Last visit was: 08 May 2026, 04:43 It is currently 08 May 2026, 04:43
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
User avatar
gmat2006
User avatar
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Last visit: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 23
Own Kudos:
1
Posts: 23
Kudos: 1
ARCO CAT 04 Oct 2005, 10:12
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi, does anyone have the ARCO book (2006 edition)? The one with 6 practise tests and 3 CATs on the CD.

If so, are the questions in the CATs are the same as the questions in the book. Because I have the book without the CD and I think the material is pretty good. If there is no overlapping between the CATs and the book, maybe I will buy the new edition.

thanks!
User avatar
olorin
User avatar
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Last visit: 02 Jan 2006
Posts: 50
Own Kudos:
18
Posts: 50
Kudos: 18
ARCO CAT 05 Oct 2005, 08:34
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Are you talking about the Master the GMAT books from ARCO GOLD? I think I just checked out the 2006 version which has 9 tests and 3 on the CD from the library.. Haven't really gotten into it to know whether it is any good or not.

My neighborhood library (got a community college nearby) seems to really like this book, they have copies for 2003, 2005 and 2006.

Has anybody else read from this book?

Edit: Just found link to post about the 2003 version of this book. It got an unfavorable review - https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=6979

ps. First post. Just getting started on the GMAT.
avatar
dexterslab
avatar
Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Last visit: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 35
Posts: 35
Kudos: 0
ARCO CAT 05 Oct 2005, 17:27
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I just bought this book a few days ago as well. It looks well organized and it has large type- easy on my eyes. I am not in a position to comment on this book, compared to others, cause the only other one i have is a lousy barrons book that seems like it was written in the last century.

But I am not sure how it stands in terms of difficulty when compared to the actual GMAT. Took the first practice CAT and got killed in all the usual areas- SC, CR, RC, Ds- basically the works!!! I sure as hell hope the real test is not tougher.
avatar
dexterslab
avatar
Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Last visit: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 35
Posts: 35
Kudos: 0
ARCO CAT 24 Oct 2005, 10:51
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello everyone. I just finished writing my GMAT today and i think i might be in a position to review and compare the boks i used.

I started with Barrons, then Arc's and then Kaplan. Based on my experience i would say the Arco book was head and shoulders above the rest.

Barons- in old format, test on C is just repeat of paper tests- overall the worst book of the 3 I used. However the paper tests really help to build up stamina and concentration. If you write the two essays and do 7 sections of test, the final CAT wont seem so long.

Arco- The 3 cats on the CD are phenonemenal. ow that i have completed the real test i can say that these cats are very similar to the real CAT. Both the math and verbal section are of a difficulty level very close to what u will see in the real test. Also the questions are just as well written and u can see that alot of thought has gone into it and that it has been proof-read well. The 6 paper tests are quite good in terms of the verbal sections. The math in the paper tests is way too simple.

Kaplan- The 4 tests on the CD seem way harder than the real test. In addition the questions are poorly worded and often times explainations conflict (for instance in one question was 0 was considered an even integer, but in another 0 was not even considered an integer). There are numerous errors in the reading comprehension passages and you can see that not much attention has been paid to the questions. Looks like Kaplan just wanted to make the tests hard by choosing ridiculous RC's that are too long and have only 3 questions.. Anyway it is good practice all the same.

i can only comment on the practice tests because my strat for preparation was only to do practice tests. The only thing other than the tests i did was the sentence correction question sets in arco, kaplan and powerprep.

Anyways i ended up with a score of 770. I plan on writing more about my prep strat in the other forum....

I hope this helps some people in deciding on which books to use.

Thank you Gmatclub :-D for providing information and much needed moral support during the tough prep days.. and good luck to everyone else on the test.
User avatar
olorin
User avatar
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Last visit: 02 Jan 2006
Posts: 50
Own Kudos:
18
Posts: 50
Kudos: 18
ARCO CAT 25 Oct 2005, 16:06
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
One question dexterslab - Was this the Master the GMAT 2006 by ARCO Gold or some other book? A link to amazon's listing... perhaps?

Also, which editions (2006, 2005? etc.) of the various books did you use? Did you e.g. use a 2005 version of the Kaplan by any chance?

Any knowledge of whether a particular book changed significantly between editions?

Thanks much and of course, major congratulations!
avatar
dexterslab
avatar
Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Last visit: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 35
Posts: 35
Kudos: 0
ARCO CAT 25 Oct 2005, 17:28
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi Olorin,

Yes it is Master the GMAT arco's 2006 edition. Kaplan was 2006 edition- premier program and Barrons was how to prepare for the gmat-13th edition. I bought all of them at Borders, dont really have an amazon link.
User avatar
ValleyBall1
User avatar
Joined: 26 Jul 2005
Last visit: 18 Nov 2011
Posts: 208
Own Kudos:
31
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 208
Kudos: 31
ARCO CAT 25 Oct 2005, 22:03
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
dexterslab - congrats on an awesome score!
User avatar
olorin
User avatar
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Last visit: 02 Jan 2006
Posts: 50
Own Kudos:
18
Posts: 50
Kudos: 18
ARCO CAT 26 Oct 2005, 10:06
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
dexterslab
Yes it is Master the GMAT arco's 2006 edition. Kaplan was 2006 edition- premier program and Barrons was how to prepare for the gmat-13th edition. I bought all of them at Borders, dont really have an amazon link.
Show more


Thanks much for the answer!

And once again congratulations! How's the partying going? :)
User avatar
ValleyBall1
User avatar
Joined: 26 Jul 2005
Last visit: 18 Nov 2011
Posts: 208
Own Kudos:
31
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 208
Kudos: 31
ARCO CAT 28 Oct 2005, 23:48
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Are you guys talking about the Cambridge CAT or something else?
Moderators:
gchandana
197 posts
MBAACCOUNT2025
General GMAT Forum Moderator
474 posts