Cracking the GMAT with CD-ROM, 2002 Edition (Princeton Review: Cracking the GMAT (w/DVD)) [Paperback]

Geoff Martz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2001 | Series: Princeton Review: Cracking the GMAT (w/DVD)

The Princeton Review realizes that acing the GMAT is very different from getting straight As in school. The Princeton Review doesn't try to teach students everything there is to know about math and English—only the techniques they'll need to score higher on the exam. There's a big difference. In Cracking the GMAT, The Princeton Review will teach test takers how to think like the test makers and:

• Eliminate answer choices that look right but are planted to fool you
• Raise your score by practicing with our GMAT Pre-Diagnostic Test, Scoring Guide and Explanations
• Use process of elimination to solve tough data sufficiency problems
• Master even the toughest sections: Reading Comprehension, Sentence Correction, Data Sufficiency, Critical Reasoning, and more

** Study the techniques and strategies in this book, and then perfect skills on more than 155 practice questions inside. The Princeton Review also gives readers 4 full-length simulated GMAT exams on CD-ROM with instant score reporting. Practice test questions are just like the ones test takers will see on the actual GMAT, and The Princeton Review fully explains every solution.

Contents Include:

I Orientation
Orientation
How to Think About the GMAT
Cracking the System: Basic Principles
Cracking the system: Intermediate Principles
Cracking the System: Advanced Principles
Taking the GMAT
II How to Crack the Math GMAT
GMAT Math: Basic Principles
The POE and GMAT Math
Arithmetic
Algebra
Geometry
Data Sufficiency
III How to Crack the Verbal GMAT
Sentence Correction
Reading Comprehension
Critical Reasoning
IV How to Crack the Writing Assessment
Writing Assessment

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The Princeton Review realizes that acing the GMAT is very different from getting straight As in school. The Princeton Review doesn't try to teach students everything there is to know about math and English—only the techniques they'll need to score higher on the exam. There's a big difference. In Cracking the GMAT, The Princeton Review will teach test takers how to think like the test makers and:

• Eliminate answer choices that look right but are planted to fool you
• Raise your score by practicing with our GMAT Pre-Diagnostic Test, Scoring Guide and Explanations
• Use process of elimination to solve tough data sufficiency problems
• Master even the toughest sections: Reading Comprehension, Sentence Correction, Data Sufficiency, Critical Reasoning, and more

** Study the techniques and strategies in this book, and then perfect skills on more than 155 practice questions inside. The Princeton Review also gives readers 4 full-length simulated GMAT exams on CD-ROM with instant score reporting. Practice test questions are just like the ones test takers will see on the actual GMAT, and The Princeton Review fully explains every solution.

Contents Include:

I Orientation
Orientation
How to Think About the GMAT
Cracking the System: Basic Principles
Cracking the system: Intermediate Principles
Cracking the System: Advanced Principles
Taking the GMAT
II How to Crack the Math GMAT
GMAT Math: Basic Principles
The POE and GMAT Math
Arithmetic
Algebra
Geometry
Data Sufficiency
III How to Crack the Verbal GMAT
Sentence Correction
Reading Comprehension
Critical Reasoning
IV How to Crack the Writing Assessment
Writing Assessment

About the Author

Geoff Martz attended Dartmouth College and Columbia University, joining The Princeton Review in 1985 as a teacher and writer. Martz headed the development team that designed the Review's GMAT course. He is the author or coauthor of Cracking the ACT, Paying for College, Cracking the GED, and How to Survive Without Your Parents' Money.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Review; Bk&CD-Rom edition (June 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375761950
• ISBN-13: 978-0375761959
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,385,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much better than Kaplan, March 13, 2002

By 

"sarahusc" (Clifton, Va United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cracking the GMAT with CD-ROM, 2002 Edition (Princeton Review: Cracking the GMAT (w/DVD)) (Paperback)

