Customer Reviews

Kaplan GMAT 2006, Premier Program (Kaplan GMAT Premier Program (w/CD))

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

This is the exact same book as the 2006 edition, right down to the typos. All they did was put a new cover on it...not kidding! I'm in the process of studying for my GMAT, and I already had the 2006 edition when I noticed this one come out. Great, I thought! More practice! I was DISGUSTED to see that not a thing was different...not the sample questions at the end of chapters, not the practice tests...nothing. Just the cover.

Save your money. Get 2006 version if it's at all cheaper!

I bought this book, studied for two weeks, did nearly every single question in the book, and took its diagnostic test at the end and got a 640. Given the grading system Kaplan used for their diagnostic test, I was appalled to find that I could only miss 8 questions total on the exam in order to score above a 700 on their fake GMAT. I went into the actual GMAT the next day dismayed and expecting to score in the mid 600s.

Then two totally unpredictable things happened:

One, I realized the questions I was getting on the actual GMAT test were a heck of a lot harder than the ones I studied for.

Two, I ended up scoring a 720.

So in retrospect, there are two important things you should know about this book.

1. if you're planning or expecting to score 700+, expect the questions in this book to look nothing like the actual questions on the GMAT. Because of the adaptive quality of the CAT, your GMAT questions will be a lot harder as you continue to answer correctly, and you should prepare accordingly (perhaps with a book like Kaplan's GMAT 800).

2. Don't be discouraged by the scores you get on the diagnostic tests in this book. I later researched and found out that Kaplan is notorious for grading strictly on their diagnostic tests and you should expect your actual GMAT score to far exceed the diagnostic score.

All in all, I found their strategies for Data Sufficiency, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction to be invaluable (though not ENTIRELY comprehensive). However, being more efficient in the quantitative side than most, I found their numbers picking strategy for problem solving to be a complete waste of time. My own methods of just brute force solving the problem proved to be faster than picking numbers and plugging them back in.

Good book to improve upon if you are scoring in the 600's. Bad book if you are already in the 700's looking to score higher.

I used this book along with the most recent Princeton publication and the three books put out by GMAC. I took the test yesterday morning and scored 750 -- 99th percentile, exceeding my expectations.

I actually did not study this book in much depth, though I found some of the sections to be helpful. In general, I do not recommend relying solely on any one resource, and I appreciated the advice in the Princeton book to purchase the GMAC books. (This is because GMAC is unwilling to license other publishers to use real GMAT questions, so the GMAC books give you a taste for what will really be on the test.) It seems that the Princeton folks actually want to help students do well instead of simply selling more books and applications to their training programs.

Now, to the book under discussion: The KAPLAN publication. As almost all other reviewers have observed, the Kaplan practice tests are ridiculously difficult. Be aware, however, that you will still face a lot of hard questions on the GMAT; I almost started to panic on the Quantitative section, but I managed to keep my composure and conquer the test instead of letting it conquer me. That is the key -- approach the GMAT with the proper frame of mind. This comes through practice and preparation. I actually had fun with it, believe it or not, and now I look forward to seeing where it gets me with a graduate program.

Do not let a 560 on a Kaplan practice test overcome your will to conquer the GMAT. Use it as motivation to study more and improve your skills. The highest score I received on any practice test was on the second official practice test -- a 700, far below my actual score. I recommend the KAPLAN resource, but use it with caution. I think Kaplan has a reputation for making their practice tests hard, as I found their Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP practice tests to be quite difficult.

In many ways, this book is just a different version of the text Kaplan gives to students who enroll in their classes. That isn't necessarily a bad thing--just something to be aware of if you're already enrolled in the course. The methods are the same, and I spotted at least a couple of practice questions that looked familiar.

Kaplan is famous in large part due to its 3-step (and 4-step and 5-step) methods, and of course you'll find plenty of those here. I'm not sure how useful they are outside of the classroom setting. These methods are designed to be your entire approach for each type of question on the test, and I don't think there's enough explanatory material in the book to get you to that level of confidence with them.

