How accurate are Manhattan Practice Tests?

[nns91]

I am taking the GRE in a week and have been doing my study using the Manhattan sets (all the single books as well as the 5lbs practice and vocab flashcards). I am in the ball park for wanted quantitative score (currently at 89%-90%) and quite close for verbal (currently at around 75%). Ideally, I want to score around 166-167 for quantitative and 160 for verbal. Do you guys think that this is a realistic aim given my current scores? Are Manhattan practice tests harder than the real GRE (reason is I have been doing the 7 quantitative research study sections and I have been getting 17-18 on average)?

 

I have seen a lot of posts on good percentile for engineering programs. However, on Magoosh, for bio programs, I saw many top schools have higher verbal average (162-164) than quantitative average( around 161). Is this true? Does it mean that I will really need to bring up my verbal, even though I am an international student?

 

I usually get trapped on the multiple answers questions on passage readings. Any tip on that ?

 

For math, I also usually get tripped on the comparison questions where I have to compare 2 variables based on some sort of general number properties. Any tip on this as well ?

 

 

[nns91]

Also, if you guys have any tip on the logic-based reading questions in the verbal section, it would be great too since I seem to miss those questions as well!

[auspiciouslinds]

Hi,

 

I don't know if this may help you, but might as well let you know. My friend is an international student and he applied for graduate school last year (Fall 2013). He got a 166Q/134V, and he got into the following chemistry Ph. D. programs: UT Austin, Texas A&M, USC, and some others. He had a 3.94 GPA and 3 summers of REUs. So, I think for you a 160V or higher is already good enough to be honest.

 

Verbal:

I know this sounds dumb, but if you can read the passage and summarize/determine what it's purpose was...you should be fine. I try to quickly summarize what I just read in one sentence before going to answer questions. ALWAYS refer back to the passage when answering questions because you might catch nuances in the passage you didn't see before.

 

Math:

For the comparison questions, I often get those really fast, but I always make sure to try to disprove my first deduction. Just try multiple methods and see if the answers are consistent.

[nns91]

By saying "I think for you a 160V or higher is already good enough to be honest" did you really mean verbal or you actually meant quantitative?

 

Do you know anything about the difficulty of Manhattan questions compared to real GRE test? Or if not, was there a noticeable discrepancy between the real GRE and those practice tests that you took?

[Scarf in the wind]

It's likely you'll get scores within those ranges.

 

For Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence, I've read the GRE is less inclined to focus on difficult words, and focus more on confusing sentences to trip up test takers. For Paragraph Argument, look up Magoosh.com and check out their blogs on the topic.

 

To nns91, would you mind if I sent a personal message regarding the test? Just something I want to ask. Nothing personal. It pertains to the Quant section, and I don't want this thread to meander away from focusing on you.
 

[nns91]

Btw, is there a rough idea of many questions I can miss and still be in mid 160s for quantitative section? Because of the whole adaptive nature of GRE, it's hard to have a sense from practice tests.

[nns91]

Just got out of the exam! Scrored 162 on quantitative and 157 on verbal. Should I think about a retake? I am applying for immunology programs

Edited August 24, 2013 by nns91

[Scarf in the wind]

Btw, is there a rough idea of many questions I can miss and still be in mid 160s for quantitative section? Because of the whole adaptive nature of GRE, it's hard to have a sense from practice tests.

 

From what I gather, each question equates to 1 point on the test. So, since you scored a 162 on Quant, you incorrectly answered 8 questions. If I am wrong, someone please correct me on that.

 

As for whether you should retake, I take it you are a foreign student? You may not have to depending on how strong your application is, however I have no knowledge about Immunology programs specifically, and natural sciences generally.

[Icydubloon]

Manhattan tests (quant) is much harder than the actual GRE. Each Manhattan section is like the hard section on the real GRE.
 

 

From what I gather, each question equates to 1 point on the test. So, since you scored a 162 on Quant, you incorrectly answered 8 questions. If I am wrong, someone please correct me on that.

 

It's not strictly 1-1. It depends on a few factors such as how well you did in section 1 and if you missed a hard/medium/easy question. I left a question blank in section 2 ("type your answer in the box below"...) and still got 170.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Icydubloon

[nns91]

Yeah, that's what I thought because when I did manhattan test, I got more questions wrong than the number of points taken off. It must have been something about my particular test that tripped me up that I did not score as high as I did on manhattan.

[Scarf in the wind]

Manhattan tests (quant) is much harder than the actual GRE. Each Manhattan section is like the hard section on the real GRE.

 

It's not strictly 1-1. It depends on a few factors such as how well you did in section 1 and if you missed a hard/medium/easy question. I left a question blank in section 2 ("type your answer in the box below"...) and still got 170.

 

Hello, icydubloon. What of Magoosh's practice questions? Are they more difficult than the actual GRE exam itself? How do you think their medium questions commensurate to GRE's difficulty levels? 

 

I recently got a 155 for Quant in a Manhattan practice test, but am feeling unsure of myself in replicating that score on the actual exam, or receiving a higher score, as there are topics I am not adept with yet.

[vikram8980]

How about the Powerprep tests from ETS, I was having trouble with my scores, since I continuously had 158-160 in verbal and 160+ in quant. I felt my scores were a little inflated, considering I keep hearing how 310 or a 320 is a very good score. I did not feel confident at all in the verbal section, so I guessed my practice tests were easier than the actual GRE. 

 

I then took a powerprep test and scored 328, 168 in quant., and 160 in verbal, and that has been my highest score as of yet. I wonder if the powerprep scores are inflated as well. Any advice, have you scored similar to your practice tests in power prep, or higher or lower??

[nns91]

Just got my official score, is 4.0 on AW a decent score or too low?