GMAT For Dummies 2021 (2021)

Name: GMAT For Dummies 2021 (2021)
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GMAT For Dummies 2021 (2021) simplifies exam prep with well-structured content and practice questions.

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Editorial
Rob Franek, Editor-in-Chief
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Penguin Random House Publishing Team
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The Princeton Review
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All rights reserved.
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ISBN 9780525569367
Ebook ISBN 9780525569756
GMAT is a registered trademark and owned by the Graduate Management Admission Council
(GMAC).
The material in this book is up-to-date at the time of publication. However, changes may have
been instituted by the testing body in the test after this book was published.
If there are any important late-breaking developments, changes, or corrections to the
materials in this book, we will post that information online in the Student Tools. Register your
book and check your Student Tools to see if there are any updates posted there.
The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University.
Editor: Eleanor Green
Production Artist: Jason Ullmeyer
Production Editors: Kathy Carter and Sarah Litt
Cover art by brt PHOTO / Alamy Stock Photo
Cover design by Suzanne Lee
a_prh_5.5.0_c0_r0
• • • •

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Acknowledgments
Our GMAT course is much more than clever techniques and powerful
computer score reports; the reason our results are great is that our
teachers care so much about their students. Thanks to all the teachers
who have made the GMAT course so successful, but in particular the
core group of teachers and development people who helped get it off
the ground: Alicia Ernst, Tom Meltzer, Paul Foglino, John Sheehan,
Mark Sawula, Nell Goddin, Teresa Connelly, Phillip Yee, Kimberly
Beth Hollingsworth, Bobby Hood, Chris Chimera, Chris Hinkle, Peter
Hanink, Cathy Evins, and Doug Scripture.
Special thanks to John Fulmer and Kyle Fox for their valuable
contributions to the 2021 edition of this book.
Special thanks to Adam Robinson, who conceived of and perfected
the Joe Bloggs approach to standardized tests and many of the other
successful techniques used by The Princeton Review.
We are also, as always, very appreciative of the time and attention
given to each page by Jason Ullmeyer, Kathy Carter, and Sarah Litt.

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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Get More (Free) Content
Part I: Orientation
1 Introduction
2 How to Think About the GMAT
3 Cracking the Adaptive Sections: Basic Principles
4 Cracking the Adaptive Sections: Intermediate Principles
5 Cracking the Adaptive Sections: Advanced Principles
6 Taking the GMAT
Part II: How to Crack the Quantitative GMAT
7 GMAT Math: Basic Principles
8 POE and GMAT Math
9 Data Sufficiency: Basic Principles
10 Arithmetic
11 Algebra
12 Plugging in
13 Applied Arithmetic
14 Geometry
15 Number Theory
16 Advanced Data Sufficiency
17 Hard math

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Part III: How to Crack the Verbal GMAT
18 Grammar Review
19 Sentence Correction
20 Reading Comprehension
21 Critical Reasoning
Part IV: How to Crack the Integrated Reasoning GMAT
22 Integrated Reasoning: Basics
23 Integrated Reasoning: Strategies
24 Integrated Reasoning: Drills
Part V: How to Crack the Analytical Writing
Assessment
25 Analytical Writing Assessment
Part VI: Answer Key to Drills
Part VII: The Princeton Review GMAT Math and Verbal
Warm-Up Test and Explanations
26 GMAT Math and Verbal Warm-Up Test
27 GMAT Math and Verbal Warm-Up Test: Answers and
Explanations
Part VIII: The Princeton Review GMAT Math and Verbal
Practice Bins and Explanations
28 GMAT Math and Verbal Practice Bins
29 GMAT Math and Verbal Practice Bins: Answers and
Explanations

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ISBN
page number
Need to report a technical issue?
Contact TPRStudentTech@review.com and provide:
your full name
email address used to register the book
full book title and ISBN
Operating system (Mac/PC) and browser (Firefox, Safari, etc.)
Once you’ve registered, you can…
Take 6 full-length practice GMAT exams
Download additional practice material excerpted from 3 other
Princeton Review GMAT titles
Plan your review sessions with study guides based on your
schedule—4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks
Watch short video tutorials in which top-notch Princeton Review
teachers discuss GMAT question types and strategies, working
through problems step by step
Research admissions rates and average test scores for dozens of
popular business schools
Access the Business School Insider, our guide to financial aid,
admissions, writing winning application essays, MBA job
prospects, and more

