Beginning to study for GMAT. Suggested route

Question

I read the post about beginning to study for the GMAT. My goal is to score 700+. Therefore I bought the Kaplan 2012 premier from amazon. The reviews spoke highly of the book overall. But they also said that the book alone will not help get a 700. Therefore I also got another book that seemed to also have good reviews. It is  30 day GMAT success by Brandon Lu and Laura Pepper.  Does anyone have any thoughts on this book? 
I am also considering buying  Manhattan GMAT Set of 8 Strategy Guides Fourth Edition . But I rather not spend alot of money when I don't need to. I am going to take advantage of all the free prep tests I can take.

Any thoughts?

KapTeacherEli · Answer

Hi MBASEEKER1,

Kaplan Premier can definitely help you get to 700. It's strategies are useful to all students and powerful ways to raise your score. That said, the folks in the review were probably commenting not on our strategies, but on our problems. Because GMAT Premier is meant to be accessible to students of all levels, we didn't include the hardest of our GMAT practice problems in that book--rather, we collected most of our 700-level books in Kaplan GMAT 800, a supplemental resources.

Of course, all of this hinges on how far away 700 is. Have you taken a diagnostic test? That baseline will make it much easier for me, and all the other experts and test-takers on this forum, to recommend the best books and problem sets for you!

Good luck with your preparation!

Eli

Mindreko · Answer

Honestly, Manhattan GMAT Set of 8 Strategy Guides Fourth Edition is the best investment you can make. It's very thorough and if you master those concepts, you will have a solid foundation. Then participate in these forums as much as you can, in all the questions and do the GMAT Club question bank/Tests (You can get these when you reach 200 posts but I think you need to be a member for at least a designated period or you can purchase them) which I heard are very difficult. Also do the OG 12 and manhattan tests, and you'll be fine.

menacel · Answer

Hi

I have posted this before, I would suggest you check your local library or the branches your library is connected to. At my library, you can rent ALL of the MGMAT guides.

Mindreko · Answer

Which library is this, menacel? And you say rent, so do you have to pay to borrow them?

menacel · Answer

any public library should allow you to search for it and the other branches connected to your library.

My university was connected to two schools that allowed me to borrow the manhattan books and also my public library in my hometown let me do the same.

Public libraries are free as long as you are a resident of the county the library is located in. I've heard some libraries charge like a $2 fee to get it from a library outside of the branch it's connected to.

Just hit up your local library and ask about it

MBASEEKER1 · Answer

Guys thanks for all the suggestions. The local library is worth checking out. I do have a additional perhaps a basic question. Before I crack open Kaplan or any other GMAT study guide. Should I first take a diagnostic test? is the one included in the Kaplan premier a sufficient diagnostic test?
 
I began reading Kaplan premier to get a feel at least how the GMAT exam is setup. But I have not taken any test as of yet.
Once again thanks to everyone for their responses.

menacel · Answer

100% yes, I would say take the GMAT PREP one because it's comprised of only old official questions (from the test makers) and it can accurately gauge what you would have scored in previous years.

I have no experience with Kaplan so someone else will have to speak to that. If it's a paper test, then you're better off with the GMATPREP.

However, I highly highly suggest you take the GMAT PREP test...you may be thinking...I only have two tests, I don't want to waste one...well that's a yes and no answer. It's a computer adaptive test, so MORE THAN LIKELY you will not see the same questions unless you have not improved since the last exam session (this was the case for me, I was taking the exam 2 or 3 times in a row and saw some of the same questions). The process goes, if you get a question right, you will get a harder question. If you get a question wrong, you will get an easier question. and this is by GMAT standards...and the level of difficulty determined by them is how many people missed that question. So the hard questions may be easy to you

So in your scenario now, you are more likely to take an exam now...study for some weeks to some months and your level should have sky rocketed from your first test. Thus, your questions will come from a COMPLETELY different pool.

TL;DR take the GMAT PREP exam as a diagnostic

MBASEEKER1 · Answer

Where do I get the GMAT PREP test from?

menacel · Answer

ah, here: https://www.mba.com/the-gmat/download-fr ... tware.aspx there's also information on the new GMAT test being released in summer 2012

u0422811 · Answer

I have been a huge fan of the MGMAT books they do a really good job of breaking everything down. Totally worth the investment so long as you are willing to put in the time.

MBASEEKER1 · Answer

I downloaded the practice test software from by GMAC. I am embarrassed by my results but I have a goal of scoring 700 and above. So here are my scores.

QUANT 13
VERBAL 20 
TOTAL 330

Originally I wanted to test in January but I now see that I need to delay and plan to test in March. I hope to make be able to apply in the 3rd round for Darden Business school at UVA, which is the most competitive round of all. I have the Kaplan Premier book and I also ordered Foundations of GMAT Math (Instructional Guide) by Manhattan GMAT.

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