In our previous article on “GMAT OG 2019 Analysis”, we presented our overall analysis of GMAT OG 2019, the comparative review of OG 2018 vs OG 2019, and our recommendation on whether or not you should invest in the same. In this article, we will present a deep dive analysis about the content added in the verbal section in GMAT OG 2019. Here is the approach we have followed in this article for the Verbal Section Review of GMAT OG 2019 Analysis:
Let’s start with the GMAT Sentence Correction Section.
GMAT Sentence Correction Section
What has been added to SC?
- Questions follow the deep-rooted approach of SC – Meaning
The importance of understanding meaning continues to be the theme of SC questions.
- Each of the 23 new questions needs to be solved using the meaning based approach.
- Many new questions cannot be solved if one does not understand the intended meaning of the sentence and purely relies only on the grammatical rules.
- Instructions for SC questions clearly indicate that meaning is so critical in SC questions
Sincerely continuing with the importance of meaning, GMAC has revamped instructions for Sentence Correction questions. Here are two excerpts from OG2019 as samples.
- Excerpt 1
Step 1 of the process outlined by GMAC in section 9.5 is as shown:
“Read the entire sentence carefully. Try to understand the specific idea or relationship that the sentence should express.”
- Excerpt 2
In section 9.2, while explaining one of the 8 error types “Logical Predication”, GMAC uses the following verbiage.
“Correct grammar is by no means the only type of structural relationship that matters for effective communication. Logical relationships among sentence elements are also crucial. A writer may accidentally structure a completely grammatical sentence in a way that has unintended meanings or implications.”
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What does that mean for you as a GMAT test-taker?
If you consistently follow the e-GMAT process to solve SC questions, then you will be able to achieve 90+ percentile ability in SC.
However, if you are one of those test-takers who still rely on grammar rules only or on finding similarities and dissimilarities among choices without paying attention to the intended meaning, then you will falter in SC. We strongly recommend that you re-think your approach towards SC.
How should you prepare for SC?
Here is the recommended 5-Step Process for GMAT SC Preparation:
- Determine your starting point by taking an SC diagnostic in Your Study Plan course.
- Build your foundation skills of comprehension by using Master Comprehension Course.
- Learn grammatical rules in Sentence Correction course.
- Learn the structured process of solving SC questions as taught in SC course.
- Fine-tune your SC ability by using Scholaranium.
Using the e- GMAT Sentence Correction course and Official Guide (OG2017 or OG2018 or OG2019), you will get access to more than sufficient number of questions as detailed below.
- e-GMAT Course – 300
- Scholaranium – 239
- GMAT Club Tests – 87
- 800score tests – 150
- Official Guide – 140
So, in all, you get access to 916 SC questions of which 85% come from the e-GMAT SC course.
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Next, let’s take a look at Critical Reasoning – GMAT OG 2019 Analysis.
GMAT Critical Reasoning Section – GMAT OG 2019 Analysis
What has been added to CR?
- Questions follow the deep-rooted approach of Pre-Thinking in CR
The importance of pre-thinking continues to be the theme of all newly added CR questions. Each of the 17 new questions can be solved effectively and efficiently by using pre-thinking approach.
- No appreciable change in composition of questions in CR
Review the table below to note the # of questions of each sub-type in OG2019 and in the previous edition OG2018.
| Question Type | 2018 | 2019 | Change in GMAT OG 2019 |
| Inference | 8 | 8 | none |
| Assumption | 14 | 16 | +2 |
| Evaluate | 11 | 7 | – 4 |
| Strengthen | 28 | 29 | +1 |
| Weaken | 24 | 24 | none |
| Bold Face | 9 | 15 | +6 |
| Paradox | 15 | 14 | -1 |
| FIB | 13 | 11 | -2 |
| Flaw | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| MOR | 1 | 0 | -1 |
As you can see, there is a clear positive shift in the number of Bold Face questions and a clear negative shift in the number of ‘evaluate’ questions.
On the surface, this may indicate that GMAC is laying more emphasis on Bold Face questions, but our deep-dive analysis indicates that there is no real change in the emphasis on Bold Face questions. Here is why – multiple new bold face questions have been created based on same argument by simply changing the bolded statements. So, technically there is no substantial addition of new content.
