Customer Reviews

Cracking the GMAT with Sample Tests on CD-ROM, 2003 Edition (Graduate Test Prep)

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

 

 

I 100% do not recommend this book. The tests were filled with errors that are unacceptable. If you're taking the tests to simulate the actual exam experience, then you will be in for a serious letdown. Here are examples of the problems that I encountered:

1. The actual GMAT allows for a 5-minute break in between the Math and Verbal sections. The PR test allowed for a 1-minute break. If you have yet to take a practice test, this might not seem like a big deal, but those full 5 minutes are just enough time to run to the bathroom, eat a quick snack, stretch your legs, and clear your head before the next section begins.

2. On one prep exam, the software indicated that I answered a problem incorrectly; however, its explanation for how to solve the problem resulted in the same answer that I chose! This one question difference can possibly result in a 10-point higher score. Also, this made me wonder that if it indicated that I got answers wrong when they were correct, then did I get answers correct when they were wrong.

3. The verbal section on one prep exam was full of errors. All of the following errors occurred on one prep exam: 1) One question was repeated twice. 2) Similar to above, one question was marked incorrect when, according to the software's explanation, it was in fact correct. 3) The answer choices for a Sentence Correction question did not have the same part underlined as did the original sentence.

4. This is the weirdest and most frustrating error of all. On a Verbal section on a prep exam, I answered a question and hit the `next' button. This resulted in a pop-up window appearing on the screen asking me to open a file in the Princeton Review folder on my hard drive (similar to when you select `Open' within Word or Excel). I cancelled out of the option and was returned to the exam. The exam then only gave me 40 questions for the Verbal instead of 41.

5. While the writing section is not considered as important by many test takers, it is still a part of the exam and must be completed. On one exam, I finished the first essay as time expired. When this happens on the real exam, you are asked by the exam if you wish to submit that essay and proceed to the next essay. The PR exam gave me the options of either exiting the test or proceeding to the next section, i.e., going straight to the Math section and not doing the next essay. The GMAT is an endurance test and to subtract a 30-minute essay is to reduce the timed test by nearly 15%. Once again, I was give only one minute for a break when I should have been allowed five minutes.

You want your test experiences to simulate the real experience as closely as possible. You want your test scores to simulate the real scores as possible. The errors mentioned above can throw you out of rhythm when you expect something to occur and it doesn't. Or worse, something doesn't occur when you thought it would.

I highly recommend the Official Guide for GMAT Study. This book is a must for all test takers. I would definitely pick up a Kaplan book to learn the test tips, but not for using their practice tests. The Prep software available from the GMAT web site (MBA.com) contains two tests. If you want additional tests, then I would certainly not recommend PR and I don't think I would recommend Kaplan (way more difficult than the actual exam and their scoring system is about 60 - 100 points lower than the actual). I used PR and Kaplan tests and wish I would have chosen another guide.

I have found a few mistakes in even the 2003 edition which has sowed a seed of doubt in my mind when I practice on their materials. It seems like their explanations to answers on their CATs were put together so they could publish the book quickly because they are not very good (or always accurate!!!)

I looked at the Kaplan book (which I had to return because the CD-ROM wouldn't run on WIN2000 -- information not advertised anywhere!) which had overall better tips. I have also heard that Kaplans tests are harder. But I have also heard that it doesn't matter because neither company can offer actual ETS-comparable questions.

The PR's advice is mostly what seems to be over-simplistic guessing techniques (eliminating answers that seem too obvious to be correct on hard questions) and I don't know if I can trust it on real ETS questions. Well, I'll find out when I do real ETS questions.

The main problem is that of all prep books -- they get you to answer their questions correctly because they are based on their advice. What will be important is how close their questions are to ETS questions.

I guess the book may be better than nothing though, since some outsider advice (which I heard is not in the ETS Official Guide) surely will help to some extent. But if Kaplan's CD would have worked on Win2000, I would have went with it instead. This book is cheaper than sticker price and the Kaplan 2003 edition wasn't sold on Amazon when this one came out. (You'd think they would have found their mistakes though)

Each year, we poll our admissions clients and consultants and each year the Princeton Review and Kaplan GMAT guides are rated as the best 2 "unofficial" GMAT prep books on the market. This book would probably easily out poll the Kaplan guide if it didn't contain so many typos and other such mistakes.

We like this CD ROM because it contains 4 practice tests (note: the 2001 edition only contains 3 practice tests) and provides instant scoring. Additionally, the test-taking strategies are very insightful and are designed to help you eliminate the "decoy" answers ETS wants you to incorrectly choose. Process of elimination techniques are also very well explained in this guide.

We should warn you, however, that we found the practice questions to be much easier than the real GMAT questions as well as the practice questions contained in the Kaplan guide. (Not that the difficulty of the Kaplan questions really matters, because they're still not comparable to the real GMAT questions in the official ETS book.) As a result, we would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our strong belief that you will be best served by also reviewing an official GMAT guide published by the Educational Testing Service.

Go straight for the Official Guide to GMAT Review from ETS. I spent a month working through Cracking the GMAT from Princeton Review and now find myself 3 weeks away from test time and completely ill prepared. Princeton Review tests told me I was doing great - when I started working on real GMAT problems I was completely lost. Half of the techniques taught are not unsed on the real test and the concepts taught in the Princeton Review are so rudimentary it is laughable. Skip this book - waste of time.

