Study and Strategy questions relating to the GMAT.
NikunjA899
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Questions in the online question bank and the mobile app

by NikunjA899 Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:06 pm

Hey,

This might not be right subsection for this question. I wanted to know if the online question bank has the same questions as the mobile app. I'm purchasing the All the GMAT book set, which comes with access to the online question banks. I was also thinking about subscribing to the mobile app to go over GMAT when I'm on the move.

I have limited time to prepare and I don't want to solve the same question twice. So does anyone know if the questions are different or do they overlap?

Also, if someone could provide a list with the number of questions in each topic of the question bank, then that would really help me in planning.

Thank you :)
StaceyKoprince
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Re: Questions in the online question bank and the mobile app

by StaceyKoprince Thu Aug 27, 2020 3:26 pm

The app contains a ton of questions and some of those questions are the same as the ones that come with the books in the All the GMAT, yes. There are also problems from our Foundations of Math and Foundations of Verbal books. The app also includes the problems that are in our Challenge Problem sets (another separate, online-only product).

I don't want to solve the same question twice

I would suggest that you rethink this assumption. :) There are a *ton* of good reasons to do a problem again. Your goal is not to do a thousand problems and try to memorize each one or something like that. The problems that you see on the real test will be different enough from what you study that you can't do what you might have done in school (learn the steps of, eg, quadratic equations and then just repeat those steps every time you see quadratic equations). Basically, the way you studied in school can get you to a certain level on this test, but it's not going to get you to your max level.

What you're really doing when you study for the GMAT is learning how to think your way through new problems. What do you need to notice right away? What kind of possible solution paths are consistent with those clues? Given the specific clues you see here and your knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses, which path is the best path for the roughly 1 to 2 minutes you're going to get to spend on this problem?

The first time you do a problem, maybe you could do it but you took a less efficient path. Or maybe you made a careless mistake. Or maybe you weren't sure what it was asking or you didn't yet know what you needed to know in order to solve. Any of those reasons might be a good reason to try the problem again later. And "later" could mean a day or two later but it could also mean a week or two later or a month or two later. That last category (a month or two later) may also include problems that you got right and did just fine...but you want to make sure, 2 months later, that you haven't forgotten that material. You might redo the entire problem or you might do a "30-second redo" exercise, where you look at the problem long enough to jog your memory and to say "Yes, this problem is testing X and I would do Y to solve." If you can fill in X and Y, you move on to the next problem. If you can't, you know you need to try this problem again.

I'll also add: The problems I'd most want to repeat are the official ones from the real test-maker. Are you also getting the Official Guide?

if someone could provide a list with the number of questions in each topic of the question bank


There are 5 banks for All the Quant with 25 problems each. There are 3 banks for All the Verbal with 25 problems each. There are 4 banks for Integrated Reasoning and the number of problems per bank varies from 8 to 12.
Stacey Koprince
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ManhattanPrep
NikunjA899
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Re: Questions in the online question bank and the mobile app

by NikunjA899 Thu Aug 27, 2020 6:00 pm

Hey Stacey,

Firstly, let me say you guys are awesome and thanks for your prompt response :!: :D I spent the last two days going through the blogs and forum and it is filled with so much useful information. I was using gmat club before this and no doubt it is a great place for free resources, practice questions and connecting with other but it's filled with so much hard selling and advertising for its partners. It can get overwhelming once you've noticed it.

Let me give you some insight and explain why I do not want to repeat questions. I have less than 1 month till my exam (23 Sept) and I am sort of hurrying and rushing through the prep. Like you said, each question is different unlike high school and I would like to spend my time gauging and covering different types of questions to understand and apply the several strategies. I also agree with you that reviewing questions is essential and hence, I have set aside time to review questions I find difficult or tricky.

I have bought the All the GMAT set, test simulation booklet and OG 2020 set (guide + 2 reviews) from amazon. I am currently at a Q42 V35 IR 6.5 and my aim is 680-700+. More importantly my aim is a Q48+, as my admission consultant told me the verbal score is alright but I need the Q48+ for my course and target schools. I might consider a second attempt in the 2nd week of Oct if I do not meet this goal. I am currently studying 6-7 hours a day (at least trying :P ). I have started with the quant book and finished Unit 1 FDP, Unit 2 Algebra and Unit 5 Geometry. If you have any advice for me, please let me know :)

I guess I will consider get the mobile app as a side secondary resource and use it for practice in my free time. I see the online question bank has limited questions; is this because you advise students to use the OG questions itself? Anyways I will solve the online question bank in between solving the questions in the OG set and use the navigator. Btw I loved the navigator, only wish it could be a little more convenient to use and displayed the whole question so I do not have to refer to 2 resources. Although I understand they are two different products from different companies and things won't work out on the business side of things.
StaceyKoprince
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Re: Questions in the online question bank and the mobile app

by StaceyKoprince Mon Aug 31, 2020 3:35 pm

I agree that it would be more convenient to have the full text of the OG problems in Navigator—we can't, though, because it would be illegal. We can't reproduce or distribute copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright owner. (Yes, I know lots of websites post OG problems or allow them to be posted. We follow the law.)

And yes, the OG problems are the best full-format problems available. We do work hard to write our own but they're still not as good as the real thing. That's why a lot of the problems that we have in our books are more targeted to building up certain skills and only some are full-format problems. As soon as you're ready, we want you doing OG problems. :D

Re: reviewing problems, spend something like 2x as long (on average) reviewing problems as doing them in the first place. While you're doing a problem, you're just trying to recall everything you already know to answer that one—but you're not actually learning how to get better. You get better when you review the problem afterwards and ask yourself a whole bunch of questions even on problems that you got right. For example:

– How can I get it right faster or easier next time? (Easier = less mentally draining) Ask yourself this on every problem, right or wrong.
– Did I do more work than I really needed to do to get to the right answer letter? (eg, maybe you solved to know the answer was 14. But maybe the answers were -10, 0, 14, 50, 192. And you could have told two steps before the end that only 14 was close enough.)
– What caused my careless mistake? What bad habit can I break and/or what new habit can I implement to minimize the chances of that type of careless mistake in general?
– The next time I see something like this (but not the same problem), how am I going to recognize to <take some certain action>? What are the explicit types of clues that I need to see to trigger a certain action or path?

https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/the-second-level-of-learning-to-take-the-gmat/
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep