GRE practice tests

[jcam17]

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I am retaking the GRE's this year and have enrolled in KAPLAN's classroom course. I have studied my tail off for the verbal and have memorized all the words from princeton review and kaplan's vocab books as well as about half of Barron's 3500 word list. I took my first computer adaptive practice test this time, and got about the same as my first score on quant (630) but got a 720 on the verbal. This was a lot higher than my first time around, which would be indicative of the amount of studying I have done. Do you guys think these are accurate indicators of actual scores? Any experiences with them? Thanks

 

[WaitingKills]

I can't say anything about Kaplan's practice tests, but I know from using the Barron's practice CD (apparently computer adaptive) that I scored about 100 points higher on each section in the real exam than on the CD.

In my opinion, use the practice scores as a gauge rather than anything more concrete.

Being that you are getting decent scores you should be alright. I would be more worried if you were getting 300's or 400's on the practice tests. I don't think they inflate scores significantly, but may underestimate more often.

 

[zeldazelda]

I just took the GRE last week and studied using the Kaplan book. The practice tests on the CD that came with the book were not indicative of my actual scores but the adaptive tests were (once I had completed most of my studying).

I took one Kaplan online adaptive test and the two ETS Powerprep adaptive tests close to taking the actual GRE. My total score was within a 10 point range across the four tests (three practice and actual). The individual scores varied a little more -- my verbal score was within a 60 point range and the quantitative was in an 80 point range; although if I exclude one of the prep tests, there is only a 20 point range on each individual score.

Pretty darn close I thought. Not a statistical sample, though so YMMV...

 

[Reem16]

From my experience studying for the GREs, only the ETS adaptive tests gave me an accurate estimate of what my scores were actually going to be. The Kaplan adaptive tests kept underestimating my scores by 50 to a 100 points. They were very good to study with though, as their questions prepare you well for the difficult portions of the real test. But don't be discouraged if the scores seem lower. And feel very happy if your scores are higher!