Official Guide Gmat Review 13th Edition
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Gmat Review Questions
A new Official Guide is out! It’s been a while since we’ve had a new edition, so this is definitely something to be excited about.
GMAT Official Guide. The questions they supplant from the 2017 edition of the GMAT. GUIDE The Official Guides for GMAT Review contain.
The previous edition was released in the spring of 2009 and here we are, three years later, enjoying a fresh, green OG 13 (an abbreviation you’ll often see in the forums). The big change this time around? The test itself will be changing for the first time in years, with the addition of the new, which replaces the Analysis of an Issue essay of the Analytical Writing Assessment starting June 2012. The OG 13 mirrors this, since there’s a new part of the book dedicated to how to tackle Integrated Reasoning. In the back cover of the book you’ll also find a special access code to 50 Integrated Reasoning practice questions on the test makers’ website.
It’s unclear how the new section will be scored, but one thing’s for sure: it won’t count towards that all-important 200 to 800 score you see on MBA programs’ websites, to the relief of many. However, note that the IR section comes before the quant and verbal parts (the ones that do count), so getting tired and/or nervous during the IR section will not do you any good later. That’s why I strongly recommend you practice this new format. As a side note, the new IR questions will look strangely familiar to those who’ve taken aptitude tests for investment banking and consulting recruiting! The other big news is that the book contains 158 new quant and verbal practice questions, out of a total of 907 questions for the two “main events” of the GMAT (if you’re curious to know exactly what the new questions are, check out ). Is it worth buying the book for these new questions, if you’re not taking the test after the IR is introduced? In my view, it’s not, so for those who have the OG 12 and have scheduled their test before June 2nd, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
In fact, if you compare the changes in OG 13 vs. OG 12 with the changes in the OG 12 vs. OG 11, you’ll realize there are significantly fewer new questions: the OG 12 had 300 new questions as compared to the OG 11, arguably a more dramatic change.
Overview As always, the OG is a must for all test takers. Since official guides are the only books that contain real, retired GMAT questions, they are utterly priceless as resources for practice. Replicating the exact structure and “feel” of real GMAT questions is something that test prep companies have yet to accomplish. The book is not exactly “travel size,” but this should be regarded as a plus, since it stems from the fact that the book features 907 questions and quite generous answer explanations (particularly in verbal). But here’s a tip for those looking to prep on the go: GMAC (the makers of the test) have released IPhone and Android apps with all the problems in the book for your convenience!
The problems are structured as follows:. 48 Quantitative and 52 Verbal in the Diagnostics Test.
230 Problem Solving. 174 Data Sufficiency. 139 Reading Comprehension.
124 Critical Reasoning. 140 Sentence Correction Pros. A great, all-in-one resource for official questions, excellent for training your eye to spot commonly-tested patterns. This is the reason why I believe that it’s worth investing some energy even in lower difficulty questions (unless pressed for time).
Detailed explanations in verbal: this is something that I have not seen mentioned often, but I believe is of crucial importance. In all three sections, explanations follow a similar style: an overview of the question and a solid analysis of ALL the answers, not just the correct one. Understanding why your answer is wrong is sometimes even more important than getting it right. Questions are arranged in order of difficulty, so if you have little time at hand and feel sufficiently confident about your knowledge, you can just focus on the last questions of each section.
Good value for your money: at just over 20 dollars on Amazon.com, getting over 900 retired questions is a bargain. Cons.
The OG is not a strategy guide, it’s a “workout list.” Each section contains a review of the subject, but this is not nearly enough to get you through the test, especially if your math skills are a bit rusty. You will need to rely on other resources for concepts!.
While verbal explanations are generally high quality, quantitative explanations are not as great. Some test takers (particularly advanced ones) will often find themselves opting for a quicker or easier way to solve the given problems.
I will however note that more often than not, the OG explanations do not feature number picking. While this is sometimes a faster way to solve a problem, its use is confusing for some GMAT hopefuls.
This book is intended to be a guide for the general test taker, so be prepared to see mostly easy and medium difficulty problems. If aiming for a top score, you’ll need to supplement your prep with harder material (such as LSAT sets for critical reasoning). As mentioned before though, do not neglect the easy stuff, since it gets you in the right mindset for the official style of questions. Baidu pc faster 64 bit. Besides, it’s usually the very easy questions that throw off advanced students! Bottom Line The Official Guide 13th is a must have, no matter your level. Even though you will have to spend some extra money on a good strategy book, getting the OG is crucial for your prep. As you go through various GMAT-related material, you will begin to notice the difference between an official question (clear-cut answers, great structure) and an unofficial question (structure is sometimes lacking, answers not as well defined).
