Latest GMAT Official Guide (OG) 2022 – Should you buy?

Latest GMAT Official Guide 2022 (released in May 2021)

The GMAT Official Guide 2022, the GMAT OG 2022, is the latest GMAT guide available in the market (it was released in mid-2021, as is the practice every year). The book is a must for GMAT preparation. The GMAT OG 2022 has over 1000 questions. However, just like the 2021 edition, which had no new questions added to the book compared to the previous year's book, the GMAT Official Guide 2022 edition does not include any new questions comapred to 2021. So in terms of pblished questions, the book overlaps with the GMAT OG 2021 and the GMAT OG 2020. However, in the online question bank that comes complimentary with the book, you can access an additional 170 unseen questions that are exclusive to the online companion to the GMAT OG 2022.

So the question is: Should one buy the latest edition of the GMAT Official Guide i.e. GMAT OG 2022 book? The answer is an unqualified Yes for those who do not have any previous edition of the GMAT Official Guide. The OG is an indispensable part of your GMAT preparation journey and complements additional resources you might use for such as Online GMAT study material

And before you start using the guide to prepare for the GMAT exam, don't miss these 3 Expert Tips for using GMAT Official Guides 2021 2022 which will improve your learning from the book.

You can even watch the video here: 3 Expert Tips for using the GMAT Official Guide 2021 2022

Now, what if you have already purchased, or have access to, any of the previous editions of the GMAT Official Guide or GMAT OG as it is popularly called (officially titled as Official Guide for GMAT Review). Is it worth spending on the New GMAT Official Guide OG 2022 edition in order to prepare for the GMAT exam? (to make sure you purchase the correct book, look for the book title: Official Guide for GMAT 2022 edition). We've made it easy for you to make that decision by giving you a comparison of the recent editions of the GMAT Official Guides in terms of real past GMAT questions contained in those books and the difference between the various editions of the official GMAT guides.

Latest GMAT Official Guide 2022 edition (GMAT OG 2022)

• Total 1007 real past GMAT questions
• No new questions in Quant & Verbal compared to GMAT OG 2021 & GMAT OG 2020
• 100 new questions in Quant & Verbal compared to GMAT OG 2019
• ‍230 new questions in Quant & Verbal compared to GMAT OG 2018
• 352 new questions in Quant & Verbal + 8 new IR questions compared to GMAT OG 2017
• 490 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2016
• 691 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2015

Watch Video: OG vs Actual GMAT | Difficulty comparison

Comparison of all GMAT Official Guide editions from 2015 onwards with previous years

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GMAT Official Guide 2021 edition (GMAT OG 2021)

• Total 1007 real GMAT questions
• No new questions in Quant & Verbal compared to GMAT OG 2020
• 100 new questions in Quant & Verbal compared to GMAT OG 2019
• 230 new questions in Quant & Verbal compared to GMAT OG 2018
• 352 new questions in Quant & Verbal + 8 new IR questions compared to GMAT OG 2017
• 490 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2016
• 691 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2015‍

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GMAT Official Guide 2020 edition (GMAT OG 2020)

• Total 1007 real GMAT questions
• 100 new questions in Quant & Verbal compared to GMAT OG 2019
• 230 new questions in Quant & Verbal compared to GMAT OG 2018
• 352 new questions in Quant & Verbal + 8 new IR questions compared to GMAT OG 2017
• 490 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2016
• 691 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2015‍

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GMAT Official Guide 2019 edition (GMAT OG 2019)

• Total 907 real GMAT questions
• 130 new questions in Quant & Verbal compared to GMAT OG 2018
• 252 new questions in Quant & Verbal + 8 new IR questions compared to GMAT OG 2017
• 390 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2016
• 591 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2015‍

GMAT Official Guide 2018 edition (GMAT OG 2018)

• Total 907 real GMAT questions
• 122 new questions in Quant & Verbal + 8 new IR questions compared to GMAT OG 2017
• 260 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2016
• 461 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2015

Official Guide for GMAT Review 2017 edition (GMAT OG 2017)

• Total 907 real GMAT questions
• 130 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2016
• 331 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2015

Official Guide for GMAT Review 2016 edition (GMAT OG 2016)

• Total 907 real GMAT questions.
• 201 new questions compared to GMAT OG 2015‍

Official Guide for GMAT Review 2015 edition

• Total 907 real GMAT questions
• Same as the Official GMAT Guide 13th edition
• (previously they had 11th edition, 12th edition, 13th edition etc. The 13th edition was converted to OG 2015 edition)

What the above analysis tells us that if you already have the OG 2021 or even the OG 2020 or 2019, it does not make much sense purchasing the new official GMAT guide 2022 release. Moreover, the additions made in 2020 vs 2019 were in the Easy and Medium level questions. The Hard questions published in the GMAT OG 2020 overlap exactly with those in the GMAT OG 2019.

If you have either the 2018 or 2017 editions, then you are looking at over two-thirds of overlapping questions and about 230 or 352 new questions respectively. But remember that the 100 new questions in the GMAT Official Guide 2020 edition are mostly in the Easy question category. So, the money will be better spent purchasing some other Official GMAT Prep Material such as Exam Pack 1 and/or 2, rather than the GMAT OG 2022 guide.

But if you have the 2016 edition, then you are looking at 517 overlapping and 490 new questions. Since there are close to 500 new questions, it would definitely be worth purchasing the GMAT OG 2022 book.

On the other hand, if you do not have any GMAT Official Guide to refer to, or have the Official Guide for GMAT Review 2015 editions, then there is no doubt that you will have lots to gain by purchasing the new book. Also remember, the overall quality of questions in OG 2016 was a lot better than in 2015, and the trend continued till 2019. So, you are getting not only a substantial number of new questions, but also better quality questions. Over the last few editions of the GMAT OG, we are noticing a good improvement in Reading Comprehension questions and in the Medium to Medium-High range of Quantitative questions.

Best of luck for your GMAT Prep!