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GMAT Official Guide 2020 vs OG 2019 – Complete review

GMAT Official Guide 2020 vs OG 2019 – Complete review
A 6 min read

GMAT Official Guide 2020 has released on May 7, 2019, and most GMAT takers are wondering what improvements GMAC has made in GMAT OG 2020 and whether it is worth buying. To help you make this decision we talked to a few GMAC officials and they shared some insightful information with us. Based on their information and our analysis we have compiled this article on how GMAT Official Guide 2020 is different from GMAT OG 2019 and whether you should buy it or not. Here is the outline of this article:

GMAT Official Guide 2020 vs GMAT OG 2019

What is new in GMAT Official Guide 2020?

Additional Questions:

  • 100 additional questions, increasing the total number of questions to 907
  • 123 new questions added in GMAT OG 2020 and 23 old questions removed from the last edition
  • Overall change of 100 total questions from OG 2019.

GMAT Quant:

  • Significant Addition of Questions in for Data Sufficiency and Geometry.
  • Questions removed and added to ensure that OG 2020 reflects a more even-distribution of topics than OG 2019.

GMAT Verbal:

  • Significant Addition of questions in CR.
  • Expanded chapter introductions for CR and RC
  • 59 new questions added and 15 old questions removed i.e., 44 additional questions

Mobile access:

  • New Mobile App to access GMAT OG 2020 – Google Play, AppStore
  • Sync between online and mobile application – Anything you do online will be reflected in the mobile app

There are 100 new questions in GMAT OG 2020 as compared to OG 2019. Questions on Problem Solving remained the same as compared to last year but all other sections i.e., Data Sufficiency, Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension witnessed an increase in questions. The total number of questions in all the 5 sub-sections of GMAT OG 2020 are as follows:

Question Type Number of questions in OG 2020
Sentence Correction

149

Critical Reasoning 149
Reading Comprehension 149
Problem Solving 230
Data Sufficiency 230

GMAT Official Guide 2020 vs GMAT OG 2019

The 2 sub-sections of Quant have an equal number of questions and the 3 sub-sections of Verbal also have an equal number of questions. Certainly, GMAC’s intention was to create well-rounded sections. But, how does the latest GMAT OG compares with last year’s OG on a sub-section basis? Let’s find out in the next portion of this article.

If you don’t have a clear understanding of the GMAT OG 2019 then take a look at this article.

GMAT Official Guide 2020 vs GMAT Official guide 2019 – How are they different?

Pam Brown, Director-Product Management of GMAT OG 2020, told us that GMAC sought to round out chapters with this edition and includes ‘never before seen’ questions to fill the gap which makes GMAT OG 2020 more robust than its predecessor.

As mentioned above, OG 2020 has 100 more questions than OG 2019. 4 sub-sections saw an increase in questions. Let’s see which sub-section witnessed the most increase in the number of questions.

GMAT Official Guide 2020 vs GMAT OG 2019

Question Type GMAT OG 2020 GMAT OG 2019 New Questions Added Questions removed Change
Problem Solving 230 230 5 5 0
Data Sufficiency 230 174 59 3 +56
Sentence Correction 149 140 13 4 +9
Critical Reasoning 149 124 30 5 +25
Reading Comprehension 149 139 16 6 +10
TOTAL 807 907 123 23 +100

Data Source: GMAC

GMAT Verbal

  • Sentence Correction – 16 new questions have been added and 6 old questions have been removed. Change in the total number of questions is 10
  • Critical Reasoning – CR has seen the most addition of questions in Verbal. 30 new questions have been added and 5 old questions have been removed. Change in the total number of questions is 25. Expanded chapter introductions have been introduced which explains in greater detail the types of content that are covered on the GMAT.
  • Reading Comprehension – 13 new questions have been added and 4 old questions have been removed. Change in the total number of questions is 9. GMAC has also expanded chapter introductions for RC

GMAT Quant

  • Problem Solving – The number of questions remains the same in OG 2020. However, 5 new questions have been added and 5 old questions have been removed from the last edition
  • Data Sufficiency – This sub-section has seen the biggest addition to the number of questions. 59 new questions have been added and 3 old questions have been removed. Change in the total number of questions is 56
Geometry questions have increased in GMAT OG 2020

There was an uneven distribution of quant questions in GMAT OG 2019. To make GMAT OG 2020 more well-rounded, GMAC has tried to strike a balance between easy, medium, and difficulty level questions of GMAT quant topics. In this effort, Geometry questions have seen the maximum increase.

GMAT OG is a great source of practice questions for the GMAT. However, to build your concepts and application GMAT OG will not be sufficient. If you are planning to take the GMAT, we can help you by giving you access to quality online content to prepare.  We are the most reviewed GMAT prep company on gmatclub with more than 1850 reviews (as on August 22, 2019). Why don’t you take a free trial and judge for yourself? 

Write to us at acethegmat@e-gmat.com in case of any GMAT or MBA admissions related queries

Access GMAT OG 2020 on your mobile device

OG 2020 gives you access to its questions through three channels i.e., Book, Online, and Mobile.

GMAT Official Guide 2020 vs GMAT OG 2019

  • For those who like to study using their mobile devices, OG2020 can be accessed through Wiley’s Efficient Learning mobile app. The links to the mobile app on Google Play and Apple App store.
  • Moreover, there is a sync between online and mobile application which means that anything you do online will be reflected in the mobile app.

Who should buy GMAT OG 2020? Where can you buy it?

It’s quite normal for this question to pop up for OG 2020, “Should I buy GMAT OG 2020?” We have identified 3 scenarios which will help you make this decision.

  1. Need help in Quant – Consider buying GMAT OG 2020 as it is a good source of quant questions. So, it may be worthwhile.
  2. Don’t have OG 2019 – We’d recommend buying OG 2020 because it has more questions which are representative of the actual GMAT, expanded chapter introductions, online and mobile access and all of this at OG 2019’s price.
  3. Already own OG 2019 – We’d recommend not purchasing especially if you don’t need much help in Quant.

Where can you buy GMAT OG 2020?

GMAT official guide 2020 buy online

You can buy GMAT OG 2020 online either on Amazon or on Wiley.

Takeaways – GMAT OG 2020

  • The new GMAT OG 2020 has 100 new questions and more detailed explanations for CR and RC questions
  • There are 123 new questions in OG 2020 and 23 old questions have been removed from the last edition
  • GMAT Quant – 59 new questions have been added and 15 old questions have been removed. Geometry questions witness the most increase.
  • GMAT Verbal – 8 old questions removed and 64 new questions added. CR has seen the most increase. Expanded chapter introductions for CR and RC
  • New app for accessing GMAT OG 2020 on your mobile devices
  • If you need help with quant and do not already own OG 2019, then you should consider buying GMAT OG 2020
  • If you previously own GMAT OG 2019 then you do not need to upgrade to OG 2020. Instead, you can access e-GMAT OG quizzes to keep yourself updated with all the concepts

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