Customer Reviews

How to Prepare for the Gmat: Graduate Management Admission Test (Barron's GMAT)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I'll be taking my GMAT in a month and decided to buy a few study guides to raise my score. It's difficult to attribute which book works the best, but so far this one seem the most useless although it does have some merit. As other readers suggested, the problems are either very easy or hard. The math is simplistic and the reading comprehension passages are over a page long. The format is outdated and doesn't consider the new CAT format or e-grader. Some of the questions have no answer because they misprinted the question. This is frustrating, but at the very least it is practice, which never hurts. In the end I'm glad I have this, but if you're looking to only get a few books, I suggest the ETS's book (a MUST!) and Powerprep software (highly recommended). These don't give you any hints, but they are the real deal and I've heard that these practice questions are still in use. Arco, Kaplan and Princeton Review are nice for tips, but they make up the questions themselves and have no way of determining their validity by ETS standards. Still, get at least one of the two, preferably both, and with the CD. The difference between Kaplan and PR is that Kaplan is more methodical and PR is more short-cut focused. Choose one based on which works best for you. I don't know what to say about Arco, but I'm here buying it now because I want more practice questions, even if they aren't official. I'm also getting the PR Verbal Workout and GMAT for Dummies because I heard these are both great references for the verbal section (in which I need the most help).

Some advice if you do decide to buy this: don't buy this with the CD attached. The practice problems and text are EXACTLY the same as in the book with no additional information.

Some more advice: if you are taking the GMAT, practice on something....anything, perferably on the computer. This has helped me tremendously and even though I'm spending upwards of $150-200 on all these books, it's worth it to not have to take the $165 test again because I didn't have the stamina to finish the test or the practice. Just keep in mind that the questions are not hard. They're tricky. The tricks are easier to spot when you've been practicing. I wish I considered that when I took my SAT!

I scored over 750 on the GMAT and don't feel that Barron's did very much for me. The tests in the book are of the old style so they do not represent the GMAT CAT well. The software format is completely different from the actual GMAT CAT and just doesn't feel right (after practicing with the actual ETS software). If you are looking for actual tests, look at Kaplan or the Unofficial Guide to the GMAT. In retrospect, I would only buy this book again if I had over a year to study for the test.

I earned a 680 on the real GMAT. On actual past GMATs that are published, I got a 690 and a 680. I only got a 560 on Barron's practice test! Many of their pratice questions were logically flawed. Buy the real past tests from ETS. You will get practice with the way the GMAT people actually think.

I have quite a few complaints about this book.

1) The CD is an exact copy of the text of the book. I am not quite sure what the point of the book is now that I have the CD.

2) The software doesnt give you a score on your practice tests! Even the free software that is available from GMAT.com will score your practice test! This software also will not score your essay, you are supposed to have a friend score it for you. (Again, the free software at GMAT.com will score it for you).

3) When "reading the book" from the CD, the format is awful. For example, the math review section is 97 pages long. The controls are "Forward" and "Back". If you dont read it all in one sitting, you have to click "Next" until you get to where you stopped.

My advice: Buy another book, and download the free software from GMAT.com.

It won't allow me to give negative stars, or I would. This book goes through a useful page and a half telling you how the computerized GMAT testing works and how different it is from paper tests, then proceeds to give you five paper tests. What sort of moron publishes a book that announces its own uselessness in the first chapter?

This book is a worthless piece of crap. Don't buy it. Your money is better spent twisting the bills into rolls and setting them on fire. You have a better chance of improving your score by paying $30 to an illiterate homeless person to take the test for you.

I am in the process of contacting Barron's to get my money back.

The questions are very strange - the logic is seriously flawed and the conclusions the authors make are VERY questionable. Questions themselves are either very easy or very hard. DO NOT waste your money on this book.

I was extremely disappointed when I tried to load the CD-ROM and I continuously received "illegal operation" messages. I returned the CD to a local bookstore and they exchanged it for a new one. The new one did the same thing. So, if you have Windows 98 or higher on your PC you may want to buy the book without the CD.

I have never used such a sorry excuse for a GMAT prep book. I'm not even done with diagnostic test and yet I cannot believe how many errors/misprints there are. Like the above readers, I too would like my money back. Your money is better spent elsewhere. Stay away from this book.

This book the typical job of explaning the test, and what is going to be tested, and will review you over the basic types of quesitons that the test has. Then the book gives you a pretest to let you know where you stand, and then it begins to give you some review sections.

The review sections are pretty good, but they are not helpful if you are someone that needs to brush up on a subject. In fact, they do tell you they are no substitute to real knowledge. So you might want to keep that in mind.

The next sections of the book are a series of practice tests that are good exercises to go through, but some people claim some of the answers are wrong, and I did find a few typos in the book. So it is a little frustrating to work through.

The computer software disk, is worthless. Other books such as the Princeston review's disk has LOTS of questions. This book computerized the first exam in the book only. Not exactly helpful, not adaptive, so don't look for a lot of help.

Now this book might be good if you just want to sit down and do problems similar to the ones on the exam. If you are looking for a reach coach, or anything that is adaptive, this book isn't much help. Personally, I wouldn't purchase the book, but if someone had a copy laying around, I'd pick it up.

I got many of the GMAT preparation books, but the Barron's is an excellent addtition to other preparation books (an addition because I believe you need several preparation books for the GMAT). Especially the "Essay Writing Review" and the "Critical Reasoning Review" deserve five stars. Not only are the two topics well explained by giving examples how to practice, but also how to approach the test questions.