GMAT 2016 Official Guide Bundle

I've been a GMAT tutor in NYC and online for over ten years and am the founder of Atlantic GMAT (100% GMAT 0%BS!). I've already reviewed all three of the 2016 Official Guides, so here are summaries along with new question breakdowns for each book (main reviews are on each book's page). The GMAT Official Guide 2016 bundle is an excellent deal. If you are near the start of your GMAT preparation this is pretty much a no brainer purchase. Keep in mind that this is essentially a question bank MEANT FOR PRACTICE and has VERY LIMITED TEACHING MATERIAL. That said, the questions in these books are absolutely the best thing to practice on. Avoid third party/non-official questions as they lack the nuances of the real deals (especially verbal questions). Even though there are small annoying issues with it, I'd buy the Kindle version to best approximate how the test will be. You can download the corrected Kindle answer key from my website. Here’s what we’re going to cover in the review: Official Guide 2016 vs Official 2017. Is it worth buying new Official Guide? Kindle vs. Paperback -Which version is better and why -What are the issues with the Kindle version. (The corrected Kindle answer key can be downloaded from my website). What other official GMAT resources should you consider buying New questions broken down by category *****************************************Official Guide 2016 vs Official 2017************************************ The short answer is: if you can get it at a significant discount, buy the 2016 edition! The new guide (2017) has some unreleased questions but those questions aren’t necessarily any better than the questions that they are replacing in the older guide. Will doing that handful of newer questions actually impact your score? I seriously doubt it. Here’s the exception: Are you the type of person who will not rest easy knowing that there is the possibility of having the slightest, basically undetectable, only theoretical edge? Do you need the absolute best of the best, newest of the new? Are you fine with paying the surcharge? Rest easy. Buy the new edition! The point is: no harm will come from sticking with the 2016 bundle or from buying the new one. But, why wait and pay more for essentially the same thing? Will I be getting the new guide? Of course! I have an archive of every GMAT question from the last 10 years. But, I’m a GMAT tutor looking for every advantage possible for my students regardless of cost. And for me it isn’t 2016 vs 2017. I buy everything (except for AWA and IR materials). *********************************************Kindle vs. Paperback******************************************** Kindle by a mile! You will be taking your GMAT staring at a computer screen so practice as you will play by staring at a computer screen while working on HW. This makes a difference. Beyond that, the kindle version is in the cloud so you can access it anywhere. No need to carry around a massive set of books. And: save some trees! THERE ARE PROBLEMS WITH THE KINDLE VERSIONS. These issues are mostly related to the Kindle format, not the guide itself. Some of the math equations are small. That said, I have been using the kindle versions for years without an issue. Neither I nor any student has EVER been unable to read an equation. The other issue is that the answer key numbering is wrong. Well, not really wrong, but hard to read. It looks like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and then instead of “10” the key flips back to “0”. Then “11” isn’t “11” but “1”. So you can find the answers but it is annoying. But (drum roll please), I created a new CORRECTED ANSWER SHEET for Official Guide 2016. I can’t post links here but you can download it from the OG 2016 review on the Atlantic GMAT site. **********Besides OG2016, Official GMAT resources you should consider buying********** For most people, these four resources are essential: GMATPrep Question Pack 1 [Online Code ] (big question bank that lets you sort questions by difficult and type. You can create mini-tests that are great for getting you close to competition mode). GMATPrep Exam Pack 1 [Online Code (Official GMAT Practice test with official questions and scoring algorithm. This is the same as a real GMAT). Exam Pack 2 (Same deal as Exam Pack 1. Two more Official Tests) Atlantic GMAT Practice Pad + 2 Markers (You should do all of your tests with the same GMAT scratch pad that you’ll use on test day) In addition, these last two are for students who want to eak out that last 1%: GMAT Focus Online Quantitative Diagnostic Tool: Bundle of 3 [Online Code ] (These are computer adaptive Quant quizzes. Buy the bundle of three.) GMAT Paper Test Set 1 [Download ] (Retired GMAT paper tests. The Quant is too easy but