Gmat Official Guide 2022: Book + Online Question Bank

For an expensive book, the quality is sub-par making each page a genuine annoyance to read

If you are starting out with the GMAT, you will need to get this book of questions. get this book BUT you will need others to get a strong GMAT score.I am the founder of GMAT Club community and here are my thoughts about the OG:1. GMAT Official Guide does not contain any strategies, tips, or techniques to help you learn content. It is only a collection of highly valuable questions. Don't think you can just get this one book and nail the test - you will need review and refreshers for quant and grammar as well as strategies. It can be books, a course, a tutor, etc.2. This edition does not contain any new questions compared to the 2021 edition (published in 2020). There is a new section that contains a bit of quant and grammar review that goes beyond last year's section but it is nothing that will really help you with studying. If you own 2021 edition, do NOT buy this edition. Instead get the Quant or Verbal OG Books (they have non-overlapping questions) or consider getting the Question Pack or Exam Packs (plenty of places to spend your money on official GMAT Questions)3. In case you are wondering about the question level/difficulty in this book - it is Medium on average with mostly easy and medium questions and about 15% harder ones. If you want to know the exact difficulty of each question, search for "Official Guide Directory 2022"~~~ Strengths ~~~1. Real GMAT questions retired from past tests - 995 real GMAT questions retired from past tests.2. Difficulty of questions listed at the back (though it looks like they split the questions into 3 groups - easy, medium, and hard, just by pure even distribution, not real difficulty)3. Online quiz engine allows you to build practice sets using the OG but it is very weak and cumbersome (more below) but the engine is flawed at the moment - it will be updated later in the year4. Practice questions follow actual GMAT test patterns (it's great to have one's ear trained, esp. in verbal)5. Overview of the Integrated Reasoning section (74 questions online)6. Mobile app version but hard to get (In case you are like me and searched the App store to only find nothing, you will need to download the Wiley Efficient Learning app and login with your online account at Wiley to get access to the OG Question bank on your mobile device). Seems more hassle than it is worth.~~~ Weaknesses ~~~1. The quiz system is too simplistic and cumbersome. For example I have no idea how to start working on question 10 or take only assumption questions for example, though it is an upgrade from the previous version... Perhaps I have been spoiled with good GMAT Prep and other CAT Test interfaces. I am struggling here.2. Questions are EASY/MEDIUM difficulty in general (only about 5 questions are really a 750 level) based on GMAT Club member feedback.3. Does not include any test-taking strategies. Though it has a few short review sections for each area, they are weak and very unfriendly4. We really could have used some new questions. The official Guide questions are generally on the EASY side.5. There is a 100% overlap with previous edition.~~~ HOW DO I STUDY WITH THIS BOOK? ~~~You don't really study with the book. You rather practice the questions and I recommend attempting questions by topic. You will need other books to cover certain topics such as Number properties, Geometry, Parallelism or Assumptions and then you use this book for practice/quizzes. For example, you can get the Manhattan GMAT Set of Guides or the Veritas Prep Guides. These book sets are targeting specific Math and Verbal areas. You have a much better chance getting a 700+ with those book sets but they also do require at least 2.5-3 months to cover them. The MGMAT Books come with 6 adaptive online tests. If you only have a month, you can get the Kaplan book set (Premier and Verbal/Quant workbooks - they can do the job but not as luxurious with tips and strategies as MGMAT or Veritas Prep).~~~ What are some of the good study suggestions? ~~~- Start with a practice test (diagnostic test)- You need quality time. It is really the quality time (morning for some and evening for others) that provides the most retention and results- Don't skip or move past a section until you're able to solve 90% of the questions correctly (timed of course). That is if you want 700+- Try to solve questions while timing yourself. Even if you are not limiting your time, still get a sense of how you are doing. It is helpful sometimes not to worry about the time and put that away from your mind and learn how to apply strategies first. However, in the last third of your prep, you definitely want to time every single question.- Don't jump into the hardest areas first - build confidence instead with what you know and can demonstrate progress at- Start every new day with the review of what you have learned the day before- Make notes for everything you cover - it helps tremendously to retain what you have learned even though you may never read them. The process of making notes is a very helpful learning experience. If nothing else works - use it- Finally, your practice tests are a usually a very good indicator of your performance. If you are getting 600 on your practice tests, there is about a 2% chance that you will get a 700 score. Believe in yourself but also - be realistic with yourself not to waste $250 test registration fee.Let me know if you have any questions - i reply to commentsBB, Founder of GMAT Club750, q49, v42.