Kaplan GMAT 2003 with CD-ROM (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

You will score higher. We guarantee it.

Kaplan's GMAT® 2003 with CD-ROM comes complete with a comprehensive review of all the material on the exam, plus Kaplan's proven test-taking strategies to help maximize your score. This powerful combination is a highly effective way for you to score higher on the GMAT® and make yourself competitive for business school admissions.

Succeed on the Analytical Writing Assessment with Kaplan's expert strategies on approaching the computerized essay grader.

Prepare with quizzes for Problem Solving, Critical Reasoning, Data Sufficiency, Reading Comprehension, Sentence Correction and a new, expanded GMAT® Math Reference section.

Practice with 4 full-length computer-adaptive practice tests, complete with explanations for every answer.

Score Higher with effective strategies for managing time, succeeding on every question type, dealing with stress, and more.

Plus Special CD-ROM Features, including:

4 simulated CAT tests

Test analysis

Personalized study plan

Over 200 flashcards

9 verbal practice tests

15 math review lessons

9 math practice tests

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan; 6th edition (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743230310
• ISBN-13: 978-0743230315
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #863,354 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Useless tests... makes it an almost useless book, February 13, 2003

By A Customer

Let me start by saying that of all the books you should buy in order to best prepare yourself for the GMAT, this book by Kaplan should *not* be one of them.

Instead, buy "The Insider's Guide to the GMAT CAT" to learn all the skills and tricks. Then buy the "Official Guide to the GMAT" for more practice problems. Combine these two books, possibly also with the "Kaplan GMAT Exam Verbal Workbook" by Ingrid Multhopp, and the free PowerPrep software you can download from the actual testing folks and you'll be good to go.

Now let me explain why I think you *shouldn't* by this book: simply put, the questions in Kaplan's quantitative tests are not representative of what you will face on the actual GMAT, nor are the scores Kaplan gives you representative of what you can/will achieve on the real deal. Consequently, the Kaplan CD tests act as confidence deflators, and that's the last thing you need coming into such an important test as the GMAT.

Kaplan clearly stacks the decks with relatively harder questions so as to scare you into believing that you'll be in a world of hurt come GMAT test day.... unless, of course, you seek out "real" test prep services. And wouldn't you know it, Kaplan is in that business and they'd be more than happy to help you.... for a price. A price of some $.

I read the reviews for this book before I bought it and thought to myself, "how hard can the questions be?... it's just arithmetic, algebra, and geometry... perhaps having harder questions will better prepare me." Not so. They actually hurt you. Now by "hard" I don't mean the math itself is difficult; instead, it's the amount of math you have to do to get a solution combined with the effort it takes to get the root information out of the actual question which makes it hard. If you weren't timed for the questions they'd be easy, but with a limit of some 90s per question you can dig yourself a time deficit really fast on Kaplan's tests.

If the real GMAT isn't like that, why practice like that? Remember, realistically you only have one shot at the GMAT... do what is logical to best prepare for it.

I ended up getting a 710 on the actual test. This jived perfectly with the PowerPrep software provided by the GMAT folks and was just 20 points off the scores I was getting from the Official Guide and the Insider's Guide. It was 80 points away from the Kaplan tests. You do the math.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, decent practice tests, HORRIBLE test accuracy., October 17, 2002

By A Customer

I will make this plain and simple. DO NOT TAKE THE SCORE YOU GET ON THE KAPLAN TESTS FOR REAL. They are NOT a true indicator of how well you will do. I scored a 550 and a 580 on the Kaplan tests and a 720 on the real thing. My girlfriend never cleared a 550 on Kaplan, but got a 670 on the real one.

While the material is good and you should study it, Kaplan's tests demoralize you so much that you think you should postpone the test or not take it at all (if your goal is to get into a top 20 b-school). So long as you know that the test vastly underestimates your score, you will be fine.

With that said, MUCH BETTER is to study the ETS problems freely available online/on CD or in the ETS book. I recommend that material MUCH MORE than Kaplan's. Studying real problems will help you more than any Kaplan book. Once done with the ETS book/CD, then Kaplan is a good next step. Princeton Review is a distant 3rd.

I hope this helps!

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't believe your Kaplan test scores., November 26, 2002

By A Customer

I think Kaplan makes its CAT cd tests much harder than real ETS tests so that people will get scared and take the Kaplan courses. I got a 570,610,560 on the Kaplan tests and didn't take the fourth one because I didn't want to get depressed. This is pretty consistent with other reviewers as well.
I got a 690, 730 on the powerprep and 750 on the actual test - ie practice helped drive my scores up using the powerprep software which is free but such a pattern didn't emerge on the kaplan tests I took.
Apart from not being reflective of the difficulty level, the Kaplan CD(I hardly looked at the book because the real material is on the CD that comes with the book) is reasonable.
I liked "The Insiders guide to the GMAT cat" a lot more though and nothing beats the Official Guide as long as you make sure you do the last 50-100 questions in each math section(ie the first 100 or 200 are very easy but then they get realistic)