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Leveraging the GMAT Scoring Algorithm to Your AdvantageThere is a lot of debate on GMAT Club as to whether you should use only real GMAT questions (around 4,000 official GMAT questions currently available), and I have a strong opinion on the subject, so I’d like to weigh in.
To do so, I am going to use an extended analogy: soccer (or fùtbol), the world’s most popular sport.
For example, I am going to be coaching my two daughters in their soccer league this summer, and I am already thinking about how to organize the practices. Let’s say that I start by watching a video of an expert girls’ soccer team scoring lots of goals and playing great defense. Think of this video as the correct solutions to GMAT official questions: the model to which we all aspire.
When watching this video, I notice that in order for goals to be scored (questions answered correctly), several events in a row need to work out in our favor: usually at least 1 defensive play (think of these as catching your mistakes on the GMAT) and 3 quality passes for each goal (at least 3 steps required for each GMAT problem, given the complexity of the test).
Should I:
A) Have my team try to recreate every goal that I see on the video, pass for pass and step for step?
B) Work only on fundamentals?
C) Find a compromise between the two by working on fundamentals and teamwork?
Obviously, the answer is C. But in the same way that you should when preparing for the GMAT, let’s think about why A and B are not correct.
A) This is unrealistic. Soccer games are full of variables, so it is unlikely that the players will be in the perfect position to replicate another team's previous success. (Think of this as other companies simply switching out the numbers / words from official GMAT questions--it provides false certainty by giving you the EXACT SAME type of question you were expecting.) GMAT Questions are like snowflakes--no two are exactly the same.
B) This provides false confidence. Yes, you might be able to dribble the ball well without anyone guarding you (and in fact, basic GMAT skills are definitely worth practicing, especially for lower-scoring students), but for every hour spent practicing test fundamentals on your own, you should practice "with a defender on you" (trying random, official questions, not hand-picked synthetic questions). False confidence is what the test-prep companies give you when they feed you full of facts, formulas and other well-known information, and they follow up with easy questions designed to test the very same information or strategy that they just spoon-fed to you.
You might leave your GMAT class or tutoring session feeling full of knowledge, but they are mostly empty calories.Let me put it another way: a common question I get from my students after reviewing a difficult question is, “OK, so next time it’s going to be just like this, so I’ll do the same thing, right?” I wish I could say yes, but the truth is that the GMAT is far more complicated than that. When you are taking the GMAT, you need to build foundational skills, yes, but that is only the beginning. You also need to build improvisational skills, and this is harder to do when working with questions that are written to fit the strategies--questions that are essentially copies of copies, and have zero originality to them.
Although memorization of previous questions can help, memorization isn't enough to excel on the GMAT because the questions on test day will only resemble the official GMAT questions. You could memorize the essay topics, yes, but not the questions themselves...otherwise you will become an inflexible GMAT robot rather than an intelligent human test-taker, a talented futbolista (a la Messi, who had a
free kick of beauty yesterday vs. the US) who is able to adjust to the variables of the game in real-time.
One thing you will notice when you practice with real GMAT questions is that, as I've already stated, none of them are exactly the same. Which is why memorization and canned strategies can only take you so far.
Remember, on the real GMAT, the test isn’t going to tell you what’s coming. It’s not going to say: “OK, here are a bunch of work/rate questions and here’s how to do them” or "watch out for the tricky wording on this one," or "use the assumption negation technique," or "watch out for redundancy here." You’re going to be given random questions, and you’re going to have to improvise on the spot, based upon your training.
Now, it is true that if I’m reviewing an official GMAT question with a student, and an issue of strategy or learning comes up, then I will often take the opportunity to address that issue separately, and perhaps by using an easier, more simplified example. But simplifying the GMAT is a tricky road to travel, because it’s not a simple test. The elements can be mastered individually, but we must then learn to use them in combination, using authentic questions that reflect all the nuances of the GMAT.
Instead of being first introduced to a strategy, then being spoon-fed questions to fit that strategy, you should be given real questions and practice the art of GMAT improvisation. From that improvisation will come the information you need to improve, and then, easier, synthetic questions can be practiced with for learning and strategy purposes.
GMAT companies are tripping over themselves in a rush to prove that they have “the best” methods and secrets to acing the GMAT. But the truth is that success on the GMAT is not easy; if it were, then everyone would do it. In my opinion it requires at least 100 hours of focused, organized study, using real GMAT questions, not poor imitations.