There are plenty of practice questions, though not as many as you might expect in a nearly 600-page book. They are split into content areas, and the back of the volume has a full-length practice test. Probably the most useful part of the book is the CD-Rom, which contains several full-length adaptive tests. Buying the book also gives you access to more practice on Kaplan's website.

Practice tests are great, and Kaplan's are the best unofficial ones I've seen, but that endorsement comes with a caveat. Kaplan has always had trouble calibrating its scores to actual GMAT scoring, and despite some recent adjustments, still hasn't nailed it. Use the adaptive practice tests to get used to testing on the computer and doing so under time constraints. Don't live and die by the test scores.

Overall? Kaplan could probably produce a much better book than this. In an effort to reach everyone and produce a comprehensive prep volume, they've compromised one too many times and come up with something that isn't exhaustive for anybody. If you're preparing entirely on your own, flip through this one in a bookstore and see how much you think the methods will help you. If you're not convinced, you should skip this one.

I took the GMAT yesterday 11/7/2005. The Kaplan practice tests (on the CD) are one of the primary reasons that I scored well. Besides the two PowerPrep tests, I did not use any materials to supplement the Kaplan book and cd, so I can't judge how it compares to other publishers' prep books.

The Kaplan book itself is average: good strategies for attacking the quant questions, but no earth-shattering revelations. The math concept/formula review section was particularly helpful.

The practice CAT tests are worth the price of the book. As most reviewers note, the practice tests are MUCH more difficult than the actual exam. If you can stomach the low scores, the practice tests will give you insight into how to solve systematically even the most difficult, complex GMAT questions. The practice tests are only beneficial, however, if you review your mistakes and apply the information in the explanations.

For what it's worth, here are my scores in chronological order:

PowerPrep Test 1: 660

Kaplan CAT 1: 590
Kaplan CAT 2: 560
Kaplan CAT 3: 580
Kaplan CAT 4: 570

PowerPrep Test 2: 720

GMAT Score: 760

As you can see, my CAT scores did not vary significantly, but they helped to improve my second PP practice and actual score.

One word of wisdom: Remain calm and relaxed during the test, because your mood during the test can have as much impact on the test's outcome as your preparation has.

I took the GMAT this week and found that the book was helpful, but the practice tests on the CD were not representative of my real score. These tests are great practice because they are way harder than the actual thing, but don't get discouraged because of bad scores. Download the Powerprep software from mba.com for a more representative score. The following are my scores:

Kaplan CD Test 1: 560
Kaplan CD Test 2: 550
Powerprep Test 1: 680
Powerprep Test 2: 680
Actual GMAT: 730

Alright, before I get to the Kaplan (which is the last book I cover if you want to skip to that part of the review), I am going to mention a few other books I used (as well as scores I received on the CAT practice tests).

The first book I used was ARCO's "Master the GMAT 2006." I studied for about 6 hours and then worked through 3 of the book's paper-version practice tests. I scored 660, 690, 740. I then took the three practice test's on the cd and scored 630, 720, and 690. I found the math review in this book particularly helpful.

The next book I tried was Princeton Review's 2006 Gmat prep book. The strategies were helpful but I wouldn't pay much attention to the "Joe Bloggs" guessing strategy.

Before going further, I downloaded the PowerPrep from mba.com and took the two practice tests (which are set up and scored exactly like the real GMAT). I scored a 710 and a 730. I took these before getting the mba.com's "Official Guide for the GMAT" so that I wouldn't be familiar with any of the questions.

Next, I went through the official guide (11th Edition). This is ESSENTIAL for preparing for the GMAT as it is the only book with actual test questions. I found the sentence correction questions (a section I struggled with at the beginning) to be very useful and the explanations gave me an insight into how the test makers view correct/incorrect sentences.

Finally, after reading online reviews and wanting to compare CAT practice scores, I purchased the Kaplan's "GMAT: 2006 Edition." I skipped the test strategies and went right for the four CAT's on the cd. I scored: 600, 620, 690, 650
As you probably know, Kaplan's test are a bit harder (and scored much harder) than the actual GMAT. I went through a bit of Kaplan's strategies and found them helpful, though not much different from Princeton Review's and ARCO's.

