{"id":408,"date":"2016-06-04T16:07:23","date_gmt":"2016-06-04T23:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gmat-genius.com\/blog\/?p=408"},"modified":"2016-06-04T16:07:23","modified_gmt":"2016-06-04T23:07:23","slug":"preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math\/","title":{"rendered":"Preview of 2017 GMAT Official Guide Math"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2017<\/a>In this third post of this series of exclusive previews of the 2017 GMAT Official Guides, we now turn to the math section of the main Official Guide. We will focus on how the 2017 GMAT Official Guide<\/a> differs from the 2016 edition in terms of math question difficulty and math concepts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Problem Solving – Difficulty<\/h2>\n

Both the 2017 and 2016 editions of the GMAT Official Guide contain 254 Problem Solving questions, including the identical 24 Problem Solving questions in the Diagnostic Exam portion of the guides. But the allocation of question difficulty<\/strong>, as assigned by the GMAC, has noticeably shifted towards Easy difficulty<\/strong>. Part of this change resulted from the GMAC downgrading 8 questions from Medium difficulty<\/strong> (in 2016) to Easy (in 2017).<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Difficulty<\/strong><\/th>\n2017<\/strong><\/th>\n2016<\/strong><\/th>\nChange<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Easy<\/strong><\/td>\n82<\/td>\n63<\/td>\n+19<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Medium<\/strong><\/td>\n55<\/td>\n60<\/td>\n(5)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hard<\/strong><\/td>\n117<\/td>\n131<\/td>\n(14)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total<\/strong><\/td>\n254<\/td>\n254<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

A total of 36 new Problem Solving questions<\/strong>, which we have never seen before, appear in the 2017 GMAT Official Guide, with difficulty ratings of Easy \/ Medium \/ Hard as follows: 18 \/ 8 \/ 10<\/strong>. This is in lieu of 36 questions from the 2016 edition that have been removed, with difficulty ratings of Easy \/ Medium \/ Hard as follows: 7 \/ 5 \/ 24. We are disappointed to see that Hard difficulty has a net loss of 14 questions<\/strong>, although we would rate most of the 24 removed Hard questions as actually Medium difficulty. Let\u2019s further break down how each of these difficulty categories has changed.<\/p>\n

Easy Problem Solving<\/h3>\n

Additions:<\/em>
\n18 new questions
\n8 downgraded from Medium<\/p>\n

Subtractions:<\/em>
\n7 questions removed<\/p>\n

Net change:<\/em> +19 questions<\/p>\n

Medium Problem Solving<\/h3>\n

Additions:<\/em>
\n8 new questions<\/p>\n

Subtractions:<\/em>
\n5 questions removed
\n8 downgraded to Easy<\/p>\n

Net change:<\/em> -5 questions<\/p>\n

Hard Problem Solving<\/h3>\n

Additions:<\/em>
\n10 new questions<\/p>\n

Subtractions:<\/em>
\n24 questions removed<\/p>\n

Net change:<\/em> -14 questions<\/p>\n

Problem Solving – Concepts<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s now consider changes in the concepts of the 36 new (in 2017) and the 36 removed (from 2016) Problem Solving questions. GMAT Genius classifies questions based on their primary and secondary concepts. In order to observe trends, we have condensed our categorization as follows:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Type<\/strong><\/th>\nConcept<\/strong><\/th>\n2017<\/strong><\/th>\n2016<\/strong><\/th>\nChange<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nBasic<\/strong><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n+2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nDivisibility\/Factors\/Mult.<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n(1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nExponents & Roots<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nFractions & Ratios<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n(3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nPercents<\/strong><\/td>\n5<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n(1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Algebra<\/td>\nInequalities<\/strong><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n+2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Algebra<\/td>\nLinear Equations<\/strong><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n(1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Algebra<\/td>\nQuadratics<\/strong><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Algebra<\/td>\nSimultaneous Equations<\/strong><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Algebra<\/td>\nVariables in Answers<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n+2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Geometry<\/td>\nCircles<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Geometry<\/td>\nCoordinate<\/strong><\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n(1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Statistics<\/td>\nAverages<\/strong><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n(1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Statistics<\/td>\nOther<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n+2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Word Problems<\/td>\nCombinatorics<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n+1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Word Problems<\/td>\nFunctions & Sequences<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Word Problems<\/td>\nGroups\/Sets<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n(1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Word Problems<\/td>\nProbability<\/strong><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Word Problems<\/td>\nRate & Work<\/strong><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Although we cannot draw definite conclusions from this data about question composition on the GMAT, what stands out most is the decrease in fractions & ratios questions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Data Sufficiency – Difficulty<\/h2>\n

