Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 2 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 3 Part 1: Getting Started with the GMAT 5 Chapter 1: The Lowdown on the GMAT 7 Knowing Why the GMAT is Important 7 Timing It Perfectly: When to Take the GMAT (and What to Bring) 8 When to register for and take the GMAT 8 Things to take to the GMAT (and things to leave at home) 10 Forming First Impressions: The Format of the GMAT 10 Getting familiar with what the GMAT tests 10 Understanding the computerized format 11 Honing your computer skills for the GMAT 12 Knowing Where You Stand: Scoring Considerations 13 How the GMAT testers figure your score 13 How the GMAT testers report your score 13 When should you cancel your GMAT score? 14 Repeating the Process: Retaking the GMAT 15 Chapter 2: Maximizing Your Score on the GMAT 17 Discovering Strategies for Successful Guessing 17 Forcing yourself to guess so you can move on 18 Understanding the importance of completing each section 18 Winning the Race against the Clock 19 Giving each question equal treatment 19 Making time for the last ten questions 19 Keeping track of your pace 20 Getting Rid of Wrong Answers 20 Keeping track of eliminated answer choices for the computer test format 20 Recognizing wrong answers 21 Playing It Smart: A Few Things You Shouldn''t Do When Taking the Test 25 Don''t lose your focus 25 Don''t read questions at lightning speed 25 Don''t waste all your time on the hardest questions 25 Don''t cheat 25 Tackling a Case of Nerves with Relaxation Techniques 26 Chapter 3: Mastering Business School Admissions 27 Choosing a Business School 27 Lining Up Your Ducks -- Applying to Business Schools 29 When to apply 30 What to submit 30 Crafting Effective Business School Essays 31 Part 2: Creating a GMAT Study Plan 33 Chapter 4: Planning Your Approach 35 Using the Preassessment: The How-To 35 Evaluating Section 1: Quantitative 35 Evaluating Section 2: Verbal 36 Evaluation Section 3: Integrated reasoning 36 Devising a Plan of Attack 36 Chapter 5: GMAT Practice Assessment 39 Section 1: Quantitative 40 Section 2: Verbal 44 Section 3: Integrated Reasoning 48 Chapter 6: Scoring and Interpreting the Practice Assessment 53 Section 1: Quantitative Reasoning 53 Section 2: Verbal 61 Section 3: Integrated Reasoning 64 Answers at a Glance 67 Part 3: Vanquishing the Verbal Section 69 Chapter 7: Applying What You Learned (We Hope) in Grammar Class: Sentence Correction 71 Building a Solid Foundation: Grammar Basics 72 Getting wordy: The parts of speech 72 Pulling together: The parts of a sentence 75 Pointing Out Mistakes: Common Sentence-Correction Errors 76 Can''t we all just get along? Errors in subject-verb and noun-pronoun agreement 77 Building code violations: Faulty construction 79 Follow the idiom: Correct use of standard expressions 83 Implementing an Approach to Sentence Correction Questions 85 Spotting the error 86 Eliminating answers that don''t correct errors 86 Eliminating choices that create new errors 87 Rereading the sentence 87 Reviewing the process and guessing on sentence corrections 87 Sentence Correction Practice Problems with Answer Explanations 87 Practice problems 88 Answer explanations 90 Chapter 8: Not as Enticing as a Bestseller: Reading Comprehension 93 Judging by Appearances: What Reading Comprehension Questions Look Like 93 Approaching Reading Passages 94 Mastering the message: The main point 94 Absorbing the ambiance: Author''s tone 95 Finding the framework: The passage''s outline 95 Sticking to the Subject: Types of Passages 96 Experimenting with natural science passages 96 Gathering in social circles: Social science passages 96 Getting down to business passages 97 Approaching Reading Comprehension Questions 97 Identifying the question type 97 Eliminating answer choices 100 Dealing with exception questions 101 Reading Comprehension Practice Questions with Answer Explanations 104 Reading comprehension practice questions 104 Answer explanations 109 Chapter 9: Thinking This through Logically: Critical Reasoning 115 Focusing on "Critical" Concepts: An Overview 115 Understanding the structure of the questions 116 Figuring out how to answer the