Product Description
A review guide for the GMAT, prepared by the creators of standardized exams, features previously administered exams for practice tests and more.Amazon.com Review
Product Description

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition is the only book on the market written by the creators of the GMAT exam. Inside you’ll find more than 800 actual GMAT questions from previous tests with answers and detailed explanations. There’s also a grammar review, math review, actual essay topics, sample responses, and scoring information insights into the GMAT exam that debunk test-taking myths. Plus, use the diagnostic section to pinpoint your skill level and focus on the areas where you need the most help.

Top Myths About the GMAT®

Myth – If I don’t score in the 90th percentile, I won’t get into any school I choose.

Fact – Very few people get very high scores.

Fewer than 50 of the more than 200,000 people taking the GMAT test each year get a perfect score of 800. Thus, while you may be exceptionally capable, the odds are against your achieving a perfect score. Also, the GMAT test is just one piece of your application packet. Admissions officers use GMAT scores in conjunction with undergraduate records, application essays, interviews, letters of recommendation, and other information when deciding whom to accept into their programs.

Myth – Getting an easier question means I answered the last one wrong.

Fact – Getting an easier question does not necessarily mean you got the previous question wrong.

To ensure that everyone receives the same content, the test selects a specific number of questions of each type. The test may call for your next question to be a relatively hard problem-solving item involving arithmetic operations. But, if there are no more relatively difficult problem-solving items involving arithmetic, you might be given an easier item.

Most people are not skilled at estimating item difficulty, so don’t worry when taking the test or waste valuable time trying to determine the difficulty of the questions you are answering.

Myth – You need very advanced math skills to get a high GMAT score.

Fact – The math skills questions on the GMAT test are quite basic.

The GMAT test only requires basic quantitative analytic skills. You should review the math skills (algebra, geometry, basic arithmetic) presented in both The Official Guide for GMAT® Quantitative Review, 2nd Edition, and in The Official Guide for GMAT® Review, 12th Edition, but the required skill level is low. The difficulty of GMAT Quantitative questions stems from the logic and analysis used to solve the problems and not the underlying math skills.

Myth – It is more important to respond correctly to the test questions than it is to finish the test.

Fact – There is a severe penalty for not completing the GMAT test.

If you are stumped by a question, give it your best guess and move on. If you guess incorrectly, the computer program will likely give you an easier question, which you are likely to answer correctly, and the computer will rapidly return to giving you questions matched to your ability. If you don’t finish the test, your score will be reduced greatly. Failing to answer five verbal questions, for example, could reduce your score from the 91st percentile to the 77th percentile. Pacing is important.

Myth –The first 10 questions are critical and you should invest the most time on those.

Fact – All questions count.

It is true that the computer-adaptive testing algorithm uses the first 10 questions to obtain an initial estimate of your ability; however, that is only an initial estimate. As you continue to answer questions, the algorithm self-corrects by computing an updated estimate on the basis of all the questions you have answered, and then administers items that are closely matched to this new estimate of your ability. Your final score is based on all your responses and considers the difficulty of all the questions you answered. Taking additional time on the first 10 questions will not game the system and can hurt your ability to finish the test.

Myth – I need to speak US English in order to do well on the GMAT.

Fact- Essay grading is not affected by dialect of English. Questions on the GMAT are evaluated to ensure they are fair for all examinees, whether in the US or around the world.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (248)

No transaction
The book somehow got lost in the mail. After two weeks of the book not arriving I asked for my money back and the company kindly did so.

It really is the "official" guide
I had to purchase this book because the GMAT prep class I was taking required it. Yes, the prep class was definitely most helpful, but if you can't afford a prep class, I recommend using this book. This is the same material they use on the GMAT. Also, if you download the practice test from mba.com, the official GMAT website, the questions are similar to the ones in the book.

Great book!
Great book, lots of exercises! Update version, got tips for the test and online backup, such as GMATPrep(TM).

The Book Condition was not the same as expected
I bought a book from this seller and it was labeled as looks like new. It was not. It had the answers to the test beside the questions. It is not the meaning for looking new. Only the cover looks new.
I was charged for looks like new because the price was not low.

Not a Guidebook but an excellent source of Real GMAT Questions
I started GMAT Club - online MBA community; my GMAT score is 750 (49, 42), and here are my thoughts about this book:

Strengths:
1. 907 real GMAT questions retired from past tests
2. Practice questions are organized by level of difficulty
3. Practice questions follow actual GMAT test patterns (it's great to have one's ear trained, esp. in verbal)
4. Contains a 100-question diagnostic test

Weaknesses:
1. Does not include any test-taking strategies
2. Though it has a few short review sections for each area, they are weak and very unfriendly
3. Questions are predominantly low to medium in difficulty which is often not representative of questions one encounters on the test
4. There is a 66% overlap with the previous version (11th edition)

Contents (number of questions per section):
1. Diagnostic Test - 100 questions
2. Problem Solving - 230 questions
3. Data Sufficiency - 174 questions
4. Reading Comprehension - 139 questions
5. Critical Reasoning - 124 questions
6. Sentence Correction - 140 questions

* Why is this book valuable/must-have?
The Official Guide is published by the creators of the GMAT and therefore it is the only source of actual GMAT questions representative of what you will see on the test.

* Why is the book not sufficient by itself?
This Guide contains only questions and lacks insightful information about the test, a math/verbal concept review section, or any test-taking strategies. To get up to speed, you will need to get a study guide such as Kaplan Premier Program or Princeton Review's Cracking the GMAT Cat.

* How should this book be used?
This book should NOT be used as a study-guide. It is a collection of questions - think of it as a way to practice your test-taking strategies but not a way to learn them.

* What if I own a previous edition of this book?
If you have the 11th edition, the only difference between the two is 300 new questions, or about 30%. Most test-takers agree that 300 new questions is not a compelling enough reason to own both editions, as the 11th edition offers enough practice. If you do need additional practice questions, get the Math or Verbal workbooks instead as they each have 300 questions.

* What is a recommended study plan using The Official Guide?
There are a number of approaches that work - here is one that most find reasonable:

Step 1: Take a GMAT Prep (2 free tests downloadable from MBA dot com) - these will give you a good idea where you stand. But don't waste these; these are free but very valuable tests. The results will be representative of your real GMAT score. As I said don't waste these, but you can actually retake these a few times. So if you take one in the beginning of your prep, for example, and score 540, and then retake same test at the end when you are closer to 650+ level, you should not see a single overlaping question.


Step 2: Buy a GMAT Guide from Kaplan (GMAT Premier). Get familiar with the test and brush up on fundamentals (math and grammar); also these books will give you a good base for test-taking and timing strategies.


Step 3: (Optional - if you want a 650+ score) Get either Kaplan Math and/or Verbal workbook or for the best chance, the 8-book set form Manhattan GMAT and do a deep dive into the fundamentals - this is what will help you crack the test - solid knowledge of Math and Grammar.

Step 4: By now you should have a good understanding of question patterns, strategies, and timing. Start working on the Official Guide and honing your skills - this is especially important for Critical Reasoning questions that have certain unspoken patterns and rules that only the Official Guide offers - work through the questions to train your ear. Keep in mind that these questions are on the easier side if you are aiming for 650+.


Top 6 Mistakes People Make on the GMAT:
1: Rushing to take tests before learning basics
2: Starting with the Official Guide instead of a guidebook/textbook
3: Giving GMAT the worst quality time of the day - studying after a long day
4: Skipping basics and rushing to advanced topics
5: Starting to prepare with poor English proficiency
6: Not following strategies exactly or cutting corners


Good Luck on the GMAT!
BB - Founder of GMAT Club
GMAT Score 750 (49, 42)
Let me know if you have any questions about GMAT books - I have read and reviewed all of them ... Read more

Amazon.com Review
Product Description
The only official quantitative review for the GMAT from the creators of the test.  Anyone preparing for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) knows it's important to study with the experts. With The Official Guide for the GMAT Quantitative Review, Second Edition, you'll get questions, answers, and explanations straight from the source. The only official quantitative review for the GMAT Exam, this book targets your study and helps you improve your quantitative skills by focusing on your ability to solve equations, interpret data, coordinate geometry, and determine probability with assurance and ease. Inside, you'll find

• 300 actual questions from past GMAT tests, including 75 questions new to this edition
• Sections on Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Problem Solving, and Data Sufficiency
• Questions organized in order of difficulty to save study time

The Graduate Management Admission Council certifies all content so you can trust that you're getting expert guidance as you prepare for the GMAT Exam.

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) is the association of leading graduate business schools around the world. GMAC's mission is to meet the needs of business schools and students through a wide array of products, services, and programs. It is the owner and administrator of the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), the first and only standardized test specifically designed for graduate business and management programs. Available in nearly 100 countries, it is the global standard for entry to the MBA degree course.

Top Myths About the GMAT®

Myth – If I don’t score in the 90th percentile, I won’t get into any school I choose.

Fact – Very few people get very high scores.

Fewer than 50 of the more than 200,000 people taking the GMAT test each year get a perfect score of 800. Thus, while you may be exceptionally capable, the odds are against your achieving a perfect score. Also, the GMAT test is just one piece of your application packet. Admissions officers use GMAT scores in conjunction with undergraduate records, application essays, interviews, letters of recommendation, and other information when deciding whom to accept into their programs.

Myth – Getting an easier question means I answered the last one wrong.

Fact – Getting an easier question does not necessarily mean you got the previous question wrong.

To ensure that everyone receives the same content, the test selects a specific number of questions of each type. The test may call for your next question to be a relatively hard problem-solving item involving arithmetic operations. But, if there are no more relatively difficult problem-solving items involving arithmetic, you might be given an easier item.

Most people are not skilled at estimating item difficulty, so don’t worry when taking the test or waste valuable time trying to determine the difficulty of the questions you are answering.

Myth – You need very advanced math skills to get a high GMAT score.

Fact – The math skills questions on the GMAT test are quite basic.

The GMAT test only requires basic quantitative analytic skills. You should review the math skills (algebra, geometry, basic arithmetic) presented in both The Official Guide for GMAT® Quantitative Review, 2nd Edition, and in The Official Guide for GMAT® Review, 12th Edition, but the required skill level is low. The difficulty of GMAT Quantitative questions stems from the logic and analysis used to solve the problems and not the underlying math skills.

Myth – It is more important to respond correctly to the test questions than it is to finish the test.

Fact – There is a severe penalty for not completing the GMAT test.

If you are stumped by a question, give it your best guess and move on. If you guess incorrectly, the computer program will likely give you an easier question, which you are likely to answer correctly, and the computer will rapidly return to giving you questions matched to your ability. If you don’t finish the test, your score will be reduced greatly. Failing to answer five verbal questions, for example, could reduce your score from the 91st percentile to the 77th percentile. Pacing is important.

Myth –The first 10 questions are critical and you should invest the most time on those.

Fact – All questions count.

It is true that the computer-adaptive testing algorithm uses the first 10 questions to obtain an initial estimate of your ability; however, that is only an initial estimate. As you continue to answer questions, the algorithm self-corrects by computing an updated estimate on the basis of all the questions you have answered, and then administers items that are closely matched to this new estimate of your ability. Your final score is based on all your responses and considers the difficulty of all the questions you answered. Taking additional time on the first 10 questions will not game the system and can hurt your ability to finish the test.

Myth – I need to speak US English in order to do well on the GMAT.

Fact- Essay grading is not affected by dialect of English. Questions on the GMAT are evaluated to ensure they are fair for all examinees, whether in the US or around the world.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (38)

A HUGE help
I ordered this for some extra help on the quantitative review. The free GMAT test prep software is good to see where you are and get some practice with the timing, but the software's math review is not that great. This guide gives you plenty of practice problems, and answer explanations so you can see where you made your mistakes. It helped me improve my Quantitative score significantly.

9 days late now!!! dalivery long overdue, not sure I'll ever receive it.
I've ordered the GMAT quant review along with the Manhattan books,the quant review was estimated to arrive 10 days ago, and the Manhattan a few days ago. Well, the Manhattan books arrived in time and the Quant Review hasn't yet arrived. Disappointing and even though I still have hopes to receive the book one day, I won't have enough time to study it for the Exam which I'll be writing this friday.

unfortunately, you need to buy this book
For anybody with serious plans to improve their GMAT score, this book is an absolute must.Regardless of your level of skill, this book will be at least somewhat useful.Nothing can substitute for "official" GMAT questions, and this book will help any student get the hang of the GMAT's quirky style--and learning to deal with that styleis arguably as important as learning the math itself.

That said, this book has tons of imperfections.First, there really aren't enough tough questions in here, especially on the problem solving side.My students seem to struggle much more on the data sufficiency, but a 650+ GMAT student will have limited opportunities to break a sweat.

Sadly, GMAC has also cheated us a little bit.There are only 74 new questions (the cover promises 75 new questions... and yes, I was silly enough to count them all), and they really don't break much new ground from the 1st edition.As always, the explanations are often incomprehensible, and rarely explain the best way to do a particular math problem.And many of the new questions also appear in the GMAT Focus tests, so you might end up paying for them twice.

Pretty annoying, but this is still a necessary supplement to the official guide.Grumble if you must, but buy a copy anyway.

Amust for GMAT math prep
Bought this to prepare for the GMAT.My math skills were not up to par and this is an excellent source of practice problems.I worked every problem in the book at least twice and ended up with a score of 700 in the GMAT.

If your math is weak and you want to improve your score, this is the book for you.

Decent GMAT Math practice, but not enough difficult questions
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT.Here are my thoughts on the Official Guide Quant book:

===== OVERVIEW =====

The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review is the math supplement for the Official Guide series published by GMAC, the creators of the GMAT. As is the case with The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition and The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review, 2nd Edition, this book contains retired GMAT questions and as such is a great source of practice problems.

