Also see: Leveraging the GMAT Scoring Algorithm to Your Advantage There 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 GMAT 2) Veritas Prep 3) Magoosh 4) GMAT Club Tests I 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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Why You Should Use Only Real GMAT Questions

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SouthCity

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14 Aug 2016, 05:29

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Senthil7

When can I begin using the questions taken from GMatPrep CAT1 and CAT2 databases (I think there are 1000+ questions)? I have found them in GMATClub and I have completed both GMAT Prep1 and 2 and won't be re-taking them as I have 4 more Gmatprep CATs remaining from Exam packs 1 &2. In such a case and with my exam date on 10Sep can i download these and practice using them or would these questions be repeated in any of these exam pack CATs ,i.e, GMat Exam Pack1 and Exam pack2?

Though I am yet to write GMAT gain, I was in the same situation a month back. I prefer to practice from official questions and have recently purchased Exam Pack 2 and Here are my observations

1) Both Exam 5 and Exam 6 are drawn from the same question pool. I did the mistake of resetting Exam 6 to get as many new questions as I could. Alas, many questions are repeated in Exam 5. So pl do not reset the pool in between exam 5 and exam 6.

2) Depending on your level, if you prefer to take Exam 5 first, you will feel that Exam 6 is difficult and vice versa. This happens because the question pool is small (about 200 questions) unlike the GMAT Prep question pool (as you said about 1000+ questions)

3) You will see a few questions getting repeated from very old Powerprep (2005-06) tests, but their number is no more than 5% of total questions. So relax and enjoy the test.

4) Questions are as difficult as your other official prep questions and I enjoyed taking both the tests. I wish I knew fact #1 above.

Njoy the party

cheers

South City

mcelroytutoring

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Updated on: 25 Sep 2019, 20:05

Originally posted by mcelroytutoring on 14 Aug 2016, 12:48.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 25 Sep 2019, 20:05, edited 3 times in total.

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SouthCity

Yes, good observations about Exams 5 and 6! Don't reset the first test until you have taken the second.

The same goes for Exams 3 and 4 (they draw from the same question pool), but strangely enough, not Exams 1 and 2 (Default Exam Pack)--perhaps because the question pool for the Default Exam Pack (Exams 1 and 2) is far larger than it is for Exam Packs 1 and 2 (Exams 3 - 6).

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Updated on: 22 Aug 2016, 14:56

Originally posted by tae808 on 21 Aug 2016, 13:35.
Last edited by tae808 on 22 Aug 2016, 14:56, edited 1 time in total.

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Completely agree with this post.
I've purchased several different prep-company materials, including gmatclub, magoosh, MGMAT, E-GMAT and Veritas.
I also solved every question available from OG (including GMATPrep Software).

I realized that there are so many good prep materials for quant. I personally loved GMATClub and MGMAT.
However, for verbal, there is none like OG. It felt like reading reading novels written by different authors.
It's very difficult to say exactly how they are different the the difference is definitely there. There are things that you can learn from the other prep company materials for sure but when it comes to practice questions, finish OG first. That is, 2 books (OG guide and OG verbal) and GMATPrep (3 packs of exams and question bank). It will take you some time to solve every questions on there and by the time you are done with it, you can actually repeat it once more and I assure that you'll get some questions wrong again.

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22 Aug 2016, 14:36

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Brian,

Do you have a 47 in Quant or better in the GMAT?

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29 Aug 2016, 08:16

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I have installed Question Pack and am currently practicing from there. Now, I want to give the GMAT Prep 1 and Prep 2 mocks and I don't want any repetition of questions. How to ensure this since when I started using the question pack, I selected 'to draw questions from 494 set of unanswered questions'. Another thing which I want to ensure is that the questions that I have already practiced from question pack don't get lost anywhere since I want to revise them soon from the software.

Any help would be certainly appreciated.

mcelroytutoring

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Updated on: 25 Sep 2019, 20:06

Originally posted by mcelroytutoring on 29 Aug 2016, 20:33.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 25 Sep 2019, 20:06, edited 2 times in total.

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rmadmit

I'm sorry but I don't understand your question.

