Previously you could get a general GMAT Book and then more specialized GMAT books to go deeper into each section. Today, there is a shift towards just getting a number of specialized GMAT books such as the 8 Manhattan GMAT Guides and 15 Veritas Prep Guides. Whichever GMAT Book you decide to use, remember to also get the Official Guide for GMAT Review – it is the only source of the real GMAT questions.
1. Official Guide for GMAT Review 12th ed- Must Have Published by the creators/owners of the GMAT. Must have for the advantage of having access to 900 real gmat questions but will need Strategy/Study guide to build up math/verbal skills and test-taking strategies. Strengths: 1. 900 real GMAT questions 2. Real GMAT questions retired from past tests 3. The practice questions are organized by level of difficulty 4. The practice questions follow actual GMAT test patterns - great to have one's ear trained, esp. in verbal Weaknesses: 1. The book does not contain any strategies 2. It does have a few short review sections but they are very weak 3. Mostly low and medium difficulty questions. Not very helpful to a person aiming to get above 700. Other Notes:Differences between 11th and 12th Editions.
2. Manhattan GMAT set of 8 Strategy Guides Not to be over-zealous but I would say the most comprehensive self-prep money can buy Strengths: 1. Very in-depth overview of every GMAT subject in 8 dedicated guides (each is 100-200 pages long) 2. Includes access to 6 online practice tests 3. Hundreds of additional targeted practice questions available online (get free access by using the codes inside of each book) 4. Includes the best of the best gmat books such as: MGMAT Number properties, MGMAT Word Translations, MGMAT SC, MGMAT CR, and MGMAT RC Weaknesses: 1. Requires Official Guide for best results (additional practice questions)
Other Notes:You can buy these separately but it won't be as good of a deal.
3. Veritas Prep Complete Course Set:15 GMAT Strategy Guides Very strong challenger to the Manhattan GMAT set Strengths: 1. Very in-depth overview of every GMAT subject in 15 dedicated guides (each is 100-200 pages long) 2. Comes with a test simulation booklet and a basic math book for those who need extra help (MGMAT charges extra for these) 3. A gmat book for any subject, including probability, combinations, DS, etc 4. Has more practice questions (by far) than the Manhattan set Weaknesses: 1. Tests are only available if book purchased from Veritas Prep Bookstore 2. Could have used less paper - some books have only one question per page 3. Expensive - $299
4. Kaplan GMAT Premier with CD-ROM Recommended. Well-rounded guide for GMAT preparation. Questions are usually harder than GMAT and sometimes a bit off; however, the book comes with 6 GMAT Tests (1 in the book and 5 online) Strengths: 1. Good review of fundamentals and valuable strategies - good first GMAT Book 2. 6 GMAT Tests included for the price of $27 with free shipping from Amazon Weaknesses: 1. Several questions overlap with Kaplan 800 book 2. Not representative CAT scores 3. Some areas such as combinations or probability are not covered in sufficient detail Other Notes: This is the same book as Kaplan GMAT Comprehensive Program (slightly cheaper) - the only difference is that this book has 4 additional CAT Tests on the CD, which makes it worth it. As of 7/10/2009, the CD version of the book has been out of print. Only the Online version is currently available - it is the same book except all testing material is online and limited to 6 months of usage.
6. Test Simulation Booklet with Marker ("Scratch Paper") The laminated booklet and marker are exactly as the ones you will get at the test center. Great product to get familiar with the special laminated scratch paper.
1. Official Guide for GMAT Review 10th ed - Great source of additional REAL GMAT questions Strengths: 1. More questions - 1,400 questions vs. 900 in the OG 11 and OG 12 2. Price - right now it is under $5 with shipping for a used copy (though it will be quite old) 3. Not too much overlap with OG 11 or OG 12 Weaknesses: 1. Significant overlap with GMATPrep and PowerPrep. Also some overlap with ETS paper tests is reported. 2. I would guess the questions on average are somewhat easier but can't really remember anything about the book anymore.
3. Princeton Review 1,012 GMAT Questions Not a guidebook and contains only practice questions. Strengths: 1. Review of factorials, probability, combinations, groups, Yes/No DS, assumption, and parallel structure questions 2. Good split between PS and DS in math Weaknesses: 1. A lot of errors in explanations! 2. Weaker RC section 3. Verbal questions are a bit off but all non OG Verbal questions are off.
Do you really find MGMAT Advanced Math useful? I am big MGMAT fan but I thought that this book was poorly written. I didn't think any of those questions were realistic. Unless you know the trick right away, you can't solve most of these questions in 2 minutes. I think its one of those books that appeals to people who are done with every possible question out there and now are looking for some additional practice. In fact I would even argue that even for those folks its a waste of time as none of them are realistic.
You raise an interesting point, microair. I haven't used that book, but I did practice with Manhattan's Challenge Archive. I have a similiar stance with that product.
Advanced material should be beneficial when one is truly prepared for it. But there comes a point when the content becomes too complex and deviates from the original purpose of our studies.
Thank microair. Somehow my reply got away from me. I partially agree with you - please see my comments below:
Here is my perspective: 1. I did not feel that the MGMAT Advanced Quant was disconnected from the GMAT 2. I did feel that some of the questions were complicated, tricky, and hard (sometimes beyond reason but that's debatable) 3. What I saw the book test and the value it presented was offering questions I have not seen before and I felt that was very valuable as that happened to me on the real test 4. The questions were a combination of several easier questions (probability mixed with counting or work)
Definitely could use some improvement; however, at the end of the day, I don't know that I can recommend another book that could be addressing this specific need/element. The 700+ level material is so scarce and so new that I am not sure what else to suggest.
Manhattan gmat's advanced treatment of math is much better and diligent than that of Veritas. Some of the questions in the advanced word problem review can be solved by grade one student. For example, question no. 89. However, Veritas reading comprehension and sentence correction guides are top of the line, almost as indispensable as the Powescore guides are for critical reasoning.
Sorry bb but I do not see the nuance between this table about books for studying 2011-2012 and this one best-gmat-books-77703.html
I mean: where is the difference ??' I really do not see it
I follow the board steadly, and to be honest: I have purchased all these books, from 8 MGMAT strategy guides to math and verbal foundation, kaplan 800, grammar guide by gmatclub....and the three OG.
If I read the whole forum the result should be the same, I guess ahahha . So I do not understand why this new classification.
I got the OG 12, i am trying to find the timer and the question type classifications that have been prepared. I have tried to search but have not been successful. Please help.
I got the OG 12, i am trying to find the timer and the question type classifications that have been prepared. I have tried to search but have not been successful. Please help.
Thanks for the updated info but with the amount of books recommended I believe this would only lead to a brain malfunction It would be better to kep it simple and precise.
I have purchased This Simulated Booklet. Anybody, can share me regarding the use of marker? Specially, How long does it work? do i need to purchase additional set of marker?
I have purchased This Simulated Booklet. Anybody, can share me regarding the use of marker? Specially, How long does it work? do i need to purchase additional set of marker?
NO, it will work for a LONG time if you keep it closed, though even if not, it does not dry that quickly either. The marker is high quality - i use it to write notes and checks and it works just fine
I just wanted to comment that I recently purchased the MGMAT Advanced Quant book and found it very, very useful. Working through the 150 advanced problems tought me some good techniques and patterns to recognize how to work through harder questions. I did half of the difficult PS/DS documents posted on GMAT club before, and half after, and definitely noticed I was stronger, and quicker afterwards.
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. So I do not understand why this new classification. 