However, the concepts section of the quant supplement is not worth your time. It is virtually a copy-paste of the equivalent section in The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition, in itself undoubtedly insufficient for anyone looking to get a high score in quant. Although "the math skills tested [typo in the supplement - the authors wrote "test" instead of "tested"] on the GMAT test are quite basic" as the book suggests in one of its "Myth vs. Fact" information boxes, basic math can and will be tricky on the GMAT. The book contains:

* 176 Problem Solving
* 124 Data Sufficiency

===== PROS =====

* Retired GMAT questions will familiarize the test taker with commonly-tested question patterns on the GMAT. Unofficial questions sometimes lack the structure of actual questions; this is because test prep companies have not succeeded in replicating the GMAT official "style" in their own practice problems

* At a little over $10 on amazon.com, it's great value for your money - particularly useful for GMAT hopefuls having trouble with Data Sufficiency, since 124 extra practice questions of this GMAT-specific type of problem will be valuable

* Questions are ordered in increasing level of difficulty, so if you are interested in a particular level (say advanced), you can just focus on the corresponding part of the book

===== CONS =====

* Does not provide many advanced practice problems, so if you feel you have a solid quant background, it's sufficient to go through the regular Official Guide for GMAT Review book

* Tips/strategies section is below average, so expect to spend some money on a guidebook or two that provides better GMAT concept overview

* Explanations are not as high quality as those found on The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review, 2nd Edition. You might notice that there are easier or faster ways to solve some of the problems presented

===== BOTTOM LINE =====

The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review is a great resource for practicing easy/medium difficulty questions, but not much else. If you're shooting for a high score and/or have little time to prepare, this is not the book for you; you will be better off investing some time in other material or the primary Official Guide for GMAT Review book. However, if you've been out of school for a few years and believe that you need to practice the basic stuff, go for a general strategy guide or a quant specific guide and then use this quant supplement as a practice question resource.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The second edition of the Quantitative Review was released in the summer of 2009, but there are few significant differences between this book and its older version: only 74 new questions, or close to a quarter of total. The only notable difference between the two editions is a greater emphasis on geometry in Problem Solving and word problems in Data Sufficiency. Do not fret if you have the first edition already! It's just as good and costs mush less. A complete list of new problems:

* Problem Solving: 1, 2, 7, 13, 41, 60, 61, 62, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 76, 78, 80, 81, 83, 86, 102, 103, 108, 112, 117, 131, 135, 142, 145, 146, 147, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 160, 162, 173

* Data Sufficiency: 1, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 21, 22, 24, 33, 43, 48, 51, 66, 70, 73, 79, 82, 85, 96, 102, 104, 107, 111, 116, 117, 122

Good luck on your GMAT prep!

About me: Dana Jinaru, 770 GMAT scorer, expert at Beat The GMAT - a community serving 100K+ GMAT students/month ... Read more

Product Description
As more and more students prepare to take the GMAT, Kaplan is there with a ground-breaking prep program unlike any other. With the latest uses in technology and advanced Internet tools to maximize scores, Kaplan GMAT 2011 Premier with CD-ROM is an invaluable guide that provides proven score-raising strategies and essential practice needed to succeed. Offering exclusive free access to an interactive online companion, this unique guide enables one to achieve a top score by utilizing:

• Live Online Seminar: A state-of-the-art online classroom in real time, complete with audio, video, instant chat, whiteboards, and screen sharing
• Fast Fact Videos in which Kaplan’s top instructors review the most important concepts from each chapter
• Diagnostic quiz to target areas for score improvement
• Practice quizzes
• Customizable study plan and progress report

This comprehensive preparation program also provides:

• Valuable insider advice from our top instructors 
• 5 full-length practice tests plus hundreds of additional practice questions
• Answers fully explained in detail

Customer Reviews (11)

Great Self Study Tool, but CD-ROM doesn't work with Vista or Windows 7
I have been working my way through the book.I have yet to take the test and am still in the middle of studying, but wanted to point out something important:

*IMPORTANT BUYER BEWARE:*
The CD-ROM is NOT compatible with Windows Visa or Windows 7: only XP and earlier.Kaplan doesn't have any solutions and it is not Microsoft's problem to fix (you'll find many people have this compatibility problem if you look up support forums).This is a hassle and frustrating, although I have finally found a solution by running Virtual PC with XP JUST so I can use the companion software (which is where most of the full tests come from).

You can run the software, just know it's not a simple installation of the CD to your PC if you are running an operating system above Windows XP.

In terms of the book, I have found the strategies very helpful and the Kaplan method is presented in an understandable manner.It's presented in multiple ways so you're more likely to remember, and it's a great supplement to the Official GMAT guides which offer little strategy.

I also like the online access you receive, and the videos help supplement the lessons in the book.Since I can't afford a full Kaplan class, this is the best alternative I have found.

Great product
The product was delivered new, in wrapping complete with CD and additional online work. Exactly what I expected. Great product!

good content needs more practice
the book has good content but could use more practice questions explainations are good and disk used for computer learning is exactly like the test.

Very Limited Usefulness
This book is ostensibly targeted at someone that doesn't care if they score over 700, and doesn't want to spend the extra money to buy the clearly superior Manhattan (which I believe is actually a Kaplan company now?) GMAT prep books. This sorta makes sense for someone that is targeting a non-rated business school. However, considering that it costs $250 each time you take the GMAT, wouldn't it be more cost efficient to just bite the bullet, buy the Manhattan books, strive for a 700+ score the first go around, and leave this one on the shelf?

Buyer beware
Buyer beware! When you try to use the Kaplan software from their CD you get an error about MCI drivers.Google it.There are no solutions.Windows 7 or Vista and you have a CD that doesn't work.

Kaplan's customer service email is below:

Thank you for contacting Kaplan's Books and Software division. I am sorry to inform you that the CD that comes with the book is not compatible with Windows Vista. Unfortunately, we don't have any Windows Vista compatible CD-ROM. We suggest utilizing any available windows based operating system such as 98, 2000, XP. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Best of luck with your studies!

Regards,


Kaplan Book Support
Email removed for privacy ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Product Description

The only official verbal review for the GMAT from the creators of the test.  Anyone preparing for the Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT) knows it's important to study with the experts. With The Official GMAT Verbal Review, 2nd Edition, you'll get questions, answers, and explanations straight from the source. The only official verbal review for the GMAT Exam, this book targets your study and helps you improve your verbal skills by focusing on your ability to read and comprehend written material, to reason and evaluate arguments, and to correct written material to conform to standard English. Inside, you'll find

• 300 actual questions from past GMAT tests, including 75 questions new to this edition
• Sections on Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, Sentence Correction, and Analytical Writing Assessment
• Questions organized in order of difficulty to save study time

The Graduate Management Admission Council certifies all content so you can trust that you're getting expert guidance as you prepare for the GMAT Exam.

The Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC) is the association of leading graduate business schools around the world. GMAC's mission is to meet the needs of business schools and students through a wide array of products, services, and programs. It is the owner and administrator of the Graduate Management Admissions Test® (GMAT), the first and only standardized test specifically designed for graduate business and management programs. Available in nearly 100 countries, it is the global standard for entry to the MBA degree course.

Top Myths About the GMAT®

Myth – If I don’t score in the 90th percentile, I won’t get into any school I choose.

Fact – Very few people get very high scores.

Fewer than 50 of the more than 200,000 people taking the GMAT test each year get a perfect score of 800. Thus, while you may be exceptionally capable, the odds are against your achieving a perfect score. Also, the GMAT test is just one piece of your application packet. Admissions officers use GMAT scores in conjunction with undergraduate records, application essays, interviews, letters of recommendation, and other information when deciding whom to accept into their programs.

Myth – Getting an easier question means I answered the last one wrong.

Fact – Getting an easier question does not necessarily mean you got the previous question wrong.

To ensure that everyone receives the same content, the test selects a specific number of questions of each type. The test may call for your next question to be a relatively hard problem-solving item involving arithmetic operations. But, if there are no more relatively difficult problem-solving items involving arithmetic, you might be given an easier item.

Most people are not skilled at estimating item difficulty, so don’t worry when taking the test or waste valuable time trying to determine the difficulty of the questions you are answering.

Myth – You need very advanced math skills to get a high GMAT score.

Fact – The math skills questions on the GMAT test are quite basic.

The GMAT test only requires basic quantitative analytic skills. You should review the math skills (algebra, geometry, basic arithmetic) presented in both The Official Guide for GMAT® Quantitative Review, 2nd Edition, and in The Official Guide for GMAT® Review, 12th Edition, but the required skill level is low. The difficulty of GMAT Quantitative questions stems from the logic and analysis used to solve the problems and not the underlying math skills.

Myth – It is more important to respond correctly to the test questions than it is to finish the test.

Fact – There is a severe penalty for not completing the GMAT test.

If you are stumped by a question, give it your best guess and move on. If you guess incorrectly, the computer program will likely give you an easier question, which you are likely to answer correctly, and the computer will rapidly return to giving you questions matched to your ability. If you don’t finish the test, your score will be reduced greatly. Failing to answer five verbal questions, for example, could reduce your score from the 91st percentile to the 77th percentile. Pacing is important.

Myth –The first 10 questions are critical and you should invest the most time on those.

Fact – All questions count.

It is true that the computer-adaptive testing algorithm uses the first 10 questions to obtain an initial estimate of your ability; however, that is only an initial estimate. As you continue to answer questions, the algorithm self-corrects by computing an updated estimate on the basis of all the questions you have answered, and then administers items that are closely matched to this new estimate of your ability. Your final score is based on all your responses and considers the difficulty of all the questions you answered. Taking additional time on the first 10 questions will not game the system and can hurt your ability to finish the test.

Myth – I need to speak US English in order to do well on the GMAT.

Fact- Essay grading is not affected by dialect of English. Questions on the GMAT are evaluated to ensure they are fair for all examinees, whether in the US or around the world.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (44)

A great guide for GMAT
This a good book for GMAT preparation, It has number of practice questions covering all the verbal sections. A very helpful guide for GMAT.

Good, but would recommend the complete (English + Math) review
This is a good book with complete sets of exercises, but it would be better to buy the one with Math exercises (the purple one). Even if you don't intend to do Math exercises, it is good to read and understand the test techniques.

Don't buy from this seller
I never got my book, I wasted my money and time waiting for the book that I never got. Although I tried to contact the seller, I never even got a response as to what happened to the book I purchased. If you are seriously considering taking the GMAT exams then this is not the right place for you.

Excellent for verbal workout
I loved the workout the book gave, lots of questions to try and practice. I would have liked tougher passages, but the CR and SC are really good. Its not a good starting book, but if you are done with OG, then this is a good book for further practice.

Good book
Its a good book if you are adding it to the main course.Can find additional practice item.I do not think English changes much over the years so edition does not matter much. ... Read more

Product Description
If it’s on the GMAT, it’s in this book. Cracking the GMAT with DVD, 2011 Edition, includes:

• Exclusive access to 4 full-length practice tests online
• More than 250 practice questions with detailed explanations
• Engaging video tutorials and admissions advice from our top instructors
• Extensive coverage of math, verbal, and the analytical writing assessment
• Practical information on the what, when, where, and how of the GMAT
• Additional sample problems and drills on the companion website
• Thorough review of data sufficiency, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, sentence correction, reading comprehension, critical reasoning, and more
• Planning and organization tips to get you all the way to test day! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (65)

OK for an intro book but not enough to get to 700
I felt it was an OK starter book that explained how the GMAT works and logic behind the test, etc but after that it started to fall apart. In particular, I had a few issues with the strategies and expectations this book set - it gave an impression that GMAT was pretty easy and it was a guessing game rather than a test of skill and knowledge (it is definitely not a game).

NEGATIVES:
- Approaches GMAT from high level strategies such as POE, getting into the mind of test writer, backsolving, and others, which are all great strategies but they really belong at the very end of the book, not upfront. Basics such as blocking and tackling need to go first; otherwise it works in a controled practice environment but fails on the test
- Lack of basics coverage for Verbal (very little review of questions, grammar)
- Reading Comprehension strategy needs to be reconsidered. Every other provider such as Kaplan, Manhattan GMAT, Manhattan Review, PowerScore, Veritas, and others suggest to read the passage in its entirety. Which I strongly agree with. Princeton continues to insist on briefly reading the passage and then jumping into the question - the result is the same as above - jumping into hot water unprepared and fumbling through questions. By changing my reading strategy I was able to go from 30% success rate to about 60-70. Literally within 2 days.
- Weak AWA section (thoug this is not anything you should spend more than a day on)
- A few typos carried over from the 2010 edition
- The online interface for tests does not resemble the actual GMAT

POSITIVES:
- Has a pretty good math review section covering even topics such as Statistics and Probability
- 4 GMAT tests are included
- Practice questions in the book are structured by difficulty (convenient)

Bottom Line: I felt this book emphasized tricks and tips more than a solid knowledge of Math, Grammar, and Logic, which is Ok if you are looking for a 600 but not enough to get past that.


SOME OTHER THOUGHTS:
* How do I get 700 then?
There are several options:
1. Review each section separately using other books such as the Kaplan GMAT Math Workbook and Kaplan GMAT Verbal Workbook
2. Thorough/Methodical review of each area - If you have a bit more time, grab the collection of 8 Manhattan Guides. These books are excellent and are actually used in the classroom setting for their classes, so you are defintely get the top books. If you dont need/want the entire collection, see my review for what stand-alone books to get. This plan is likely to get you a higher score with this section but it will also take up more time (about a month more). Decide on the approach based on your starting position, target score, time you have, and willingness to study math and grammar for months without a break.

* Any other books I need to know about?
YES. There is one - The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition. This book is published by the creators of GMAT and contains real GMAT questions. You should also download the Official GMAT Prep software from GMAC's website [...] - they offer 2 tests for free. These are great to get a feel for the official GMAT interface, official questions, and also the official score (make sure you don't click past that at the end; if you do, you can't recover it and it will remain a mystery). I would suggest taking one at the very beginning of your prep. Many feel that it's a waste of one practice test but in reality it is not. You can take these multiple times and after a few months, your level will be much higher than when you started (hopefully), and the questions you will encounter on the re-take will be froma differen difficulty level, thus not overlaping and thus not wasting anything :)

* What if I have trouble getting through this book? Where can I find help?
There are several books that can help you get up to speed with quant and grammar:
1. For Quantitative section: Foundations of GMAT Math by Manhattan GMAT
2. For Verbal Section: Kaplan GMAT Verbal Foundations (grammar only)

Let me know if you have any questions about the book - I reply to comments!
Good Luck,
BB, Founder of GMAT Club
GMAT 750 (q49, v42)

Cracking the GMAT - Recommend getting it
Great study guide! Very easy to read and absorb. Awesome tips to help you get an inside look on how gmat works and how you can equip yourself to take it on and ace it, and great advice on how to apply for your mba. Practice exams are available online. I love this book! The only downside is that there are not as many questions to practice on, so I would recommend also getting the official gmat review to get more practice in.

No Keyboard Shortcuts, Scoring System Expired
The product is great. The CD ROM is great. Now that I have taken it, it feels like the real test. However, I have two complaints.

One, the CD ROM written portion does not have all of the shortcut keys that the test has. Kaplans version is closer to the original. Maybe my keyboard was messed up, but some of the CTRL+RIGHT ARROW, CTRL+LEFT ARROW, etc. combinations did not work. That actually gives you less time than you think, because you can't control the keyboard as well as the actual test.

My second complaint is a big one. The test results have to be uploaded to the Princeton server website to be scored. That is a problem because after three years, the website is no longer able to calculate scores. They expire. The Kaplan CDs are good only with the CD, but nothing else is required and there is no time limit on scoring. So, any Princeton CD that is older than three years is useless if you want an actual score and not a scaled score.

Good Intro to the GMAT, but inadequate for people seeking higher GMAT scores
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT.Here are my thoughts on Princeton Review's Cracking the GMAT book:

===== OVERVIEW =====

The Princeton Review Cracking the GMAT book is, like the Kaplan GMAT 2010 Premier Live Online book, a general GMAT strategy guide. However, apart from the natural similarities (such as separate chapters for the 5 types of problems you will see on the GMAT plus an essay section), the two books follow markedly different "paths to knowledge".

As advertised from the beginning, The Princeton Review Cracking the GMAT is not a guide that emphasizes building subject-matter skills in the quantitative or verbal fields, but rather focuses on what the authors call "cracking the system" - tips and tricks to help you score higher with an obvious preference for process of elimination (POE) and picking numbers. Personally, I do not fully support such strategies for the GMAT (I consider them more as backup plans).Here's why: POE cannot and will never replace actually knowing the answer to a question, it will just improve your chances of getting it right. Picking numbers is also quite risky: I sometimes see this strategy discussed in online forums; people try to pick numbers, but particularly at an advanced level they pick the wrong set of numbers and everything falls apart.

The book is a pleasant read though, and I personally found the small info boxes on the sides of pages to be quite entertaining and interesting. The authors use "the average test taker" for examples of do's and don'ts. However, I didn't like the authors' tone for describing the GMAT - I felt an overall negative vibe about the test, which was not the case when I read The PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible for instance. An example would come from the Reading Comprehension chapter: "No one in her right mind would ever read one of these passages of her own free will. They are almost always boring." I strongly disagree with this view, since I personally enjoyed most texts, particularly those dealing with the social sciences. My advice is to think of the GMAT as a sort of mind game you have to beat, an interesting little challenge. I assure you that feeling positive about the GMAT will make the experience a lot less painful.

===== PROS =====

* A good introduction to the GMAT, an easy read to make you understand what the test is about, how it's scored, and what to expect on test day

* If your quantitative skills are not fresh, definitely give this book a chance.It covers math basics pretty well. Again, the fact that it's an easy read will probably help you reconnect with junior high and high school math

* Questions are structured in "bins" according to difficulty, which means you can focus on your particular level when you practice

* The book comes with a registration code you can use to gain online access to four CATs (computer-adaptive practice tests). However, I felt that these practice tests were a bit easier than the actual GMAT

===== CONS =====

* If you're shooting for a higher score (above 600), this book won't help much. You will need other resources to help you reach your goal

* At just over 280 questions, this book has fewer and easier practice questions as compared to other guides (like Kaplan GMAT 2010 Premier Live Online). Also the explanations could use some more work, particularly in verbal. I personally get really upset if the best explanation for why an answer is wrong is "because it's out of scope"! This will definitely not help a test taker understand where her error in reasoning was!

* The focus on strategies such as POE and number picking means that you'll have some potentially useful tools for G-day, but such strategies might backfire. Cracking the GMAT does not provide an in-depth analysis of question types and their respective approaches

===== BOTTOM LINE =====

After going through The Princeton Review's Cracking the GMAT, all I can truly say is this: the book is good, but only for a certain level (that is, up to mid-600s). As a basic guide, it shines; as a tool for getting into that top 10 MBA, I do not think it delivers. If you do not already know your starting level, I advise you to do the following: go to [...], download the free GMATPrep software, and take practice test #1 (save #2 for the last days of your prep!).If you score significantly below 600, consider investing in this book. If you score higher than 600, you'd best search for a different resource since you'll need a more rigorous program to get to a higher percentile score.

About me: Dana Jinaru, 770 GMAT scorer, expert at Beat The GMAT - a community serving 100K+ GMAT students/month

Good Book, Horrible, Horrible Shipping
I purchased this product with the understanding that I would recieve it within a week. I purchased it at the end of September and did not recieve it until mid to late October. For students looking to begin studying quickly, this is not a place to order your book. However, the book was in great condition. ... Read more

Product Description
The Sentence Correction Guide takes the guesswork out of grammar by presenting every major grammatical principle and minor grammatical point tested on the GMAT. Don't be caught relying only on your ear; master the rules for correcting every GMAT sentence.Each chapter builds comprehensive content understanding by providing rules, strategies and in-depth examples of how the GMAT tests a given topic and how you can respond accurately and quickly. The Guide contains a total of 187 'In-Action' problems of increasing difficulty with detailed answer explanations. The content of the book is aligned to the latest Official Guides from GMAC (12th edition).

Special Features:

Purchase of this book includes one year of access to Manhattan GMAT's online Sentence Correction Question Bank (accessible by inputting a unique code in the back of each book). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (52)

By far the best material I've seen for GMAT sentence correction
I tried sentence correction with several different books - Kaplan, Princeton Review, and others.The other books seemed to focus more on the tricks and shortcuts you can use to arrive at an answer.This book actually takes the time to teach sentence correction, which is exactly what I wanted.This book, plus a bit of effort, turned what would have been my worst section of the exam (based on pre-tests I took) into my best one.

The online material that Manhattan GMAT offers is really helpful to get some additional sentence correction practice problems.You also get access to sample math problems, but I didn't find those to be at all representative of the type of questions you would see on the exam.

Consistent with other recommendations, after studying with this book, get a copy of the GMAT official guide to try out some more problems.

bought this for Manhattan GMAT online CAT
this is, as far as I know, the cheapest way to get access to Manhattan GMAT's six CAT exams...which are considered to be the best out there.

Manhattan GMAT is the best prep material available!!!
I didn't take a class, but I have alot of friends who have and have used the Kaplan book and practice tests in addition to the Manhattan. Manhattan prep material and tests are head and shoulders above Kaplan. My only wish is that I had started with the Manhattan series and not even worried about Kaplan. Kaplan may have the brand name, but the fact that Manhattan focuses only on the GMAT shines through. The material goes wayyy more in depth, and it really leverages the other best source of practice material you have, the Official Guide (it has a great feature called rephrasing that references the OG problems directly to give data sufficiency help. It almost makes so much sense that it seems obvious but ingenious at the same time. Why not use the actual old test problems provided by the GMAC as much as you can?).

I wasn't going to buy the whole series but was so impressed by the first book I used (Sentence Correction), that I bought a couple of the quantitative prep books. I was so impressed by those, that I ended up buying all the rest of them. I can not stress enough how much more focused and useful this material is than Kaplan. When used in conjunction with the Official Guide, you have everything you need to break 700.

The things these books provide make so much sense as the best way to prepare, that it makes you wonder why everyone else doesn't do it. My guess is that Manhattan benefits from a focused business model of limiting itself to the GMAT. If you're not looking to score that well and only need to practice some and get used to the questions, the Official Guide is enough. But the Manhattan series is also nice in that it allows you to pick and choose the certain topics you need extra help with. Also, by only buying one book, you get access to six practice tests that are very difficult and provide invaluable information in its readouts of your performance (much more detailed and useful than Kaplan's. Hate to keep hating on Kaplan, but it's the only thing I have to compare to. It's not horrible really, it just pales in comparison to Manhattan. I think of the Kaplan material like I think of McDonald's, very well-known but pretty junky. It'll fill you up, but you won't feel great afterward...)

I've never taken the time to review any items on Amazon.com before, but I have been so impressed with this product that I felt compelled to let others know about it.

Don't waste your money on a class, get the Manhattan series instead. You'll save over a thousand dollars and be better prepared as well!

Good luck!

Great Strategies and Review!!
I have never written a review for a product before, but I have only had this book for a day.I have read through Chapter 5, and the strategies explained in the first chapter along with the review on key elements to look for has already helped me.Sentence Correction was my biggest weakness in the Verbal Section.Today, I went back and answered the ones I missed on the mba practice test, using the new strategies, and I got all but one right this time.It made it so easy to focus and eliminate choices.I strongly recommend this book.

No prep courses... just studying these books got me 780!
I can't believe it! I did not attend any prep courses and just by merely studying these books, I got a 780! And on a separate note, I got a 5 on AWA.
Do not get me wrong, I was never a fantastic undergraduate. My GPA was only about 3.4.
Thanks to the Manhattan GMAT books which saved me alot of money(I repeat I did not spend on prep courses), I can now apply for the top MBA programs with confidence!

*I bought all 8 books but am only writing it here because I do not want to duplicate. ... Read more

Product Description
Top-tier business schools routinely accept only 20 percent of their applicants. Students who aspire to get the highest scores can count on Kaplan GMAT 800 to help them accomplish their goals. 

Developed for students who want to score in the top 10 percent, Kaplan GMAT 800 provides the additional preparation needed. Hundreds of the toughest practice questions, the hardest concepts, and the best strategies are included. Tips for test taking, proven strategies for getting a perfect score of 800, and focused guidelines for tackling each question type all combine for the ideal preparation tool for the most ambitious student. 

A recent Harris Poll found that Kaplan succeeds in getting more people into business school than any other competitive course combined. Kaplan GMAT 800 is the first step toward attaining that goal and taking applicants from ordinary to extraordinary. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Has useful techniques, but not as difficult as they claim
I bought this book to supplement my core preparation materials, namely The Official Guide, some Manhattan books and the Kaplan Premier Program book. To give some relevant background, my initial diagnostic score was approx. 600, and my latest practice score is 750: Quantitative 77th percentile, Verbal 98th percentile. The 750 was an unexpected surprise, but since I wasn't happy with my Quant percentile I referred to Kaplan 800.

There are some good time-saving techniques in this book, but overall an advanced student won't find every page challenging or even useful. Most, if not all, of the "challenging" Quant questions are covered in the Official Guide. From my experience, you will face a greater depth and breadth of challenging questions by practicing the last third of the questions in the Official Guide, and most importantly reviewing your mistakes diligently. With a 77th Quant percentile in a practice test, I'm obviously not a genius in Math who would find most concepts super-simple; like most students, I'm someone who needed a lot of basic practice to get to where I am now. Given that similarity, I think most fellow test-takers won't benefit immensely from Kaplan 800.

However, it is possible that students will find the Verbal section useful. My verbal score was already at an advanced level before picking up this book, but I still found some of its techniques noteworthy. This book doesn't offer a large number of practice questions, rather it focuses on theory, which it then exemplifies through a couple of questions following each theoretical concept. The concepts, as I mentioned, can be useful, but as the book itself states they are not comprehensive. If you want comprehensive, go Manhattan.

Overall, my recommendation is to focus instead on the Official Guide, Manhattan books depending on the areas you need to focus on the most, and the main Kaplan book (especially the Kaplan practice tests). This set of materials was recommended to me by someone who got a 760, and I know others who've used the same; their scores were 740 and 710. Save your money and (more importantly?) your time instead of perusing this book. Good luck!

Perfect match
This book was a perfect match for me, focused, with plenty of really tough questions and thorough explanations. Compared to the official guide much better for getting insight fast and with fun, at least I've enjoyed it.

Difficult but helpful prep material
As the title of the book suggests, this book is geared towards advanced students.I would not suggest this book for people looking for a general GMAT prep guide.However, for test takers looking to be challenged, this is the ideal book.

Best book to get into the best schools
I strongly disagree with the one-star review given here and feel compelled to give my own take.

