GMAT Review: The Official Guide

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition (Paperback)
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From the Publisher:
The only study guide with real GMAT questions - and their answers - developed by the test creators.

In the 11th edition, you'll find some useful new features: a new diagnostic section to help you figure out where to focus your test-prep efforts, 800 questions organized by difficulty to save you study time, a comprehensive math review of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and word problems, and the skills tested by the GMAT exam about 270 Analytical Writing Assessment topics.

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition offers 800 retired GMAT questions and thorough explanations of the answers. Practicing with questions that have appeared on the GMAT exam before will prepare you for the types of questions you'll see when you take the real thing. This guide will help you learn what you need to know to answer those questions correctly.

There is no overlap between questions found in the Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition, the Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review, the Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review, and GMAT Prep.

Customer Reviews

Delivery was quicker than i expected
I thought the book might take 3 or 4 business days, but got the book on second business day. Happy with the shipping.

Essential for good score....master it completely
Official Guide, as the name suggests, is an official collection of retired GMAT questions, published by GMAC, who own GMAT. Here, I will review this book and its importance in the overall preparation.

First, I was short on time in preparing for GMAT and applying in time. So, I didn't had time to go over all the material and guides available in this universe, and then compare and review them.

Second, before you start your preparation, or make your plan, you need to understand what GMAT is and what it measures. Then try to understand how much time and effort you will need to achieve a good score, for the school(s) you are applying to.

- OG will certainly help you to understand what is GMAT, what it measures and how the different sections test your those capabilities.
- The Diagnostic Test, taken under strict examination conditions, will measure your current performance and identify the areas you need to focus.
- The Verbal and Quant sections of OG are mainly a collection of past GMAT questions, their answers, and explanatory solutions.
- There is very little theory/concepts and very generic strategies. However, do read them carefully.

Once you identify the areas you need to focus on, find the guides with concepts, fundamentals, and tips and tricks. Do your research by reading reviews, and consulting your peers who have used them in past. Every guide is different and have different difficulty levels. What works for one may not work for another.

For Sentence Correction, I will recommend Sentence Correction GMAT Preparation Guide (Manhattan GMAT Preparation Guides). For other sections, I used an old, borrowed edition of Nova's GMAT Prep Course (with Online Course). Unfortunately, I cannot comment about Kaplan, Princeton, Veritas etc since my aim was to get a good score and not compare all these guides. (I spent 3 weeks overall and got a very decent score)

Coming back to OG, here is what I recommend:
- Do all the questions.
- Do all the questions, at least three times. By doing so, you can master a lot of concepts and calculations.
- Do not get discouraged if you get low scores on simulated tests of the other study guides. Actual GMAT level is closest to this OG. Other guides' sample exams have a hidden marketing motive too. They want you to buy their books or take their course. So, their questions' level may not be same as that of actual GMAT. In fact, I found some of them very difficult. (Won't take names, but I took those online free sample exams from those famous names in Study Guides & preps)
- If you have time, get GMAC's Verbal and Quant supplements to practice more & more.

At last, it's all about speed & accuracy. Best of Luck!

Poor preparation material
This book begins by stating that it is virtually all you will need in order to score well on the GMAT. I went through the book backwards and forwards - again and again and again. Mind you, I have an MBA from a very good school already and am well able to study and master material. Upon taking the GMAT for my PhD program, the test had nothing even remotely similar to what this book prepared me for. Certainly, there are basic math principles involved, but the overall format and question types in this book didn't at all resemble what I was tested over on the actual GMAT. Outside of that, I was amazed at the number of grammatical errors in the book, especially as it is an 11th edition. Many of the exercises have incorrect verbiage and/or signage as it relates to math problems. If you are getting prepared to take the GMAT, you had better not leave it to this product.