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Is studying ONE version of the Official Guide enough?

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Is studying ONE version of the Official Guide enough?

by vishal_c99 » Thu Jul 02, 2009 4:29 am
Hi everyone,

I have recently started preparation for the GMAT. My test date is 18th August, 2009. From today, I have approximately 47 days to complete my preparation.

I took the 1st of two tests from GMATPrep (mba.com) software and scored a 680 (Q:43 and V:39). My target is to be able to score above 750 on the actual test.

I intend to thoroughly cover the following books:

1. OG 12th Ed.
2. Manhattan SC Strategy Guide 4th Ed.
3. Kaplan 800

I also have access to OG 10th and 11th Ed. Here is my question:

In order to be thorough, is it worthwhile to study only OG 12 (probably two times) OR is there any merit in studying OG 12 AND OG 11 (and probably 10th Ed. too) in order to ensure none of the questions are missed?

I am new to the GMAT world, so apologies to those of you who may find my question(s) naive. :)

In addition, I currently have Manhattan Strategy Guide for SC 2003 Ed. and am deliberating buying the latest 4th Ed. Is buying the new version recommended?

Finally, looking at my score (and weak areas - SC and RC), can someone please comment on the choice of my study material. Any additions / deletions recommended?

Thanks in advance to all you guys,

Cheers!

Vishal Chadha
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by VP_Jim » Thu Jul 02, 2009 7:54 am
There is some overlap between OG 12 and OG 11, so if you do study both, it's not like you'll be adding another thousand problems to your regimen. I'm not sure of the exact number, but I think that only about 25% of OG 12 are new problems - someone feel free to correct me on that if I'm wrong!

But to answer your question, I would advise looking at more than just OG 12. I definitely think you should get the quant and verbal supplement guides (the green and purple books). Those books have different problems from OG 11 and 12.

The more questions you've seen, the better, as long as you're not sacrificing quality for quantity. I think that OG 12 plus the quant and verbal supplements should be plenty to keep you busy, and contain an adequate number of problems for you to complete in a couple months and do well on the GMAT.
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by Ian Stewart » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:23 am
For practice questions, OG12 is by far the best book you could have. There are about 300 new questions in OG12, which means 300 questions were removed from OG11 - there's significant overlap, but you may find some value in skimming OG11 for new material if you've exhausted OG12. In particular, if you find that you need more work in the Verbal section, official questions - even older ones - provide much better practice than most prep company questions in my view, so I'd certainly scan OG11 for extra SC and RC questions if you need work there. And you can certainly learn a lot by doing questions twice, or at least those questions you were unsure about the first time - depending on your current level, it may take a while to get everything you can from OG12.
For online GMAT math tutoring, or to buy my higher-level Quant books and problem sets, contact me at ianstewartgmat at gmail.com

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