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Gottesschaf
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OG vs real GMAT difficulty 12 Jan 2011, 12:50
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Hi,

I am currently working on the OG with 2,5 weeks to go. I went through all sections of it answering about 90% of all questions correct (only sentence correction being far worse, like ~65%). I am just wondering if the difficulty of these questions are anywhere near comparable to the real GMAT difficulty? I did not limit my time on the OG questions and found these much more simple than I expected after the diagnostic test, the missing 10% are mostly due to lack of concentration (did not read exact enough) while only a small part of it is due to lacking understanding/skills.

What do you think? Any advice from people who already took the GMAT?

I still got the MGMAT literature to go before I start to timing myself.
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lagomez
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OG vs real GMAT difficulty 12 Jan 2011, 12:56
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Gottesschaf
Hi,

I am currently working on the OG with 2,5 weeks to go. I went through all sections of it answering about 90% of all questions correct (only sentence correction being far worse, like ~65%). I am just wondering if the difficulty of these questions are anywhere near comparable to the real GMAT difficulty? I did not limit my time on the OG questions and found these much more simple than I expected after the diagnostic test, the missing 10% are mostly due to lack of concentration (did not read exact enough) while only a small part of it is due to lacking understanding/skills.

What do you think? Any advice from people who already took the GMAT?

I still got the MGMAT literature to go before I start to timing myself.
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I think the OG questions have maybe about 5-8 questions that are in the 700 range. The majority are in the 500. Don't rely on the OG otherwise you will be in for a rude awakening. There is nothing like taking simulation exams so my suggestion would be to take a free Manhattan GMAT or Knewton exam and gauge your progress that way.
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lagomez
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OG vs real GMAT difficulty 12 Jan 2011, 12:57
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Sorry. To answer your question. Nothing like the real thing. However, the fundamentals are the same.
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Gottesschaf
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OG vs real GMAT difficulty 12 Jan 2011, 13:06
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Thanks lagomez,

it should rather be me who apologizes after leaving out important info: I am striving for 720 or preferably 700+.

Is there any literature that covers all sections in 700+ areas besides MGMAT (which I already have, thanks for the advice!)? Or would I need to get specific books for each section (I already saw that some mentioned LSAT literature for tough 700+ questions).
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OG vs real GMAT difficulty 12 Jan 2011, 13:20
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Gottesschaf
Thanks lagomez,

it should rather be me who apologizes after leaving out important info: I am striving for 720 or preferably 700+.

Is there any literature that covers all sections in 700+ areas besides MGMAT (which I already have, thanks for the advice!)? Or would I need to get specific books for each section (I already saw that some mentioned LSAT literature for tough 700+ questions).
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Know the fundamentals cold because even the 700-level questions are asking the same fundamentals as the 500-level questions but in a much trickier way. I think most people are good with the MGMAT books and the online resources. There is no point in buying separate books, outside of GMAT books, that cover every topic. Find your weakness and then maybe buy outside materials. Case in point, I could not understand probability for the life of me from the Manhattan Guides. I purchased Probability for Dummies and after reading the first few chapters I was able to to very difficult combination and/or permutation problems. It would have been a waste of time for me to buy an Algebra book because that's one of my strengths.
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skahuh
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OG vs real GMAT difficulty 12 Jan 2011, 14:09
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Just a suggestion: start timing yourself on every problem you do, even now. The key difference between what you're doing with the OG problems and the real GMAT is timing. Every time you sit down to study, do at least 5 or 6 problems timed. If you go over on one problem, note it and move on. Be sure that your overall timing is accurate. When you've gone through it timed, go back and review your mistakes / questions unanswered. This is crucial for developing your test-taking abilities. Also, be sure that you're doing difficult problems from the OG, as it has a whole range.
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Gottesschaf
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OG vs real GMAT difficulty 12 Jan 2011, 15:27
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Just a suggestion: start timing yourself on every problem you do, even now. The key difference between what you're doing with the OG problems and the real GMAT is timing. Every time you sit down to study, do at least 5 or 6 problems timed. If you go over on one problem, note it and move on. Be sure that your overall timing is accurate. When you've gone through it timed, go back and review your mistakes / questions unanswered. This is crucial for developing your test-taking abilities. Also, be sure that you're doing difficult problems from the OG, as it has a whole range.
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Yeah, I was considering to do all the 6 MGMAT Online Tests plus the two official GMAT practise tests to see how I perform timing-wise.
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OG vs real GMAT difficulty 12 Jan 2011, 16:04
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Do one MGMAT test as a diagnostic. Study some of your weak areas for a bit and then use the other to gauge your progress. Repeat. And be sure to take the MBA.com tests before you go in for the real thing. They official tests were much easier for me than the MGMAT tests, but if you're a non-native speaker (German?), you might find the verbal portion of the MBA.com tests different.
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