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HOW TO USE THIS BOOK: A STRATEGIC
PLAN FOR ACING THE GMAT
1. Learn the Famed Princeton Review Test-Taking
Strategies
In the next few chapters, you’ll find the strategies that have given our
GMAT students the edge for the past 20 years.
Need a Study Plan?
Go to your Student Tools to download our study
plans—tailored for 4, 8, and 12 weeks of available
prep time! See this page for instructions.
2. Learn the Specific Math and Verbal Skills You’ll Need
Our courses include an extremely thorough review of the math and
verbal skills our students need to ace the GMAT, and this book will
give you that same review.
3. Practice Each Type of Question—at the Difficulty
Level You Need to Master
Two of the GMAT’s sections, the Quantitative and Verbal sections, are
computer adaptive. These sections quickly hone in on your ability level
and then mostly give you questions at or just above that level. It makes
sense for you to practice on the level of problem you will actually see
during the test. GMAT Premium Prep is the only book out there with
practice questions grouped by difficulty. Page after page of practice
questions are arranged at the back of this book in difficulty “bins”—
just like the questions on the real GMAT—so that you can concentrate
on the question level you will have to answer on the actual test in order

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to get the score you need.
The Integrated Reasoning section of the GMAT is not computer
adaptive. We’ve provided two complete Integrated Reasoning sections
at the back of this book to help you prepare for this section of the test.
Important Phone Numbers:
To register for the GMAT: 800-717-GMAT
To reach GMAC Customer Service: 866-505-6559
or 703-668-9605
4. Periodically Take Simulated GMATs to Measure Your
Progress
As you work through the book, you’ll want to take our online practice
tests to see how you’re doing. These tests closely mimic the GMAT so
you can become familiar with the test’s content and structure. Our
tests include adaptive sections for the Quantitative and Verbal sections
and a non-adaptive section for the Integrated Reasoning section. Our
practice tests can be found at PrincetonReview.com. In addition, we
actively encourage students to use The Official Guide for GMAT
Review, which is published by the Graduate Management Admission
Council (GMAC). It contains actual test questions from previous
administrations of the GMAT. You should also take at least one of the
real practice tests available through the GMAT website,
www.mba.com.
Make sure that you register your book to access
your tests. Please refer to the “Get More (Free)
Content” on this page to learn how to do just that.

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5. Hone Your Skills
Using the detailed score reports from your practice exams, you’ll be
able to zero in on problem areas and quickly achieve mastery through
additional practice. And as your score rises on the adaptive sections,
this book is ready with more difficult question bins to keep you on
track for the score you need. You can use the two practice Integrated
Reasoning sections in this book to help you prepare for your practice
tests and your real GMAT.
6. Keep Track of the Application Process
Throughout the book, you will find informative sidebars explaining
how and when to register for the test, how and when to apply to
business school, the advantages and disadvantages of applying early,
and much more. Plus, at PrincetonReview.com, you’ll be able to take
advantage of our powerful web-based tools to match yourself with
schools that meet your needs and preferences.
Important Websites
To register for the GMAT: www.mba.com
WHAT IS THE GRADUATE MANAGEMENT
ADMISSION TEST?
The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is a standardized
test used by business schools as a tool to decide whom they are going
to let into their MBA programs.
Where Does the GMAT Come From?
The GMAT is published and administered by the Graduate
Management Admission Council (GMAC). GMAC is a private
company. We’ll tell you more about them later on in this book.

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More Great Books!
Check out our survey-driven guide, The Best 294
Business Schools, for profiles of the nation’s top b-
schools.
What Does the Test Look Like?
The GMAT is offered only on computer. The 3.5-hour test is
administered at a secure computer terminal at an approved testing
center. You enter your multiple-choice answers on the screen with a
mouse; you must compose your essay for the Writing Assessment
section on the computer as well.
1. One 30-minute essay to be written on the
computer with a generic word-processing program
2. One 30-minute, 12-question, multiple-choice
Integrated Reasoning section. Some Integrated
Reasoning questions can have multiple parts.
(optional break)
3. A 62-minute, 31-question multiple-choice
Quantitative section
(optional break)
4. A 65-minute, 36-question multiple-choice Verbal
section
On average, this would give you two minutes for each quantitative
question and a little less than two minutes for each verbal question—

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but you will find that our Princeton Review strategies will slightly
revise these times. You must answer a question in order to get to the
next question—which means that you can’t skip a question and come
back to it. And while you are not required to finish any of the sections,
your score will be adjusted downward to reflect questions you did not
complete.
On each of the Quantitative and Verbal sections, approximately one-
quarter of the questions you encounter will be experimental and will
not count toward your score. These questions, which will be mixed in
among the regular questions, are there so the test company can try out
new questions for future tests. We’ll have much more to say about the
experimental questions later.
But Wait, There’s More
One of the first options you’ll encounter when taking the GMAT is the
option to choose from one of three possible orders for the exam
sections. You pick your preferred section order on the day of the test.
Here are the possible section orders:
How Do You Know What Order to Pick?
The answer to that depends on your goals for the test and your level of
comfort with the different sections. Are you looking to get a high
Quantitative score, but you don’t care so much about the Verbal? Has
your school told you they never consider the essay and Integrated

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Reasoning section? Are you good at Verbal but not so good at
Quantitative?
The answer to these questions and other questions like them help to
inform your section order choice.
How Does This Impact Your Studying?
We recommend that you take your first two tests using the classic
order. A major goal of your first practice test is to simply get
acquainted with the sections, question types, content, and timing of
the GMAT. A major goal of your second practice test is to start putting
into use some of the basic approaches for important question types.
Taking your first two tests using the classic section order provides a
baseline score. Having established a baseline score, you can then try
out different section orders for the remaining tests. Compare the
results of the tests with different section orders to the results of the
tests with the classic section order and see if there are any
improvements.
In addition to looking for score improvements, you should also pay
attention to a handful of other factors about your preferences in test
taking.
For instance, do you like to ease into a test or hit the ground running?
If you like to ease into a test, you may want to stick with the classic
section order. While all parts of your GMAT score are important, most
schools do attach less importance to your AWA (Analytical Writing
Assessment) and Integrated Reasoning scores than your Quantitative
and Verbal scores. Remember, as well, that only the Quantitative and
Verbal scores are used in calculating the overall score. So, if you like to
ease into a test, the AWA and Integrated Reasoning can provide that
way to ease in.
Do you like to do the section you’re most worried about first? Some
test-takers like to get the section that they are most worried about out
of the way. If that’s you, you’ll probably want to pick either the Verbal

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First or Quantitative First orders, depending on which section you are
most worried about!
Are you worried about fatigue? Most test-takers find the GMAT both
fast-paced and tiring. Fatigue can be a very real issue. If you are
worried about fatigue, you probably want to do either the Verbal First
or Quantitative First orders as they place the two least consequential
sections at the end of the test.
What Information Is Tested on the GMAT?
You will find several different types of multiple-choice questions on
the GMAT.
Quantitative (31 questions total)
Problem Solving—approximately 16 questions
Data Sufficiency (a strange type of problem that
exists on no other test in the world)—approximately
15 questions
Verbal (36 questions total)
Reading Comprehension (tests your ability to
answer questions about a passage)—approximately
12 questions
Sentence Correction (a grammar-related question
type)—approximately 14 questions
Critical Reasoning (a logic-based question type
recycled from the LSAT)—approximately 10
questions
Integrated Reasoning (12 questions total)
Table Analysis—data is presented in a sortable table
(like an Excel spreadsheet); each question usually

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has three parts.
Graphics Interpretation—a chart or graph is used to
display data; each question usually has two parts;
answers are selected from drop-down boxes.
Multi-Source Reasoning—information (a
combination of charts, text, and tables) is presented
on two or three tabs; each set of tabbed information
is usually accompanied by three questions.
Two-Part Analysis—each question usually has five
or six options of which you need to pick two.
How Is the GMAT Scored?
As soon as you’ve finished taking the GMAT, your computer will
calculate and display your unofficial results, not including your
Writing Assessment score. You can print a copy of your unofficial
results to take with you. Within 20 days, you will receive your score
report online; a written report will be available only by request.
Most people think of the GMAT score as a single number, but in fact
there are five separate numbers:
1. Quantitative score (reported on a scale that runs from 6 to 51 in
one-point increments)
2. Verbal score (reported on a scale that runs from 6 to 51 in one-
point increments)
3. Total score (reported on a scale that runs from 200 to 800 and
based only on the results of Quantitative and Verbal sections)
4. Analytic Writing Assessment score (reported on a scale of 0 to 6,
in half-point increments; 6 is the highest score)
5. Integrated Reasoning score (reported on a scale from 1 to 8 in one-
point increments)

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The report will look something like this:
Scores in the Quantitative and Verbal sections of the test are based on
three factors: the number of questions you answer, whether you
answered the question correctly, and the parameters of the question
(such as difficulty). Your score improves if you answer more questions,
answer them correctly, and answer them at a higher level of difficulty.
Scores below 6 or above 51 are exceedingly rare.
Where Will Your Scores Take You?
Get The Princeton Review’s definitive list of
admissions rates and average test scores for
dozens of top business schools. Visit your Student
Tools for more info.
Many business schools tend to focus on the total score, which means
that you may make up for weakness in one area by being strong in
another. For example, if your quantitative skills are better than your
verbal skills, they’ll help pull up your total score—although some of the
more selective schools say they prefer to see math and verbal sub-
scores that are balanced. According to GMAC, two-thirds of test-takers
receive a total score between 400 and 600. Total scores go up or down
in ten-point increments. In other words, you might receive 490 or 500
on the GMAT, but never 494 or 495.
The Integrated Reasoning section is scored from 1 to 8 in one-point
increments. Questions have multiple parts, and you must answer each
part correctly to get credit for the question. The Integrated Reasoning