questions 116 Making a Case: Essentials of Informal Logic 117 Fighting fair: The elements of an argument 117 Getting from Point A to Point B: Types of reasoning 117 Thinking Inside the Box: Question Types 119 Stalking Your Prey: How to Approach Each Question Type 120 Strengthening or weakening arguments 120 Delving into drawing conclusions 124 Spotting those sneaky assumptions 125 Using your noggin to make inferences 127 Critical Reasoning Practice Questions and Answer Explanations 130 Critical reasoning practice questions 130 Answer explanations 134 Chapter 10: Bringing It Together: A Mini Practice Verbal Section 139 Working through Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions 140 Understanding What''s Right with Answer Explanations 148 Part 4: Acing the Analytical Writing Section 155 Chapter 11: Analyze This: What to Expect from the Analytical Writing Assessment 157 Fitting in the AWA with the Rest of the GMAT 157 Calling 411: Your AWA Writing Tools 158 Analyzing an Argument 158 Racking Up the Points: How the GMAT Scores Your Essay 159 Getting to know your readers 159 Interpreting the scores 160 Requesting your essay be rescored 160 Chapter 12: Present Perfect Paragraphs: How to Write a GMAT Essay 161 Avoiding Grammar, Punctuation, and Mechanics Errors 161 Punctuation errors 162 Sentence-structure problems 163 Faulty forming of possessives 163 Spelling issues 163 More dos and don''ts 164 Practice makes perfect! 164 Building a Better Essay: Ten Steps to a Higher Score 165 Chapter 13: Deconstructing Sample GMAT Essays 169 Defining GMAT AWA Scores 169 Taking a Look at Sample Essays 170 Sample essay #1 170 Discussion of sample essay #1 172 Sample essay #2 172 Discussion of sample essay #2 173 Sample essay #3 174 Discussion of sample essay #3 175 Sample essay #4 175 Discussion of sample essay #4 176 Chapter 14: Sampling a Series of Writing Prompts 177 Sample Prompt #1 177 Sample response to essay #1 178 Dissection of essay #1 178 Sample Prompt #2 179 Sample response to essay #2 179 Dissection of essay #2 180 Sample Prompt #3 180 Sample response to essay #3 181 Dissection of essay #3 181 Sample Prompt #4 182 Sample response to essay #4 182 Dissection of essay #4 182 Part 5: Conquering the Quantitative Section 185 Chapter 15: Getting Back to Basics: Numbers and Operations 187 Just Your Type: Kinds of Numbers 187 It''s Not Brain Surgery: Basic Operations 189 Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing 189 Checking out the real estate: Properties of real numbers 191 Using Little Numbers for Big Values: Bases and Exponents 194 Adding and subtracting with exponents 194 Multiplying and dividing with exponents 194 Figuring out the powers of 0 and 1 195 Dealing with fractional exponents 195 Working with negative exponents 196 Checking Out the Ancestry: Roots 196 Order of Operations: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally 198 Splitting Up: Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages 198 Defining numerators, denominators, and other stuff you need to know about fractions 199 Adding and subtracting fractions 201 Multiplying and dividing fractions 201 Calculating percent change 203 Taking it further: Repeated percent change 204 Making Comparisons: Ratios and Proportions 205 Playing the Numbers: Scientific Notation 206 Chapter 16: Considering All the Variables: Algebra 209 Defining the Elements: Algebraic Terms 209 Braving the unknowns: Variables and constants 210 Coming together: Terms and expressions 210 Knowing the nomials: Kinds of expressions 211 Maintaining an Orderly Fashion: Algebraic Operations 211 Adding to and taking away 211 Multiplying and dividing expressions 213 Extracting Information: Factoring Polynomials 216 Something in common: Finding common factors 216 Two by two: Factoring quadratic polynomials 216 Minding Your Ps and Qs: Functions 218 Standing in: Understanding function terminology 218 Taking it to the limit: Domain and range of functions 220 Putting On Your Thinking Cap: Problem Solving 222 Isolating the variable: Linear equations 222 Bringing in the substitution: Simultaneous equations 224 Not playing fair: Inequalities 225 Solving quadratic equations 227.