out yet. Time studied: ~5 hours? I had a really strong preparation from my high school English courses and high school math contests. KappaRoss, frickv, perfectionist and 15 others 3 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ||| Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 (edited) Princeton Review 1: 169V / 161Q Princeton Review 2: 167V / 170Q Actual: 169/170 Writing: 5 Time studying: One week prior to exam, for most the day everyday Edited February 23, 2013 by ||| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger12 Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Powerprep 1: 151V / 158Q Powerprep 2: 155V / 157Q Manhattan Prep 1: 158V / 157Q Manhattan Prep 2: 158V / 157Q Magoosh: Magoosh predicts your score using a range 151-156V / 154-159Q Real GRE: 157V / 158Q Clearly Powerprep was spot on when it came to my Quantitative score, however it underestimated my verbal. The same could be said for Magoosh. In my case, Manhattan prep was VERY accurate I studied for about 3 months, maybe 3 hours/week Good luck to all who are looking at this wondering how their practice score will reflect their actual score! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdilB990 Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 (edited) PowerPrep V1.0: Gave a ranged score, 360-460 V, 650-750Q PowerPrep V2.0: 147V, 157Q Attempted 2 timed practice tests with Magoosh, got the exact same score: 153V, 154Q And my estimated range according to Magoosh was: 155-160V, 156-161Q. Actual GRE (unofficial, I appeared today): 157V, 158Q My study schedule was woefully random which definitely didn't allow me to realise my full potential as evident in my score. As an approximation, I probably studied for about 2 months. Magoosh did a fare job of predicting my score. PowerPrep's verbal score was a lot less than what I got (WOOHOO!! English isn't my first language), however it was spot on with regards to my quantitative. Best of luck to all future test-takers! Just make sure you're ready to feel the pain of sitting for over 4 excruciating hours in front of a computer screen. P.S. Hey Badger12, both of us have the same score. Edited July 17, 2013 by AdilBari990 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLBack Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Barron's Sample Test Book Test 1: 164V / 167Q Barron's Sample Test Book Test 2: 167V / 168Q Actual Score: 169V / 160Q / 4AW (AW includes 1 essay half completed - I did not budget time well) Study time ~ 7 hours (took two practice tests) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babubot Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Kaplan MST 1 (4 months before): Q167 / V158 Kaplan MST 2 (1 week before): Q166 / V158 Actual Score: Q170 / V169 / 4.0 About 20 hours of studying between second practice and real thing, not much before that. As others have said, I found Kaplan verbal prep more aggravating than anything. Their reasoning didn't make sense quite often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baktrax Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Kaplan MST 1: Q164/V160 Kaplan MST 2: Q164/V162 Powerprep 1: Q167/V160 Powerprep 2: Q163/V159 Actual: Q165/V167/AW 6.0 My scores are from about a year ago, so I don't really remember how much I studied. If I recall correctly, I did most of the Kaplan prep book about nine months before I actually took the test (long story), and then did the Kaplan verbal workbook and took a couple practice tests the week before the test. Across the board, my practice tests were around the same, no matter when or where I took them. I got a higher verbal score than I expected and a pretty similar quant score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandajune Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Kaplan MST 1: 158V/158Q Kaplan MST 2: 158V/154Q Powerprep 1: 166V/152Q Powerprep 2: 164V/154Q Actual Scores: 169V/156Q/5AW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obviousbicycle Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 I have a question: did you guys do all these practice tests just a few days before the actual test or spread out throughout your study period i.e. 2-3 months? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdilB990 Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 I have a question: did you guys do all these practice tests just a few days before the actual test or spread out throughout your study period i.e. 2-3 months? I attempted 3 of my 4 of my practice tests less than a month before the real thing. The last one was exactly a week before the test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obviousbicycle Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 I attempted 3 of my 4 of my practice tests less than a month before the real thing. The last one was exactly a week before the test. I see. I've been prepping for less than a month and my practice test scores are all over the place. There was one time I took a Kaplan test and I got 149 in verbal. I took another Kaplan test exactly a day after that and it went up to 160. I am so confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdilB990 Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 The confusion is understandable, I can totally relate to that. As you can see in my post above (in which I mentioned all my scores), my practice scores were very low as well. The last test I attempted was PowerPrep V2.0 and got a shocking and worrying 147 in the Verbal section! However, a week later I got a 157 (73%) on my official test. And keeping in mind that I'm not a native English speaker, I'm really pleased with my score. From my experience, practice tests are not exactly the best predictors, especially unofficial ones (like Princeton, Kaplan, Barron's etc.) that are not at the same difficulty level as the actual test. So, no need to worry. Just keep up the hard work and it will pay off for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mise Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 I have a question: did you guys do all these practice tests just a few days before the actual test or spread out throughout your study period i.e. 2-3 months? I tried 7 practice tests over 2 weeks prior to my actual exam. And here goes my scores. 1st GRE (March 2013) : V 158 / Q 164 / AW 4.0 Kaplan practice tests : V 162, 162, 167, 162, 160 (Sorry, I just skipped Q sections) Princeton Review practice test : V 167 ETS Power Prep : V 166, 162 (Q sections skipped again) (these practice tests were taking during the second half of August) 2nd GRE (August 2013) : V 167 / Q 163 / AW 4.0 My conclusion was that the practices tests are deliberately difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
music Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Mine were as follows (and yes, I did a lot of tests and relatively little studying which paid off for me): Magoosh score predictor: 150-155Q, 160-165V Magoosh test 1: 153Q, 159V Magoosh test 2: 155Q, 157V ETS paper 1: 158Q, 167V ETS paper 2: 160Q, 168V ETS power prep 1: 160Q, 163V Real: 158Q, 165V, 5.0 Magoosh definitely presents harder material than you see on test day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
researchrelatedanxiety Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 ets paper 1: v-169; q-154 kaplan paper 1: v-167; q-157 ets paper 2: v-167 q-157 actual test: v-169; q-161 aw: ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarf in the wind Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 ETS' Practice Test 1: V 150, Q 149. Manhattan Practice Test 1: V 155, Q 147 Manhattan Practice Test 2: V 163, Q 155. Manhattan Practice Test 3: V158, Q 157. I will take one more practice test before the actual test, but those are my scores so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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