This books is tough and painful to get through.But, if you are serious about getting into a Top 10 Business School, then this is the best book you can get.Look, if you are even considering a Top 10 school you probably score reasonably well on the GMAT to begin with.This book is a collection of the toughest questions that can be found.It gives some guidance on how to get through the questions, but the real value is simply going through them all and figuring out the patterns yourself.I was scoring in the high 600's before this book.I then spent about an hour every night going through it until I had done every question in every section twice.It was painful, to be sure, but the 780 I got at the end of it all made it all worthwhile.

This book is not for everyone.If you are an average test taker or student you will simply find this book to be too nuanced and specific for your needs and it will likely not help you much.But, if you are a serious candidate for the top schools, this is a really great book and is something I recommend to everyone I meet who is applying to top tier b-schools.

Poor Guidebook but a Good Question Collection
I am not blasting this book - I am giving you a rating based on the expectation that the description of this book sets. It does not live up and you are bound to be disappointed. However, it is actually a valuable book but you need to be aware of what you are buying and probably how to use it best when you buy it:

As a pure guidebook - 1 star
As a question collection - 3.5 stars

What You Will Find Inside:
28 Critical reasoning questions
31 Reading comprehension questions
110 Sentence correction questions
107 Problem solving questions (only 7 of which cover combinations and probability)
37 Data Sufficiency questions

Issues that I had with this book:

* No review of math principles or grammar rules. This book assumes that you have gone through the Kaplan's main GMAT book. If you need help with basics look into getting the Math or Verbal Workbooks before getting this one.

* Illogical structure. Instead of the typical approach of providing a rule and then questions to practice that rule on, this book just lists questions in each of the sections. All of the valuable information and tips are scattered around the explanations section. The book assumes you will read/review explanations for every question. In defense, the main point is often emphasized, so they are not too hard to find.

* Question difficulty. Fewer than 50 people per year score 800 on the GMAT, and most of the lucky guys get past 700. To appeal to a broad audience, Kaplan designed this book at a 650/700-level

* Math section is fairly easy and lacks meaningful practice in advanced subjects such as probability, combinations, or coordinate geometry, statistics. If these are your weak areas, you should look elsewhere


Items I found valuable:

* The book does what it was supposed to do - provide advanced selection of questions, giving the necessary practice with relevant questions. Though Kaplan's questions are not one-for-one official GMAT questions, I found them fairly close overall. I also liked the explanations - they were very detailed

* Good verbal section with valuable RC practice; huge selection of SC's

* Good quality publishing and paper; good layout

* Price - I thought it was worth every penny :)


Bottom Line: This is not a guidebook or a book to start with - if you need to get better in a certain question type, then get it but don't expect it to be sufficient to give you the background often needed to score 700+.


FYI: This book is the re-branded edition of a book previously called Kaplan GMAT Advanced
The two books are identical in terms of content (very minor changes); for exact changes see:

CHANGES IN THIS EDITION:
* CR Section: Several questions have been clarified/corrected
* RC Section: Half-page write up about Road Mapping passages; periods have been added at the end of each answer choice
* SC Section: Unchanged
* PS Section: Extra note added to the strategy section to double-check answers at the end
* DS Section: New sentence in the DS strategy section; several explanations have been clarified/corrected. Parentheses added for answer choices

--------------------------------
I regularly review all and every GMAT book - do not hesitate to post your questions here; I reply to comments!
BB, Founder of GMAT Club, GMAT 750. ... Read more

Product Description
Features:

• Targeted review of the math concepts students need to know
• Hundreds of exercises to help readers assess their current skill level and focus study efforts, as well as...
• explanations and practice for all the question types in the GMAT's quantitative section
• Detailed answer explanations
• Kaplan's proven score-raising strategies

Customer Reviews (18)

Kindle version unreadable
The questions on the Kindle version are sometimes on a different page from the answer set.The example problems are also sometimes too small to read.

Good content ruined by TERRIBLE layout
I've used several other GMAT books, including Kaplans own GMAT 800 (which is great). I bought this to get more math questions and explanations, and was horribly disappointed. The layout of this book is TERRIBLE-- the questions are all presented in groups by topic, with the answers scattered at the end of each chapter instead of following a group of questions, which means the answers are usually 10-40 pages behind the questions you are answering. To make matters worse, the answer keys DON'T HAVE LETTERS, so you can't jot down your answers as you go and quickly compare at the end (you have to write down the entire correct answer... doesn't that defeat the point of a *multiple choice* test?

I am colossally disappointed, and will be seeing if Kaplan actually will back up their promise of a refund for dissatisfied customers.

A waste of money!
Once you hit a major math mistake you cannot trust that this book is going to help. It has basic math rules dead wrong, and you're supposed to be mastering that for the test. Now I don't even want to open the verbal workbook.

Typos make it frustrating, but overall, a good math refresher.
I liked this book because of the format and the detailed review of basic concepts (especially helpful after being out of school for 8 years!). The typos, however, made it frustrating at times. Not that you couldn't do the problems because of the typos, but sometimes the answers didn't match what you calculated, and you KNOW you calculated correctly. Some simple typos replace variables "q" with "p" and that sort of thing. Like I said, frustrating since this is supposed to prep me for what may be the most important test I take in my adult life, but not a deal-breakers. I still recommend buying this book. I too got through it is in a week, easily.

Great Book for someone out of school for 8 years
I bought this book last summer (2009) and completed every practice and word question in the book which took me about 3 months taking my sweet time - you may do it much quicker.I BOMBED the Data Sufficiency portion even after all that studying and had no idea what I was going to do about the essays, so I enrolled in the Kaplan Online Course (the second cheapest option they offer at $599).The Online Course allows you to go through all of their "Core Courses" plus extra practice/-in-depth questions that help refine your knowledge in each subject.The other nice thing is that it comes with 6 full CAT tests (in addition to the free ones provided by [...]).Great tool - I am so glad I didn't pay for the more expensive courses and I will always keep this book around for reference. P.S. I ultimately scored 100 points higher (640) than my diagnostic on my final GMAT. ... Read more

Product Description

• Kaplan-exclusive strategies for all question types
• Powerful vocabulary-building methods
• Hundreds of practice questions
• Detailed answer explanations
• Complete chapter dedicated to the Analytical Writing Assessment

Customer Reviews (21)

Great GMAT Verbal guide, with EXCELLENT balance of lessons and practice problems
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT.Here are my thoughts on the Kaplan GMAT Verbal Workbook:

===== OVERVIEW =====

The Kaplan GMAT Verbal Workbook covers two sections of the GMAT: the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) and the Verbal section, but students will probably want to invest in the book for the latter. As a resource that provides both strategies and practice problems, the book does not disappoint - I was actually pleasantly surprised by the high quality of some of the chapters. But, as is the case with most unofficial material, I didn't think the questions exactly matched actual GMAT questions. However, this workbook complements the The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review, 2nd Edition nicely, since the Kaplan book provides good strategies that the supplement lacks.

If you are having trouble with verbal but do not have enough time on your hands to go through targeted guides (such as the Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction GMAT Preparation Guide, 4th Edition or the PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible), you should consider using the Kaplan GMAT Verbal Workbook for more in-depth strategies, since the book will certainly take your prep a step further than simply using a general strategy guide alone (such as Kaplan GMAT 2010 Premier Live Online or Princeton Review's Cracking the GMAT).

Besides the tips, the book also contains various drills and 250 GMAT-type questions:

* 96 Sentence Correction
* 82 Reading Comprehension
* 72 Critical Reasoning

===== PROS =====

* The Kaplan Verbal Workbook provides a good strategy guide plus 250 questions at a decent price, so you'll be getting a good deal for your money. Also, I think it is worth your time to attempt their targeted verbal exercises for your verbal muscle

* Some of the chapters in this book are particularly useful. The "Reading the GMAT Way" chapter neatly encapsulates what I believe is great strategy insights for Reading Comprehension (a section test takers find hard to improve upon), while the Appendixes covering grammar, style and usage and idioms are also worth mentioning for their comprehensive (although condensed) nature and as quick reference material

* The quality of the explanations seems to have improved as compared to Kaplan's general strategy guide, with a more detailed analysis of wrong answers

* The book provides a good midway between just studying from a general guidebook and going for section specific resources

===== CONS =====

* Questions do not seem to be arranged in order of difficulty, so if you're only looking for advanced practice, it may be hard to navigate to those difficult questions in the workbook

* Critical Reasoning could have been covered better, in my opinion. After providing useful advice for the Sentence Correction and the Reading Comprehension sections, the book runs out of momentum for this last verbal section. The fact that the practice questions in the workbook are not official is most evident in Critical Reasoning, since the authors fail to mimic the structure and feel of real Critical Reasoning questions. I would also have loved to see more of the boldface type of Critical Reasoning question, the one students seem to fear the most, but unfortunately there's only one such question

* While I have not used an older edition of the book, I suspect that this fifth edition is largely the same as compared to previous editions, which means that if you already have an older version spending the extra money on a new one might not be worth it. The text should have been edited more carefully, since the authors mention ETS as being the administrator of the test (it is currently GMAC and Pearson). This has not been the case for about four years now!

===== BOTTOM LINE =====

The Verbal Workbook gets four out of five stars.It narrowly missing the fifth star because of Critical Reasoning "issues". All in all though, as I've said, this book is definitely worth your time if you're looking for something more than what a general strategy guide provides. The workbook presents itself as a balanced mix between strategy and practice problems, something that most guidebooks fail to accomplish.

About me: Dana Jinaru, 770 GMAT scorer, expert at Beat The GMAT - a community serving 100K+ GMAT students/month

A good start for those who have problems with verbal tests
I recommend this book expecially for foreigners or students who have difficulties in the verbal section of the GMAT. However this book helps to get started, to give you a method, but it is not enough if you are aiming at high score in the GMAT (i.e. more than 640). So keep in mind that you'll probably need an additional book

Very good book for GMAT review!
I used this book to prepare for my GMAT test.The strategy in this book is absolutely useful. Highly recommended!!!

GMATVerbal
Great product. I haven't completed the entire workbook as yet, but it is very helpful for the most part.

I feel cheated. Repeated questions. Do not buy.
DO NOT BUY! All the questions are from the CD-ROM/DVD of their Premier book. I feel cheated. ... Read more

Product Description
The Number Properties Guide provides a comprehensive analysis of the properties and rules of integers tested on the GMAT. Learn, practice, and master everything from prime products to perfect squares.Each chapter builds comprehensive content understanding by providing rules, strategies and in-depth examples of how the GMAT tests a given topic and how you can respond accurately and quickly. The Guide contains a total of 161 'In-Action' problems of increasing difficulty with detailed answer explanations. The content of the book is aligned to the latest Official Guides from GMAC (12th edition).

Special Features:

Purchase of this book includes one year of access to ManhattanGMAT's online Number Properties Question Bank (accessible by inputting a unique code in the back of each book). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Best one out of the series
I studied alone for the GMAT and used the manhattan GMAT reviews and the Official GMAT review books to prepare for my exam. This one out of the series is by far the best. It gives you the tricks you need to attack certain problems that keep coming up on both sections of the math. I also liked the six free of charge online exams that are included with the book. For this price you cannot beat that!

The meat of the issue rather than fluff
I found in many of the GMAT guides that they glossed over number properties and focused mostly on tricks to the GMAT. What I loved about this guide is that it gets to the heart of the matter in regards to understanding Number Properties and the rules of the game. This alone helped me to speed up my problem solving since I didn't have to spend as much time plugging in numbers. It explained in depth the concepts that we should know intuitively but may not.

Comprehensive guide on the topics that pop up most often on GMAT quant
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT. Here are my thoughts on the Manhattan GMAT Number Properties Strategy guide:

===== OVERVIEW =====

The Manhattan GMAT Number Properties guide is the first in the series of five MGMAT guides devoted specifically to the quantitative part of the GMAT. This book in particular deals with divisibility, the properties of positive and negative numbers, powers of real numbers and the order of operations. The authors of the book do a great job in covering these topics, building up from the basics to the harder topics.

The book is structured in two parts, a basic-intermediate part and an advanced one (which you are advised to attempt only if you've already clearly understood the first). Besides the theoretical review, the first part features 100 "in action" problems (mostly similar to Problem Solving questions, but some with no answer choices), while the advanced section contains 66 of these problems.

===== PROS =====

*Extensive theoretical review of number properties, possibly the most exhaustive that I've read so far. The authors also put these concepts to work in various problems that are explained in great detail (I've seen one question explained in more than two pages!)

*Provides access to 6 online computer adaptive tests, considered to be among the best in the industry in terms of accuracy of the scores. The code you use to register online also allows you to practice using an extra 25 questions on the topic

*Each of the two sections (basic-intermediate and advanced) has a handy list of problems from the The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition that test the concepts discussed so that you may practice in a targeted manner

*Features quite a few challenging problems - even some that are explained in the theoretical part of the book caught me off-guard! As such, I think the book is a great resource for some advanced practice

===== CONS =====

*This is probably one of the most "intimidating" books in the whole series of 8 MGMAT guides. The book earns points for its comprehensiveness, but at times it seems that they supply rules and tips that are only rarely tested on the GMAT. If you already have a firm grasp of the basics and you're just buying the guide as a refresher or advanced resource, then you've probably stumbled upon a gold mine. However, if you're an English major who's been out of school for 6-7 years, then I think you might want to schedule around two-three weeks to go from cover to cover!

*While Data Sufficiency does get its own chapter and there are quite a few examples of Data Sufficiency in the book, I believe they could have done an even better job on the topic. The book seems to focus too much on rephrasing DS questions, which is not a bad idea at all; however, it seems to have missed a few details about this question type (i.e. never confuse a "No" answer with insufficient information). More practice questions would have also been a plus

===== BOTTOM LINE =====

An impressive collection of both theory and practice, the Manhattan GMAT Number Properties guide gets five stars for its completeness of the subject coverage. However, test takers be warned: this is no easy book, so be sure to pick it up well in advance of your test day!

