The primary purpose of this Pretest is to allow you to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses—or, as we call them, your areas of opportunity. If you have ample time before Test Day, you will benefit from working through each chapter in this book thoroughly, taking full advantage of the strategic explanations, and using your online resources for further practice. If, however, you have more limited time to prepare, you may need to prioritize your studies to make sure you spend time addressing the areas in which you are struggling the most—thereby making the most of your opportunities for score improvement.
In either case, understanding your strengths and weaknesses is an essential starting point for your GMAT prep. Each of the explanations that follows is preceded by two labels: one label for the question type (e.g., Data Sufficiency, Sentence Correction) and one or more labels for the question topic (e.g., Arithmetic: Exponents, Verbs). These labels correspond to question types or content areas covered in this book. As you review the explanations, make note of what question types and topics you found most challenging. These are areas on which you will want to place special focus as you work through this book and your online resources.
The explanations themselves are valuable learning tools. Review the questions you answered incorrectly and those you got right. Rework the questions you got wrong so you can be sure to know exactly what to do when you see a similar one in the future. For the questions you got correct, did you answer correctly for the right reasons, or did you follow a lucky hunch? Does the explanation offer an alternative, more efficient path to the right answer that you can add to your arsenal? Or maybe you aced the problem and should take note of your process so that you can repeat it on similar problems!
As you review these explanations, you may not initially understand everything that they describe. Don’t worry about this at first—the GMAT tests many different concepts, and you haven’t yet begun to learn all the valuable Kaplan Methods and strategies contained in this book. You may find it useful to return to these explanations later in your studies, once you’ve read and practiced with this book. It’s likely that by that point, things that were once confusing to you will have become much clearer. It will also be a great confidence boost to see how far you’ve come in your mastery of the GMAT.
And finally, don’t concern yourself too much with how you scored on this test. You’ve still got a lot to learn about the GMAT, but you have the best tools to help you on your journey—and taking and reviewing this Pretest is a great first step. Just remember to be patient with yourself as you make mistakes during your study. Everyone does; it’s normal. But consider this: every wrong answer you choose, and then learn from, reduces the chance that you’ll get a similar question wrong on the one and only day when wrong answers matter. So make mistakes willingly and even happily now, while they don’t count. Just resolve to learn from every one of them.
Happy studying!
calculate the number of questions you answered correctly on the Quantitative and Verbal sections combined. The table below will give you an estimate of your score and the corresponding percentile ranking. Keep in mind also that this score is only a rough estimate, since by definition a paper-based test cannot adapt to your performance the way the computer-adaptive GMAT does. For practice taking full-length computer-adaptive tests, visit your online resources.
Number Correct |
Score Estimate |
Percentile Estimate |
78 |
740–800 |
99 |
77 |
730–780 |
98 |
76 |
720–770 |
97 |
75 |
710–760 |
96 |
74 |
700–750 |
94 |
73 |
690–740 |
92 |
72 |
680–730 |
90 |
71 |
680–730 |
90 |
70 |
670–720 |
88 |
69 |
660–710 |
85 |
68 |
660–710 |
85 |
67 |
650–700 |
84 |
66 |
640–690 |
81 |
65 |
630–680 |
79 |
64 |
620–670 |
74 |
63 |
610–660 |
73 |
62 |
600–650 |
70 |
61 |
590–640 |
67 |
60 |
580–630 |
63 |
59 |
570–620 |
60 |
58 |
560–610 |
57 |
57 |
550–600 |
54 |
56 |
540–590 |
51 |
55 |
530–580 |
48 |
54 |
530–580 |
48 |
53 |
520–570 |
45 |
52 |
510–560 |
40 |
51 |
500–550 |
39 |
50 |
490–540 |
36 |
49 |
480–530 |
34 |
48 |
470–520 |
31 |
47 |
470–520 |
31 |
46 |
460–510 |
29 |
45 |
450–500 |
26 |
44 |
440–490 |
23 |
43 |
430–480 |
21 |
42 |
420–470 |
19 |
41 |
410–460 |
17 |
40 |
400–450 |
16 |
39 |
390–440 |
14 |
38 |
380–430 |
13 |
37 |
370–420 |
11 |
36 |
360–410 |
10 |
35 |
350–400 |
9 |
34 |
340–390 |
8 |
33 |
330–380 |
7 |
32 |
330–380 |
7 |
31 |
320–370 |
6 |
30 |
310–360 |
5 |
29 |
300–350 |
4 |
28 |
300–350 |
4 |
27 |
290–340 |
3 |
26 |
280–330 |
3 |
25 |
270–320 |
3 |
24 |
260–310 |
2 |
23 |
250–300 |
2 |
22 |
240–290 |
2 |
21 |
230–280 |
2 |
20 |
220–270 |
1 |
19 |
210–260 |
1 |
18 |
200–250 |
1 |
17 |
200–240 |
1 |
16 |
200–230 |
1 |
15 |
200–220 |
1 |
14 |
200–210 |
0 |
13 |
200 |
0 |
12 |
200 |
0 |
11 |
200 |
0 |
10 |
200 |
0 |
9 |
200 |
0 |
8 |
200 |
0 |
7 |
200 |
0 |
6 |
200 |
0 |
5 |
200 |
0 |
4 |
200 |
0 |
3 |
200 |
0 |
2 |
200 |
0 |
1 |
200 |
0 |
0 |
200 |
0 |