Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 2 Beyond the Book: The Online Practice 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 Errors in grammar and sentence construction 77 Errors in expression 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 101 Dealing with exception questions 102 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 Pondering the paradox 128 Making you r way through method-of-reasoning questions 129 Critical Reasoning Practice Questions and Answer Explanations 131 Critical reasoning practice questions 131 Answer explanations 136 Chapter 10: Bringing It Together: A Mini Practice Verbal Section 141 Working Through Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions 142 Understanding What''s Right with Answer Explanations 150 Part 4: Acing the Analytical Writing Section 157 Chapter 11: Analyze This: What to Expect from the Analytical Writing Assessment 159 Fitting in the AWA with the Rest of the GMAT 159 Calling 411: Your AWA Writing Tools 160 Analyzing an Argument 160 Racking Up the Points: How the GMAT Scores Your Essay 161 Getting to know your readers 161 Interpreting the scores 162 Requesting your essay be rescored 162 Chapter 12: Present Perfect Paragraphs: How to Write a GMAT Essay 163 Avoiding Grammar, Punctuation, and Mechanics Errors 163 Punctuation errors 164 Sentence-structure problems 165 Faulty forming of possessives 165 Spelling issues 165 More dos and don''ts 166 Practice makes perfect! 166 Building a Better Essay: Ten Steps to a Higher Score 167 Chapter 13: Deconstructing Sample GMAT Essays 171 Defining GMAT AWA Scores 171 Taking a Look at Sample Essays 172 Sample essay #1 172 Discussion of sample essay #1 174 Sample essay #2 174 Discussion of sample essay #2 175 Sample essay #3 176 Discussion of sample essay #3 177 Sample essay #4 177 Discussion of sample essay #4 178 Chapter 14: Sampling a Series of Writing Prompts 179 Sample Prompt #1 179 Sample response to essay #1 180 Dissection of essay #1 180 Sample Prompt #2 181 Sample response to essay #2 181 Dissection of essay #2 182 Sample Prompt #3 182 Sample response to essay #3 183 Dissection of essay #3 183 Sample Prompt #4 184 Sample response to essay #4 184 Dissection of essay #4 184 Part 5: Conquering the Quantitative Section 187 Chapter 15: Getting Back to Basics: Numbers and Operations 189 Just Your Type: Kinds of Numbers 189 It''s Not Brain Surgery: Basic Operations 191 Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing 191 Checking out the real estate: Properties of real numbers 193 Using Little Numbers for Big Values: Bases and Exponents 196 Adding and subtracting with exponents 196 Multiplying and dividing with exponents 196 Figuring out the powers of 0 and 1 197 Dealing with fractional exponents 197 Working with negative exponents 198 Checking Out the Ancestry: Roots 198 Order of Operations: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally 200 Splitting Up: Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages 200 Defining numerators, denominators, and other stuff you need to know about fractions 201 Adding and subtracting fractions 203 Multiplying and dividing fractions 203 Calculating percent change 205 Taking it further: Repeated percent change 206 Making Comparisons: Ratios and Proportions 207 Playing the Numbers: Scientific Notation 208 Chapter 16: Considering All the Variables: Algebra 211 Defining the Elements: Algebraic Terms 211 Braving the unknowns: Variables and constants 212 Coming together: Terms and expressions 212 Knowing the nomials: Kinds of expressions 213 Maintaining an Orderly Fashion: Algebraic Operations 213 Adding to and taking away 213 Multiplying and dividing expressions 215 Extracting Information: Factoring Polynomials 218 Something in common: Finding common factors 218 Two by two: Factoring quadratic polynomials 218 Minding Your Ps and Qs: Functions 220 Standing in: Understanding function terminology 220 Taking it to the limit: Domain and range of functions 222 Putting On Your Thinking Cap: Problem Solving 224 Isolating the variable: Linear equations 224 Bringing in the substitution: Simultaneous equations 226 Not playing fair: Inequalities 227 Solving quadratic equations 229 Reading between the lines: Word problems 231 Burning the midnight oil: Work problems 232 Going the distance: Distance problems 233.