I took the GMAT yesterday and scored a 760, which is higher than I made on any practice test. I scored 48 on the math (lower than I was hoping, 86th percentile) and 47 on the Verbal (well into the 99th percentile, the key here was focused reading and much practice on sentence correction questions).

My main tip for folks preparing for the GMAT is this: You can get a high score! I am no genius; the only reason I got a 760 is because I used my entire Christmas Break to prepare for this thing. I treated it like work, I went for 8 hours a day, Mon-Fri., for about four weeks. Also, when reading my scores on practice tests above, keep in mind how much I was studying each day before actually taking them- that way they will seem more attainable.

Good Luck!!

I didn't want to take the GMAT more than once, so it was essential that I knock it out the first time. I used three books to study (I would recommend completing all three, in this order):

- the official GMAT review book & PowerPREP software
- the Kaplan premier program & CD-ROM tests
- the Kaplan GMAT 800 review book

Kaplan practice test scores: 580 to 630
Actual GMAT score: 710

I wouldn't start with this book because the math questions can be frustrating at first, that's why I'd begin with the offical GMAT book. The sample electronic tests that come on the CD with this book are essential as they really helped me get my pacing down on the quantitative section, where I needed the most help. 2 minutes to do some of these problems is not a lot of time, so you have to either quickly solve it or get a best guess and move on. Doing these problems out of a book is just not the same as the computerized test you will take, so I think the included CD is worth the price of this book alone. The "premier" website that you get access to with the book was worthless and I didn't bother doing anything with it.

As others have stated, the practice Kaplan tests are much harder than the real test (especially the math) - so don't be discouraged if your Kaplan scores seem low. I would alternate my studying between the book and the practice tests to keep things interesting, but save two of the practice tests for the days before the actual test. I took the exam on a saturday, so I did one practice test on thursday and friday night right before. This was helpful for me to refine my timing on the quant section.

If you complete this review along with the other books listed above, I think you will be in good shape for the exam.

The Kaplan book is helpful in that it gives you extra problems to work and tests to practice with. The tests really are ridiculously hard, and should only be used to practice your timing and get used to computer format testing. I found that the Princeton Review book was more helpful if you want to read through something and review math and verbal concepts. The math problems in the Kaplan book (and the PR book for that matter), are not worded or set up quite like the ones in the Official GMAC guide or the GMAT itself, so go ahead and do the problems in all the study guides, then spend the last few days before your test date to go through the GMAC book only. This will get you used to the types of questions, how they are asked, and will help you to recognize the answers they are looking for. The GMAC practice tests are easier than the real thing, especially if you have done a lot of their questions previously. I had gone through a good portion of the Official Guide before I took them, and could recall all of the verbal sections (the math was a little harder to rememeber). Here is what I got on the tests for all the study books:
Kaplan: 560,580,540,550,600
PR: 560,590,650
GMAC: 730,710
....Then on the real thing I got a 680--disappionting considering I was looking forward to a 700+ according to the PowerPrep tests. Then I decided to ONLY study the newest editions of the Official Guide and review the older edition. I went in for my second crack at the test and got a 740. So, do the Kaplan, do the PR, the Baron's or whatever you chose, but don't forget the importance of real test questions (GMAC guide)!

I decided to take the GMAT on pretty short notice and ordered this book when I registered for the test. I spent about a month with this book and went through the practices from start to finish. It provides some good tips and tricks for various sections, but to make it even better it could provide a summary of the tips and tricks. I was really satisfied with the book because I got a 740 and a 6 on the writing. For $30, I couldn't have asked for more.

I found the verbal section of this book (and the accompanying CD) to be a bit harder than the GMAT. I found the math section to be a bit easier. However, it gave a really good, comprehensive review. One thing the CD really helps with is test timing. I was able to finish the verbal section on the real GMAT with 10 minutes to spare thanks to this book. Your scores on the CD tests will likely be disappointing, but the actual score you receive on the GMAT from this review should be higher than the review CD scores.