Because the “feel” of official questions is markedly different from that of test prep developed questions, I recommend saving/carefully reviewing some problems for the very last days before your test. On March 30th, 2012 at 8:33 am This was a reaction to the introduction of the new GRE. I personally liked the GMAT as it was and still think of it as a better test (the quant and verbal parts) than the GRE, but I am a big fan at the end of the day so I may not be objective! IMHO the reasons were mainly that: - GMAC had to respond to the sweeping GRE changes with something, be it a section that's not included in the overall 200-800 score. the types of questions they've introduced are more relevant to MBA work than the essay they had in the past.
On April 20th, 2012 at 10:19 am I'm going to try to answer your question, but please note that in the next 2 weeks I will be moving, so I don't think I'll have as much time to answer questions promptly. I highly recommend doing a quick search in the forums, you'll find plenty of info. The books you list might be enough if you are already very strong in quant and don't need a theoretical review for that part. If you feel a bit rusty in quant, then it's worth getting some of the regular quant books from the Manhattan series. The Number Properties and Word Translations books are particularly useful, the Fractions one is kind of easy. On April 22nd, 2012 at 1:40 pm Hi, Great review. Its very helpful.
I plan to appear for GMAT sometime in near future (not sure in which month or even this year) but i wish to start preparing early as I might not be able to dedicate considerable time for prep due to some other commitments. My knowledge of GMAT is basic so I am reading reviews and forums. Till now yours has been the most helpful. Looking at the other reviews I can see that OG,13 and MGMAT are the better books. I am average in quant and below average in verbal. Which books do you think I should start with (OG or MGMAT)? Thanks in advance.
On June 5th, 2012 at 10:54 pm Hi Dana, Great Revoew. I have my exam on 21 st June. So far, I have studied the 8 Manhattan GMAT books; I have prepared the extra 25 exercise that MGMAT provide for each section in their books. I have also performed a number of exams, by MGMAT and MBA. Additionally, I have completed all quantitative exercises in the OG 13 while planning to do an important bulk of the verbal exercices in the next week.
During the last week I just want to relax and revise. My question Dana is that I studied very much for the exam but I have yet to feel masterful of the material. Is this normal? I have done reasonably well on the OG exercises, does this say that I am prepared? I want to get a minimum of 700 on my exam but I am afraid I havn't reached that range yet. Or maybe I just have to think more positively and trust myself more.
Any opinion of urs would be really appreciated. On June 11th, 2012 at 3:41 am Hi Dana.your review and the replies to various questions are really helpful. I will be starting my GMAT prep from this week and plan to give the test in Nov - Dec. I have bought the OG 13 to kick start the prep & will be gradually moving to other books.
My quant has always been the strong point with verbal being average. Can you suggest some good books to go through after I fininsh the OG13. As I have ample time (around 6 months), I am aiming a 720+ score. Thanks in advance. On September 8th, 2012 at 8:38 am It really depends on a lot of factors. Most people study 2-3 months, so the time you have may just be enough. Again, though, your personal circumstances matter a lot.
You should take a diagnostic test and see where you stand. If you're more than 200 points from your target score, it may be unrealistic to expect to hit that score. I recommend checking out the software on mba.com for that. Then it comes down to targeting your weaknesses with the right set of books. My favorites: - Official Guides - Manhattan GMAT set of 5 quant guides - Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction guide - PowerScore Critical Reasoning Bible - Manhattan GMAT Reading Comp guide or Veritas Prep RC book. On December 6th, 2012 at 8:51 am Hi Dana, I'm a beginner in the world of GMAT and have very little knowledge about structure of the exam. I plan to take GMAT in May-June 2013 for which I plan to start my preparation by the end of Dec'2012.
These days i'm researching on google to gather as much information as I can. So far this is the best place where I have found answers to almost all my queries. Based on your inputs I plan to concentrate on OG(all books) and Manhattan (complete package).
I plan to take mba.com's diagnostic test on 15th Dec'2012. My specific question to you is whether I should prepare/study for the diagnostic test or it should be impropmtu? Also, I want to take another diagnostic test on 22nd Dec so that I can know where I stand. Which test should i choose for my 2nd diagnostic test(Manhattan or Kaplan or any other)? Is the 2nd diagnostic test required?
What is your overall feedback on my overall plan. Regards, Yash. On October 8th, 2013 at 12:59 pm Hello Dana, Thank you very much for all the posts. I'm planning to start studying for GMAT next Monday.
English is my second language and I have only 1.5-2 month to prepare. You've mentioned earlier that your favorite books are: - Manhattan GMAT set of 5 quant guides - PowerScore CR Bible - Veritas Prep RC - Manhattan GMAT SC - Official Guides (this one and the verbal, quant supplements). In what order should I approach them? Should I buy all of them? Do you recommend to purchase a book on Integrated Reasoning? What will be the best way for me to prepare for Analytical Writing Assessment? Thanks in advance, Yulia.