Best GMAT Books

osbornecox · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 6:53 am

I'm frustrated. Where I live (and in the countries where I have family) the Manhattan books aren't available (we've looked). It's not easy to get them mailed either, because where I live, no one knows the street names (they exist, but people use landmarks). Mail gets delivered to PO boxes, and my PO box is that of my employer. My colleagues will definitely notice.

Apparently the Number Properties book is top notch, correct?

hgp2k · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 2:24 pm

osbornecox wrote:

I'm frustrated. Where I live (and in the countries where I have family) the Manhattan books aren't available (we've looked). It's not easy to get them mailed either, because where I live, no one knows the street names (they exist, but people use landmarks). Mail gets delivered to PO boxes, and my PO box is that of my employer. My colleagues will definitely notice.

Apparently the Number Properties book is top notch, correct?

Where do you stay?

osbornecox · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 9:31 pm

hgp2k wrote:

osbornecox wrote:

I'm frustrated. Where I live (and in the countries where I have family) the Manhattan books aren't available (we've looked). It's not easy to get them mailed either, because where I live, no one knows the street names (they exist, but people use landmarks). Mail gets delivered to PO boxes, and my PO box is that of my employer. My colleagues will definitely notice.

Apparently the Number Properties book is top notch, correct?

Where do you stay?

In the Middle East... though I'm not from here. PM me for more info.

hgp2k · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:26 pm

osbornecox wrote:

In the Middle East... though I'm not from here. PM me for more info.

PMed you...

blitz · **Posted:** Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:33 pm

Does anyone have any reviews on the Foundations of GMAT Math: GMAT Strategy Supplement by Manhattan GMAT

I am well aware this book just got released in early December but was wondering if this is a better Math supplement than the Kaplan one (which has not gotten the best reviews)

Thanks

BLITZ

bb · **Posted:** Sat Dec 12, 2009 4:50 pm

I have had an early copy for a few weeks now but have not had the time to review it.
From the ten seconds I spent with it, It looks like it is a fairly basic one (for those who need extra help with Quant before jumping to MGMAT Number Properties or others). I will try to post a review later today.

blitz · **Posted:** Sat Dec 12, 2009 6:30 pm

bb wrote:

I have had an early copy for a few weeks now but have not had the time to review it.
From the ten seconds I spent with it, It looks like it is a fairly basic one (for those who need extra help with Quant before jumping to MGMAT Number Properties or others). I will try to post a review later today.

bb, if possible, can you compare to the Kaplan math review one? Basically, what I did was is I started with the Kaplan GMAT Premier Live Online 2010 Edition and realized that I need to take a step back and do more math review as I am shaky in some topics (it's been a while). I have purchased all 8 Manhattan GMAT Strategy Guides 4th edition so before jumping into those I'd like to spend more time reviewing basic concepts. Any ideas?

adam2009 · **Posted:** Sun Dec 13, 2009 10:02 am

I already have "GMAT Kaplan Premier 2007", would I lose ANY benifits if I used it instead of "GMAT Kaplan Premier 2010 Live on Line"? Should I buy the 2010 edition? would the 2010 edition make ANY postitive difference in my GMAT test over the 2007 version?

Thanx
Adam

KapTeacherEli · **Posted:** Mon Dec 14, 2009 1:57 pm

adam2009 wrote:

I already have "GMAT Kaplan Premier 2007", would I lose ANY benifits if I used it instead of "GMAT Kaplan Premier 2010 Live on Line"? Should I buy the 2010 edition? would the 2010 edition make ANY postitive difference in my GMAT test over the 2007 version?

Thanx
Adam

My memory is a little spotty, but I believe 2007 is around when Bolded Statement CR questions were first revealed; I don't know if our 2007 materials will prepare you to deal with that (admittedly rare) question type.

bb · **Posted:** Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:21 pm

blitz wrote:

bb, if possible, can you compare to the Kaplan math review one? Basically, what I did was is I started with the Kaplan GMAT Premier Live Online 2010 Edition and realized that I need to take a step back and do more math review as I am shaky in some topics (it's been a while). I have purchased all 8 Manhattan GMAT Strategy Guides 4th edition so before jumping into those I'd like to spend more time reviewing basic concepts. Any ideas?

Hi Blitz - I am on a business trip again (getting old), so don't have access to my library, but will compare the two from memory for now and then will do a comparative writeup.

If you have MGMAT Guides, get the MGMAT Math Foundations - it works better with the other guides in terms of structure.

Both books are very similar in nature (designed as a heavy refresher for those who want to start with pie charts and PEMDAS). Both don't have anything advanced and mostly focus on foundations (hence the name). Both do it very well and should get you to the same end point.
I would say the main differences are:
1. MGMAT seemed a bit more graphic (maybe a bit more helpful in grasping materials)
2. Kaplan Math Foundations is shorter and seems more to the point
3. MGMAT is structured very much along the lines of their other books - each chapter is a precursor to an MGMAT guide, such as MGMAT Number Properties or MGMAT Geometry, etc

That's really it - both are good for what you need but MGMAT Math Foundations will probably work better than Kaplan.

bb · **Posted:** Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:22 pm

KapTeacherEli wrote:

adam2009 wrote:

I already have "GMAT Kaplan Premier 2007", would I lose ANY benifits if I used it instead of "GMAT Kaplan Premier 2010 Live on Line"? Should I buy the 2010 edition? would the 2010 edition make ANY postitive difference in my GMAT test over the 2007 version?

