Customer Reviews

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 10th Edition

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Background - I am 13 years out of college. My test taking and math skills were pretty rusty. I want to get into a top 20 MBA program to make it worth the investment. Consequently a great score was very important. I was shooting for 700.

I bought the Princeton book / CD, the Kaplan book / CD, and the Official Guide from ETS. I also downloaded the PowerPrep software from ETS for free. I completely exhausted the Princeton and Kaplan material - test strategies, exercises, practice tests. I did all the practice tests in PowerPrep. Moreover, I did the last third of the questions from the Official Guide (the harder questions are in the back).

I did not take a training class. I took a Kaplan class 14 years ago for the LSAT and was not happy with the investment. Better would be to find a study partner in your area.

My assessment:
1. The Princeton book by far has the better explanations of test taking strategies, as compared to Kaplan.
2. The Princeton questions are much more similar in structure to the real GMAT questions, as compared to Kaplan.
3. The verbal sections of Princeton practice tests are pretty similar in terms of difficulty to the real GMAT verbal section, as compared to Kaplan.
4. The quantitative section of the real GMAT is far more difficult than Princeton practice tests.
5. The Kaplan practice tests are much harder than the real GMAT.
6. The free online tests that come with the Princeton book / CD are a great added bonus.
7. The PowerPrep software is identical in look and feel to the real GMAT, but the quant questions are definitely easier.
8. The Princeton book has the best approach to the writing sections, but do review the Kaplan material as well.
9. The Official Guide's questions are great and the explanations are exceptional. This is a must have resource.

If you want a top score then my advice is to get all three books and download PowerPrep. You also need a lot of time to prepare, particularly if you're working full time or if you've been out of college for a while. I studied and practiced for about 8 weeks. You also need to be comfortable with taking the test on a computer. It is more difficult than on paper - harder to read on the screen, harder to take notes, etc.

First, start with the Princeton book - this will give you a solid foundation. Next, exhaust the PowerPrep software. This will give you a good baseline of where you are and where you need to focus. (I scored 730 and 740 w/ the PowerPrep software.)

Next tackle the Kaplan book, but only focus on sections where you are having trouble. Then exhaust the Princeton Software. (I scored 720 and 730 on the practice tests on Princeton's CD.)

Then do the Kaplan CD practice exercises and practice tests. The tests are very hard, more difficult than the GMAT . . . particularly the verbal. You will score lower on these tests. The practice exercises don't give you enough time to answer all of the questions. Nevertheless, try not to become too frustrated. Keep in mind that you are building stamina and you are improving by seeing new, challenging quant questions. (I scored 640 on the diagnostic, and 680, 580, 650, 600 on the Kaplan CD practice tests, much lower than Princeton and PowerPrep.)

When you're finished w/ the Kaplan CD, start doing the last 1/3 or so of each section in the Official Guide, 20 questions at a time. These are ACTUAL GMAT questions. The explanations are EXCELLENT, far better than either Kaplan or Princeton. Unfortunately some Official Guide questions are repeated from the PowerPrep software.

Meanwhile, mix in online practice tests from Princeton; again you'll have seen some questions before. Don't sweat the recycled material. You won't remember the answers to many of them and you'll have to rework the quant questions anyway. At this point it is more important to understand why you are missing certain types of questions repeatedly and to improve how you attack specific question types. (I scored 750, 710, 690, 730 on the Princeton online practice tests. However, these scores are suspect due to the recycled questions.)

My advice is to take NO tests the day before the GMAT. Clear your head some. Spend time getting comfortable with a template for the writing section. Review specific questions that you've missed in the past - the Official Guide is ideal for this - understanding the correct approach. Relax if you can and get a good night's sleep.

Last piece of advice, bring a snack and use ALL of BOTH breaks. Stand up, stretch, whiz, drink something, eat something. The test is exhausting and you need to use the breaks to clear your head and refocus.

If you do all this you should get a great score. The real GMAT was VERY difficult, even after all of my preparation. I even guessed on a few quant questions that I had no idea how to attack. The whole test went by in a blur. Stamina and timing, however, were not an issue with so much full-length practice.

I ended up with a 760, far better than I targeted and expected, even better than on any practice test I took. This was a pleasant surprise, given how difficult the test was as compared to much of the practice material. However, by using all of the practice material effectively I am now able to look at top 10 programs instead of top 20! Yeah!

This is the single book that helped me nail the GMAT. The sheer volume of realistic practice questions helps with getting in the right frame of mind for the test. My experience with other GMAT guides, particularly Kaplan and Arco, has been that the questions are not realistic. Kaplan's questions and explanations seem particularly egregious and way off the mark, after reading the official explanations in this guide. Kaplan's guide is a blatant attempt to make the test seem harder and more complicated than it actually is, in order to lure prospective candidates into its classroom course (for which Kaplan charges over $1000.) Quite often the explanations for the correct answers are inconsistent in these other guides and the questions are not well researched.