So, our conclusion – there is no reduction or increase in the importance of Bold Face questions.
Now it may appear that evaluate questions have become relatively less important, given an appreciable decrease in the number of evaluate questions. We do not believe that. Yes, there is a reduction in the number of questions but that has absolutely no impact on how you prepare for CR. We explain this point in further detail in the next section.
- One more type of FIB question added in OG2019
As we teach in our CR course, one does not need any additional skills to answer FIB type of questions (Fill in the Blank). This question type is simply another way of asking other question types. Till OG2018, we had seen inference, assumption, strengthen, and weaken type of questions morphed as FIB. In OG2019, parallel reasoning type of question has also been morphed as a FIB question.
We will be adding a couple of examples of such questions for your perusal. Stand by for the same.
- Old OG content has been re-used to create new questions
Our experts have found that content from previous editions of Official Guide has been used to create new questions. Our inference from this – GMAC has not really changed anything substantial in CR section.
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What does that mean for you as a test-taker?
Really nothing changes. As long as you are following a structured way of solving CR questions – one that is based on pre-thinking, as long as you are building your core skills of understanding the passage, and as long as you are preparing using the e-GMAT CR course, you will have no problems in achieving 90+ percentile ability in CR.
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How should you prepare for CR?
Here is the recommended step by step plan for preparing for GMAT Critical Reasoning:
- Determine your starting point by taking an CR diagnostic in Your Study Plan course.
- Build your foundation skills of understanding the passage by reviewing “Inference” module in CR course.
- Learn how to build argument structure and pre-think by reviewing “Assumption” module in CR course.
- Learn the structured process of solving every type of CR question.
- Fine-tune your CR ability by using Scholaranium.
Using the e-GMAT CR course and Official Guide (OG 2017 or OG 2018 or OG 2019), you will get access to more than sufficient number of questions as detailed below.
- e-GMAT Course – 280
- Scholaranium – 252
- GMAT Club Tests – 87
- 800score tests – 150
- Official Guide – 124
So, in all, you get access to 893 CR questions of which 86% comes from the e-GMAT course.
Take a look at our article on Necessary vs sufficient conditions
GMAT Reading Comprehension Section
What has been added to RC?
5 new passages have been added in OG2019 and correspondingly some passages have been removed from OG2018.
As far as content goes, nothing much has changed.
What does that mean for you as a test-taker?
As with Sentence Correction and Critical Reasoning, you need to continue following e-GMAT strategies for solving Reading Comprehension questions. Continue honing your skills in applying Reading Strategies as taught in the e-GMAT course. Make sure that you get >90% of the passage in the first read itself. Take proper notes. Understand the characteristics of a correct choice and understand how test maker creates incorrect choices. In short, just follow along the RC course and either OG 2019 or the previous edition to prepare for GMAT RC.
How should you prepare for RC?
Here is the step-by-step plan for preparing for RC.
- Determine your starting point by taking an RC diagnostic in Your Study Plan course.
- Build your foundation skills of comprehension by using Master Comprehension Course
- Learn Reading Strategies through the Foundations block of Reading Comprehension course.
- Learn how to solve each type of RC question as taught in the RC course.
- Fine-tune your RC ability by using Scholaranium.
Using the e-GMAT RC course and Official Guide (OG2017 or OG2018 or OG2019), you will get access to more than sufficient number of passages (and therefore questions) as detailed below.
- e-GMAT Course – 23
- Scholaranium – 53
- GMAT Club Tests – 21
- 800score tests – 37
- Official Guide – 31
So, in all you get access to 165 RC passages of which 81% come from the e-GMAT RC course. Contact me at payal@e-gmat.com to figure out how you can create a personalized study plan for your SC preparation.
Take a free trial to get unlimited access to concept files, live sessions, and practice questions. For any strategic advice for GMAT or MBA Admissions, write to us at acethegmat@e-gmat.com. We are the most reviewed GMAT prep company on GMATClub with more than 2400+ reviews!
Concluding Remarks
As we concluded in the previous article, no significant changes have been made in the GMAT OG 2019 that warrants any change in how you approach your preparation for GMAT. Just continue following the e-GMAT strategies to ace the GMAT and feel free to contact us at payal@e-gmat if you have any questions pertaining to the GMAT OG 2019 Analysis.