Both the 2017 and 2016 editions of the GMAT Official Guide contain 198 Data Sufficiency questions, including the identical 24 Data Sufficiency questions in the Diagnostic Exam portion of the guides. As with Problem Solving, the allocation of question difficulty has noticeably shifted away from Hard<\/strong>. No questions have been reclassified in terms of difficulty.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Difficulty<\/strong><\/th>\n2017<\/strong><\/th>\n2016<\/strong><\/th>\nChange<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Easy<\/strong><\/td>\n50<\/td>\n46<\/td>\n+4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Medium<\/strong><\/td>\n51<\/td>\n41<\/td>\n+10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hard<\/strong><\/td>\n97<\/td>\n111<\/td>\n(14)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total<\/strong><\/td>\n198<\/td>\n198<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

A total of 26 new Data Sufficiency questions<\/strong>, which we have never seen before, appear in the 2017 GMAT Official Guide, with difficulty ratings of Easy \/ Medium \/ Hard as follows: 9 \/ 12 \/ 5<\/strong>. This is in lieu of 26 questions from the 2016 edition that have been removed, with difficulty ratings of Easy \/ Medium \/ Hard as follows: 5 \/ 2 \/ 19. We are disappointed to see that Hard difficulty has a net loss of 14 questions<\/strong>, although we would rate most of the 19 removed Hard questions as actually Medium difficulty. Let\u2019s further break down how each of these difficulty categories has changed.<\/p>\n

Easy Data Sufficiency<\/h3>\n

Additions:<\/em>
\n9 new questions<\/p>\n

Subtractions:<\/em>
\n5 questions removed<\/p>\n

Net change:<\/em> +4 questions<\/p>\n

Medium Data Sufficiency<\/h3>\n

Additions:<\/em>
\n12 new questions<\/p>\n

Subtractions:<\/em>
\n2 questions removed<\/p>\n

Net change:<\/em> +10 questions<\/p>\n

Hard Data Sufficiency<\/h3>\n

Additions:<\/em>
\n5 new questions<\/p>\n

Subtractions:<\/em>
\n19 questions removed<\/p>\n

Net change:<\/em> -14 questions<\/p>\n

Data Sufficiency – Concepts<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s now consider changes in the concepts of the 26 new (in 2017) and the 26 removed (from 2016) Data Sufficiency questions. GMAT Genius classifies questions based on their primary and secondary concepts. In order to observe trends, we have condensed our categorization as follows:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Type<\/strong><\/th>\nConcept<\/strong><\/th>\n2017<\/strong><\/th>\n2016<\/strong><\/th>\nChange<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nBasic<\/strong><\/td>\n5<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n+3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nDivisibility\/Factors\/Mult.<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n+1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nExponents & Roots<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n+1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nFractions & Ratios<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nPercents<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n+1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nPos\/Neg & Odd\/Even<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n(3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arithmetic<\/td>\nPrimes<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n+1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Algebra<\/td>\nLinear Equations<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n+1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Algebra<\/td>\nQuadratics<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n(2)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Algebra<\/td>\nSimultaneous Equations<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n(1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Geometry<\/td>\nCircles<\/strong><\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n(2)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Geometry<\/td>\nTriangles<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n+2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Geometry<\/td>\nOther<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n+1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Statistics<\/td>\nAll<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n+1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Word Problems<\/td>\nGroups\/Sets<\/strong><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n(1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Word Problems<\/td>\nProbability<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Word Problems<\/td>\nRevenue\/Profit\/Interest<\/strong><\/td>\n0<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n(3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Although we again cannot draw definite conclusions from this data about question composition on the GMAT, what stands out most is the decrease in odd\/even and revenue\/profit concepts <\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Removed Questions<\/h2>\n