This Official Guide from GMAC outshines all others, simply because the questions are chosen from actual past tests and are very thoroughly researched. Equally important the answer choices for each question are also well thought out and both the correct and the incorrect choices reflect actual test patterns. (All other guides fail in this essential regard; even if their questions and the correct answer are realistic, their incorrect answer choices are often far-fetched or muddled.) The explanations for the answers in the Official Guide are crystal clear and very insightful.

The rules of grammar on which the GMAT Sentence Correction questions are based are best outlined in this guide. The section on Arguments is simply outstanding. I had a lot of difficulty with the Verbal section until I read through the explanations here. I scored in the 99th percentile in both sections and owe my success mostly to this guide (and the Princeton Review guide to a lesser extent.)

The absolute best part of the guide is that it not only explains clearly why an answer choice is correct, but also explains why the other choices are wrong. This is most useful since it shows you the patterns and tricks used on the actual test to lead you astray from the correct answer. Once you see the patterns, you can quickly identify and rule out the incorrect answers and pick out the best choice.

The Official Guide for GMAT Review is probably one of the most useful guides for your GMAT Prep. It contains about 1400 retired questions from old gmat tests with full explanations. It is extremely helpful to get yourself familiar with GMAT logic, grammar, and reading. The main value of this book is that it is the ONLY book that has REAL GMAT questions. Some of the questions from OG are used in the PowerPrep (PP) which is the most accurate measurement of your official GMAT Score. So, if you go through this book and then take PP, you score is much higher than it would have otherwise been because you have worked through the questions already, and one thing is for sure, after you saw a question, you don't forget it for a long time.

Pros

1. Good introduction to the test
2. Concepts are clearly explained.
3. Good explanations to most of the problems.

Cons

1. Explanations , especially in SC, could have been much better.
2. Most of the questions may not reflect the difficulty level in the actual GMAT. If you are aiming for a 680+, the last 50 or so questions in each section might be worth taking a second look.

Overall, good reference and a great buy.

I'm writing the review that I wish was here before I bought this book. There is no doubt that the problems and explanations in this book are incredibly useful for studying for the GMAT exam. But, they are identical to those in the software that you can download for free from gmat.com. In fact, once I understood what the book was, I decided that it would be a terrible idea to even look at it -- seeing questions and answers beforehand would ruin the validity of the two practice tests included in the free software.

My study strategy included working through the Kaplan software, and taking both official practice tests. I got a 770, so I must have done something right.

This is not to say that I think the Kaplan book and software are particularly good -- I found about 10% of the Kaplan questions to be deficient in some way, either with multiple good answers or no good answer. This is in striking contrast to the real GMAT questions, each of which only has a single good answer if only you know the right math or grammar.

So my recommendation is to pass on this book, but definitely download the free software and buy one of the big commercial book+CDs. If you choose Kaplan, don't get frustrated over the questions you don't "get", I assure you its them and not you.

-- Joe

If I were only going to buy one book in order to prepare for the GMAT, this would be it. The 1,400 practice problems taken from real tests were far closer to what I encountered on the actual GMAT than those of competing books. Having said that, I think many of the tips found in the other books I purchased (Kaplan, Princeton, and Arco) were very useful. For best results, I would purchase this book and the Kaplan or Princeton book to compliment it. This book shows you "GMAT math", but the other books give you tips on how to do less math. If I just used GMAT math, I would never have finished the quantitative section.

It would have been nice if the practice problems could have been provided on a CD (it's a pain to create answer sheets, etc) or were rated by difficulty, but overall I don't have any complaints.

This book does duplicate many of the PowerPrep software (downloadable from the GMAT site) questions. I recommend using the two in conjunction.

I took the first PowerPrep CAT test about a month before my GMAT in order to give me a baseline score. I got a 680. I then studied for the month using the Arco, Kaplan, Princeton and the Official guide (I basically went through one a week). I believe the key to doing well is practice and of the four books, the official guide provides the most practice problems.

The night before my GMAT, I took the final PowerPrep CAT test. I got a 770! My score on the actual GMAT was a 750, so the PowerPrep software was the most acurate at measuring my score (My best score on tests I took during the month of study were 680 using Kaplan and 720 on Princeton). A question very similar to one of the difficult quantitative questions on the PowerPrep test appeared on the actual GMAT. I was running out of time and if I hadn't seen the similar problem the night before, I likely would have gotten it wrong.

