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89 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
For me, at least, an accurate score predictor, December 26, 1999
Here's my two cents on GMAT Power Prep software. The Power Prep software has some positives and a couple of negatives. At the end of the day though, I found it invaluable.Most importantly, it was an accurate predictor of my score. I scored the same on the actual GMAT as on the first practice test, and ten points less than I did on the second practice test. The main reason I bought it was to predict my score, so it worked well on that count. I tried figuring out why it accurately predicted some people's scores but not others (see other reviews). I'm still mostly at a loss, but I do have a few theories. First, almost all the folks who thought Power Prep was not an accurate indicator thought so over a year ago. Possibly the software has changed a bit since then to be more reflective of the actual test. Second, as some other review mentioned, it could be that those who found the test not an accurate predictor had seen certain questions first in the GMAT official guide (the book), and then seen the same questions repeated on the Power Prep tests. This would have made the practice tests easier than they would otherwise have been. Third, it may be that the actual test is (or at least seems) a little tougher than the practice tests. I think that was the case with me. It may be that the toughest questions on the actual test are experimental, and therefore not scored. It may be that test-time stress makes the actual test seem tougher than the practice tests. Finally, it may be that a little bit of the scored material on the real test is just plain tougher than on the practice tests. To the extent that you're gunning for a high score (700+), I'd make sure to be familiar with some of the more arcane material that the official guide covers in its math review section (eg. probability). However, if the actual test is tougher than the practice tests my experience was that it is marginally so. I didn't find the difference in difficulty to be large enough to explain a large difference in scores, as some other reviews mentioned. Another advantage of the software is that it gives you actual GMAT questions to practice on. I used Kaplan and Princeton Review, and while both were useful in their own way, neither had questions that were as similar to the actual test (the book works well on that score too). Drawbacks include the following, as mentioned in other reviews. First, questions are repeated between Power Prep and the official guide, so do the practice tests first. Second, questions repeat even between tests. I had between 5 and 15 questions repeat between tests 1 and 2. Third, make sure to check answers as soon as you're done with the test - that's the only chance you get. Answer's are not saved, and the test re-sets as soon as you click out of it. Drawbacks aside, my main purpose was to try to predict my score (and get an accurate dry run). For that purpose, Power Prep worked well for me. Hopefully, it will be as indicative for you as well. Finally, a few words about Kaplan. I thought Kaplan's books (I didn't take the class) had some great strategies, particularly for Critical reasoning and data sufficiency. The number properties sections of the kaplan review material helped me quiet a bit. Practice questions, while not as reflective of actual GMAT questions as the official guide and Power Prep, were still helpful. However, the practice tests (as distinct from the questions) were ridiculouly difficult. I scored 200 points less on the Kaplan practice tests than on the actual test, so don't get discouraged if you don't do well on Kaplan's tests - in fact, I wouldn't do them at all. Do practice problems from Kaplan, and actual tests from Power Prep, and finish off with practice problems from power prep or the official guide.
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