the verbal is helpful. Don’t do the reading comprehension as it overlaps with the GMAT Prep 1 and 2). Official GMAT resources are limited (especially practice tests). DO NOT WASTE THEM!!! Before you start blasting practice tests go ahead and make a study plan and consider at what point it would make sense to take tests. In general, take one test at the beginning of your studies to get a baseline score and to get a sense for the exam. Then, work on your fundamentals. Have a good strategy for most of the GMAT questions types. After you are in a good rhythm, start taking practice tests. Every case is different, but consider getting into practice test mode about 4 weeks before your GMAT. ***********************************Official Guide 2016 Question Breakdown*********************************** -201 brand new questions (I recognized a handful but couldn't quite place them - could be from tests I've taken, from some legacy product, or actually a new question that is a very close clone of an old one). -Problem solving questions mostly centered in medium difficulty (no new questions past #153) -Lots of substitutions in PS Geometry. Slight boost for combinatorics and overlapping sets. -New Reading Comprehension passages mostly long and difficult. Excellent additions. -Critical Reasoning Assumption based reasoning got a major facelift. Difficulty level increased a shade. -No big news on Sentence Correction or Data Sufficiency -Same very limited teaching material from the old edition. This is a book for practice not a book for learning. PROBLEM SOLVING - 57 New Questions/24.7%: 1, 2, 3, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21, 25, 27, 30, 31, 33, 38, 39, 43, 44, 45, 55, 56, 57, 59, ,60, 61, 63, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 73, 76, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 97, 99, 107, 108, 111, 114, 117, 122, 125, 134, 136, 137, 139, 142, 153 -Percents 1 (Percents), 11 (Percents), 55 (Percent/Word Problem), 30 (Percents/Arithmetic/Word Problem), 99 (Word Problem/Percent) -Work/Rate 59 (Work/Rate), 76 (Work/Rate), -Ratio/Proportions 19 (Ratio/Proportions), 134 (Proportions/Word Problem), 114 (Mixture) -Algebra/Arithmetic 2 (Arithmetic/Fractions), 3 (Algebraic Translation), 14 (Arithmetic), 21(Algebra/Arithmetic), 25 (Algebra/Multiple Equations), 61 (Inequalities), 66 (System of Equations) -Exponents 56 (Exponents/Word Problem), 57 (Exponents/Roots/Number Properties), 83 (Exponents), 85 (Exponents/Roots/Arithmetic), 67 (Arithmetic/Exponents), 68 (System of Equations/Exponents), -Number Properties 38 (Number Properties/Digits), 107 (Number Properties), 108 (Number Properties), 17 (Number -Properties/Absolute value/Exponents), 43 (Number Properties), 87 (Consecutive Integers) -Overlapping Sets 69 (Overlapping Sets/Percents/Word Problem),89 (overlapping sets), 91 (overlapping sets) -Combinatorics 117 (Combinatorics), 136 (Probability) -Statistics 137 (Average), 15 (Average), 88 (Average), 111 (Average) -Functions/Sequences/Formula 39 (sequence),63 (Functions/Exponents), 82 (Formula/Arithmetic), 97 (formula), 27 (Data Interpretation) -Geometry 13 (Geometry/Quadrilaterals/Word Problem), 18 (Geometry/Triangles), 31 (Geometry/Mixed Shapes), 33 (Geometry/Triangles), 44 (geometry/coordinate), 45 (Geometry/Quadrilaterals), 60 (Geometry/Coordinate), 70 (Geometry/Mixed Shapes), 73 (Geometry/Quadrilaterals), 86 (Geometry/3D Shapes), 122 (Geometry/Mixed Shapes), 125 (Geometry/Quadrilateral/Word Problem), 139 (Geometry/Quadrilateral/ratio), 142, 153 (Geometry/Coordinate), DATA SUFFICIENCY - 44 new questions / 25.2% 7, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27, 29, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 48, 49, 51, 54, 55, 60, 64, 67, 73, 77, 80, 83, 84, 86, 92, 94, 115, 121, 134, 135, 136, 137, 150 -Combinatorics 7 (probability), 73 (Geometry/Combinatorics) -Exponents 20 (Exponents), 37 (Square Root/Match the Expression/Special Quadratic), 39 (special quadratics), 41 (Exponents/Inequalities) -Geometry 136 (Coordinate), 137 (Triangles), 26 (Mixed Shapes/Quadrilateral), 27 (Coordinate), 49 (Quadrilaterals), 51 (Quadrilaterals), 115 (Mixed Shapes), 86 (3d Shapes), 77 (Geometry/Number Line) -Work/Rate 134 (Threshold/Rate/Word Problem), 84 (Average Rate) -Counting Equations 10 (Translation), 21 (Interest/Word Problem), 23 (Word Problem), 64 (Word Problem), 67 (Word Problem) -Number Properties 16 (# properties/Inequalities), 94 (Number Properties/Digits), 54 (Exponents/# Properties), 60 (# Properties), -Overlapping Sets 150 (Overlapping Sets), 29 (Overlapping Sets), 19 (Overlapping Sets) -Statistics 135 (Statistics), 14 (Statistics), 15 (Statistics), 92 (Average) -Threshold 48 (Threshold/Work), 46 (Threshold/Word Problem), 34 (Threshold), 80 (Threshold) -Translation 40 (Percents), 55 (Ratio/Word Problems), 83 (Threshold), 18 (Algebra) -Formula/Function/Sequence 12 (Sequence), 38 (Formula), 121(Function/Number Properties/Exponents) OG 2016 READING COMPREHENSION- 6 new passages, 31 new Questions /22.3% Page 370 (Short) Questions 8-10 Page 386 (Long) Questions 42-47 Page 404 (Long) Questions 96-101 Page 408 (Long) Questions 107-112 Page 416 (Long) Questions 130-136 Page 418 (Short) Questions 137-139 OG 2016 CRITICAL REASONING - 34 new questions / 27.4% 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 21, 30, 37, 39, 41, 43, 48, 49, 53, 55, 57, 58, 60, 63, 65, 67, 70, 76, 77, 79, 81, 84, 94, 97, 100, 106, 109, 121, 124 Strengthen/Weaken: 2, 3, 4, 21, 30, 37, 39 (oddball), 48, 55, 57, 60, 63, 65, 67 (oddball), 76, 77, 79, 94, 97, 106, 121, 124 Assumption: 8, 37, 41, 49, 70, 84, 109 Evaluate: 100 Inference: 1, 53 Paradox: 58 Boldface: 81 Fill in the Blank: 43 Assumption Based: 29 -Strengthen/Weaken - 21 -Assumption - 7 -Evaluate - 1 Content Based: 5 -Paradox - 1 -Boldface - 1 -Inference - 2 -Fill in the Blank - 1 OG 2016 SENTENCE CORRECTION - 35 new questions / 25% 2, 4, 7, 10, 13, 18, 21, 23, 27, 28, 31, 35, 37, 42, 46, 52, 63, 66, 73, 80, 86, 90, 97, 101, 111, 116, 120, 124, 126, 128, 132, 133, 136, 137, 138 ******QUANTITATIVE REVIEW 2016 DETAILS****** -Noticeable shift to tougher questions -Still easier than OG 2016, Question Pack 1, GMAT Focus, and GMAT Prep -Good skill builder with a few genuinely tricky questions not represented in OG 2016. PROBLEM SOLVING (Total 44/175) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 33, 40, 48, 63, 68, 70, 79, 80, 82, 86, 87, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 116, 119, 125, 126, 127, 142, 143, 144, 145, 152, 157, 158, 160, 161 -Number Properties 34 (odd/even), 87 (+/-, absolute value), 94 (digits), 96 (divisibility), 125 (remainder), 142 (oddball), 160 (function/exponents/digits) -Arithmetic 1, 3. 5 (word problem), 7(fractions/decimals), 10 (+/-) -Exponents 2, 33, 119, 161 -Ratio/Proportions 9 -Work/Rate 63, 68, 86 -Algebra/Translation 15, 19, 48, 95 (inequalities), 97 (absolute value/inequalities) -Percents 4, 21, 22, 70, 82, 127 -Statistics 99 -Overlapping Sets 98 -Combinatorics 157, 158 -Geometry 20 (quadrilaterals), 116 (coordinate), 145 (hexagon), 152 (pyramid/puzzle) -Sequence/Function/Formula 13, 79, 80, 134, 143, 144 DATA SUFFICIENCY (31/124) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 63, 110, 120, 121,123, 124 -Number Properties 9 (+/-), 32 (absolute value, +/-), 37 (remainder), 40 (consecutive integers/parity) -Arithmetic 1 (fractions/decimals), 3 (rounding), 43 -Exponents 7, 29 -Ration/Proportions 20 -Work/Rate 123 -Algebra/Translation 4, 8, 13, 16 (inequalities), 31 -Statistics 41, 42, 63 -Overlapping Sets 19 -Combinatorics 121 -Geometry 2 (quadrilaterals), 10 (triangles), 24, 26 (cube), 120 (coordinate), 124 (parabola) -Sequence/Function/Formula 15, 25 -Threshold 5(rate), 110 -Counting Equations 6, 33 ******VERBAL REVIEW 2016 DETAILS****** -Reading Comprehension passages are mostly easy and not long. -Sentence Correction update focuses more on easy questions as well. For content, parallelism is still dominant. -Critical Reasoning got an excellent update adding a worthwhile amount of tougher questions. -Not an amazing update but the Verbal Review 2016 improves upon and already worthwhile skill builder especially in the Critical Reasoning. VERBAL REVIEW READING COMPREHENSION 26 new questions/24.7% Page 22/23 (short) -Questions 1-4 Page 26/27 (medium) -Questions 11-17 Page 30/31 (short) -Questions 23-26 Page 38/39 (long) -Questions 39-42 Page 58/59 (medium) -Questions 99-105 VERBAL REVIEW CRITICAL REASONING 25 new questions / 30.1% 3, 7, 16, 21, 25, 28, 33, 35, 38, 43, 46, 50, 52, 53, 55, 60, 62, 64, 67, 68, 71, 72, 75, 78, 83 ASSUMPTION - 18 Strengthen 7, 38, 67, 78 Weaken 21, 25 (best criticism), 68, 72, 83 Assumption 75 Flaw 62 Evaluate 46 (wordy prompt), 52 Fill in the Blank/Strengthen 3, 28, 43, 50, 71 CONTENT - 7 Boldface 60, 64 (long) Inference 16, 53 (two person) Paradox 33 (wordy prompt), 35, 55 VERBAL REVIEW SENTENCE CORRECTION 25 new questions / 22.1% 2, 3, 8, 11, 14, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33, 37, 38, 42, 43, 47, 48, 50, 55, 63, 65, 73, 80, 92, 99, 103 -Agreement/Verbs/Pronouns 11, 19 (past perfect), 30 (tenses), 43, 48, 80 (tense), 103 (tense) -Parallelism 2, 23 (list), 33 (list), 38 (comparison), 55 (comparison), 65 (list), 92 (comparison, modifier) -Modifier 3 (like vs as), 8, 14, 37 (list), 47, 50, 63 (comparison), 73 (comparison), 99 -Other 26, 42 I hope this is helpful! If you are looking for more GMAT Study Strategies, Study guides, GMAT Question of the day, or just some inspiration have a look at the Atlantic GMAT site. Comment with any questions!

