Customer Reviews

The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a quick way to jam through some GMAT practice math questions, nothing more and nothing less. I sat down and did it in a weekend without too much effort. I agree with other reviews that this book is not a good place to begin your studying in that there aren't many pages devoted to concepts - it really is just a tool for practice. As mentioned in other reviews, the questions are in order of difficulty. I found this useful because it gives you a very clear sense of what the GMAT considers difficult versus the types of questions that are considered easy. If you're like me, you'll zip through the bulk of the questions and then hit a wall where you notice you're getting more and more wrong - a good thing, while you're still studying! Kaplan questions are generally harder than these, Princeton Review a bit easier, and Barron's are just plain bizarre. Given the huge inconsistency across books - it's nice to ground yourself in "official" questions once in awhile.

This book is slimmer than the orange Official Guide, weighing in at about 300 problems, but if you need more math practice, it's a great resource. One caveat: the average difficulty level of questions in this book is somewhat lower than that of the questions in the Official Guide. If you're already getting a 650 or better on practice tests, or if you are comfortable with the vast majority of math problems in the Official Guide, go ahead and skip this one. If you're not yet at that level, this is an excellent supplement to the orange book.

It can't be emphasized enough the importance of doing "authentic" practice questions: while some test-prep companies are better than others, none have completely mastered the exact tone and nature of GMAT questions. As these questions are written by the same folks who write the test, you can't really improve on the authenticity.

The Quant Review book does have some actual math "review" material, but it's very official in nature. Not a shortcut in sight. Buy it for the questions; read the review if you're stuck in the subway without a pencil and scratch paper.

I bought this after going through the 2005 Kaplan GMAT book. The pro's are that it has a lot of actual past math questions (176 problem solving & 118 Data Sufficiency) and they are very similar to the type of question you will encounter on the real test because the book is by GMAC (the makers of the actual GMAT test). Therefore, it's great as a source for additional practice. The con's are that it has a very brief instructional section that isn't very useful at all and the problems are organized in order of increasing difficulty. This means that approximately the last 20 questions of both P/S and D/S type problems will be like the real thing, assuming you are doing fairly well on the real thing and only receiving difficult level questions. All in all, I highly recommend using this in conjunction with another more thorough GMAT review (such as Kaplan), but not on its own. And if you want an accurate full-length practice test then definitely use the 2 FREE practice tests downloadable from MBA.com when you register to take the GMAT - they are much better indicators of actual performance than Kaplan.

I bought this book in addition to the Official Guide and the Verbal Guide. While it does have additional math problems, they are lacking in complexity and not representative of what you will see if you're scoring much above 600. I found the problems in the Official Guide much more representative of what I faced on the GMAT. So, if you're scoring at a high level, skip this book and concentrate on the last 50 problems of each math section in the Official Guide.

While I did not compare this with other guide books, like some reviewers have, I did use it to prepare for the GMAT. There are hundreds of sample problems and the solutions and HOW the solution was arrived at.

When I took the exam, there were no problems that were in a format I had not seen. Naturally, they were different, but the TYPES of problems had all been explained in the book.

If - for some insane reason - I were to have to take the GMAT again, I would buy this book again.

PS: I scored 90% on the quantitative (woohoo!)

I bought this book with the understanding that it was not a study guide. This book should be only used as an additional aid for the math section of the GMAT. This book has really great sample questions that are very similar to the questions that you will see when you take the GMAT. This booked coupled with a GMAT Review study guide, such as the books offered by the Princeton Review makes an awesome combo.

Contrary to the information at some MBA chat sites, the questions in the two supplements, The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review and The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review, and the main volume, The Official Guide for GMAT Review, are largely carried over from the 10th edition and the PDFs of retired exams sold by MBA.com. So if you have the 10th, you won't get as much as you might hope from spending for the new main volume, or $17 a pop for the supplements. You will get what GMAT calls "improved" explanations. Improved? They do seem more detailed and better organized. These books are good study tools, just not as new as the GMAT folks would like us to believe.

If you are serious about taking the Gmat and getting a good score, you absolutely must buy this book along with the other two official supplements. Between the three books, you will have access to over 1,000 problems that have been retired from the Gmat and are 100% representative of what you are going to see come test day.

My scores:

Powerprep 1 (Official software) - 700 - no studying
Princeton 1 - 630
Kaplan 1 - 560
Kaplan 2 - 600
Kaplan 3 - 580
Powerprep 2 - 730
Actual Gmat - 750

I am 100% certain that using all three books is what raised my score those last 50 points. On test day I was the only one at the center and I got to know the receptionist pretty well. She told me that she sees hundreds of these scores a year and the ones who get 700+ all have one thing in common - they have all done every problem in all three books.

My advice: spend the money on all three. Work every problem, noting which ones are hard and which you get wrong. When you are done, go back and work the hard/incorrect problems again. Then, when you are done, start over from page one. You effort will be rewarded on test day.

I have been studying for GMAT for a few weeks now and I think the OG is a great source for a good practice on real GMAT questions. But having said that, use the OG only once you grasp all the basics and when you are almost ready to take the GMAT. The OG does not contain any math conceptual content, so use it only for practice towards the end.

In order to get a real GMAT prep - I would recommend you buy the set of 9 books of "EZ Solutions," or whichever book(s) you think you need most help with. These books are very detailed oriented and cover everything on the GMAT math. First use the review modules to get the concepts and then use the workbooks for practice. Some of the most challenging topics in GMAT math, such as permutation/combination, probability, geometry problems, complex word problems, etc., are brilliantly explained in these books. Also, the EZ Advanced Workbook is a "must have" if you are aiming for a high score. It may be a good idea to buy Barron's without the CD (don't waste money on the CD version for any book). After doing all this, use the OG and you will see a dramatic difference in your scores. If you still need more practice, you may consider buying the Kaplan book (but really not needed). Save your money by not buying anything else. You don't even have to take any of those pricy courses. I followed this process and my scores have jumped from the 500-range to the 700-range. Good luck!

If you are shooting for 700+ GMAT score, this book will leave a lot wanting. The main problem is the questions are way too easy for those who are above average test takers. GMAT has become MUCH more difficult over the years, and this book provides questions from old exams which no longer reflects the type questions of the real GMAT.

If you are scoring in the 500s, this book will help you. If you are already scoring above 600 in your practice exams, then I suggest you focus your studies on Manhattan GMAT books (3rd edition) and GMAT Prep (download free from MBA.COM), which has at least 250 GMAT questions which are similar to the real GMAT.

Just as anything, how you spend your time is critical in studying for your GMAT. I suggest you use your valuable time studying materials which has more difficult and realistic questions than this book.