As promised, we now have a detailed write-up of the Official Guide for GMAT Review Verbal 2nd Edition.  The skinny is that there are 81 new problems (27%) that were not present in the 1st Edition.  None of the new problems is particularly groundbreaking, and some of them appeared in past released GMAC resources.  For a detailed problem list by topic, visit our write-up and select a topic to see precisely where the new problems lie.

The bottom line is that if you own the 1st Edition, spending an additional $17.95 for 81 problems would be helpful, but not vital.

The Quant Guide will be reviewed next week.  Also, in case you missed it, we did the same for the 12th Edition a little while back.

One of the great GMAT myths is that the first 8 questions in each section “make or break” your score and that nothing you do after that point has much of an effect on the score you end up with. False! Eight questions are not enough to determine your score. If they were enough, each section would consist of 8 questions.

One of the consequences of the myth is the belief that in order to break 700, you must answer those first 8 questions correctly. Untold numbers of test-takers have labored over the first eight, afraid that any mistake will send their scores plummeting to unthinkable depths. While it is true that you should give each question your best shot, the absolute number of questions answered correctly is not as important as their difficulty level. Better to have a 50/50 success rate at a high level than a 50/50 success rate at a lower one, even though the percentage of right and wrong answers is the same.

The most serious upshot of this myth is that its believers spend far too much time on the first eight questions and then find themselves racing to finish the section. Often, these test-takers run out of time and leave some questions unanswered at the end of a section. Given that unanswered questions are essentially counted as incorrect answers, it makes more sense to move at a steady pace throughout the entire section rather than concentrate on any particular subset of questions. In fact, spending too much time on early questions may actually damage rather than help your final score.

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Following up on the release of the 12th Edition of the Official Guide for GMAT Review, GMAC is now releasing the 2nd editions of both the Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review (released this week) and the Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review (to be released in the next couple of weeks).

As was the case with the 12th Edition, we will be breaking down the new guides in detail.  As a preview, 81 of the 300 verbal questions in the 2nd edition of the Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review are new, in that they didn’t appear in the 1st edition or the Official Guides.  That means that 219 of the 300, or 73%, appeared in the 1st Edition of the Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review.  We’ll be analyzing the 81 newbies in detail later in the week.

About 2 years ago, one of our L.A. Instructors, Mike Kim, suggested that we provide a math curriculum  for students who want a refresher on fundamental math topics (e.g.  fractions, algebra, etc.).  We thought it was a fantastic idea.  Being an extraordinarily productive guy, Mike went on to author the Foundations of GMAT Math Workshops I and II which take place online (it turns out there are too many fundamental math topics to teach in one sitting).

Now, the Foundations of Math Workshops will be available for free to any Manhattan GMAT course student.  If you are a course student, you can simply go to the website and add the Foundations workshops to your account.  You will immediately receive access to dozens of practice problems in your student center as well as class recordings, and you can attend the next scheduled Foundations workshops live.

For non-students, the Foundations of Math Workshops will each be available for only $95.  Additionally, if you end up signing up for a course after taking the Workshops, we’ll credit you whatever you spent on the workshops, so they’ll essentially wind up being free for you too.

Remember, these workshops review foundational math topics such as algebra, basic geometry, fractions, etc.  They’re very useful if you need a refresher because you haven’t seen the math in a long while, but if you’re comfortable with the math already you can feel free to go straight to the Official Guides, Strategy Guides, etc.

P.S.  The Foundations of GMAT Math Book is due out this Fall, as Mike’s original idea is taking multiple forms to reach as many people as possible.

We’ve received word through the grapevine that GMAC is shortening all break periods during the test by a total of 15 minutes, effective July 17th.  This change has yet to be confirmed – we’ll update this blog post as soon as we receive official confirmation.

The primary change for students is that breaks between sections will be 8 minutes each instead of 10 minutes.  Those 2 minutes can be significant, as most people go to the bathroom between sections.  So it’s something to be aware of.

The other 11 minutes come from the time allocated to read Instructions, fill out background info, and decide whether to see your score.

However, none of the allotted times for GMAT Content areas will be affected (i.e. 2 30-minute essays, 75 minutes for Quantitative and 75 minutes for Verbal).

Why is GMAC making this change?  Hard to say.  It could be that shortening the total appointment time by 15 minutes would allow more appointments at the margins.  Or it could be an added security measure so that people have less time to do anything non-test related during break periods.  Whatever the rationale, a stressful experience just got a little bit more intense.

