I would like to state that this review is not only for studyplaces, but for a couple of other free online tests as well. As I am giving my GMAT in 3 months time & have been actively surfing the NET to get as much practice & related info that I can get.
From my experience, I can safely say that the official test (from mba.com) is the best of the lot in terms of usability. There are two sample tests, but, it is a full test, i.e. no separate test for Quant or Verbal. I wanted to
practice the verbal part more, but, I had to complete the quant part before I could reach the verbal one.
Sites such as crack-gamt.com & testpreview.com also offer free online test. The problem with the first – a full length one time 150 minutes test- exactly what I didn’t want. Testpreview on the other hand although giving sectional questions doesn’t give you answer explanation. Also, you will have to time yourself manually.
Studyplaces offers the tests to its members. You can register yourself and then take the test (Let me tell you…the thank you for your subscription mail uses the font of an ant). I took the verbal test as I wanted sentence correction practice. First the plus points; the test provides an option where you can flag the questions (just like the official version on mba.com)…i.e. you can check the correct answers. For usability, I would give it
a 5; for quality, a 7.5. A time tracker & real time results are the other plus points.
Now, the minus points…I couldn’t help but feel that test material was prepared in a hasty manner. Firstly, there are a number of spelling mistakes that I would not have expected in an online prep test, especially one that tests your aptitude for the English language. I am well aware with the rules, but, I was appalled when I saw incorrect directions against a question. A couple of questions are copied form the Official GMAT Guide (11th edition) too. In one of the reading comprehensions, there was a hyperlink on three words. Out of curiosity, I clicked on one of them.
It took to me to the web page from which the question and answer was directly copied… (I always say…copying is an art, not everybody knows it). But the one thing I absolutely hated was the way in which the test was formatted. The page was divided into two. The left hand side margin had the no. of Qs, the flag button, the next & previous button (surprisingly on top…would be much easier if it was at the bottom part). The right hand side of the page had the Q & the multiple answers. You had to constantly scroll up & down or right & left to read the whole damn thing…so frustrating I tell you. The site is still in Beta version. I am only hoping that the wire frame for the test will be changed to a more student friendly one soon.
If you overlook these points, I guess the prep test on the site is a good indicator of your progress. All in all, I would rate the GMAT prep test as 7/10.