The publishers of the GMAT Official Guides had asked GMAT Genius to help them improve the online versions of the Official Guides. GMAT Genius worked closely with the publishers in this effort in the weeks leading up to the release of the 2016 editions. This has given us an opportunity to thoroughly analyze the 2016 Official Guides, and we want to share our insights with you. Feel free to read our detailed analysis or to skip down to our conclusions. OVERVIEW The Official Guides for GMAT Review contain retired real GMAT questions, and are an essential component of your GMAT preparations. The GMAC places questions in order of increasing difficulty, based on its assessment of difficulty. The three books in this bundle have no overlap in practice questions. Unlike the 2015 edition, which contained no new questions, the 2016 edition contains 352 new questions out of the 1,508 total questions. Excluding the 100 questions in the Diagnostic Exam section of the main book, the new questions represent 25% new content as promised by the GMAC. These are brand new questions that we have not encountered before; they are not questions recycled from older GMAC resources. Since we have published a detailed review for each of the three Official Guide books included in this bundle, our objective below is to provide a combined analysis of each question type (e.g. combine data for all Problem Solving questions across all books). You will find a list of new questions in our reviews of the individual books. PROBLEM SOLVING The Official Guide Bundle contains a total of 430 Problem Solving questions. The GMAC classifies question difficulty into three categories as follows: Easy – 145 (33 more than 2015 edition) Medium – 117 (58 fewer) Hard – 168 (25 more) There are 101 new Problem Solving questions, with difficulty of Easy / Medium / Hard as follows: 43 / 37 / 21. This is in lieu of 101 questions from the 2015 edition that have been removed, with difficulty of Easy / Medium / Hard as follows: 29 / 40 / 32. A total of 58 questions have been assigned a different difficulty than they were in the 2015 edition. GMAT Genius classifies question difficulty into five categories. Our assessment of Problem Solving skews more towards the center and is only 61.0% correlated with the GMAC’s assessment, demonstrating tremendous subjectivity involved in assessing question difficulty. Here’s our breakdown: Super Easy – 30 (4 fewer than 2015 edition) Easy – 122 (6 fewer) Medium – 189 (3 fewer) Hard – 67 (12 more) Very Hard – 22 (1 more) Although many math questions entail multiple math concepts, GMAT Genius classifies questions based on our assessment of the primary math concept. What stands out most is the decrease in algebraic equation questions and the increase in function / sequence questions. We break down the 430 Problem Solving questions as follows: Arithmetic - Basic: 15 (1 fewer than 2015 edition) Arithmetic - Absolute Value: 6 (1 more) Arithmetic - Divisibility: 12 (2 fewer) Arithmetic - Exponents & Roots: 35 (same) Arithmetic - Factors & Multiples: 13 (1 more) Arithmetic - Fractions: 36 (1 more) Arithmetic - Percents: 37 (same) Arithmetic - Pos/Neg & Odd/Even: 5 (same) Arithmetic - Primes: 4 (1 fewer) Arithmetic - Ratios: 17 (2 fewer) Algebra - Formula: 11 (4 more) Algebra - Inequalities: 6 (3 fewer) Algebra - Linear Equations: 17 (3 fewer) Algebra - Quadratics: 15 (same) Algebra - Simultaneous Equations: 13 (5 fewer) Algebra - Variables in Answers: 9 (1 more) Geometry - 3D: 8 (1 more) Geometry - Circles: 9 (same) Geometry - Coordinate: 13 (same) Geometry - Rectangles: 12 (1 more) Geometry - Triangles: 11 (1 more) Geometry - Other: 4 (2 fewer) Statistics - Averages: 30 (2 more) Statistics - Other: 6 (1 fewer) Word Problems - Combinatorics: 9 (2 more) Word Problems - Functions & Sequences: 23 (6 more) Word Problems - Groups/Sets: 11 (same) Word Problems - Interest: 5 (2 more) Word Problems - Mixture: 0 (1 fewer) Word Problems - Probability: 10 (same) Word Problems - Revenue/Profit: 7 (same) Word Problems - Rates & Work: 21 (2 fewer) DATA SUFFICIENCY The Official Guide Bundle contains a total of 322 Data Sufficiency questions. The GMAC classifies question difficulty into three categories as follows: Easy – 68 (27 more than 2015 edition) Medium – 66 (47 fewer) Hard – 188 (20 more) There are 75 new Data Sufficiency questions, with difficulty of Easy / Medium / Hard as follows: 31 / 23 / 21. This is in lieu of 75 questions from the 2015 edition that have been removed, with difficulty of Easy / Medium / Hard as follows: 11 / 17 / 47. A total of 57 questions have been assigned a different difficulty than they were in the 2015 edition. GMAT Genius classifies question difficulty into five categories. Our assessment of Data Sufficiency skews significantly easier and is only 55.3% correlated with the GMAC’s assessment. Here’s our breakdown: Super Easy – 21 (2 more than 2015 edition) Easy – 83 (7 more) Medium – 147 (14 fewer) Hard – 58 (5 more) Very Hard – 13 (same) Although many math questions entail multiple math concepts, GMAT Genius classifies questions based on our assessment of the primary math concept. What stands out most is the decrease in simultaneous equation questions. We break down the 322 Data Sufficiency questions as follows: Arithmetic - Basic: 16 (3 fewer than 2015 edition) Arithmetic - Absolute Value: 1 (same) Arithmetic - Divisibility: 7 (3 fewer) Arithmetic - Exponents & Roots: 25 (2 more) Arithmetic - Factors & Multiples: 6 (same) Arithmetic - Fractions & Ratios: 17 (2 fewer) Arithmetic - Odd/Even: 7 (1 fewer) Arithmetic - Percents: 21 (3 more) Arithmetic - Pos/Neg: 10 (2 more) Arithmetic - Primes: 2 (same) Algebra - Inequalities: 20 (2 more) Algebra - Linear Equations: 13 (2 fewer) Algebra - Quadratics: 11 (same) Algebra - Simultaneous Equations: 25 (10 fewer) Geometry - Circles: 12 (same) Geometry - Coordinate: 10 (5 more) Geometry - Rectangles: 7 (1 more) Geometry - Triangles: 12 (3 fewer) Geometry - Other: 7 (2 more) Statistics - Averages: 20 (1 fewer) Statistics - Other: 15 (4 more) Word Problems - Functions & Sequences: 11 (1 more) Word Problems - Groups/Sets: 16 (1 more) Word Problems - Interest: 4 (same) Word Problems - Probability: 5 (1 more) Word Problems - Revenue/Profit: 9 (2 more) Word Problems - Rates & Work: 13 (1 fewer) SENTENCE CORRECTION The Official Guide Bundle contains