Prep - Gmat integrated reasoning & essay: strategy guide + online resources

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

A great number of people were involved in the creation of the book you are holding.

Our Manhattan Prep resources are based on the continuing experiences of our instructors and students. The overall vision for this guide was developed by Whitney Garner and Stacey Koprince, who developed the strategies for each question type and wove them into a cohesive whole.

Stacey Koprince was the primary author and she was supported by a number of content experts. Whitney Garner and Emily Meredith Sledge served as a sounding board during the writing phase, developing and vetting ideas and editing new content. Mario Gambino managed production for the many complex images, with Derek Frankhouser and Israt Pasha lending their design expertise.

Matthew Callan coordinated the production work for this guide. Once the manuscript was done, Naomi Beesen and Ben Ku edited and Cheryl Duckler proofread the entire guide from start to finish. Carly Schnur designed the covers.

Retail ISBNs: 978-1-5062-1967-7, 978-1-5062-6253-6
Retail eISBN: 978-1-5062-4920-9
Course ISBN: 978-1-5062-4921-6
Course eISBN: 978-1-5062-4922-3

Copyright 2019 MG Prep, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or web distributionwithout the prior written permission of the publisher, MG Prep, Inc.

GMAT is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Manhattan Prep is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with GMAC.

September 3, 2019

Dear Student,

Thank you for picking up a copy of IntegratedReasoning & Essay. I hope this book provides just the guidance you need to get the most out of your GMAT studies.

At Manhattan Prep, we continually aspire to provide the best instructors and resources possible. If you have any questions or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Email our Student Services team at gmat@manhattanprep.com or give us a shout at 212-721-7400 (or 800-576-4628 in the United States or Canada). We try to keep all our books free of errors, but if you think weve goofed, please visit manhattanprep.com/GMAT/errata.

Our Manhattan Prep Strategy Guides are based on the continuing experiences of both our instructors and our students. The primary author of the 7th Edition Integrated Reasoning & Essay guide was Stacey Koprince. Project management and design were led by Matthew Callan, Mario Gambino, and Helen Tan. Id like to send particular thanks to instructors Whitney Garner, Ben Ku, and Emily Meredith Sledge for their content contributions.

Finally, we are indebted to all of the Manhattan Prep students who have given us excellent feedback over the years. This book wouldnt be half of what it is without their voice.

And now that you are one of our students too, please chime in! I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks again and best of luck preparing for the GMAT!

Sincerely,

Chris Ryan
Executive Director
Product Strategy

www.manhattanprep.com/gmat 138 West 25th Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001 Tel: 212-721-7400 Fax: 646-514-7425

GMAT All the Quant

GMAT All the Verbal

GMAT Integrated Reasoning & Essay

The GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) and the EA (Executive Assessment) are computer-adaptive exams used for admission into graduate management education programs. MBA programs are more likely to use the GMAT, while the EA is most commonly used for EMBA programs (though both exams are used for both types of programs).

Both exams are made by GMAC (Graduate Management Admissions Council) and both test the same content via the same question types. The primary differences are in the scoring and the length of the exams.

Both exams have Quant, Verbal, and Integrated Reasoning (IR) sections; the GMAT also has an Essay section. The EA is 1.5 hours long, while the GMAT is about 3.5 hours long, including breaks.

Both exams provide individual scores for each section of the exam. The GMAT combines the Quant and Verbal section scores into one score, called the Total, on a 200800 scale. The EA combines the IR, Quant, and Verbal section scores into a Total score on a 120180 scale.

The IR section on the two exams is very similar, but time management strategies differ a bit. Where the two exams differ, this guide will specify what you need to know for the exam that youre planning to take.

These exams are complex. They feel like academic testsmath, grammar, logical reasoningbut theyre really not! At heart, these exams are a test of your executive reasoning skills.

Executive reasoning is the official term for your ability to make all kinds of decisions in the face of complex and changing information. It makes sense, then, that graduate management programs would want to test these skills. Its crucial for you to understand how they do so because that understanding will impact both how you study for the test and how you take the test.

You do need to know various math and grammar facts, rules, and concepts in order to do well on the examand this makes the GMAT and EA feel similar to tests that you took in school. Theres one critical difference though: In school, your teachers tested you on material they expected you to know how to handle. Your teachers wouldnt put something on the test that they pretty much expected you to get wrong. That would be cruel!

Well, it would be cruel if the main point of the exam was to test your mastery of those facts, rules, and concepts. But that isnt the main point of the GMAT or the EA. These exams primarily measure your executive decision-making: when to invest your limited time and mental energy and when not to.

In other words, both the GMAT and the EA want to know how you make business decisions. And no good businessperson invests in every single opportunity placed in front of them, just because its there. Youll invest in a majority of the problems presented to you, but you will say no to somethe ones that look too hard or seem like theyll take too long to solve. These are literally bad investments.

If you try to use a school mindset on the test, youll keep trying to answer the current problem because you think that youre supposed to be able to do everything. Youll waste a bunch of time and then youll have to rush on other questions in the section. As a result, you may miss questions that you actually do know how to answer and your score will be lower than it could have been.