One of the main issues with mainstream test-preparation guides such as Kap. and Princeton Review is that their questions are not realistic. They are either way too easy, way too hard, or in some cases, incomprehensible and incorrect. In particular, imitation Verbal questions are quite poor because it’s hard to replicate that GMAT “feel” without basically copying real GMAT questions word for word and switching out just enough content to avoid a copyright lawsuit.
As far as GMAT math questions, it’s pretty easy to copy real GMAT questions by just switching the numbers around a bit. But if you’re going to do that, then why not just use the originals?
Another issue to keep in mind here is that GMATClub (like Beat the GMAT, but decidedly less so) is inhabited by corporate interests who want to sell you a product, so of course they will tout their own materials.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ):
Q: I prepared using non-official questions and did just fine. Why?A: Congrats! But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t have done even better using official questions.
Q: Why are the questions in the OGs so easy?A: They are not as easy as many claim (GMAT Club users are smarter than the average GMAT test-taker), but yes, they are easier than are the questions in the GMAT Prep software.
Q: The GMATPrep software is clunky. Why not just use GMAT Club?A: GMATClub is a great resource. But it cannot replicate the interface of the real GMAT in the same way that the GMATPrep software (both the Question Packs and the Exam Packs) can. When you are preparing for the GMAT, you should not only be making sure to use official questions, but you should be practicing on the very same interface that the test itself uses at least 50% of the time.
Q: Are you saying that I won’t need any GMAT strategy or learning guides, just official questions?A: No, of course not. Using GMAT Club and other books for strategy and learning is highly recommended, but try to stick to official questions whenever you can. Read
my review of the GMAT 2017 Official Guide for more information and book recommendations.
Q: Should I study using only a computer, and ditch the physical books altogether? A: No, the books are helpful for many. Just don't get too used to them...use a computer at least 50% of the time.
Q: Are you only saying this because you are a self-interested private GMAT tutor, and thus don't want your students using other helpful materials?A: No, of course not. Serious GMAT students need to put in at least 100 hours of preparation, which will likely include many outside materials, and that's fine with me, especially for strategy and learning purposes (but less so for practice questions and practice tests). The more work you put in outside of class on GMAT basics, the more we can focus on the finer details of the test. In addition, although I am happy to tutor my students using whatever materials they so choose (which is why I am very familiar with the different synthetic GMAT resources available), I still recommend only real questions for purposes of realism.
Many of my students are dissatisfied former clients of the big-name GMAT companies, and no GMAT online learning system or class can match the services of a live human being who is a GMAT expert. In my 16 years of teaching this test, I've taken a lot of students from 650 to 700-plus, in part by narrowing our focus to real GMAT questions only, with an emphasis on the Exam Packs and the Question Packs to see more of the harder questions.
By all means, take a class from another company, or sign up for an online course. The more work you put in before you see a tutor, the better. But before you do so, understand that not all GMAT questions are authentic representations of what you will see on test day, and not all GMAT advice is helpful, accurate, or realistic. Consider your sources and their biases before trusting anyone, including me and the other experts on this forum.
Here are my preferred sources for non-official GMAT questions:
1)
Manhattan GMAT2) Veritas Prep
3)
Magoosh4)
GMAT Club TestsI certainly don't understand the perception that private tutors wouldn't want their students to use helpful resources such as GMAT Club, online courses and guided study, in-person courses, etc.. As someone who actively supports and frequently posts articles / answer explanations on GMAT Club, that's a mystifying presumption.
Instead, I see GMAT Club,
Magoosh etc. as useful supplements to GMAT private tutoring, not a replacement. If I could only tell you how many times I've had students tell me, "I looked this one up on GMAT Club, but I still don't understand the explanation." There are limitations to learning from a forum or a website or a book or class, instead of one-on-one learning from a human being who can actively listen to your questions and respond in real-time, in a way that it customized to your particular learning style.
At the same time, however, for every one of those questions, there might be another 2 or 3 questions for which GMAT Club is immensely helpful. Thus, it allows my students to save on my tutoring fees by only focusing on those questions for which they were not able to find an understandable explanation.
-Brian
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Updated on: 25 Sep 2019, 19:54