About me: Dana Jinaru, 770 GMAT scorer, expert at Beat The GMAT - a community serving 1.5 million+ MBA applicants each year

Good book to learn the Number Properties fundamentals and beyond
Actually, I have all the books from Manhattan GMAT preparation guides. This one is the best among them.

700+ preparation
Like all the other Manhattan GMAT materials, the indepth coverage of the topics gives the test taker a huge advantage over others who used more generic prep materials like kaplan. Don't buy kaplan!!!!!! ... Read more

Product Description
The PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible will teach you how to break down GMAT argumentation, how to recognize GMAT question types, and how to separate correct answers from incorrect answers. You will improve your accuracy in answering questions and your speed as well. If you are shooting for the highest score possible, the Critical Reasoning Bible will help you maximize your performance. The approaches discussed in the Critical Reasoning Bible are also useful when attacking Reading Comprehension questions. The Critical Reasoning Bible is also supplemented by an exclusive website that provides additional material for the book, including suggested study plans and answers to frequently asked student questions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Best CR book in the market.
I have gone through Manhattan CR also, but nothing is close to CR bible book.Go for it

excelant book
till i read half of the book, i see it very helpful. it gives you all the technique you should have during the test. i recommend this book and good luck to all test takers.

Excellent Critical Reasoning Book
This book is great if you want a high score (high 700s) and don't have a ton of time to study.I only had one month to study for the GMAT and wanted books that would really maximize my time studying for my weaker areas.It was easy enough to read and understand so I was able to cover it over a weekend (albeit with not many breaks).I imagine it would be even more effective if you have more time to study.The structure used for types of questions was extremely helpful for me in getting the tougher questions right more often.I used this book along with the Powerscore Sentence Correction Book.A few more practice problems would have been nice.I found the PowerScore questions to be harder than the OG ones.I also bought the Official Guide and the EZ Advanced and EZ Logic and Stats.

Amazon Sucks!
Shopping on Amazon sucks! One of my friend told if you purchased books you have the possibilty that you will not receive the stuff.
My estimated delivery data is 26th Jan, 2010, but I do not get my stuff, then I emailed the customer service, They used the official word told me to waite until 8th Feb, 2010.Fine! I waite, guess what I will get tomorrow. Will you tell me waite until Amazon bank go bankrupt, I am glad to see!

Simply the BEST GMAT Critical Reasoning Book available
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT.Here are my thoughts on PowerScore's Critical Reasoning Bible:

===== OVERVIEW =====

The PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible (or the CR bible, as you'll see it commonly referenced in online forums) is published by the renowned LSAT-prep gurus, PowerScore. The LSAT and the GMAT have two question types that are somewhat similar: Reading Comprehension and CriticalReasoning (known as `Logical Reasoning' in the LSAT). This book comes in as an abridged form of the company's massively successful Logical Reasoning Bible.This CR bible has a solid reputation as a comprehensive guide to one of the most puzzling question types on the GMAT.

The CR bible covers the topic of GMAT Critical Reasoning with incredible depth and detail. Questions are neatly organized according to "families" in order for the reader to understand the various logical connections between question types. The book deals with ten types of Critical Reasoning questions, all remarkably well analyzed, in ten separate chapters. The CR bible even addresses many rarely-tested CR question types; although I would love to see a separate chapter for boldface critical reasoning questions in a future edition (boldface critical reasoning questions are considered among the toughest question tested on the GMAT). One could argue that this book will also help in case you're having trouble with Reading Comprehension. I personally found the `Main Point' chapter particularly enlightening and relevant to reading comprehension.

===== PROS =====

* Detailed analysis of Critical Reasoning question types means that you will have a quick reference guide at hand should you ever feel the need to review for one topic or the other

* Practice questions, although few, are the closest I've ever seen to actual GMAT questions (in terms of style). Explanations are also top notch, with great analysis of why a wrong answer is wrong. In my opinion, understanding why an answer is wrong helps you avoid common traps and is almost as useful as understanding why the correct choice is right

* After reading the CR bible, you will be able to see why the GMAT is so popular with business school admissions. The process of "creating" a Critical Reasoning question is carefully explained, a fact which made me realize the amount of talent and effort that goes into making just one GMAT question. The author of the book clearly shows due respect to the GMAT test and its creators, which inspired me

* If pressed for time, the book offers a quick strategy for studying the most important question types

===== CONS =====

* At around 50 practice questions, the CR bible needs to be supplemented with other resources, such as The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition or The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review, 2nd Edition

* Unlike most prep books, this book does not come with a CD or online access to CATs (computer-adaptive practice tests)

* The book only features two boldface questions (this question type is described in the `Method of Reasoning' chapter)

===== BOTTOM LINE =====

The PowerScore Critical Reasoning Bible is definitely worth the money if you feel you're having trouble with Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. Its strategies and tips, if carefully studied and applied, will surely translate in an increase in your score.I attribute much of my 11-point verbal raw score increase (from 36 to 47) to this book.

About me: Dana Jinaru, 770 GMAT scorer, expert at Beat The GMAT - a community serving 100K+ GMAT students/month ... Read more

Product Description
The Word Translations Guide analyzes the GMAT's complex math word problems and provides structured frameworks for attacking each question type. Master the art of translating challenging word problems into organized data.Each chapter builds comprehensive content understanding by providing rules, strategies and in-depth examples of how the GMAT tests a given topic and how you can respond accurately and quickly. The Guide contains a total of 120 'In-Action' problems of increasing difficulty with detailed answer explanations. The content of the book is aligned to the latest Official Guides from GMAC (12th edition).

Special Features:

Purchase of this book includes one year of access to Manhattan GMAT's online Word Translations Question Bank (accessible by inputting a unique code in the back of each book). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Useful resource for the puzzling word problems you'll see on the GMAT
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT. Here are my thoughts on the Manhattan GMAT Word Translations guide:

===== OVERVIEW =====

Finally, a guide that addresses combinatorics and statistics properly! Well, let's not get too excited, the book could always use more practice problems (I'm firmly convinced that practice is as important as theory in the GMAT), but compared to other resources on the market, the fourth guide in the Manhattan GMAT series of quant books is definitely one of the best when it comes to these pesky problem types. Word problems can be tricky even for those who are well-versed in math: it takes more than just pure calculations or formulas to get to the bottom of them.

The book follows the same structure of all MGMAT quant guides, with a basic to intermediate section (95 questions) and a more advanced part (only 13 questions, though). The combinatorics and statistics chapters are golden and offer significantly more explanations and practice than anything else I've reviewed. As such, these chapters cater directly to the students aiming for high scores: you will likely see three or four such questions in your GMAT and they might just make the difference between a scaled score of 48 and a scaled score of 50.

===== PROS =====

*Good coverage of the basic word problem types (i.e. how to translate English into math), but also of the more advanced concepts you'll see if you're targeting a superior score. You also get the highest number of practice questions for the types that make people nervous (just mention "combinatorics" on a forum and people will start complaining of their difficulty)

*Access to online resources: 25 extra questions and the 6 MGMAT computer adaptive tests to track your overall performance throughout your prep

*The quality of the explanations is consistently high, which I believe is crucial for a GMAT book. In my opinion, these explanations are there to substitute for a tutor and, as such, the ones you'll find in this guide are pretty good

*The problems in the The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition that test these concepts are neatly grouped at the end ofthe two parts to form a quick reference for practice

===== CONS =====

*Could have used more practice on advanced questions, especially on statistics (very few on standard deviation, which is probably also the hardest concept in the lot). However, some of the topics are more difficult by nature (I've already mentioned combinatorics above).

*Data Sufficiency problems with combinatorics, probability and statistics are possibly any test taker's nightmare (I got one DS statistics question on my test day that simply made my brain freeze). Sadly, the authors do not offer such problems for practice

*While the use of tables is at times warranted on the GMAT, this technique is just not the fastest for some of the problems that the book throws at you. It's often quicker to use some other strategy, especially if you're a more advanced learner.

===== BOTTOM LINE =====

A must have, honestly. I really loved this book because it's simply the only one I've read so far that deals with the concepts that I myself feel a bit uncomfortable with. Whether you're just starting out and trying to figure out how to work around the complicated phrasing of some problems or you're already at a decent level and looking for a challenge, the Manhattan GMAT Word Problems guide should be on your shopping list.

About me: Dana Jinaru, 770 GMAT scorer, expert at Beat The GMAT - a community serving 1.5 million+ MBA applicants each year

One of the 2 MGMAT Gems for Quant
There are 2 MGMAT books that stand out from the pack - this one and MGMAT Number Properties.
Here is why: The number properties book covers arithmetic very well (Arithmetic is 50% of the GMAT questions actually). This book covers the "money" questions aka the "700" questions aka - the hardest questions. GMAT score depends not on how many questions you answered correctly but rather on how many hard questions you answered correctly and this book covers the areas most have issues with since highschool or college. Here are the 5 reasons to get this book:
- Combinations
- Probability
- Statistics
- Overlaping sets
- Advanced word problems

My suggestion would be to get the full 8-book MGMAT set but if you are cherry picking a few books, this is the one you want to get. Also make sure you grab a copy of the OG 12 in case you have not yet - that's the only book that contains actual real GMAT questions.


* IMPORTANT - this is not well described; these books are a great value.
- all MGMAT books come with access to 6 full online tests - a $45 value (therefore you want to have at least one MGMAT book)
- there are additional online question banks/exercises that come with each guide
- this book contains additional recommended practice from the Official Guide 12 (lists of relevation question numbers)

See my other reviews for book recommendations. Let me know if you have questions about this book - I reply to comments.
BB, Founder of GMAT Club
GMAT 750

Very good book
Definitely worth the money paid, in my opinion. While it may not be the ideal material for people who are already scoring 700+ in tests, this book is very useful to refresh and strengthen the basic concepts.

Excellent prep
I didn't take a class, but I have alot of friends who have and have used the Kaplan book and practice tests in addition to the Manhattan. Manhattan prep material and tests are head and shoulders above Kaplan. My only wish is that I had started with the Manhattan series and not even worried about Kaplan. Kaplan may have the brand name, but the fact that Manhattan focuses only on the GMAT shines through. The material goes wayyy more in depth, and it really leverages the other best source of practice material you have, the Official Guide (it has a great feature called rephrasing that references the OG problems directly to give data sufficiency help. It almost makes so much sense that it seems obvious but ingenious at the same time. Why not use the actual old test problems provided by the GMAC as much as you can?).

I wasn't going to buy the whole series but was so impressed by the first book I used (Sentence Correction), that I bought a couple of the quantitative prep books. I was so impressed by those, that I ended up buying all the rest of them. I can not stress enough how much more focused and useful this material is than Kaplan. When used in conjunction with the Official Guide, you have everything you need to break 700.

The things these books provide make so much sense as the best way to prepare, that it makes you wonder why everyone else doesn't do it. My guess is that Manhattan benefits from a focused business model of limiting itself to the GMAT. If you're not looking to score that well and only need to practice some and get used to the questions, the Official Guide is enough. But the Manhattan series is also nice in that it allows you to pick and choose the certain topics you need extra help with. Also, by only buying one book, you get access to six practice tests that are very difficult and provide invaluable information in its readouts of your performance (much more detailed and useful than Kaplan's. Hate to keep hating on Kaplan, but it's the only thing I have to compare to. It's not horrible really, it just pales in comparison to Manhattan. I think of the Kaplan material like I think of McDonald's, very well-known but pretty junky. It'll fill you up, but you won't feel great afterward...)

I've never taken the time to review any items on Amazon.com before, but I have been so impressed with this product that I felt compelled to let others know about it.

Don't waste your money on a class, get the Manhattan series instead. You'll save over a thousand dollars and be better prepared as well!

Good luck!

Just what you need to study for the GMAT
This and all the other Manhattan GMAT guides were really helpful in helping me prep for the GMAT.My colleagues had recommended them over other guides and I continue to do the same after getting the score I needed on my first try. ... Read more

Product Description
The Equations, Inequalities, & VICs Guide covers algebra in all its various forms (and disguises) on the GMAT. Master fundamental techniques and nuanced strategies to help you solve for unknown variables of every type.Each chapter builds comprehensive content understanding by providing rules, strategies and in-depth examples of how the GMAT tests a given topic and how you can respond accurately and quickly. The Guide contains a total of 162 'In-Action' problems of increasing difficulty with detailed answer explanations. The content of the book is aligned to the latest Official Guides from GMAC (12th edition).

Special Features:

Purchase of this book includes one year of access to Manhattan GMAT's online Equations, Inequalities, & VICs Question Bank (accessible by inputting a unique code in the back of each book). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Good refresher for equations and inequalities
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT. Here are my thoughts on the Manhattan GMAT Equations, Inequalities, and VICs GMAT guide:

===== OVERVIEW =====

The third book in the Manhattan GMAT quant series features theory and practice on equations (with an emphasis on the quadratic equation, the one most commonly tested on the GMAT), functions, inequalities and problems based around variables (the so-called VICs). As is the case with the entire series, the book does an in depth coverage of the theoretical aspects of the topics and also provides a decent amount of practice.

The structure of this guide is similar to that of other MGMAT guides: a more basic to intermediate part (in this case, with 85 practice items) and an advanced section for those who want to take it a step further (where you'll also find 57 questions). The only issue with the questions supplied by MGMAT is that most of them are not exactly in the style of the GMAT, meaning that most problems simply ask for a value instead of letting you choose between options. Note that they are still good practice though!