Finance0402

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29 Aug 2016, 20:55

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mcelroytutoring

bfarooq

Brian,

Do you have a 47 in Quant or better in the GMAT?

<--- Yes.

Sorry for asking this, might be inappropriate, but do you think that you could have scored higher in Quant? Or did you meet your limit?

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29 Aug 2016, 21:01

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mcelroytutoring

rmadmit

I'm sorry but I don't understand your question.

I have installed GMAC Question Pack(404 qs.) and practiced few questions from that till now. Now I want to take the GMAT prep 1 and 2 mocks and I don't want any questions to appear in the mocks which I have already practiced in Question Pack.

Basically, I don't want to see any questions in gmat prep 1 and 2 which I have already practiced in Question Pack.

In other words, how to ensure that the pool of qs is different.

Hope it makes sense now.

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mcelroytutoring

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Updated on: 25 Sep 2019, 20:06

Originally posted by mcelroytutoring on 29 Aug 2016, 23:22.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 25 Sep 2019, 20:06, edited 3 times in total.

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Finance0402

mcelroytutoring

bfarooq

Brian,

Do you have a 47 in Quant or better in the GMAT?

<--- Yes.

Sorry for asking this, might be inappropriate, but do you think that you could have scored higher in Quant? Or did you meet your limit?

Limits are for quitters! ; ) I'm still going for the perfect 800. I re-take the GMAT at least once every year or so, and plan on eventually earning a Q51/V51 (unless I hit the 8-test lifetime limit first). With a lot of persistence and a little bit of luck, anything is possible.

mcelroytutoring

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Updated on: 25 Sep 2019, 20:06

Originally posted by mcelroytutoring on 29 Aug 2016, 23:23.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 25 Sep 2019, 20:06, edited 2 times in total.

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rmadmit

mcelroytutoring

rmadmit

I'm sorry but I don't understand your question.

Oh, I see! You don't have to worry about that. There is zero overlap between those two sources of questions.

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29 Aug 2016, 23:23

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Question pack 1 has nothing to do with the GmatPrep CATs. They are totally different

Sent from my GT-N7100 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

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02 Sep 2016, 10:55

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Hi Experts,

I really need help in my study strategy. To give a background, I have been studying for the past 3 months and the following are the materials that I have done-

Verbal-

1.e-GMAT course
2. OG13-SC,CR
3. GMAT Prep Question Pack Questions(approx. 30% of all CR,RC and SC)

Quant-

1. OG13
2. GMAT Club Tests(5 of them , even made topic wise tests for weak areas)
3. Jamboree Blue Book(Must Do Qs. 700-800 level qs- Done only for selected topics)

Now, I already know that I have not done certain things completely such as completing RC from OG.I have maintained an error log but I have not revised all the topics from it.

Now, the problem which I am facing is a drop in mock scores. Below are the scores-

1.Kaplan Free Test - 19.6.2016- 580(Q43/V26)
2.Veritas Free Test - 4.7.2016 - 590(Q43/V29)
3.Manhattan Free Test - 19.7.2016- 610(Q44/V31)
4.Manhattan Test 2 - 5.8.2016- 570(Q37/V31)
5.Manhattan Test 3 - 16.8.2016- 570(Q38/V30)
6.GMAT Prep 1 - 1.9.2016 - 490(Q31/V26)

The most surprising and disappointing score is that of 490 in the GMAT Prep 1. Generally, I have read in a lot of posts that Manhattan tests are slightly tougher than the GMAT Prep/Actual GMAT, so I was actually expecting a higher score or at least a similar score as before but such a drastic drop was not anticipated. Also, the test conditions in all these tests have been consistent throughout.

One of the problems which I have noticed during tests is of timing. In quant, I tend to panic if I am not able to solve a question within 2.5 mins. I can't even make an educated guess and just randomly guess on that question after spending 3-4 mins on that question. This has been leading to severe timing problems at the end of the exam. Another problem is dealing with Word Problems where we need to understand the language and then convert them into equations. I have already read the GMAT Club Math Book chapter on Word Problems but somehow, I have not been able to improve in this area.

