Best GMAT Books 2012

Books and Study Plans at a Glance
	Standard/Quick	Advanced/Thorough	Specialized
General Strategy Books Explain how GMAT works, provide general principles and strategies, give an idea about weaknesses, provide practice tests	Official Guide 12 + comes with 900 official questions Kaplan Premier + comes with 6 CAT's	Official Guide 12 + comes with 900 official questions 8 MGMAT Guides + come with 6 online tests or 15 Veritas Prep Guides + come with 5 online tests	Kaplan GMAT 800 - Poor guidebook, more of a question collection
Quant Books Refresh math principles, fill gaps, and learn patterns	Kaplan Math Workbook - missing probability and combinations	OG Quant 2 - somewhat easy	MGMAT Math Foundations MGMAT Advanced Quant Total GMAT Math
Verbal Books Refresh grammar rules, aquire CR and RC strategies	Kaplan Verbal Workbook	OG Verbal 2	MGMAT Verbal Foundations PowerScore CR Aristotle SC Ultimate GMAT Grammar LSAT Books – goes beyond the scope
GMAT Practice Tests Tests included with books or recommended practice	6 Kaplan Practice Tests + come with Kaplan Premier + Take 1 free	6 MGMAT Practice Tests + come with MGMAT books + Take 1 free 15 Veritas Prep CAT tests + come with Veritas books if purchased at VeritasPrep + Take 1 Free	GMAT Club Tests + Take 2 Free Other GMAT Tests

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

Other Notes: See a photo review of this set | Read a review of the books by Mohater




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.






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Other Books You May Find Helpful:

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.
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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.
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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.
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squeakvm

BB,

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 BB, Found the timers BB.. thank you

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.

thanx a lot...nice info
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[caption=]Remember: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.[/caption]

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
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very nice review BB.....I think for the toughest ques of other book i need to check your comments...

I have Princeton review,OG 12,Kaplan premier 2010-11, Kaplan 800 advanced, manhattan SC...

Thought i am weak in CR as well...Is kaplan a good choice for it?
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