Manhattan 5lb quant diagnostic different from actual test?

[phckmaroon5]

Hi,

For the past week or so, I've been struggling through the manhattan quant gre computerized practice test (scoring around 161-163, aiming for 167+). Mostly my issues have been with time (seem to always run out with 1 left) and stupid mistakes-- although some questions are really tricky! I was a little discouraged because I was previously scoring  166+ on the ETS paper practice tests. Anyways, I wanted to hit the books to bump my score, so I went ahead and bound the 5lb practice problem book.

The weird thing is that today I took the quant diagnostic included in the book and breezed through it, getting all the questions right with about 10 minutes of extra time. I was able to go back through the questions and felt certain about all my answers in contrast to rushing till the end of the computerized tests. What gives?? I'm not sure where I'm at now in my actual scoring/ why there's such a large discrepancy between my scores. What tests should I trust to predict performance on actual test day?

[Eigen]

Paper vs computerized. Computerized tests give you increasingly difficult questions the more you get right, paper tests can't do that. 

[Vince Kotchian GRE Prep]

If you analyze Manhattan questions (or any third-party questions) vs. ETS ones, you'll notice that ETS questions are more complex and often have a reasoning component. In other words, they're designed to reward you for thinking and noticing ways to make the question easier. 

Eigen is right; if you want a more realistic score, take a computer test. For the most realistic scores, take the ETS Powerprep2 tests.

[TheBumChikiBum]

If you analyze Manhattan questions (or any third-party questions) vs. ETS ones, you'll notice that ETS questions are more complex and often have a reasoning component. In other words, they're designed to reward you for thinking and noticing ways to make the question easier. 

Eigen is right; if you want a more realistic score, take a computer test. For the most realistic scores, take the ETS Powerprep2 tests.

Agree with Vince. ETS questions are complex although slightly easy. If you are getting 161 to 163 here, you should be able to get 166-168 appx on the actual test. Depends. Also, yes, the Manhattan and ETS tests are the best out there. Use them extensively. 

The quant has got tough these days. Just gave the GRE today.

Edited October 1, 2015 by TheBumChikiBum