a total of 271 Sentence Correction questions. The GMAC classifies question difficulty into three categories as follows: Easy – 66 (8 more than 2015 edition) Medium – 96 (12 fewer) Hard – 109 (4 more) There are 60 new Sentence Correction questions, with difficulty of Easy / Medium / Hard as follows: 19 / 21 / 20. This is in lieu of 60 questions from the 2015 edition that have been removed, with difficulty of Easy / Medium / Hard as follows: 8 / 28 / 24. A total of 49 questions have been assigned a different difficulty than they were in the 2015 edition. GMAT Genius classifies question difficulty into five categories. Our assessment skews noticeably easier and is only 61.1% correlated with the GMAC’s assessment, clearly showing that there is subjectivity involved in assessing question difficulty. Here’s our breakdown: Super Easy – 6 (1 more than 2015 edition) Easy – 82 (5 more) Medium – 101 (5 fewer) Hard – 64 (1 fewer) Very Hard – 18 (same) Although Sentence Correction questions typically entail multiple grammar concepts (as described on our website), GMAT Genius classifies questions based on our assessment of the primary tested concept. Parallel construction clearly stands out as the most prominent category. We classify the 271 Sentence Correction questions as follows: Verb Agreement: 26 (same as 2015 edition) Verb Tense: 33 (1 fewer) Pronoun Ambiguity: 22 (2 fewer) Pronoun Agreement: 13 (1 fewer) Parallel Construction: 84 (3 fewer) Misplaced Modifiers: 26 (4 more) Idioms: 16 (2 fewer) Comparison & Quantity: 23 (1 more) Expression & Meaning: 28 (4 more) CRITICAL REASONING The Official Guide Bundle contains a total of 224 Critical Reasoning questions. The GMAC classifies question difficulty into three categories as follows: Easy – 74 (8 more than 2015 edition) Medium – 71 (18 fewer) Hard – 79 (10 more) There are 59 new Critical Reasoning questions, with difficulty of Easy / Medium / Hard as follows: 14 / 25 / 20. This is in lieu of 59 questions from the 2015 edition that have been removed, with difficulty of Easy / Medium / Hard as follows: 13 / 28 / 18. A total of 33 questions have been assigned a different difficulty than they were in the 2015 edition. GMAT Genius classifies question difficulty into five categories. Our assessment skews slightly easier, yet is only 66.3% correlated with the GMAC’s assessment, clearly indicating subjectivity involved in assessing question difficulty. Here’s our breakdown: Super Easy – 0 (same as 2015 edition) Easy – 75 (6 more) Medium – 84 (6 fewer) Hard – 48 (5 fewer) Very Hard – 17 (5 more) We have grouped the questions based on the question type categorization that GMAT Genius uses for Critical Reasoning (as described on our website). Weaken and Strengthen questions continue to dominate. We break down the 224 Critical Reasoning questions as follows: Weaken: 46 (4 fewer than 2015 edition) Strengthen: 43 (1 more) Assumption: 23 (2 more) Reasoning: 10 (1 more) Conclusion: 14 (4 fewer) Explain: 24 (1 more) Evaluate: 24 (3 fewer) Boldface: 12 (1 more) Complete the Passage: 28 (5 more) READING COMPREHENSION The Official Guide Bundle contains a total of 261 Reading Comprehension questions across 48 passages. The GMAC classifies question difficulty into three categories as follows: Easy – 80 (33 more than 2015 edition) Medium – 112 (23 fewer) Hard – 69 (9 fewer) There are 57 new Reading Comprehension questions, with difficulty of Easy / Medium / Hard as follows: 24 / 10 / 23. This is in lieu of 56 questions from the 2015 edition that have been removed, with difficulty of Easy / Medium / Hard as follows: 9 / 19 / 28. GMAT Genius classifies question difficulty into five categories. Whereas the GMAC assigns the same difficulty to all questions for a given passage (except in the Diagnostic Exam section), GMAT Genius assesses the difficulty of each question individually. Our assessment skews very slightly harder, but is only 47.2% correlated with the GMAC’s assessment, in large part due to different difficulty assessment methodologies. Here’s our breakdown: Super Easy – 10 (2 fewer than 2015 edition) Easy – 58 (7 more) Medium – 111 (4 fewer) Hard – 63 (1 fewer) Very Hard – 19 (1 more) We have grouped the questions based on the question type categorization that GMAT Genius uses for Reading Comprehension (as described on our website). Specific Reference and Inference questions continue to dominate, but Specific Reference declined noticeably. We break down the 261 Reading Comprehension questions as follows: Primary Purpose: 39 (2 more than 2015 edition) Author's Tone: 16 (1 more) Organization: 7 (1 fewer) Function: 36 (6 more) Specific Reference: 98 (9 fewer) Inference: 55 (5 more) Critical Reasoning: 10 (3 fewer) OTHER NOTES The main Official Guide provides an 11-page overview of the Integrated Reasoning section, along with online access to 50 Integrated Reasoning practice questions. The IR set includes 12 new questions that we have not seen before, replacing 12 questions that were in the 2015 edition. The 50 questions consist of the following four types: Graphics Interpretation – 10 (4 changed) Multi-Source Reasoning – 18 (4 changed) Table Analysis – 6 (1 changed) Two-Part Analysis – 16 (3 changed) The books contain a 40-page Math Review section that provides a very high-level overview of the math concepts tested on the GMAT. This math review will be highly inadequate except perhaps for the most advanced math students. Similarly, the brief introductions to the concepts tested on the verbal section are highly inadequate. We recommend that you use additional study materials to learn the math and verbal concepts. Although all questions include answer explanations, many GMAT test takers are far from satisfied with these explanations. Math explanations can be brief and hard-to-understand for non-advanced students, and are sometimes convoluted or inefficient. Most GMAT test takers consider the Sentence Correction explanations quite cryptic. The Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension explanations, however, are reasonably good overall. This bundle includes access codes that provide 12-month usage of an online version of the Official Guides. Since the GMAT is a computer-based test, we believe that it is advisable to work though the questions online. We recommend that you use Exam Mode rather than Practice Mode, since we recommend that