===== PROS =====

*Solid conceptual review that gets to the core of the material. Because of its two-part structure, it is a good book for both for those who are just starting out and for those who seek more advanced practice and strategy

*Comes with a code to register for the 6 online MGMAT tests (pretty decent predictors of your skill level) and 25 extra practice questions. However, the guide does rely heavily on the The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition for problems (you'll see sets of questions from the OG corresponding with topics)

*I was personally impressed with the VICs chapter, because "all-letter" problems tend to scare students the most. I also enjoyed their sample problems, which combined both geometry and VICs - this is a plus, I believe, because the GMAT rarely tests just one concept but rather "mixes it up". Their coverage of advanced functions was also pretty good

===== CONS =====

*They sometimes overuse tables and drawings in general as a technique to approach problems. While this might help if you're a visual learner, for me it seemed unnecessary at times: drawing does take a bit and this is a timed test, so be sure not to go over the top with it. They also seem to have a thing for mnemonics and abbreviations, which might be confusing if you're trying to remember everything

*Could have used more practice on arithmetic and geometric progressions and a few more challenging problems on equations

*Even thought the Data Sufficiency chapter does present a few interesting tips, it could have been improved by adding a few practice problems and focusing less on rephrasing from the The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition

===== BOTTOM LINE =====

The Manhattan GMAT Equations, Inequalities, & VICs guide is a comprehensive resource on these topics, featuring both a good theoretical review and some noteworthy practice. Although it does have its flaws, it is probably one of the best on the market for the given concepts.

About me: Dana Jinaru, 770 GMAT scorer, expert at Beat The GMAT - a community serving 1.5 million+ MBA applicants each year

Manhattan GMAT is the best prep material available!!!
I didn't take a class, but I have alot of friends who have and have used the Kaplan book and practice tests in addition to the Manhattan. Manhattan prep material and tests are head and shoulders above Kaplan. My only wish is that I had started with the Manhattan series and not even worried about Kaplan. Kaplan may have the brand name, but the fact that Manhattan focuses only on the GMAT shines through. The material goes wayyy more in depth, and it really leverages the other best source of practice material you have, the Official Guide (it has a great feature called rephrasing that references the OG problems directly to give data sufficiency help. It almost makes so much sense that it seems obvious but ingenious at the same time. Why not use the actual old test problems provided by the GMAC as much as you can?).

I wasn't going to buy the whole series but was so impressed by the first book I used (Sentence Correction), that I bought a couple of the quantitative prep books. I was so impressed by those, that I ended up buying all the rest of them. I can not stress enough how much more focused and useful this material is than Kaplan. When used in conjunction with the Official Guide, you have everything you need to break 700.

The things these books provide make so much sense as the best way to prepare, that it makes you wonder why everyone else doesn't do it. My guess is that Manhattan benefits from a focused business model of limiting itself to the GMAT. If you're not looking to score that well and only need to practice some and get used to the questions, the Official Guide is enough. But the Manhattan series is also nice in that it allows you to pick and choose the certain topics you need extra help with. Also, by only buying one book, you get access to six practice tests that are very difficult and provide invaluable information in its readouts of your performance (much more detailed and useful than Kaplan's. Hate to keep hating on Kaplan, but it's the only thing I have to compare to. It's not horrible really, it just pales in comparison to Manhattan. I think of the Kaplan material like I think of McDonald's, very well-known but pretty junky. It'll fill you up, but you won't feel great afterward...)

I've never taken the time to review any items on Amazon.com before, but I have been so impressed with this product that I felt compelled to let others know about it.

Don't waste your money on a class, get the Manhattan series instead. You'll save over a thousand dollars and be better prepared as well!

Good luck!

GMAT Tips and Tricks At Its Best
Here's the thing: if you're looking for a book that will give you exactly what you need to know to knock down the inequalities (or any section for that matter) of the GMAT, you're not going to find one.The GMAT isn't THAT type of test.Think of it less like an AP exam and more like a Case Interview - something that gets better ONLY with practice.

That being said, IMO Manhattan GMAT prep books are the best of the best.They should not be your only source of study material - I'd also highly recommend the Offical GMAT Study Guides.But in terms of a 3rd party source, when compared to Kaplan, Princeton Review, Veritas, Barrons, Arco et al:
1.The solutions are accurate and well described
2.The problems are representative of those you'll actually find on the GMAT (Kaplan and Princeton Review are nonsense!)
3.They're compact in content.

If you're going to spend the money, I'd also highly recommend the question banks online.

Summary: they're not going to teach you everything, and will not, alone, be responsible for a 200 point increase (unless your math skills are THAT bad) but are a great tool for refreshing those math skills you haven't used since 9th grade.

Good Book
This is a good book to review concepts on inequalities. If you did not know, you also get the 6 free CAT online tests free with this book.

A must for math virgins wanting to take or retake the gmat
The Manhattan series was the most helpful for me on my GMAT because other GMAT prep books only shows time saving or test taking tips but does not go into details about the various topics which I needed because I don't have a strong quantitative base.In fact, I didn't know even the basic idea of number properties or even odd plus odd is even (must have been asleep in math class) and so these guides were a must for me.Except for the critical reasoning guide, I give them all five stars +++!

Too bad I found these guides too late (just 2 weeks before the exam) and by the time they arrived in the mail, I didn't have time to do any of the practice exercises but I still managed to improve my score from 500 to 640 from just skimming through these guides.640 may not be a high score, but for someone who didn't know what a cube root is two weeks before the exam, these guides sure did a good job getting me up to speed.In my situation, these guides were heaven sent.

If you're really good with math then they might be too easy and too basic for you.Even then, they would still serve as a nice 'refresher'.They are short and concise and it only took me about an hour or less to skim through each and so they are pricey if you're just using them for a quick review.But if you don't know math like I don't know math, BUY THEM ALL!!! THEY ROCK!

... Read more

Product Description
The Critical Reasoning Guide simplifies arguments by illustrating innovative diagramming techniques designed to increase comprehension and improve accuracy.Each chapter builds comprehensive content understanding by providing rules, strategies and in-depth examples of how the GMAT tests a given topic and how you can respond accurately and quickly. The Guide contains a total of 70 'In-Action' problems of increasing difficulty with detailed answer explanations. The content of the book is aligned to the latest Official Guides from GMAC (12th edition).

Special Features:

Purchase of this book includes one year of access to Manhattan GMAT's online Critical Reasoning Question Bank (accessible by inputting a unique code in the back of each book). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Get to know Critical Reasoning
If you are preparing for the GMAT, this book is a great introduction to the critical reasoning in the verbal section of the exam. Good explanation and technique for someone who has difficulty in battling critical reasoning.

Great CR Book w/ good practice questions; could use better concept review
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT.Here are my thoughts on the Manhattan GMAT Critical Reasoning Guide:

===== OVERVIEW =====

The Manhattan GMAT Critical Reasoning Guide is the first in a series of three Manhattan GMAT books developed for the three major question types students will see on the GMAT verbal section. This resource presents itself as a reasonable alternative to the The PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible as a complete guide to Critical Reasoning (CR).

As compared to other general GMAT guides, the Manhattan GMAT CR guide is pretty thorough in its analysis of CR, but less so when you put it side by side with the CR Bible from PowerScore. For instance, the latter devotes entire chapters to some relatively rare questions (such as Resolve the Paradox or Evaluate an Argument), while this Manhattan GMAT book simply groups these topics together in a single chapter, with approximately one page of theoretical review per rare question type. However, Manhattan GMAT does offer more practice problems: 75 (50 in the book and 25 available online) versus only around 50 in the CR Bible. Note that I believe there's no value in owning both books - the overlap in concepts is just too big to justify purchasing both.

===== PROS =====

* The questions are well-written and seem to be in the style of official GMAT questions. You'll also get some extra practice for specific concepts at the end of the first two chapters

* Offers access to the 6 computer adaptive tests by Manhattan GMAT, tests that are widely considered to be good indicators of your current level

* Handy lists of real GMAT questions (from theOG 12 and the verbal supplement, 1st and 2nd editions) are presented at the end of each chapter, so that you may practice your newly acquired skills on official material as well

===== CONS =====

* The theoretical review is not as thorough as the one in the PowerScore CR Bible. It could use more practice questions and strategy tips for the minor question types (some of them are covered in only half a page)

* At times, this book seems to overemphasize note-taking techniques. While they are certainly handy on occasions, some students (such as myself) prefer not to use them as much on the relatively short CR passages

* As opposed to the CR Bible, the Manhattan GMAT Critical Reasoning Guide argues that you should read the question stem before reading the stimulus. I personally have found that this strategy does not work for me: my main reason for this is that students--once they've read the question stem--tend to get stressed out if they cannot find the answer as they read and thus lose sight of the structure of the argument. However, some students do work more efficiently by using the strategy advocated in the Manhattan GMAT guide


===== BOTTOM LINE =====

The Manhattan GMAT Critical Reasoning Guide gets four stars out of five for a solid theoretical review, handy Official Guide for GMAT Review lists and good practice questions. While its theoretical coverage could use a bit more work, this book is overall a good investment of time and money.

About me: Dana Jinaru, 770 GMAT scorer, expert at Beat The GMAT - a community serving 100K+ GMAT students/month

Excellent
I loved this book. I actually used the RC, SC and CR of Manhattan and improved my verbal scores by a huge margin.

Just what you need to study for the GMAT
This and all the other Manhattan GMAT guides were really helpful in helping me prep for the GMAT.My colleagues had recommended them over other guides and I continue to do the same after getting the score I needed on my first try.

Not the finest of the bunch
As one who teaches the GMAT for a living, has written around 250 Critical Reasoning practice questions and is presently working on a Critical Reasoning manual, one thing that I have found remarkable about the GMAT Critical Reasoning section is the lack of good guides or practice materials.

Part of this is due, I suppose, to laziness:GMAT test prep companies cater largely to the Anglo-American market, which is largely not worried about the Verbal portion.The Verbal section encompasses far more than simply language, however--this is not the TOEFL--and in order to break the 700 ceiling a firm mastery of Critical Reasoning is absolutely essential.

Manhattan GMAT's Critical Reasoning guide, like nearly every other one on the market, appears eager to reassure students that "no knowledge of formal logic is necessary" to ace the Critical Reasoning questions.That is true but unhelpful information:most people of whatever nationality are simply SLOPPY thinkers and sloppy readers and need a serious recalibration.Perhaps no questions hinge on your knowledge of the terms "modus ponens," "modus tollens," "affirmation of the consequent," or "denial of the antecedent," but most people do not realize just how many arguments contain serious flaws and accept them without thinking critically, rendering themselves unable to dig out the problem when faced with it.

Furthermore, the refusal to structure the lessons along the lines of deduction and formal logic lead Manhattan to ignore the widely accepted mathematical conventions for diagraming arguments and suggest a great many vague and confusing symbols to that end.Diagramming arguments is useful in some situations, but only if you recognize what a valid argument (modus ponens or modus tollens) should look like.

The classification of questions is okay, but the excessive focus on GMAT content at the expense of developing logical skill sets severely mars this book, as well as a great many others.Sadly, at the moment it is the best of the major prep books on the market.Clearly, the amount invested in pedagoigical development has not kept pace with the great salaries Manhattan GMAT teachers receive. ... Read more

Product Description
If you’re planning to apply for an MBA program, you’re required to take the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). And you thought your days of sharpening number 2 pencils were over! How do you prepare for such a comprehensive test? Never fear.

GMAT For Dummies, Fifth Edition, puts at your fingertips everything you need to know to conquer the GMAT. This highly readable, friendly guide makes the study process as painless as possible, providing you with complete math and grammar reviews and all the preparation you need to maximize your score and outsmart your competition. You’ll discover how to:

• Understand the test’s format
• Bring the right stuff
• Make educated guesses
• Avoid the exam’s pitfalls
• Calm your nerves
• Save time and beat the clock

This Fifth Edition is packed with plenty of updated practice questions so you can see just how the GMAT tests a particular concept. Our sample questions read just like the actual test questions, so you can get comfortable with the way the GMAT phrases questions and answer choices. You get plenty of tips on correctly answering the sentence correction, reading comprehension, and critical reading questions and tackling the analytical essays. There’s also a comprehensive math review of everything from number types to standard deviation and expanded coverage of statistics and probability. Each section ends with a mini practice test to prepare you for the two full-length practice tests featured in this easy-to-digest guide. You’ll see how to:

• Quickly eliminate incorrect answer choices
• Read passages quickly and effectively
• Break apart and analyze arguments
• Write a well-organized, compelling essay
• Tackle the data sufficiency math question type that only appears on the GMAT
• Use relaxation techniques if you start to panic during the test

Complete with a scoring guide, explanatory answers, timesaving tips, math formulas you should memorize, and a list of writing errors to avoid, GMAT For Dummies is all you need to practice your skills, improve your score, and pass with flying colors.Amazon.com Review
GMAT scores are an important part of any graduate business-schoolapplication, so you need to perform well. Suzee Vlk, long time test-prepspecialist and author of several Dummies books, can help. The GMAT forDummies is packed with useful information and strategies to help youprepare for the test. The book includes advice on how to use the bookefficiently (Vlk estimates you'll need 28 hours to work through it), reviewchapters for all three sections of the exam, and two complete practiceexams. Two chapters focusing on the analytical writing assessment portionof the exam will help you write effective essays--and remind you thatschools differ regarding the importance of this section. Vlk also offersspecial advice for "computer illiterates" worried about taking thiscomputer-based exam. In familiar Dummies style, Vlk includes a handytear-out "Quick Reference Card" with a summary of the most importantinformation and a "Part of Tens" section with "10 Dumb Things You Can Do toMess Up Your GMAT" and 10 relaxation techniques to use before and duringthe exam. With its witty writing and helpful icons in the margins pointingout important information, The GMAT for Dummies makes testpreparation easy and relatively painless. --C.B. Delaney ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Perfect!
Even though the book was marked as "used" but it was as good as new!!!