In verbal, I am generally strong in SC but very weak in CR and RC, but of late I have changed my CR strategy and also have been practicing a lot of CR,so I can see some improvement in that(e.g. getting 6/9 correct in last mock as compared to 6/14 correct in the earlier mocks), but RC still remains to be a pain point. I take about 4-5 mins to read the passage and then approx. 2-3 mins to answer each question. I take approx 3-5 mins to answer Main Point and Inference questions as compared to Specific Detail questions.

One of the problems which I faced in the verbal section in the recent GMAT prep 1 mock is that I spent a lot of time on SC(although this is my strength(approx.80% accuracy) but due to lack of practice, timing became a problem). So, I didn't have any time left for doing 2 RC's which came around Qs.28-35. The blunder that I made was randomly guessing on 2 RC's due to lack of time.

So, I have been following the strategy as mentioned by bb of combining passive learning with active testing, as mentioned in this post(how-to-review-and-analyze-your-mistakes-167118.html), but somehow things are not working out.

Also, I have been employing the guessing strategy wherein I only guess in my weak areas and too ensure that I do it by spreading them across the exam(except the last GMAT Prep 1 exam)

Actually, I was planning to give the exam in first week of September but now since the scores have been on a decreasing curve, I really need to rework on my strategy.

So, in conclusion, I am currently weak in both quant and verbal and this to be honest really is disappointing. I really require expert advice on -

1. Structuring passive learning with active testing
2. Ability Improvement and maintain timing
3. Zero panic during test

I am open to suggestions of any other type as well apart from the ones mentioned above which can help me out in this pathetic situation.

Thanks!

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26 Sep 2016, 00:07

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I have question pack and exam packs 1&2. I am retaking gmat soon in a month. Can I skip OG 2015 and its quant/verbal supplements and instead prepare solely from question pack1 and exam pack 1&2 ? I can search for solutions for exam pack questions on gmatlcub.... so I am feeling that practicing on computer in timed test condition would help rather than practicing questions from book like OG ? Can someone advice whether my thought process is right ?

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09 Apr 2017, 18:58

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hello, should i practice sub-lv 600 gmat questions? particularly those from quantitative sections

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Updated on: 18 Aug 2023, 18:12

Originally posted by dabral on 10 Apr 2017, 21:20.
Last edited by dabral on 18 Aug 2023, 18:12, edited 1 time in total.

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I am no longer active in this forum.

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19 May 2017, 22:44

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hello, I just realize that in real gmat, there is no such things called A,B,C,D,E. All options begin with the blank that we can place the mouse to mark the choices.
In that case, what is the best strategy to deal with GMAT?

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19 May 2017, 22:51

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chessgiants

It is exactly the same way as GMAT Prep :roll:

or even GMAT Club tests. There is no change in strategy, just have to keep track which bubble/radio button is C and Which one is D. I still recommend making a grid for Verbal and crossing off choices in CR and SC to save time and avoid revisiting choices you already eliminated.

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wholenineyards

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I have a question about "There are around 4,000 real GMAT questions available, 1,500 of them for free." How exactly do you get 1,500 of the real questions for free? I was under the impression that the only sources of official questions were: OG, VR, QR, Exam Pack 1, Exam Pack 2, and Question Pack 1. These all cost money, and I assume the questions are copyrighted and therefore not available from third-party sources for free.

So what exactly did you mean 1,500 real GMAT questions are free, and how can I get the other 2,500?

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wholenineyards

So what exactly did you mean 1,500 real GMAT questions are free, and how can I get the other 2,500?

I think the 1500 figure comes mainly from the size of the question pool for the free GMATPrep practice tests. Maybe a few other resources that the GMAT offers for free (free "question of the day" material from mba.com perhaps). You can get the rest of the questions from the sources you mentioned: books and exam/question packs.

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wholenineyards

So what exactly did you mean 1,500 real GMAT questions are free, and how can I get the other 2,500?

Yes, that's correct. There are approximately 1,500 official questions in the question pool of the free GMAT Prep software / "Default Exam Pack" that contains Exams 1 and 2. The other 2,500 questions can be found in the Official Guides, Exam Packs 1 and 2, Question Pack 1, GMAT Focus Quizzes, Paper Tests and Mobile App, as well as here on GMAT Club.

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