Customer Reviews

Cracking the GMAT with CD-ROM, 2001 Edition (Cracking the Gmat With Sample Tests on CD-Rom)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Thank God for this book. I also bought the Kaplan book (without the CD-rom) and thought it was pretty fair. But then I went through the Princeton Review book and I realized how poor the Kaplan book actually was. The Princeton Review book gives you great test-taking tips/strategies and made me feel MUCH better prepared than the Kaplan book made me feel. Also, the 5 tests that Princeton Review gives you on the CD were very helpful. The tests analyze how well you do for each question type and lets you know on average how long you were spending on each question. Since timing is key for the GMAT, this information was extremely helpful in pacing during the actual test.

If you're only going to get one book, get this book NOW! I wouldn't waste your time getting the Kaplan book. Also make sure you take the practice tests that GMAC gives out for free (they will send you a free CD-rom when you register for the GMAT, or you can download the PowerPrep software at their website for free). You should definitely take the real thing since as good as the Princeton Review software was, these are NOT the real questions. Some of the Princeton Review questions were easier than the real questions and vice versa (some of the real GMAT questions were easier than the Princeton Review ones).... They had great math review on the site (also do a search on Google for "Gmat" - this turned up a lot of good sites that offer free diagnostic tests online). It is critical that you take as many computer tests before taking the real thing. I had never taken a computer-based test and it was very different from the paper tests I've done before. Good luck!

As part of my recent preparation for the GMAT exam, I purchased four study guides - The Princeton Review, Kaplan, Barrons and ETS's Official Guide - along with their associated CDROMs. Out of the four that I purchased, the Kaplan book was by far the best. It had a well-structured approach and a set of diverse and challenging practice questions (especially the practice CATs on the CDROM).

However, the Princeton Review also had a number of redeeming features. It had some good pointers on "thinking like a GMAT examiner", it was chatty, informal and therefore easy to read, and its formula approach to the Analytical Writing Assessment section was very helpful. The downside was that it over-simplified the approach to some GMAT question formats and therefore missed some of the subtleties of the GMAT test. If you only going to buy one GMAT study guide, I'd strongly recommend Kaplan. If you buy two, then this is the natural second choice.

This book has some very useful test-taking tricks (a bit excessive though), the examples are detailed and comprehensive, the practice tests on the CD are a very close simulation of the real tests. The section on writting assessment provides one a very practical and effective approach to attacking the passage. The best strategy to go about this book would be to study the techniques and strategies in this book, and then practice them on the sample computer-adaptive tests inside, and see the difference in the scores. It worked for me.

The Kaplan Fifth Edition prep book comes with a CD-ROM with interactive multimedia presentations on how to increase your chances of doing a GREAT job on the GMAT. The book is very good for those who learn best through that medium. I found Kaplan's CD-ROM lessons to be excellent reviews of each type of question you'll find in the Quantitative, Verbal, and essay sections. Plus -- and this is the real value -- there are dozens of practice tests in addition to 4 complete practice computer-adaptive tests that simulate the GMAT's tests. You can keep track of all of your scores on these practice tests, and with graphs you can visualize the progress you make as you practice.

Contrast this with this Princeton Review book w/CD-ROM. The book has ridiculous, self-defeating strategies. Plus, the quality of writing and explanations are much lower in the Princeton Review book than in the Kaplan book. The CD-ROM only has a smattering of practice tests and 4 full-length tests. Buyer beware: The Princeton Review CD-ROM is sparse and contains NO reviews or lessons, whereas the Kaplan CD-ROM is excellent and a wonderful piece of highly produced interactive, educational multimedia.

Avoid the Princeton Review if you can get your hands on this Kaplan GMAT book/CD-ROM!

I only had 1 week with this Kaplan book, but my score increased by 160 points in one week of practice and review. This was AFTER I had pored over the meager Princeton Review book. Don't make my mistake. Get Kaplan.

[Note: I originally wanted to avoid Kaplan because I had a bias against this huge test prep company, but when I saw their book I realized that they quite simply had the superior product. (I'm writing this immediately after returning from the test center and you should know that this book prepared me excellently for the test! I scored higher than I thought possible.)]

I had an older edition of the Kaplan GMAT book/CD from 1999 that I had obtained from a friend. After working my way through that edition, I decided to purchase another GMAT book. I went with the Princeton Review just to try something different, and I was somewhat disappointed with the result.

The book offers several tips for improving your GMAT skills, but so much of its test-taking philosophy is built around process of elimination that it is often laughable. This book is not intended for people who are trying to push their score into the 700's.

The biggest shortcoming is the CD rom. The tests are too easy - and I even had questions repeated on a supposed computer adaptive test. I was able to make my way through increasingly simple quantitative questions with 20 minutes to spare. For comparison, the Kaplan test took the full 75 minutes for the quantitative section and I could tell that the questions were more difficult towards the end. I was able to score a 700 and 640 on the Kaplan practice tests.

I think that my next purchase will be the new Kaplan book.

The GMAT was hard, but I can't imagine how hard it would have been without this book. I looked at all the other books and this one was the best by far - it helped me learn how to take the test so that it was OK even if I didn't know all the information. Plus, the practice tests in this one were much better than the ones in the other books I looked at. I think this is definitely the best book to use if you're preparing for the GMAT - I highly recommend it.

This is one of the many books I used and this is one of the two books that helped me most. The other book was the Official GMAT guide. I did not use Kaplan. The tests on the CD are a fair represenatation of what one can expect in the real GMAT. The maths sections are bit easy as compared to what one can get in the GMAT but verbal sections are pretty close to the real GMAT. On the three simulated tests I scored 710,670 and 730. My score in the real GMAT was 750. My scores in verbal and quant. sections in the simulated tests were very close to my real GMAT scores, between 45 to 49. On the flip side, the book is very verbose. I didn't pay much attention to the tricks and strategies discussed in the book but the section on reading comprehension is definitely worth a look.

I got this book a couple of days ago after going through the ETS book....the strange thing is that a lot of the stuff specially sentence correction, critical reasoning and a couple of math are exactly same as in the ETS official guide. The only difference is that sometimes the names or characters are changed that is all....i am amazed that out of all the reviews, nobody pointed this out.... Overall i would say that the book is excellent...although i haven't taken my GMAT yet i can at least differentiate between a good book and a bad book....if a person is consistent with their GMAT practice, they will surely shine if they use this book....the CD-rom is excellent and so are the practice tests....i totally agree with one of the reviewers who says that thsi book not only teaches u math and english but also GMAT math and GMAT english...my exam is really close by so wish me good luck guys!!!:-):-) by the way if u have any questions regarding the GMAT mail me at nafeesayunus@hotmail.com..i will be glad to help u if i can..

This is not a bad book...it just pales in comparison with the Kaplan book. The test scores are more representative of what you'll actually get on the GMAT than the Kaplan ones are, but it isn't as comprehensive as Kaplan. I studied this one first, and as a last resort, picked up Kaplan. There isn't a chance I would've done as well if I hadn't. So save your money - get one book and make it the Kaplan one with the CDROM.

Focused study of key information. Princeton Review teaches you the 'need to know' information in a concise manner. Their test taking tips help you narrow the answer choices to a managable level, critical for cracking the difficult questions. This is a great place to start your preparation for the Gmat.