Andrew Yang (NY) and Tom Rose (Boston) commemorate the passing of Big Orange

Among the many topics of discussion at the Manhattan GMAT Instructor Convocation was what happens to the 11th Edition of the Official Guide now that it’s about to leave print.  Here at Manhattan GMAT, we have something of a library of the various editions of the OG, starting with the 4th Edition or so (our copy of that one is pretty tattered).

Most students automatically gravitate toward the 12th Edition of the Official Guide for GMAT Review as soon as they hear about it, because, well, the newer the better.

But the fact that the 12th Edition is one-third new questions also means that the 11th Edition has several hundred other fairly representative problems of recent vintage for the thorough student to pore through.  So if you’ve got Big Orange lying around, don’t punish yourself for having an earlier edition.  Instead, praise yourself for picking up what could soon be a Collector’s Item.

Erica Lee (NY), Alex Cappy (DC/Phi), Robert Wilburn (NC) and Danielle Diciaccio (NY HQ)

The 3rd Annual Manhattan GMAT Instructor Convocation took place this past weekend. Dozens of Instructors came from across the country (and Canada) to mingle and share best practices with some of the brightest teaching minds anywhere.

The topic of the afternoon was how to deal with students whose issues are not primarily content-related (i.e. understanding GMAT-tested concepts), but rather issues surrounding the test-taking experience (e.g. stress management). Some very interesting themes came out of the Convocation – we’re going to be compiling some of these ideas to help our Instructors coach students moving forward.  Some good suggestions came up for us incorporate into our upcoming books.  We’re also looking at putting together a series of essays that may be helpful directly to students as well.  An essay will likely appear in this space.

The Convocation was then followed by a massive Company dinner and a party at the CEO’s apartment, so it wasn’t all work and no play.   Perhaps there will be more pictures to come . . . 

GMAC has released a bit more information about their research process for the Next Generation GMAT, slated to launch in 2013. (See this story on GMAC’s web site.) Here’s the nutshell:

GMAC is currently researching what skills the Next Generation GMAT will test. An advisory group made up of representatives from 9 major business schools in the US and Europe has been meeting to review the results of several studies conducted by GMAC and to debate the skills that the GMAT should test. (See this page for a summary of the advisory group’s activities.)

GMAC has not yet finalized what the pool of skills will be, nor has it determined the format of the questions or even the scoring scale that will be used. The Next Generation GMAT may even be given in additional languages besides English! (See the FAQ for more.) All we know for now is that the new test is expected to launch in 2013.

As we said when this info first came to light, the Next Generation GMAT is so far in the future that nobody needs to worry about it right now (except, of course, for all of us here at ManhattanGMAT!). If you are curious, though, check out the above links for the word straight from GMAC’s lips.

Happy studying!

The GMAT, like many things in life, is a stressful experience. We arrive and we’re handed a bunch of legal information that we have to read and sign. We have to empty our pockets and put everything in a locker, evoking feelings similar to going through airport security. A digital photo and a digital fingerprint or palm scan are taken. Every time we enter or leave the testing room, the digital fingerprint or palm scan is repeated. Oh, and then, the outcome of the next four hours could have a major impact on the success (or not…) of our business school applications.

It’s no wonder that, by the time the exam begins, we’re seriously jittery. But is there really anything we can do about that?

Carrie Shuchart, ManhattanGMAT instructor extraordinaire, thinks so and she recently wrote the article “Managing GMAT Stress: 7 Useful Tips” to share her great strategies with us (click on the title to read the article).

You may also be interested in this older article, “Stress Management,” which discusses some physical relaxation techniques that can help to reduce stress.

By: Carrie Shuchart

It’s an oft-quoted fact that the most common fear in this country is of public speaking. There you are, standing in front of a crowd, palms sweating, heart racing, voice cracking and every visible part of your body shaking. No wonder more Americans fear this scenario than fear flying, spiders, or (my personal phobia) snakes. The conventional wisdom for battling stage fright is to imagine your audience in their underwear…or better yet, naked.

Unfortunately for GMAT test-takers with anxiety, hardly any relief comes from imagining Jane, who is running at a rate of five miles/hour from the east, and Dick, who is walking at a rate of three miles/hour from the west, in their skivvies. So how do you battle those test-day butterflies (and the sleepless nights that proceed them)? Why, with the following seven steps!

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