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score is not included in the Overall score.
The score on the Analytical Writing Assessment section is based on the
submission of one Analysis of an Argument essay. The essay is scored
independently twice, and the average of the scores is taken. One of the
scorers for the essay may be an automated essay-scoring engine.
You will also see a percentile ranking next to each score. For example,
if you see a percentile of 72 next to your Verbal score, it means that 72
percent of the people who took this test scored lower than you did on
the Verbal section.
WHAT IS THE PRINCETON REVIEW?
The Princeton Review is a test-preparation company founded in New
York City. It has branches in more than 50 cities across the country, as
well as abroad. The Princeton Review’s techniques are unique and
powerful, and they were developed after a study of thousands of real
GMAT questions. They work because they are based on the same
principles that are used in writing the actual test. The Princeton
Review’s techniques for beating the GMAT will help you improve your
scores by teaching you to:
think like the test-writers
take full advantage of the computer-adaptive algorithms upon
which the GMAT is based
find the answers to questions you don’t understand by using
Process of Elimination
avoid the traps that test-writers have set for you (and use those
traps to your advantage)
A Warning
Many of our techniques for beating the GMAT may be very different
from the way that you would naturally approach problems. Some
methods may even seem counterintuitive. Rest assured, however, that

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many test-takers have used our methods to get great GMAT scores. To
get the full benefit of our techniques, you must trust them. The only
way to develop this trust is to practice the techniques and persuade
yourself that they work.
Practice with Real Questions
One reason coaching books do not use real GMAT questions is that
GMAC won’t let them. So far, the council has refused to let anyone
(including us) license actual questions from old tests. As we
mentioned above, the council has its own review book, The Official
Guide for GMAT Review, which we heartily recommend that you
purchase. GMAC also puts out preparation software called
GMATPrep, which can be downloaded for free from www.mba.com.
This software includes two computer-adaptive tests plus additional
practice sets, all of which feature real GMAT questions. By practicing
our techniques on real GMAT items, you will be able to prove to
yourself that the techniques work and increase your confidence when
you actually take the test.
And, remember, by using The Princeton Review’s practice questions
grouped by level of difficulty at the back of this book, you’ll be able to
concentrate on types of questions you are actually likely to see.
Additional Resources
In addition to the material in this book, we offer a number of other
resources to aid you during your GMAT preparation.
Register your book at PrincetonReview.com to gain access to your
Student Tools, the companion website to this book. There you will find
6 full-length GMAT exams, assorted videos that demonstrate step-by-
step approaches to GMAT question types and strategy, extra drills and
practice, and tons of useful articles, essays, and information.

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How Do You Think About Standardized Tests?
If you’re like most people, you think standardized tests measure how
smart you are. If you score 800 on the GMAT, you may think of
yourself as a genius (and the future manager of a corporate empire). If
you score 200, you may think of yourself as an idiot (and the future
manager of…well…nothing). You may think that the GMAT measures
your verbal and math abilities. At the very least, you probably believe
the GMAT is an accurate predictor of how you’ll do in business school.
What Does the GMAT Measure?
The GMAT is not a test of how smart you are. Nor is it a test of your
business acumen or even a predictor of your grades in business school.
It’s simply a test of how good you are at taking the GMAT. In fact, you
will learn that by studying the very specific knowledge outlined in this
book, you can substantially improve your score.
The GMAT as a Job Interview
The first axiom of any how-to book on job interviewing is that you
must always tell your interviewer what he or she wants to hear. No
matter whether this is good job-hunting advice, it happens to be a very
useful strategy on the GMAT. The test-writers think in predictable
ways. You can improve your score by learning to think the way they do
and anticipating the kinds of answers that they think are correct.
How Closely Does The Princeton Review Monitor the
GMAT?
Very closely. Each year, we publish a new edition of this book to reflect
the subtle shifts that happen over time, or, in the case of the
introduction of the Integrated Reasoning section, the major changes to
the GMAT. For the latest information on the GMAT, please visit our
website PrincetonReview.com.
Is This Book Just Like The Princeton Review Course?
No. You won’t have the benefit of taking 10 computer-adaptive GMATs

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