This book is a great place to start your GMAT preparation, and if you're only going to buy one book then this is it. It has far more practise questions than any other book in the market. The explanations after each section are pretty detailed. Also, in each section the questions get harder towards the end. So be sure to do the last 50 questions in each section (probably the last 100 for Problem Solving).

Be sure to take the 2 Powerprep tests before you start the book though, since they use the same questions. I would recommend taking a Powerprep test before any study at all, so you can get a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses, and focus your study plan accordingly.

However, for people looking to get 700+ this book is not sufficient. Questions on the actual test were harder, specially in Verbal. Luckily I was not taken by surprise because I used the Kaplan book (with CD) as well. This was a huge help. It is harder than the GMAT but makes for necessary practise. The Kaplan tests can be demoralizing when you start (specially if you did real well on Powerprep :-)) but the Critical Reasoning and Sentence Correction questions are representative of the test. I wouldn't say the same for the Reading Comprehension passages....some of those are way too long.

Finally, I really liked the test taking tips and strategies for the Verbal sections in Kaplan too.

To give you an idea of how close the sample tests are, here is how I scored:

Powerprep 1 - 780
Princeton Review (free online test) - 740
Kaplan 1 - 620 (definitely demoralizing)
Kaplan 2 - 700
Kaplan 2 - 670
Actual GMAT - 750

Good Luck!

I'd taken a GMAT course, and then I took the exam: Imagine my surprise, when I've discovered that I got only 600 (Quantative: 50, Verbal: 21, AWA: 3.5). I've realized that this preparation was not enough, so I've read any GMAT book I could put my hands on, just to be on the safe side. Here is my ranking of those books, from the most worthy to the least worthwhile:
1. The Official Guide For The GMAT Review, 10th Edition:
Without doubt, if you can allow yourself only one book - this is it. Its questions (and there are A LOT of them) are the ones that reflect the actual exam in the most realistic way, since this book was written by the creators of the tests, and the questions are real GMAT questions from old exams. The verbal section is excellent, and is at the same level of difficulty of the actual test. The quantitive section's questions are a bit easier then in the actual exam, especially for the stronger students, mainly due to the fact that those questions are taken from the pen-and-paper version of the test, so they are at a medium difficulty level, apart from a few exceptions.
This book does not, however, offer you any sort of strategy to solve the questions more quickly or efficiently, since the writers of the book do not want to sabotage their own exam...
Also, while every question has detailed answers, containing all possible mistakes in all of the wrong answers, I did not always understand all of the explanations to the questions in the verbal part - there is an extensive use of the phrase "unidiomatic" in the answers, even when the are plain explanation to be given. This might bother people whose first language isn't English (like me  )...
Other people who reviewed this book have mentioned that the most difficult questions at this book are at the end. I did not feel any difference, but, hey, this is just my opinion...
Note: There are rumors about a new edition of this book, more expensive and with fewer questions - but from newer exams. If such edition does exist - it is highly recommended - since you want to have questions that reflect the test in the best way, and nobody would do all the questions in this book (A LOT...) anyway...
2. Cracking The GMAT, 2006 Edition\The Princeton Review:
The BEST book for strategies tips and hints to solve questions fast and to eliminate wrong answers correctly. I was especially impressed by the great Critical Reasoning section, attacking each type of question separately, and provides useful ways to "crack the question" - something that was not taught even during the prep course I took.
However, while I didn't use this book for the quantative part, I've reviewed it, and it does contain only about 95% of the material in the actual exam. To prepare properly, you should add 'Math Workout For The GMAT\The Princeton Review', which does cover those remaining 5% (like questions dealing with groups and percent or relay on the 'Official Guide', mentioned before.
3. Kaplan's GMAT 800:
I've noticed that this book got a bad review at this site. I, however, do not concur. This book has a great verbal section - mostly in the sentence correction section: While the "Eight most common mistakes" are the same standard section that you'll also find in Princeton's book, the "Seven more errors" section that follows is unique, and reveal types of error that, while not to be found in any other book, actually do appear in the test (I, for example, had a subordinate SC question at mine).
This book, however, neither represent all the question types in the test, nor does it include all the basic strategies that can be found on the Princeton's or Kaplan's regular books.
4. Kaplan's GMAT, 2005 Edition:
This book is a HUGE letdown: while it does cover some basic strategies, it does achieve neither Princeton's depth (strategy-wise), nor breadth (question-wise). The only reason you should not pass this book is the CD attached to it: The CD contains concise lessons, a lot of practice questions, and 4 really hard tests (much more then the actual one!).
If you can acquire the CD without the book - it's the best deal for you!
Also, the answers to the question that do exist in this book are comprehensive and easy to understand.
5. GMAT CAT Answers to the Real Essay Questions\ARCO:
A good book to improve your essay-writing level: have more then 200 essays to the topics of the official essays poll (published at the ETS web site)!
It also has some good tips on writing a good essay, like essay's template and comprehensive Analysis Of An Argument strategies section.
6. Barrano's How To Prepare For The GMAT, 13th Edition:
The questions in this book are much too easy, and their explanations are not sufficient. The only good thing about it is the fact that it gives you a detailed yet concise review of the most common mistakes in English in the sentence correction section.
I would pass this one.
In conclusion, if you want my advice (and off-course you do, while else are you still reading?), take the Official Guide, Princeton's, and maybe 'Princeton's math workout'. The over-achievers can add 'GMAT 800' and 'GMAT CAT Answers to the Real Essay Questions\ARCO ' to their arsenal.
Couple of last tips for the road:
- Download the PowerPrep (the demo test, available to download for free from the GMAT web site), but notice that the question there are taken from the official guide, so don't be surprised if you get a strong feeling of De-Ja-Vu, while taking those tests...
- Get a GMAT idioms list from the web. I saw a few variations, all of them are of the same list, and it's quite useful.
- Get from the internet a document called "The Unofficial Guide To The Official Guide" - it's an index of the questions in the Official Guide, sorted by topic and difficulty level. This will make your study much easier.
- Whenever you take a test at home, add to it an essay from the actual poll. This way you'll develop your stamina, and improve the chance to get an essay you've already did at home in the actual test (as I did, in the second time...)
- RELAX. It's only a test (easy for me to say - I've already passed it...)