I bought 5 books for my GMAT preparation and unfortunately saved the Princeton Review for later in my review process. I started with the Kaplan books and although I found them to be a good review of the basics, that's about all I thought they were useful for. Now, the book isn't without errors. The CD that comes with offers practice tests and drills. The Reading Comprehension questions in the verbal portion of the practice tests are a bit messed up. YOu will sometimes get only 1 question per 350 word reading passage, then another passage will appear, followed by only one question- overall, you end up spending an enormous amount of time reading 6 or 7 different passages. The plus side is that once you have read them you are ready for all the other practice tests b/c they apparently use the same 7 or so passages for all the tests. However, with the exception of RC sections, I believe this book to be one of the better ones and the practice questions are similar to those on the real test, which is not the case with Kaplan. IN fact, the day before I took my test I took a Kaplan practice test since I had already completed all the Princeton tests and the Official GMAT Review tests. I scored a 490, which was not only 150 points below my last score, it was the lowest score I had ever gotten. I dismissed the score since I had already come to terms with the fact that Kaplan's questions and style were not a real representation of the GMAT. Anyway, the next day I got a 650 on my test, which I was happy with. I noticed that the majority of the GMAT book reviews are written by those who are trying for a 750 or something close to that, so I just wanted to share my experience, since I bet the majority of people applying to MBA programs are not looking to get a 750. My suggestion is to take as many practice test as you can and get a few different books, but please make the Princeton Review one of them.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a Piece of [work], July 7, 2002

By 

"aaronmiller" (NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cracking the GMAT with CD-ROM, 2002 Edition (Princeton Review: Cracking the GMAT (w/DVD)) (Paperback)

I've never written a review before, but felt compelled after taking a test on the Princeton Review CD. This CD is riddled with errors and is as a whole, poorly designed. Let me explain:

1. The CD only contains the tests. Not by itself a flaw, but compared to Kaplan it's really lacking. Not to mention the fact that the overall design is poor. (It's hard to use with no instructions)

2. In the verbal section, it randomly switched among Reading Comprehension passages. It would have one question from one passage and then jump to another. Later, it would return to an old passage. This is NOT how the real test behaves. It asks you all of the questions from a particular passage and then moves on.

3. SOME OF THE ANSWERS ARE WRONG! I did poorly in the math section so I started to review the section. Many of the questions I answered were correct, but the program "thought" another answer was correct. (I did confirm this with two other people to make sure I wasn't crazy).

4. THERE ARE NO EXPLANATIONS. How can you have a bank of problems without explanations? Well, you can if you're the Princeton Review. But it's not going to help you if you'd like to actually know WHY you got a question wrong.

What a waste of money. I expect to throw this in the garbage, but before I did, I needed to vent some of my anger. Thanks for listening/reading.

By the way. The Kaplan book is excellent. And you don't need the Princeton strategies unless you are a sub-par student. The strategies don't assist those looking for 600+ and can actually harm those looking to go 700+.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, perfectly complements the official guide, March 25, 2003

By 

Shashank Tripathi (Gadabout) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cracking the GMAT with CD-ROM, 2002 Edition (Princeton Review: Cracking the GMAT (w/DVD)) (Paperback)

This book offers some valuable tips and suggestions especially for cracking math. But overall it focuses more on the "Joe Blogg" tips and tricks approach, which may work for some people and not for others. I still believe knowing sincerely how to solve problems will get you far. But the PR book makes for an interesting read, gives you some excellent strategies (e.g., about the essay sections etc) and does the best job of introducing the concept of "difficulty level bins" -- which is how the CAT works. I, much to my surprise I admit, ended up with a 780 and for those about to take the GMAT, some tips:

1. Definitely get yourself the 'Official Guide' (published by ETS) -- that is indespensable. You should aim to complete it from cover to cover - it gives you a really good idea of the test questions though the math is a liitle easier than what I saw on the test. It even has a comprehensive, complete list of essay topics.

2. Practice tests -- my scores in Powerprep : 780,770; Kaplan : 670,650,690; Princeton : 750,720. So I'd venture to recommend this book to get a decent estimation of where you really stand, and therefore u must take the included tests seriously -- i.e., emulating the real testing conditions -- in order to get an accurate idea of your potential. Kaplan is really tough - I haven't seen too many folks scoring above 700 in thier tests - infact when i gave the first test straight after a 780 in powerprep and got a 650 I was pretty turned off - but later found out that it wasn't really a big deal. Get Kaplan for practice, but the PR and the official guide should be enough.

3. PREP BOOKS: Well other than the Official guide, I used PR and Kaplan. I found the math tips in Kaplan (50 of them) quite impressive but the practice tests in PR give you a very good idea of difficulty levels of math/analytic. This book lays out the test in "bins" (easy bin, medium bin, and the tough bin). I found this to be a very unique and useful feature.

All in all, this particular book is superb for its purpose and complements the ETS OG fabulously. Highly recommended!