As reference, I took the GMATs three times. My score went from 620 to 670 to 710. I believe that practice really helps and recommend the following GMAT books:

1) Kaplan GMAT 2003 (Book & CD-ROM for Windows)
2) Barron's How to Prepare for the GMAT with CD-ROM

This book is a little different from the others. It focuses on the psychology of the test makers and how to mentally prepare and choose between the different answers. Here are some of the points they were making:

1) Since the CAT is adaptive, you can out-psyche the test makers if you know the difficulty of the questions. Therefore, you should practice and analyze your current scoring level and adjust your Procees of Elimination (POE) tactics accordingly. Example: If you are a high scorer - you will consistently get difficult problems - and should assume that the obvious straightforward answer is probably a trap. If you are a low-scorer, then the obvious answer might be right.

2) With problem solving, make sure you are answering the right questions (units, ratios etc. . .)

3) With problem solving, work backwards by plugging in the answers. Start with C (since the answers are in ascending order) and adjust accordingly.

4) For data sufficiency, the answers will fall into two groups: AD or BCE. This routine is important to speed your reaction time during the test.

5) For sentence correction, do not rely on your ear. Find the mistake (if there is one) and just find the correct alternative.

6) For critical reasoning, pick unadventurous answers. Since ETS does not want to be challenged (any more than necessary) for their choice of answers, the correct answers will be middle-of-the-road. Be wary of answers that use words like ALWAYS, NEVER, MUST,EVERYBODY, ABSOLUTELY, ALL etc. . . In short, "ETS rewards narrow thinking." (pg 245)

7) For writing assessment, write as much as you can.

8) Warning, this book does not have a lot of practice questions. Barron's has the most # of questions.

9) Definitely log onto the Princeton site for applications. It is the best system. No need for paper applications.

The book is an absolute waste of time as is the CD ROM. There is no change in the trategies recommended from 1999, even though the test as significantly changed. Further, the CD ROM is absolutely pathetic. When it does work, without crashing the computer many times, after the entire test, it fails to score the test and far worse, does not even recorrd your answers for review. So in essence, you have spen 3 hours for nothing. In the verbal section, the resding comp. questions are distorted. You get three diff. reading comp questions successively and then the same passage is repeated after a few questions.

I grade it with a one star, as there does not seem to be a lower number. I would strongly recommend the official guide and the Kaplan guide, if you do not wist to waste your time and money.

I took the exam a few days ago, got 720. I bought 4 books from Amazon to help me study. Which are "Insider's", "Kaplan 800", "Crash Course" and this one. Since "Crash Course" is designed for last-minute review so let's count it out. Of other 3 books, "Cracking the GMAT" is the worst. It tends to make things too complicated and its sample questions are not well-designed. Not to mention the CD that comes with the book is [bad]. You can easily tell that Princeton Review didn't pay much attention to make this book a good one. Since if you fail to get a high score from reviewing with this book yourself, you end up register their more expensive taught courses.

So, anyone wants to get a good score at GMAT, here is my sequence: Insider's (read it all) --> Kaplan 800 (the CD is really great, comapring to Cracking's) --> Princeton Review (only practice the questions) Trust me! I just spent 1 month with an average study time of less than 3 hours a day. And I got 720!...

This book incorrectly teaches you how to find the area of a triangle. It's instruction is fundementally flawed. I am a mathematician, and I just spent an hour helping a friend firgure out why they got the wrong answer to a question. The reason is the book doesn't teach the materail correctly.

I will gladdly show people where it is flawed. they need to have somebody familiar with fundemental mathematics write the sections on math.

I can't say if anything is wrong with the other section, but the math is flawed in at least one provable spot.

Firstly, the questions are much easier than in other books, such as Kaplan. Although it may be argued that Kaplan is harder than the actual test, there's nothing like being prepared for hard questions and then breezing through the real test.

Secondly, I thought the book was too focused on being able to "out-psyche" the test-makers, giving you tips on recognizing how the test-makers try to fool you with wrong answer choices. This may be good if you are completely lost on how to solve most problems. But these strategies don't work on a great many real GMAT questions (the test-makers know of these strategies, I assume), so I'm a big fan of a tutorial telling me how to find the right answer rather than how to find the wrong ones.

But the worst thing about this book would have to be the Practice Tests on the CD-ROM. With the computer-adaptive GMAT, it is very helpful to practice on good computer tests. The ones on this CD-ROM have a look and feel that is different from the real test. But hands down, the biggest frustration was when a popup box (like when you try to 'Open' a file in Word) opened in the middle of a test and asked me locate the missing file q0.cst or some such nonsense. The test malfunctioned after that and the last two and a half hours of my life were wasted. I couldn't even find out if I had answered the previous questions successfully or not.

My advice: work through the Official Guide and Kaplan first. Then, if you have time, look at this book.

I just finished using the 2002 version of this book and I have to warn potential buyers to stay away. Not only was the book unclear in so many places but there were typos all over the place, I found a bunch of wrong answers and incorrect directions. There were definitely some helpful tips but they weren't outweighed by the sloppy editing. Try something else first.