Below is an email I sent a friend a couple weeks ago so some stuff may not apply to you but it's worth a read.
-----"So, to start. There is only 1 organization that makes the GMAT, and that org is GMAC. GMAC also produces study materials known as the
OG (
Official Guide - a book) and GMATPrep (software). These are the only materials you can say perfectly replicate the GMAT because they are retired real GMAT questions.
As you become familiar with the GMAT and GMAC questions, you'll see that the questions have a voice/flow/tone to them that is unique to GMAC produced questions. This is especially prevalent in the Verbal section. Don't use the GMATPrep practice tests until you are close to being ready for the real thing because those tests give you a real assessment of what you'll get on the real test. You can only get 4 GMATPrep practice tests so use them sparingly, very sparingly, incase you take the real test multiple times. You'll want to get a fresh practice test done a day or two before the real thing... You can reset these tests but the second time you take a test is worthless as far as gauging your potential.
There are a lot of GMAT prep companies out there and I have used/read through almost all of them. In my opinion, Manhattan clearly has the best study materials. Manhattan's study books are actually better than the
OG. The
OG is just good for seeing and practicing questions. Manhattan has good practice tests but they are harder than the real thing so keep that in mind when you take one and score below your goal (I never scored above a 690 on Manhattan but got a 720 on the real test).
There is no other study material I would use, with one exception I'll get to in a minute.
A few points:
-Understand the test itself first. By that I mean, how the test is administered, the different sections, and the different types of questions. Also, realize that pace/timing while you are taking the test is a HUGE deal. We can talk about that more in detail later.
-When starting, only use
Manhattan GMAT Prep books, except for Critical Reasoning (CR)
-For Critical Reasoning, use PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible. You might find Manhattan's CR book useful, but I didn't really understand it until after I read PowerScore. Then, Manhattan's CR made more sense and I saw how others might like it better... I'd say use PowerScore first then maybe read Manhattans to polish off CR. The only thing is PowerScore is very thick and takes a while to read, whereas Manhattan can be read very quickly so maybe read it first to get a quick understanding...
-After you've read through all of Manhattan and are fairly comfortable with the Quantitative Section, use GMATClub.
https://www.gmatclub.com Sign up for their
GMATClub tests. Only use the quant ones, as the verbal tests are far from GMAT quality in terms of voice/flow/tone and even correctness. The quant tests will be extremely discouraging and hard. The key is to do them and then go back and study the solutions. In the beginning even the solutions will be extremely hard to follow. Even is it takes you 30 minutes to learn the solution (often with the aid of google) it is worth it. And try to learn it the way Bunuel explains it. Bunuel is the name of the GMATClub quantitative section forum moderator and he wrote the tests/answers himself.
-For the verbal section, stay away from Kaplan, Princeton, and any other study aids. The only other company I might would say is decent is Veritas Prep. Maybe, but I would only use Kaplan after I've exhausted Manhattan and Powerscore.
I'm sure all my thoughts seem disjointed, but there is so much to tell you and I just want to hit the main points.
So to summarize.
-Use Manhattan for Quant and Verbal, but use
PowerScore CR Bible for the CR portion of Verbal... Read the books from cover to cover and do the practice problems
-Wait until after you've read through all of Manhattan (at a minimum) before you use a GMATPrep practice tests, because you don't want to waste it when you don't really know what you are doing.
-After you have read through Manhattan, then start utilizing the
OG question banks. The last week or two before the test, only use the
OG and GMATPrep. That way you will be used to the GMAC questions and not Manhattan.
-And for the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) use ChineseBurned's "How to get a 6.0 AWA..." It is on GMATClub in the AWA forum. It is essentially a skeleton of how to answer the AWA essays and get a great score. I got a 4 the first time I took the test, then by using Chineseburned's format I got a 5.5."
------Again, this was my email to a friend just starting the journey, but it should apply to almost everyone, especially in the early stages when you are trying to break into the 700s.
I am sure other people have other good resources to continue climbing above 700, but I think what I laid out above is more that sufficient to get anyone to the 700 benchmark.