Oh, and by-the-way, the second time I took the exam, I got 740 (Quantative: 50, Verbal: 38, AWA: 4.0) so I guess the books did help a bit...

Have fun, and good luck!

Advantages of this book:
1. Verbal questions are pretty similar to GMAT.
2. Good variety of questions in verbal and quantitative
3. Exhaustive list of topics for the AWA

Disadvantages:
1. Quantitative problems are way easier than the actual GMAT.
2. Only two full length tests downloadable from the GMAC website.
3.Inadequate review for the quantitative section, no review at all for the verbal section.

I would strongly suggest getting the Princeton Review book and CD, as well as the Kaplan book and CD. Solving plenty of practice tests is definitely very helpful.

My scores on the Princeton review tests - 720,740,740,720
My scores on the powerprep tests - 720, 750
My scores on the Kaplan tests - 620,600,640,640
My actual GMAT score - 770

Don't freak out if you score low on the Kaplan tests, but they are great practice as they are way harder than the actual GMAT.

Good luck!

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.

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!

I used a total of five books in preparing for the GMAT: Barron's 13th edition, Petersons 2003 and 2004 CDs, Kaplan 2005, Nova's GMAT Prep Course 2003, and the Official Guide.

I have taken the GMAT twice. The first time I used the Barron's book and the Petersons CD and scored a 40% on math, 75% on verbal, and a 4.5 on the essay for a total score of 570. This score was unacceptable.

The second time around, I budgeted more time to study a day (around 6 hours) and for a longer time period (a month and a half). For me, I felt I had a strong background knowledge on all the required subjects, but I was not as honed on specific strategies and techniques for answering questions. My thoughts on each book:

Barron's: As a beginner, I enjoyed this book. I read the whole book and did all practice tests. They did not explain probability, sequences, and progressions questions well. In general, the math explanations were a bit sketchy. However, the word problem explanations were the best out of all the books.

Petersons: I just used the CDs and did not look at the book. After taking their adaptive practice tests, one is provided feedback which has questions divided into very difficult, difficult, etc. This is beneficial because you can see the level of difficulty at which you generally test. This is a really helpful addition that other CDs lack.

Kaplan: My least favorite book and CD. The book had very poor explanations for test questions. The book only offered general guidance for taking the test and outline common strategies. The cartoonish CD just became annoying and took more time than it was worth.

Nova: Far and away the best book. After reading reviews on various sites, everyone recommended Kaplan and Princeton Review, but no one mentioned this book. I found it by chance at the local book store. It covered everything on math and had exceptional, comprehensive explanations. Also, the drills after all chapters were very, very, very helpful. After doing all drills in Nova, the commonly considered difficult practice questions in Kaplan were almost a joke. I would recommend to anyone this book.

Official Guide: A must to have for everybody taking GMAT. I did the last third of the questions for each section, which are typically more difficult.

I recommend, in order from best to worst:

Nova, Official Guide, Petersons CDs, Barron's, Kaplan.

I recently took the test again and got a 96% in verbal, 60% in math, and a 690 overall.