students practice using timed question sets. The online practice interface has improved from last year’s version. The publishers implemented some of our recommendations, but they did not incorporate many of our functionality improvement suggestions. One major flaw that we discussed with the book publishers, but that has not been fixed, is the inaccurate timing for “Previous Sessions.” Timing statistics are accurate when you initially review a question set, but the timing per question data is inaccurate when you later access the same question set. If you already have the 2015 editions of the Official Guides, it is debatable whether the addition of 176 new math questions and 176 new verbal questions makes this edition worth purchasing. Our opinion is that advanced students will not find enough additional challenging practice to justify the purchase, but other students could purchase this edition for additional practice given the relatively low cost. CONCLUSIONS The Official Guides have three primary weaknesses, in our opinion: 1) An insufficient amount of difficult practice questions, particularly based on GMAT Genius’ assessment of difficulty 2) Math answer explanations that are too often either brief or convoluted and Sentence Correction explanations that are too cryptic 3) Inaccurate timing data for Previous Sessions and inadequate functionality in the online practice interface Despite its flaws, the Official Guide Bundle is an essential source of GMAT practice. We are pleased to see 25% brand new questions in the 2016 edition. We believe that every GMAT aspirant must use these books (or the prior edition). For these reasons, we give the Official Guide Bundle a 5-star rating. For the best value, we recommend purchasing this bundle rather than purchasing the books separately. GMAT Genius provides significantly more analysis of the Official Guides on the GMAT Genius blog at GMATgenius.com/blog/. Click on the category Official Guides. You will also find extensive free GMAT preparation advice on the GMAT Genius website at GMATgenius.com/gmat-preparation/. In addition, we offer the highest-quality private GMAT tutoring to students worldwide. Feel free to get in touch with any questions about your GMAT preparations. We look forward to helping you achieve GMAT success!

Love the books, but I just wish they were more structured. If you're using a study plan - these are great. But if you're starting to study from scratch, I would recommend a more structured study series like the MGMAT books. The explanations are very succinct to the point where someone like me - studying independently - finds it more time consuming to try and dissect the information rather than have them walk me through it with detail, using a proper progression of concepts and thought. The sample questions are randomized. So you can't just focus on one strength and move on. Again, if you use a lesson plan like the 60-Day GMAT prep, it's possible to get a lot done, but it needs external structuring. The practice tests are great and the supplemental content online is great as well - but all for practice when you're toward the end of your studies and are working toward the stretch before the test - like final two weeks or so. Question content is solid. A lot of great hard questions - a majority of the books are actually medium to hard questions which is awesome. Great books, but definitely need supplements. Everyone learns differently.

I am a Harvard grad and professional GMAT tutor with 15 years of experience, and am fairly obsessed with this test. I also take the GMAT at least once a year to stay up-to-date, including a recent score of 770 (48 V/47 Q). These books receive my strong recommendation because they provide a great source of real GMAT questions at a decent price (they normally retail for about $45). One aspect of these books that you must understand is that they are not meant to teach you GMAT test-taking strategy. For that, look elsewhere (see product links below). However, they include some of the very best practice materials available, straight from the test-maker, and although the answer explanations are often convoluted, they are still useful in understanding how the GMAC thinks. Why are the 2016 Official Guides the very best place to start your GMAT preparation, other than the free GMATPrep software? Because the questions in these books are super-realistic. They are just like the questions on the real GMAT, because the book is written by the test-maker and uses actual, retired GMAT questions. Don't waste your time and money practicing on questions made by any other companies--these are merely inferior imitations of the real thing. If you must use other materials for test strategy, then that's fine, and in most cases necessary, but try your best to stick to official questions whenever possible. Pro tip: You can take each of the 6 GMAT Prep CATs more than once, because the GMAT is an adaptive test (it adjusts the difficulty level of later questions based on your previous responses). There are about 4 to 16 times as many questions in the GMAC's question pool as there are in any given test, which means that every test you take will be different. Tests 1 and 2 draw from a (gigantic!) pool of about 1,500 questions, and tests 3, 4, 5, and 6 draw from a more modest pool of about 400 questions each. To re-take your GMAT Prep tests, click "reset" in the lower-left hand corner of the GMAT Prep software window, but make sure to take screenshots of your previous test sessions beforehand--frequent screenshots are a good idea anyway because the software is prone to crashing and losing your data. For your screenshots, use either the "Print Screen" (Windows Key + PrtScn) button on a PC or (Shift + Command + 3) on a Mac. It's important to remember that although these physical GMAT books are extremely helpful, the GMAT is still a computer-based test, which means that you should still do the majority of your work on a computer. For this reason, consider buying the Kindle versions of the guides, as well as making full use of the computer-based practice options available from the GMAC. Or, if you prefer to buy the physical books, then you can also use the access codes located in the sealed pouches in the back covers of the books to access a free web-based version of the books, where you can try most of the