Thanks a lot for a great product and excellent delivery service

Great Confidence Builder for a Daunting Test
This book (edition by Lisa and Scott Hatch) is the one and only thing related to the GMAT that isn't intimidating. Anyone familiar with the "For Dummies" series knows that their claim to fame is their ability to break down complicated information into layman's terms, and this particular edition in the series certainly does not disappoint.

The first few chapters are useful in that they offer guidance on how to maximize your score along with other practical standardized test-taking strategies, which made this book well worth the money spent. This was an excellent investment for my future grad school plans, and I recommend the book for anyone preparing to take a standardized test, particularly, the GMAT.

Simple
Just started studying and so far its very simple to understand. However, this should not be your only method of studying for the test; please do buy something in the likes of Kaplan or Princeton review books.

I chose Kaplan 2010-2011.

This book is a good buy for the price
For this price, this is a great buy and you can't go wrong with it. Of course, this is not a book that you can completely rely on, but you may end up learning a few new things. You'll definitely need additional help. So, use this book purely as a supplement. For additional help, consider getting the Kaplan or Princeton Review books. If you want more focused and detailed study guides, consider EZ GMAT series and/or Manhattan.

Good for starters, but pay attention to mistakes
This book is a good place to start if you are just starting on your GMAT journey. It puts a lot of daunting concepts into simpler terms that are easier to understand and tries to break down the complex nature of the GMAT into bite-sized pieces. I went through this book as my first book before tackling on the Kaplan study guides, Manhattan guides and the official guide.

There are a few mistakes found in this book, which instantly warrants it nothing higher than 2-stars. Why? In my view, a study guide that is supposed to teach you how NOT to make mistakes on a major test shouldn't contain mistakes of its own, let alone a number of them. For example, one of the problems on pg. 150 told me to solve for X and Y provided with these equations: 6x + 4y = 66 and -2x + 2y = 8. The book came to the conclusion that x = 7 and y = 9. Plug in those numbers into the equation and you can clearly see the answer is wrong. After solving it correctly on my own, I had to go back and figure out why the book was telling me otherwise, adding a lot of confusion and wasting precious time. All the editors had to do was double-check that the answers were indeed correct. I started second guessing every problem and solution, and wasted even more time going through its entirety.

There are not a lot of these mistakes (I counted maybe 3 or 4 of them), but they are there. Overall, the book is still somewhat helpful, but only as a beginners guide. It doesn't go too deeply into the harder problems you will encounter if you are reaching for anything even remotely close to a 700 score, but if you don't know where to begin studying for the GMAT, or if a friend has a copy you can borrow, it is a good place to start. ... Read more

Product Description
The Reading Comprehension Guide illustrates innovative sketching techniques designed to balance speed and comprehension.Each chapter builds comprehensive content understanding by providing rules, strategies and in-depth examples of how the GMAT tests a given topic and how you can respond accurately and quickly. The Guide contains a total of 69 'In-Action' problems of increasing difficulty with detailed answer explanations. The content of the book is aligned to the latest Official Guides from GMAC (12th edition).

Special Features:
Purchase of this book includes one year of access to Manhattan GMAT's online Reading Comprehension Question Bank (accessible by inputting a unique code in the back of each book). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Very helpful
The book is very helpful, it changed the entire process for solving RC questions for me. Higly recommended.

Excellent concept review and practice questions, but I have minor criticisms
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT.Here are my thoughts on the Manhattan GMAT Reading Comprehension Guide:

===== OVERVIEW =====

Reading Comprehension (RC) is possibly the only question type that you'll see in all major standardized tests: SAT, GMAT, LSAT, GRE, and so forth. Unfortunately, reading comprehension is also one of the hardest areas to improve as a test taker, simply because RC is closely linked your overall ease in reading and to your general English fluency. Even so, the Manhattan GMAT Reading Comprehension Guide does provide some useful strategies for attacking this question type.

This book is also the only GMAT guide I've seen that is dedicated exclusively to GMAT Reading Comprehension. As such, it fills the need for a quick reference on this verbal section. The Manhattan GMAT RC guide is especially useful for non-native speakers of English, but could benefit native speakers as well by improving their accuracy and speed when dealing with this particularly time-consuming question type.

===== PROS =====

* The only guide on the market that is entirely dedicated to Reading Comprehension. The alternatives to the Manhattan GMAT RC book would be general or verbal strategy guides, but they are usually not as detailed as this book (with the possible exception of the PowerScore GMAT Verbal Bible--however the PowerScore book contains markedly fewer practice problems)

* Really good lessons on theory/concepts.Manhattan GMAT's friendly approach earns them points by making the learning process quite pleasant

* Provides access to 6 online computer adaptive tests (considered to be among the best in the industry) and 25 extra practice questions. As opposed to the SC guide, this book contains quite a few practice questions: 44 in total, with good explanations and a reasonable difficulty level

* Offers detailed note-taking tips.This is actually one of the main focuses of the book, which is a plus compared to the PowerScore GMAT Verbal Bible.

===== CONS =====

* I would have loved to see more about connectors and their role in passages in a separate section of the book. Tips regarding this topic sometimes pop up, but they're not grouped together

* The system that Manhattan GMAT uses to classify various passages and questions is a bit superficial, so to speak. For instance, the length of a passage is not necessarily what makes it difficult, in my opinion. The analysis of different question types is not as complete as it could have been

===== BOTTOM LINE =====

As the only book to cover exclusively RC, the Manhattan GMAT Reading Comprehension Guide is a welcomed addition to the series of question-specific books available for the verbal section of the GMAT. It scores well for the number and quality of problems and note-taking strategies, but it could use some work on its classifications and theoretical review.

About me: Dana Jinaru, 770 GMAT scorer, expert at [...] - a community serving 100K+ GMAT students/month

excellent
The best companion to RC that I have read - great to start, improve and then hit the practice tests. Loved it and it worked like a charm for me because I improved my scores tremendously.

worked for me!
If you read this book from front to back and do all of the examples, it WILL raise your verbal score. I ended up ranking in the 92nd percentile for verbal, which is usually my weaker subject. I did not take the course in addition to using this book - so my comment is really just on this specific product/book.Hope this helps!

Don't take the GMAT without it
I wouldn't take the gmat without comprehensively reviewing all the workbooks and online material for manhattan GMAT.They are simply the best books and most directly relevant books to studying.They don't care about teaching you material, but teaching exactly what you need to know for the GMAT, and nothing more!

If you get this book, you should also get access to the online material.I would highly suggest you do all the material and time yourself.There are 6 practice tests that in my opinion are the best in the market.I would do the pearson/GMAC provided test once in the beginning to see where you stand.Then take on practice test from Manhattan GMAT per weekend.Treat it like a real test!Then carefully go over all your answers and mistakes.Even go over the ones you got right!

During the week, I would focus on going through the workbooks and other online exercises.

It is a major commitment but it was worth it...I got a 740 ... Read more

Product Description
The Geometry Guide illustrates every geometric principle, formula, and problem type tested on the GMAT. Understand and master the intricacies of shapes, planes, lines, angles, and objects.Each chapter builds comprehensive content understanding by providing rules, strategies and in-depth examples of how the GMAT tests a given topic and how you can respond accurately and quickly. The Guide contains a total of 83 'In-Action' problems of increasing difficulty with detailed answer explanations. The content of the book is aligned to the latest Official Guides from GMAC (12th edition).

Special Features:

Purchase of this book includes one year of access to Manhattan GMAT's online Geometry Question Bank (accessible by inputting a unique code in the back of each book). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A solid review of GMAT geometry
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT. Here are my thoughts on the Manhattan GMAT Geometry guide:

===== OVERVIEW =====

The fifth and final guide in the series of quant guides from Manhattan GMAT deals with the subtleties of geometry. This is another important topic tested on the GMAT, since you'll undoubtedly see quite a few problems on triangles (at least two, I think) and the occasional problem on other shapes (particularly circles, squares and solids made up of these two). The guide is pretty exhaustive with regards to the theory you'll need on test day, but it could have been improved by the addition of some more problems in the circles department and a chapter on overlapping shapes.

The first part of the book concerns polygons, triangles, circles, angles, the coordinate plane and solids, featuring 75 "in action" problems (similar to Problem Solving, but with no answer choices). The second part is fairly small and only has 8 questions. In my opinion, this latter section would have benefited greatly from a few tips and practice items on overlapping shapes, since these tend to be the more difficult of the geometry subset (I actually had to guess on one such problem on my real test).

===== PROS =====

*Pretty much all of the theory you'll need on geometry is explained in this book. Their tips on the maximization of the surface area of polygons were particularly interesting, since I have not seen this discussed in any other strategy book on the market

*Comes with access to 25 online questions and 6 adaptive tests (some of the best in the industry). You'll also find the well-known The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition problems list to help you practice with real, retired questions

*The problems they supply in this book do tend to test more than one concept at a time, which is a plus. Their explanations are also pretty detailed

===== CONS =====

*No chapter on overlapping shapes! I find these problems to be some of the more challenging in geometry. Also, no Data Sufficiency practice problems is definitely a minus, since these questions tend to be extremely confusing for most students (they combine this relatively puzzling question type with geometry that you sometimes have to draw on your own)

*More problems on the trapezoid, polygons with more than 4 sides and angles within circles would have been nice. I also couldn't find a review of tangents to circles

*The issues mentioned above also impact the overall difficulty of the problems in this book. If the topics would have been included, the book would also contain more advanced problems than it does right now (only a few, sadly)

===== BOTTOM LINE =====

The Manhattan GMAT Geometry guide earns four stars out of five for its coverage of the concepts you'll need to know to do good on GMAT geometry. Overall, this book still needs a bit of work, but its contents currently contain what most student will need for their test. The elements that are missing are almost all advanced topics, of which you won't see more than one or two problems in the GMAT.

About me: Dana Jinaru, 770 GMAT scorer, expert at Beat The GMAT - a community serving 1.5 million+ MBA applicants each year

Manhattan GMAT is the best prep available!!!
I didn't take a class, but I have alot of friends who have and have used the Kaplan book and practice tests in addition to the Manhattan. Manhattan prep material and tests are head and shoulders above Kaplan. My only wish is that I had started with the Manhattan series and not even worried about Kaplan. Kaplan may have the brand name, but the fact that Manhattan focuses only on the GMAT shines through. The material goes wayyy more in depth, and it really leverages the other best source of practice material you have, the Official Guide (it has a great feature called rephrasing that references the OG problems directly to give data sufficiency help. It almost makes so much sense that it seems obvious but ingenious at the same time. Why not use the actual old test problems provided by the GMAC as much as you can?).

I wasn't going to buy the whole series but was so impressed by the first book I used (Sentence Correction), that I bought a couple of the quantitative prep books. I was so impressed by those, that I ended up buying all the rest of them. I can not stress enough how much more focused and useful this material is than Kaplan. When used in conjunction with the Official Guide, you have everything you need to break 700.

The things these books provide make so much sense as the best way to prepare, that it makes you wonder why everyone else doesn't do it. My guess is that Manhattan benefits from a focused business model of limiting itself to the GMAT. If you're not looking to score that well and only need to practice some and get used to the questions, the Official Guide is enough. But the Manhattan series is also nice in that it allows you to pick and choose the certain topics you need extra help with. Also, by only buying one book, you get access to six practice tests that are very difficult and provide invaluable information in its readouts of your performance (much more detailed and useful than Kaplan's. Hate to keep hating on Kaplan, but it's the only thing I have to compare to. It's not horrible really, it just pales in comparison to Manhattan. I think of the Kaplan material like I think of McDonald's, very well-known but pretty junky. It'll fill you up, but you won't feel great afterward...)

I've never taken the time to review any items on Amazon.com before, but I have been so impressed with this product that I felt compelled to let others know about it.

Don't waste your money on a class, get the Manhattan series instead. You'll save over a thousand dollars and be better prepared as well!

Good luck!

Solid Geometry book but why so few illustrations and no gmat-style questions?
I love most of the MGMAT books but this one just does not feel right. The book is realistically 95 pages and covers all important concepts: from lines to coordinate geometry. Does not go over the top and gives enough material, seems like the writers covered all the bases. However, I have an issue with it - it is not laid out very well. I am a visual learner and felt it would have been a better book if it was spread out more, included more illustrations, and did not have so much verbiage everywhere. Even larger all-in-one books dedicate close to 100 pages for Geometry.

Another issue is that all of the problems in the book are in a non-gmat format (meaning you only get a question, not the 5 answer choices). That is OK for some sections, but not having a single gmat-like question in the entire book is a "no-no". GMAT is heavily about basics and good framework, but there are other ways to solve questions such as backsolving, picking numbers, etc and those skills are honed only when questions are in the GMAT format. Important to point out that the book comes with access to the Geometry quiz bank online, which does have GMAT-style questions, so there is hope.

The big redeeming factors are 6 online tests that are included with every MGMAT book ($39 value), additional online practice materials, and coverage of Coordinate Geometry (a harder topic often omitted in larger textbooks).

***Bottom line: this is a solid geometry book that was crammed in 95 pages but is still a worthy buy for the sake of tests and the coordinate geometry section.

Questions about the book? Post them here - i will respond.
BB, Founder of GMAT Club Community.


