The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review, 2nd Edition
H**7
A necessity in the first 1-2 months of study for weak quant scorers
Pro's of this book:- All the questions in this book are OFFICIAL GMAT questions, written by the GMAC company. This is the greatest advantage of this book: It allows you to get used to GMAC's specific style and topics covered. Note that books such as Princeton Review, Kaplan, Manhattan, etc, are definitely helpful, but do not always perfectly replicate GMAC's style.- Lots of practice questions: More than 300 problems, about half of which are problem-solving and half of which are data sufficiency. Great for quant practice.- Explanations are decent. Maybe not sufficiently simplified and detailed if you are just starting out and have forgotten how to, say, multiply fractions and do basic algebra. But after having reviewed math basics (using MGMAT, Veritas, or other), the explanations are generally sufficient to understand where you went wrong.- The questions are relatively easy, so its great for the first 1-2 months of studying for the GMAT and building a strong quantitative foundation.- The paper is good (Unlike Princeton Review!)- The layout is perfect. You can choose whether to work in the section without explanations (for ex: if you are timing yourself on a batch of questions at a time), or to work in the "explanation" section, so you immediately have the explanations in front of you. Note that the "explanation" section also lists the original problems, so no need to keep flipping back and forth between problem and explanation!- Its not expensiveCon's of this book:- The "math review" at the beginning is NO WHERE NEAR SUFFICIENT to cover all the tested topics. Thus you will NEED to supplement with additional quantitative strategy guides from other companies if you are aiming for a high score and/or have a weak quantitative skill level. I would recommend the 5 MGMAT quant series.- The book lacks challenge questions. Its great for practice in the first 1-2 months of studying and building a strong quant foundation. HOWEVER, if you are aiming for a high score (+Q40), this book alone will not get you there.Overall, A MUST HAVE for (1) weak quant scorers (2) building a strong quant foundation in the first 1-2 months of study and (3) getting used to GMAC's style. However, before using this book, you should review math basics using strategy guides such as MGMAT, in order to feel more comfortable with the explanations. Also, to get a high score, you will need to find another source for more challenging problems.
G**M
unfortunately, you need to buy this book
For anybody with serious plans to improve their GMAT score, this book is an absolute must. Regardless of your level of skill, this book will be at least somewhat useful. Nothing can substitute for "official" GMAT questions, and this book will help any student get the hang of the GMAT's quirky style--and learning to deal with that style is arguably as important as learning the math itself.That said, this book has tons of imperfections. First, there really aren't enough tough questions in here, especially on the problem solving side. My students seem to struggle much more on the data sufficiency, but a 650+ GMAT student will have limited opportunities to break a sweat.Sadly, GMAC has also cheated us a little bit. There are only 74 new questions (the cover promises 75 new questions... and yes, I was silly enough to count them all), and they really don't break much new ground from the 1st edition. As always, the explanations are often incomprehensible, and rarely explain the best way to do a particular math problem. And many of the new questions also appear in the GMAT Focus tests, so you might end up paying for them twice.Pretty annoying, but this is still a necessary supplement to the official guide. Grumble if you must, but buy a copy anyway.
M**
Helpful and compact
I found this review book to be helpful in drilling your ability to handle the quatitative questions on the GMAT. It also highlights which area you really need to focus on. Bottom line, you have to know this level of math cold before you can start doing some of the more advanced logical reasoning that the GMAT is supposed to be testing in this section. My biggest complaint with this book was the answer explanation section. Other study guides (like Kaplan) will give you detailed explanations as to why you missed a question, usually complete with the math. It helps to understand the complete logic behind an answer. This guide just gives you a very basic overview of why the answer is what it is. But it is imperative that you do lots and lots of review questions to get ready for the test, so this is good.
R**L
Get this one - actual questions from the GMAT
There are a lot of books out there trying to sell their special methods for the GMAT - often written by the very schools (Princeton Review, Kaplan etc.) that are trying to sell you their $3000 prep class. The truth is you don't need those because 1) they don't feature actual questions from the GMAT 2) the purported "special strategies" are nothing special at all, often just a re-writing of the strategies already spelled out in the official GMAC preparation material 3) they are often written in a completely dumbed-down language (which most people will find highly irritable).In short, the official GMAC practice book has all your need to prepare for the GMAT and will suffice for the vast majority of candidates. It has a great review section explained in straight language, and a long list of actual questions from the GMAT exam. Buy this one (and the verbal version). Don't waste money and time on the other books.
S**A
Consigliato per ulteriori test ex-ufficiali
Per chi ambisce ad un voto sopra il 650 questo libro si può definire necessario/non sufficiente (giusto per utilizzare un termine simil-GMAT). Non c'è molto da dire, altri test utili oltre alla guida ufficiale che, attenzione, nelle varie edizioni varia poco o nulla e pertanto non vale la pena prenderne diverse!Non do il massimo perchè a mio avviso possono fare ancora meglio e integrarlo con più practice tests.
S**A
Can't go wrong with the Official Guides
A must read if you are serious about your Gmat Prep. Make sure you supplement this with either Kaplan or Manhattan's book to get the best out of your preparations. All the best!!
V**O
Must have book
This OG guide is a good one that is fundamental for everyboday preparing for the GMAT. It is good value for money
K**B
Gute Ergänzung
Sehr hilfreich als Ergänzung zum Official Guide oder dem Kaplan Buch, weitgehend neue Aufgaben, eigent sich aber nicht als einzigstes Vorbereitungsbuch
A**R
You need to buy it anyway, might as well get it here.
Great!
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