questions in the books in an online format, and organize quizzes by question type / difficulty level (easy, medium, hard). You will also have to create a Wiley account, which is worth it because it allows you to travel without the physical books, so long as you have internet access and a computer. One annoying aspect of the 2016 version of the Wiley site is that it automatically logs you out due to inactivity after a very short amount of time. Hopefully the 2017 version of the software will fix this bug. Instead of giving you a paper and pencil, the GMAC also requires you to use a water-based maker and a laminated sheet like this one: Manhattan GMAT Test Simulation Booklet w/ Marker I don't recommend always using the laminated sheet, because it's messy and harder to keep track of your notes that way. But it makes sense to at least use it a few times, just to get the feel of it before test day. As was the case with the 2016 editions in comparison to the 2015 editions, 25% of the questions in the upcoming 2017 editions of the OG will be new. Since the 2017 versions haven’t been released yet, I obviously haven’t had time to comb through the 2017 versions and compare them precisely to the 2016 versions, but I’m sure that either I or someone else will compile a full list of the new questions in the 2017 editions ASAP, along with links to their explanations on the GMATClub forum and similar sites. (For explanations and classifications of every question in the 2016 Official Guide, google "GMAT Club Guide to the GMAT Official Guide 2016.") Are the questions from the 2017 versions any better than the questions they are replacing from the 2016 edition? No, not really. Yes, some of the additions might technically be “new” questions, but many others are simply retired questions from past GMAT exams, so there is no guarantee that these questions are either any newer or any better than the questions they supplant. Moreover, early adopters of the 2017 editions will find that certain questions are so new that it’s hard to access online explanations until GMAT tutors like me (username: mcelroytutoring) start posting them, which could take weeks or even months. While I will concede that the questions in these books are roughly ordered from easy to hard, there are some curious places where low-numbered questions are quite difficult for most of my students, and vice-versa. Thus, I think that we can’t necessarily take GMAC at their word here, especially since there has already been evidence in past official guides of the GMAC moving the exact same questions to radically different locations in the books, which suggests that we shouldn’t trust the GMAC at its word in this regard. If the questions are truly ordered from easy to hard, for example, then why would a question numbered in the 30s suddenly show up in the 90s on the next edition? It is important to note that the difficulty level of questions in this book is sufficient for most test takers, but is admittedly a bit lacking on the high end. If you are going for a GMAT score of 700-plus, then you should spend more time practicing on questions from the GMATPrep software and Exams Pack 1 and 2, which offer more difficult questions that will be closer to the ones you see on your actual test day. Remember: the GMAT is an adaptive exam. If you answer a lot of questions right, then the test keeps getting harder (as your score rises), and if you answer a lot of questions wrong, then the test keeps getting easier (as your score lowers). And the questions on the test are “front-loaded” so that the first 1/3 of questions have a much larger impact on your score than does the final 1/3 of questions. If you do run out of official GMAT Prep computer tests (the first two are free, and you can buy four more from GMAC), then I can recommend the Manhattan GMAT CATs (computer adaptive tests). Just buy one book from the Manhattan GMAT series, and it will give you access to all 6 online CATs: GMAT Sentence Correction (Manhattan Prep GMAT Strategy Guides) For free video explanations to all the math questions in these books, google "GMAT Quantum," or if you prefer to read your explanations, then just try google searching the first few lines of your question's text. I would also strongly recommend that you check out informative websites such as GMAT Club, Beat the GMAT, and Atlantic GMAT, and that you consider retaining the services of a qualified private tutor such as myself. For those of you who are just getting started, here is the overall structure of the GMAT: 1) Analysis of an Argument Essay (AWA or Analytical Writing Assessment): 30 minutes, 1 question. 2) Integrated Reasoning (Multi-Source Reasoning, Table Analysis, Graphics Interpretation, Two Part Analysis): 30 minutes, 12 questions. Please note: unlike the Verbal and Quantitative sections, the IR section is not adaptive. 3) Optional 8-minute break 4) Quantitative Section (Problem Solving, Data Sufficiency): 75 minutes, 37 questions (2 minutes per question) 5) Optional 8-minute break 6) Verbal Section (Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, Sentence Correction): 75 minutes, 41 questions (1.8 minutes per question) Keep in mind that on the GMAT you cannot go back or skip any questions, and that the first 12-15 questions of the Verbal and Quantitative sections have the most impact on your score due to the adaptive scoring algorithm. A correct answer will yield a slightly harder question in most cases, and vice versa, and the GMAT will gradually determine your score as you go. The largest adjustments are made at the beginning of the test, which is why the first 1/3 of questions are so essential. Also, approximately 10 to 25% of the questions on the actual GMAT are experimental—you don’t know which ones they are, and they don’t count toward your score. Here are my most essential GMAT Resources, ranked from most important to least: Practice: 1) Free GMATPrep Software - 2 diagnostic CATs (Exams 1 and 2: 180 questions total) and 90 practice questions out of 1,500 possible questions 2) GMAT 2016 Official Guide Bundle - 1 diagnostic test and over 1,500 practice questions and answer explanations GMAT 2016 Official Guide Bundle - about $45 3) GMATPrep Exam Pack 1 - 2 diagnostic CATs (Exams 3 and 4: 180 questions total) out of 400 possible questions - GMATPrep Exam Pack 1 [Online Code ] $50 4) GMAT Prep Exam Pack 2 (New Release with 2 New Tests -- not yet available on Amazon) - 2 more diagnostic CATs (Exams 5 and 6: 180 questions total) out of 400 possible questions - $50 Please note: you can save $10 by buying #3 and #4 together as an Exam Pack Bundle from the GMAT website for $90. 