Customer Reviews

GMAT Math Workout (Princeton Review Series)

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I'm a GMAT tutor with 15+ years of successful students behind me. Here's what I suggest for the GMAT:

1. Use the Kaplan CD (as cheesy as the presentation is, the tests are very good). I've heard complaints that the prep tests from Kaplan are too hard, and I have to disagree with the point being made by these students. The only way, on a computer-adaptive test, to increase your score is to test using HARDER, not easier problems. I may kick ass at medium level questions, but unless I want a medium level score, practicing at a lower level hurts rather than helps. The Princeton Review Math and Verbal Workouts do not come with a CD.

2. Ignore the Kaplan book. Use The Princeton Review books (either Cracking the GMAT or GMAT Workouts for Math and Verbal) for tricks and psychology. Try the Official Guide for extra problems and basic review issues (but use as much of the Princeton psychology as you can -- the Official Guide encourages you to do the problems straight, and that's a huge waste of time). The Princeton tests are buggy for sure (Hello! Princeton Review! Fix this!) but are still fairly accurate.

3. Take as many practice tests as you can. That means Kaplan, Princeton Review, PowerPrep. Arco, Barrons, Petersons, and Dummies are all awful. Don't bother with their instruction or their tests. On Princeton Review and PowerPrep, knock 30 points off your score, just to be safe.

4. Check out your local library. Many public libraries have crazy collections of old, out of print Official Guides, chock full o paper-and-pencil tests going back a good 20 years. By all means, use these -- they're a goldmine of practice questions.

Good luck!

This book does what it sets out to do, namely give you a GMAT Math work out. This book attempts to teach people some of the techniques needed to answer GMAT Math questions. It's really meant to be a supplement to their main GMAT Prep book. I found the techniques taught in the book to be helpful, particularly the section on answering word problems and problems where the answer choices are left in a variable form.

Yes, the problem sets are easy, but I think the point of this book is to get the techniques down. After all, GMAT Math is difficult not because of the breadth of Mathematics it covers, but because of the tricky answer choices and the multiple ways of answering a question. Better to master test-taking skills on easy questions than to stare blankly at a difficult question.

In spite of a few typographical errors and cheap quality paper, I do recommend this book for those looking to supplement their test taking skills, as this won't help you learn the Math, just the skills to take the test...

Well, the best thing I can say about this book is that it is as good as its main rival, Kaplan. The bad news is that neither Kaplan's or the Princeton Review's book comes with very many examples. It seems that 200 is a very small amount. Each lesson only comes with 20 examples which, while very well explained, are too few to actually master the concepts. There should at least be an option for doing more math. Furthermore, there is not a single pratice exam in this book. True, it is only looking at the math section, but maybe they could include a practice math section with the book!

This guide is useful in some respects BUT...the math problems are much too easy, and there are gross errors that display editorial laziness. Get it if you like, but there is probably something better out there.

While the book was good explaining many concepts and refreshing me, I had a hard time since it was full of typos. I have been out of college for a while and bought this book just to refresh myself on mathematical concepts. I've always had a very strong grasp on mathematics and just needed to glance over some concepts. I found the book good at explaining many concepts, but the reason I felt compelled to write a review is because there are numerous critical errors in the book. For example, in laying out a basic rule for students to memorize, the book mistakenly writes that an Odd X Odd = Even. There are also several instances where the answer provided does not match the answer's explanation. But an even bigger mistake in the book is where the author provides an incorrect answer and explains why it is correct. It was the wrong answer! I would definitely recommend that you use another source in addition to this book.

I think there are plenty of examples to get someone who knows (but has forogtten) GMAT related math. If you are bad at math like I am this book will bring you up to speed.

I would definitely not recommend this book. If you have taken any math classes since 3rd grade, you will not need this book. The problem are way too easy and the conceptual discussions gloss over too much. There are better books out there to prepare you for the GMAT.

Just spent 30 min struggling with a math problem. Determined to figure out why my answer did not match PR's Turns out it's a typo! The answer is 42 and there is no choice that reads 42. The answer key reads "Select D, the answer is 42" When you look at D it reads 45. THis is the 4th time I've been screwed by a typo in this book.
WHAT BUNK!

Save your money.

While the book was good explaining many concepts and refreshing me, I had a hard time since it was full of typos. I have been out of college for a while and bought this book just to refresh myself on mathematical concepts. I've always had a very strong grasp on mathematics and just needed to glance over some concepts. I found the book good at explaining many concepts, but the reason I felt compelled to write a review is because there are numerous critical errors in the book. For example, in laying out a basic rule for students to memorize, the book mistakenly writes that an Odd X Odd = Even. There are also several instances where the answer provided does not match the answer's explanation. But an even bigger mistake in the book is where the author provides an incorrect answer and explains why it is correct. It was the wrong answer! I would definitely recommend that you use another source in addition to this book.

I really appreciated the step by step instructions. I was trying to just get myself up to the speed of a reasonably bright HS student (its been many years since I did math or anything without a calculator or spreadsheet) and this walked me through it or let me skip over easily what I didn't need.