P.S. The only other books that cover Coordinate Geometry are: Kaplan GMAT Math Foundations and MGMAT Foundations of GMAT Math, both of which are on the easier side of things but recommended if you need help with math. You can find my reviews for both of them. ... Read more

Product Description

Kaplan Portable GMAT includes:

• Essential information about the test structure and scoring
• Exclusive score-raising tips and strategies
• Focused practice for each components of the test
• Targeted review of each question type

Customer Reviews (1)

Good intro to GMAT and some practice but not a study guide
Kaplan portable GMAT

Good intro to GMAT and some practice but not a study guide
This book is only available in electronic format and it looks like it was specifically designed for portable devices. The best description I can give it, is a collection of basic GMAT information follow the by specific strategies for each section and the few practice questions

Strengths:
- short chapters work very well with portable format
- good coverage of the test mechanics
- overview of many popular and effective strategies to be used in the GMAT such as back solving, strategy for critical reasoning, and reading comprehension strategy
- each section is followed by a short quiz (5 to 10 questions)
- inexpensive
- Good book to use as a big picture refresher, possibly something to use the last 2 weeks before the test

Weaknesses:
- Lacks background information for math and verbal (no formulas, grammar rules, etc)
- Few practice questions
- No practice tests
- Not clear how to best use this book in conjunction with other Kaplan books

Bottom line: helpful mobile guide to introduce one to the GMAT and provide an overview of GMAT strategies. However if you lack math or verbal skills you won't get very far on strategies alone. If you are already familiar with the GMAT, this book will be of little value.


Top 6 Mistakes People Make on the GMAT:
1: Rushing to take tests before learning basics
2: Starting with the Official Guide instead of a guidebook/textbook
3: Giving GMAT the worst quality time of the day - studying after a long day
4: Skipping basics and rushing to advanced topics
5: Starting to prepare with poor English proficiency
6: Not following strategies exactly or cutting corners


Good Luck on the GMAT!
BB - Founder of GMAT Club
GMAT Score 750 (49, 42)
Let me know if you have any questions about GMAT books - I have read and reviewed all of them ... Read more

Product Description
The Fractions, Decimals, & Percents Guide provides an in-depth look at the variety of GMAT questions that test your knowledge of fractions, decimals, and percents. Learn to see the connections among these part-whole relationships and practice implementing strategic shortcuts.Each chapter builds comprehensive content understanding by providing rules, strategies and in-depth examples of how the GMAT tests a given topic and how you can respond accurately and quickly. The Guide contains a total of 82 'In-Action' problems of increasing difficulty with detailed answer explanations. The content of the book is aligned to the latest Official Guides from GMAC (12th edition).

Special Features:

Purchase of this book includes one year of access to Manhattan GMAT's online Fractions, Decimals, and Percents Question Bank (accessible by inputting a unique code in the back of each book). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

?
I bought for and sent it to my nephew in the old country. He is thrilled.

Basic guide to ratios - not so useful for high scorers
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT. Here are my thoughts on the Manhattan GMAT Fractions, Decimals, and Percents GMAT guide:

===== OVERVIEW =====

The Manhattan GMAT Fractions, Decimals & Percents guide is the second quant guide of the series of 5 books edited by Manhattan GMAT. The title of the book pretty much sums it up with regards to the content being analyzed. You'll see a theoretical review of the famed part-to-whole relationship in quant, in its three well-known forms: fractions, decimals and percents. Since the concepts that are discussed are not difficult and regularly encountered in day-to-day life (for instance, opinion polls are presented using percents), the book is probably the easiest in the series. As such, it is only recommended for those whose quant is pretty rusty.

The Fractions guide follows the now familiar two-part structure, with one basic-intermediate section and one more advanced one. The first part contains 60 "in action" problems, while the second features 23 such questions. These "in action" problem types are similar to Problem Solving questions, except that the authors do not provide answer choices: you are supposed to figure out a value on your own.

===== PROS =====

*Thorough review of the topics advertised in the title, from the basics and all the way up to more challenging problems involving symbols for operations or digits

*The book is ideal for someone who hasn't had math practice in a while

*You get a decent number of practice items per number of pages, but your main resources for practice are the The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition (you'll find lists of "to do" problems at the end of the two sections)

*Comes with access to 25 online questions and the 6 Manhattan GMAT tests, some of the most accurate in the industry (supposedly second only to GMATprep tests, those developed by the makers of the GMAT)

===== CONS =====

*Not well suited for those who have had regular exposure to basic math, because the concepts presented are among the simpler ones. It provides an interesting counterpoint to the exhausting "math marathon" that is the Number Properties guide (the first in the series)

*Data Sufficiency is not sufficiently covered (a shared issue of all the Manhattan guides). The focus is almost strictly on reformulating Official Guide problems. I would have loved to see some DS practice problems written by the authors

*Very few challenging problems, mainly because the topic in itself is not difficult. Could have used more problems on symbols and last digits

===== BOTTOM LINE =====

The Manhattan GMAT Fractions, Decimals & Percents guide is not the book for you if you're looking for more advanced practice or theory. It's also probably best to focus on other guides of the series if you're pressed for time. Since problems rarely test the concepts in this book exclusively, I think you might get enough out of simply working through the The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition. If, however, you find it hard to work with concepts involving the part-whole relationship, this book will definitely help.

About me: Dana Jinaru, 770 GMAT scorer, expert at Beat The GMAT - a community serving 1.5 million+ MBA applicants each year

Great book
Perfect for re-learning and reviewing on the basics. Very thorough and great as a crash course for all those basic number properties.

Quick shipping..books in good condition
I really liked the book as it looked pretty new.. also quick shipping..
Happy for purchasing from this seller..

Manhattan GMAT is the best prep material available!!!
I didn't take a class, but I have alot of friends who have and have used the Kaplan book and practice tests in addition to the Manhattan. Manhattan prep material and tests are head and shoulders above Kaplan. My only wish is that I had started with the Manhattan series and not even worried about Kaplan. Kaplan may have the brand name, but the fact that Manhattan focuses only on the GMAT shines through. The material goes wayyy more in depth, and it really leverages the other best source of practice material you have, the Official Guide (it has a great feature called rephrasing that references the OG problems directly to give data sufficiency help. It almost makes so much sense that it seems obvious but ingenious at the same time. Why not use the actual old test problems provided by the GMAC as much as you can?).

I wasn't going to buy the whole series but was so impressed by the first book I used (Sentence Correction), that I bought a couple of the quantitative prep books. I was so impressed by those, that I ended up buying all the rest of them. I can not stress enough how much more focused and useful this material is than Kaplan. When used in conjunction with the Official Guide, you have everything you need to break 700.

The things these books provide make so much sense as the best way to prepare, that it makes you wonder why everyone else doesn't do it. My guess is that Manhattan benefits from a focused business model of limiting itself to the GMAT. If you're not looking to score that well and only need to practice some and get used to the questions, the Official Guide is enough. But the Manhattan series is also nice in that it allows you to pick and choose the certain topics you need extra help with. Also, by only buying one book, you get access to six practice tests that are very difficult and provide invaluable information in its readouts of your performance (much more detailed and useful than Kaplan's. Hate to keep hating on Kaplan, but it's the only thing I have to compare to. It's not horrible really, it just pales in comparison to Manhattan. I think of the Kaplan material like I think of McDonald's, very well-known but pretty junky. It'll fill you up, but you won't feel great afterward...)

I've never taken the time to review any items on Amazon.com before, but I have been so impressed with this product that I felt compelled to let others know about it.

Don't waste your money on a class, get the Manhattan series instead. You'll save over a thousand dollars and be better prepared as well!

Good luck! ... Read more

Product Description
Thousands of business school applicants study for and take the GMAT annually.  The experts at The Princeton Review provide an essential tool for success on this crucial exam with Cracking the GMAT.  The test prep guide offers proven, detailed guidance and advice for the math, verbal and essay sections of the test, and this new edition for 2010 includes over 200 practice questions and exclusive free access to practice exams and further review online.  As with all of The Princeton Review’s study guides, you’ll get insider test-prep techniques to help you master the exam. In Cracking the GMAT, we’ll teach you how to think like the test writers and

·Solve complex sentence correction problems by recognizing key errors
·Crack tough data sufficiency questions using simple techniques
·Practice online with full-length tests, lessons, and drills
·Get the most out of your prep time with the study plan that’s right for you

In the guide, you’ll find plenty of practice GMAT problems to help you master our proven techniques. Our practice questions are just like those you’ll see on the real GMAT ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Good prep tool
This book is a pretty good prep tool for the GMAT. The math review was probably the most helpful section in the book.

Review for the GMAT book,
The book is very good, reason why i am very happy with my purchase. It's very useful because there are a lot of information about the GMAT test, what is good for international people who don't know anything about the test. In addition there is more information about web sites etc, to practise, get information and know more about it, get contact to talk to, apart of this book.
The amazon service is wonderful. I really like it, and i am very happy with them. They offer any kind of product and facilities to buy or cancel the purchase, and to change your information needed to buy.

A Waste of Time and Money
I'm currently preparing for a Sept 2010 GMAT test date and planning to apply to several overseas MBA programs with a Fall 2011 target start date.I've been away from academia since completing an MS in Applied Physics in 2001, so I loaded up on GMAT prep books including:

- The Princeton Review 'Cracking the GMAT - 2010 Edition'
- Barron's 'GMAT - 15th Edition'
- 'The Official Guide - 12th Edition GMAT Review'

I haven't gone through the Barron's 'GMAT' yet, but I've forced myself to go through over two-thirds of Princeton Review's 'Cracking the GMAT - 2010 Edition' while concurrently applying the "techniques" towards actual, real past GMAT test questions from 'The Official Guide - 12th Edition GMAT Review'.I've just about given up on the Princeton Review "techniques".They really aren't "techniques" at all - I can tell you in this sentence what they are: POE (Process of Elimination), "really" reading the questions and taking quick notes about each question - and if you still can't find the correct answer choice using these "techniques", then to read the answer choices - and by then, the answer will have magically jumped out at you.I didn't need to pay whatever this book cost (~ $20) was (and waste weeks of time reading it) to have some idiots pass along these "secrets" to "cracking the GMAT."For anyone who has ever taken the SAT or ACT or any other sort of standardized test, these "techniques" are not novel and it's a little condescending and painful to force yourself through 2/3 of the book only to realize that these Princeton Review "secret techniques" are worthless and already painfully obvious.Furthermore, the Princeton Review has simply copied its content straight from 'The Official Guide - 12th Edition GMAT Review' and just re-phrased it and put it in different order.Finally, Princeton Review (and any other company) isn't allowed to use actual, past GMAT questions, so their examples are usually poor and aren't as close to what the real GMAT questions are and sometimes are so poorly worded, they don't even make sense.

That being said, the book does help strip away some of the mystery and uncertainty behind the GMAT and helps you understand the background and purpose of the GMAT, how your score is calculated and what it means, its shortcomings, about the GMAT test creators and writers and a little about the GMAC (Graduate Management Administration Council), who are responsible for designing and administrating the test.The book also walks through how the GMAT computer-adaptive test calculates your score with each answer you choose and how the computer then uses your answers to give you more difficult questions for the ones you answer correctly (i.e. the path to a higher GMAT score) or to give you easier subsequent questions (and a lower GMAT score) for the ones you answer incorrectly - and how important the first (10) or so questions towards getting a higher score.'The Official Guide - 12th Edition GMAT Review' denies this and states each question is important and will eventually lead you to the score you deserve, but I certainly see the Princeton Review's logic behind this.However, there is no need to pay $20 to $25 to learn all this that's already been stated here and the Princeton Review certainly doesn't have any mind-blowing "secret techniques" to help you correctly answer these first ten questions and achieve the higher GMAT scores you are seeking.

I doubt the Barron's 'GMAT' will be much better than the Princeton Review guide.The GMAC says you can't really improve your GMAT score - it's an innate, already predetermined number based on your background, upbringing, and innate cognitive skills you received at birth.To an extent I agree, but I believe if you work extremely hard over several years, you can significantly improve your GMAT scores by devoting all your free time to basic arithmetic, elementary algebra, basic geometry, English grammar and critical reasoning (logic).While this may be a little extreme, certainly the earlier you begin preparing for the GMAT, the better.Your GMAT scores are good for five years, so my advice is starting preparing for the GMAT before anything else and try to give yourself at least a year to devote to it.Skip the Princeton Review (you can read about the GMAT background on Wikipedia or Google it), but do buy 'The Official Guide - 12th Edition GMAT Review' and/or any other text with real, actual past GMAT questions that you can practice on.Then either dig up or purchase textbooks that focus on the skills listed above: basic arithmetic, elementary algebra, basic geometry, English grammar and critical reasoning (logic) and carefully and methodically review them and use the 'The Official Guide - 12th Edition GMAT Review' practice questions to test yourself and chart your progress.Even if you haven't given yourself much time, try to immerse yourself and become comfortable with the GMAT format and types of questions before you take the exam.The more you can immerse yourself in the GMAT and the greater preparation time you give yourself (and the harder you focus during that time), the better your scores will be.Like life, there are no secrets; those who work harder and are better prepared, will always beat those unwilling or unable to do so.I'm sorry for the length, but I've received some great help from others in the past and hope I can pass that on now myself.Bonne chance!

Cracking the GMAT 2010
I was disappointed with the quality of the printing (and not the content of the book). Book has lot of pages with blob of ink all over it so apparently you cannot read these pages; half the book has very lightly printed pages. This book should have been rejected for the quality of its print, I expect Amazon to do a better job and would appreciate a refund!

Thanks

Great Study Tool for the GMAT
The book has been very helpful in studying for the GMAT and I would recommend it for people who need to review for the test. It has examples and practices tests that will help you prepare for the GMAT. ... Read more