5) GMATPrep Question Pack 1 - 404 questions with answer explanations and ability to sort questions by type and difficulty - $30 GMATPrep Question Pack 1 [Online Code ] 6) The Official Guide for GMAT® Review 2016 Mobile App The Official Guide for GMAT® Review 2016 -$5 for 50 questions and $30 upgrade for an additional 800 questions 7) GMAT Focus Quizzes - 24 questions per quiz (math only) - $30 per quiz and 4 total GMAT Focus Online Quantitative Diagnostic Tool: Single Use [Online Code] 8) IR Prep Tool - 48 Integrated Reasoning Questions GMAT IR Prep Tool [Online Code ] - $20 9) GMAT Write - 4 Auto-Graded Essays for $30 10) GMAT Enhanced Score Report - Technically this is not a practice tool, but it provides an in-depth look at your score, including overall rankings, rankings by question type, time management information and a summary of your strengths and weaknesses, which can be helpful if you plan to take the test more than once. - $25 Strategy: 1) GMAT Club Forum - Free explanations to nearly every official GMAT question, as well as questions written by other companies (I do not recommend practicing on non-official questions). 2) GMAT Quantum - Free video explanations to nearly every official GMAT quantitative question. 3) Manhattan Prep GMAT Series: $144 for the entire series Complete GMAT Strategy Guide Set (Manhattan Prep GMAT Strategy Guides) or about $16 for one book which gives you access to 6 online CATs GMAT Sentence Correction (Manhattan Prep GMAT Strategy Guides) . 4) LSAT Preptests for Extra Critical Reasoning and Critical Reading Practice: $20 for 10 tests 10 More, Actual Official LSAT PrepTests: (PrepTests 19 through 28) (Lsat Series) 5) Magoosh Free Online Materials 6) Powerprep Critical Reasoning Bible: $21 The PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible 7) Powerprep Reading Comprehension Bible: $35 The PowerScore GMAT Reading Comprehension Bible Princeton Cracking the GMAT Premium Edition with 6 Computer-Adaptive Practice Tests, 2017 (Graduate School Test Preparation) and Kaplan are OK for strategy too. I prefer Princeton Review’s GMAT guide (full disclosure: P.R. is my former employer) to Kaplan’s (in my humble opinion, a mediocre, corporate behemoth who somehow always manages to rank #1 on Amazon with lots of suspect 5-star reviews), but any effort to write an "all in one" guide to a test as complex as the GMAT is destined to be at least a partial failure. The Kaplan and Princeton guides can be helpful if you are a below-average scorer trying to obtain an above-average score without too much effort, but the perfectionists among us will be frustrated by their lack of depth and unrealistic practice questions. Finally, you can google "GMAT Action Plan - McElroy Tutoring" to read my personal, frequently updated recommendations for GMAT Prep. Please feel free to leave comments and/or ask questions below--I enjoy analyzing the intricacies of this challenging test, and will always try to respond in a timely fashion.

I'll start off by saying... The GMAT is a daunting task. What I initially thought would be a 3 week study session turned into a 6 month monster. One of the staples that got me through it, however, was the 2016 official guide bundle. These books have everything you need to know for this test. They are organized, efficient, and best of all, the questions are all retired ex-GMAT questions. The book is organized so that the questions seem easy at first and then become increasingly more difficult. It is a great way to ease into the material and familiarize yourself with questions types. I went through every question in each of the books at least three times and this led to a point increase from 510 to 710 over those 6 months. I personally would recommend purchasing this bundle in conjunction with a course by a reputable company (like MGMAT) and you should be good to go. Regardless, this is a fantastic product from the GMAC council. What you see here is very in line with what you will see on the test.

Good practice but should not be main source of study. I've taken Kaplan Online Prep and that raised my score by 80 points from my 1st to 2nd attempt. I am using this, in addition to Kaplan & Veritas Prep as practice for my last and final attempt. The differences between the resources are actually large. In these books, sections only include the main ones without subsections (ex: Data Sufficiency, Problem Solving, IR, Sentence Correction, etc) and with the levels of Easy, Medium, and Hard. HOWEVER for Kaplan's online tools (not the Kaplan Premier basic) offered with the live-online class, they offer on-demand videos, large quiz bank WITH sub sections (ex: flaws, assumptions, number properties, properties of sets) in addition to the medium, hard, easy level options. If you're a good test taker, non-procrastinator, fast learner, and not aiming for 600+ scores, you may get by with just these materials.

Ordered these books about a month before sitting for the GMAT. I'm an engineer by trade, so I didn't study all that hard, but the materials did a great job of allowing me to get comfortable with the formatting of the exam. I found the quantitative review to be a great quick hit guide on things I needed to freshen up on, while the reading comprehension sections allowed me to tighten up on where I was lacking there. The quality of the questions were very high, and certainly keyed me in on what to expect. I don't know how much these brought my score up, but at a 690 (86%) with 10 hours of study....I'm not complaining. I'd highly recommend.

I just opened the bundle and I immediately saw areas that I'm weak in and this is just what I've needed to brush up on my skills before taking the GMAT. I bought this bundle and the Kaplan bundle. Both are awesome, but I especially like that this is from the Graduate Management Admission Council. That carries a lot of authority and trust. I feel very confident that the information in these books will help me with scoring high enough to get into the business school of my choosing, or in the least, make me very competitive.