Here is the list of the math questions that have been removed from the 2016 edition<\/strong> of the GMAT Official Guide. We\u2019ll publish a list of the new math questions in the 2017 GMAT Official Guide after it publicly releases.<\/p>\n

Problem Solving \u2013 36 questions removed:<\/h3>\n

26, 34, 37, 40, 41, 47, 54, 65, 72, 79, 80, 103, 110, 111, 150, 157, 161, 169, 176, 179, 180, 184, 186, 187, 194, 197, 198, 199, 200, 202, 203, 207, 208, 209, 227, 228<\/p>\n

Data Sufficiency \u2013 26 questions removed:<\/h3>\n

1, 3, 9, 17, 33, 44, 65, 74, 78, 81, 109, 113, 131, 139, 140, 141, 150, 151, 154, 158, 159, 165, 166, 170, 173, 174<\/p>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

In the 2017 GMAT Official Guide, the GMAC has replaced a total of 62 Quant questions, representing just over 15% of the questions (excluding the Diagnostic Exam section). The changes in this edition are far less significant than the changes we saw between the 2015 to the 2016 editions<\/strong> of this book. Nonetheless, what stands out is the net loss of 28 Hard Quant questions<\/strong>, as rated by the GMAC. GMAT Genius will continue to offer detailed analysis of the 2017 GMAT Official Guides in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this third post of this series of exclusive previews of the 2017 GMAT Official Guides, we now turn to the math section of the main Official Guide. We will focus on how the 2017 GMAT Official Guide differs from the 2016 edition in terms of math question difficulty and math concepts. Problem Solving – … <\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,20],"tags":[27],"yoast_head":"\nPreview of 2017 GMAT Official Guide Math - GMAT Genius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"GMAT Genius offers an exclusive preview of the math section of the 2017 GMAT Official Guide, releasing on June 7. Read about the changes in this edition.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preview of 2017 GMAT Official Guide Math\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"GMAT Genius offers an exclusive preview of the math section of the 2017 GMAT Official Guide, releasing on June 7. Read about the changes in this edition.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GMAT Genius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-04T23:07:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chief Genius\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chief Genius\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math\/\",\"name\":\"Preview of 2017 GMAT Official Guide Math - GMAT Genius\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-04T23:07:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-04T23:07:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a88f14526c9f59262a2d6ee07165d1fa\"},\"description\":\"GMAT Genius offers an exclusive preview of the math section of the 2017 GMAT Official Guide, releasing on June 7. Read about the changes in this edition.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"GMAT Genius\",\"description\":\"Helping You Achieve GMAT Success\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a88f14526c9f59262a2d6ee07165d1fa\",\"name\":\"Chief Genius\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/author\/gmatpower8577\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Preview of 2017 GMAT Official Guide Math - GMAT Genius","description":"GMAT Genius offers an exclusive preview of the math section of the 2017 GMAT Official Guide, releasing on June 7. Read about the changes in this edition.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Preview of 2017 GMAT Official Guide Math","og_description":"GMAT Genius offers an exclusive preview of the math section of the 2017 GMAT Official Guide, releasing on June 7. Read about the changes in this edition.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math\/","og_site_name":"GMAT Genius","article_published_time":"2016-06-04T23:07:23+00:00","author":"Chief Genius","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chief Genius","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math\/","name":"Preview of 2017 GMAT Official Guide Math - GMAT Genius","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-06-04T23:07:23+00:00","dateModified":"2016-06-04T23:07:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a88f14526c9f59262a2d6ee07165d1fa"},"description":"GMAT Genius offers an exclusive preview of the math section of the 2017 GMAT Official Guide, releasing on June 7. Read about the changes in this edition.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/preview-2017-gmat-official-guide-math\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/","name":"GMAT Genius","description":"Helping You Achieve GMAT Success","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a88f14526c9f59262a2d6ee07165d1fa","name":"Chief Genius","url":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/author\/gmatpower8577\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions\/411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmatgenius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}