Thanx
Adam

My memory is a little spotty, but I believe 2007 is around when Bolded Statement CR questions were first revealed; I don't know if our 2007 materials will prepare you to deal with that (admittedly rare) question type.

Thank you for this info piece - do you know off top of your head how many Bold CR questions are in the Kaplan Live Online or if it covers them in detail?

blitz · **Posted:** Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:35 am

bb wrote:

Hi Blitz - I am on a business trip again (getting old), so don't have access to my library, but will compare the two from memory for now and then will do a comparative writeup.

If you have MGMAT Guides, get the MGMAT Math Foundations - it works better with the other guides in terms of structure.

Both books are very similar in nature (designed as a heavy refresher for those who want to start with pie charts and PEMDAS). Both don't have anything advanced and mostly focus on foundations (hence the name). Both do it very well and should get you to the same end point.
I would say the main differences are:
1. MGMAT seemed a bit more graphic (maybe a bit more helpful in grasping materials)
2. Kaplan Math Foundations is shorter and seems more to the point
3. MGMAT is structured very much along the lines of their other books - each chapter is a precursor to an MGMAT guide, such as MGMAT Number Properties or MGMAT Geometry, etc

That's really it - both are good for what you need but MGMAT Math Foundations will probably work better than Kaplan.

Thanks bb! Great advice! I will let you know how I find the MGMAT Math Foundations book

BLITZ

TimeSquareDesi · **Posted:** Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:01 pm

edit - I see now that several people commented on the value of the kaplan math workbook. Although some think it's still a good resource, I am adamant that it is one of the worst books I've ever seen published. It apparently wasn't proof read and some of the answer choices don't even match up with the questions. With problems this glaring, I don't understand why anyone would still whole-heartedly recommend this book... It's like you're paying your hard earned $ for something that's not worth $1........ /rant

Wait a second - how is the Kaplan Math Foundations on the list of suggested Quant books when it contains tons and tons of errors?!

Look at the Amazon reviews for it - that book is horrible. I got it a couple of months ago and returned it the same day. Flipping to a random pay, you are likely to find an error....

bb · **Posted:** Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:20 pm

TimeSquareDesi wrote:

edit - I see now that several people commented on the value of the kaplan math workbook. Although some think it's still a good resource, I am adamant that it is one of the worst books I've ever seen published. It apparently wasn't proof read and some of the answer choices don't even match up with the questions. With problems this glaring, I don't understand why anyone would still whole-heartedly recommend this book... It's like you're paying your hard earned $ for something that's not worth $1........ /rant

Wait a second - how is the Kaplan Math Foundations on the list of suggested Quant books when it contains tons and tons of errors?!

Look at the Amazon reviews for it - that book is horrible. I got it a couple of months ago and returned it the same day. Flipping to a random pay, you are likely to find an error....

Sorry, have been on a business trip and did not have time to get back with your original comment right away.

1. You are correct - many errors. I have not gone through all of the examples, so have not stubmled onto them myself, but definitely heard this from many
2. The main reason I recommended it was that there was no other book that addressed this area (pre-gmat math, or intro-quant)
3. There is a better book (which again I have gone through from the perspective of materials but not actual examples), and that's MGMAT Math Foundations. I will be adding a review shortly (whatever that means

)

bb · **Posted:** Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:58 am

Review posted: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/098417 ... 0984178007

Please let me know how I can improve it.
1. Thoughts
2. Questions
3. Suggestions

MathFear · **Posted:** Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:40 pm

Hey Guys,

Question: The MGMAT sentence correction book comes with 6 online CAT's it says. Are these 6 CAT's full GMAT tests? I really hope so, because that's real good value for your money.

Hope hearing from you!

Cheers,
MathFear

bb · **Posted:** Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:36 pm

MathFear wrote:

Hey Guys,

Question: The MGMAT sentence correction book comes with 6 online CAT's it says. Are these 6 CAT's full GMAT tests? I really hope so, because that's real good value for your money.

Hope hearing from you!

Cheers,
MathFear

Yes. They are CATs that are available for sale for $35 from MGMAT's website.

MathFear · **Posted:** Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:49 pm

bb wrote:

Yes. They are CATs that are available for sale for $35 from MGMAT's website.

Are these the same as the ones you get with the book?

(See what's inside this guide; last bullet point.)

bb · **Posted:** Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:47 pm

Yes.

There is only one set of MGMAT tests in the universe, and all MGMAT Guides (Except MGMAT Math Foundations) provide access to them.
In addition, each guide also has additional online practice (varies by guide) which can be pretty substantial.

This should help.

phoenixrulzz · **Posted:** Sun Jan 03, 2010 8:15 am

Thanks for the info!!!

After reading this topic, i got my hands on the kaplan GMAT premier 2010 live.

Hope it serves the purpose!!

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