Best GMAT Books - Latest Update : General GMAT Questions and Strategies

bb · 2011-08-10T20:29:39-07:00

Best GMAT Books Updated Nov 2014 Previously you could get a general GMAT Book and then more specialized GMAT books to go deeper into each section. Today, there is a shift towards just getting a number of specialized GMAT books such as the 8 Manhattan GMAT Guides and 15 Veritas Prep Guides . Whichever GMAT Book you decide to use, remember to also get the Official Guide for GMAT Review – it is the only source of the real GMAT questions. My Other GMAT Book Reviews Best GMAT Math Prep Books Best GMAT Verbal Prep Books Fiction Books for RC 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 16 + comes with 900 official questions Kaplan Premier + comes with 6 CAT's Official Guide 16 + comes with 900 official questions MGMAT Guides + come with 6 online tests or 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 - 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 MGMAT Verbal Foundations PowerScore CR Aristotle SC Ultimate GMAT Grammar examPAL Sentence Correction Basics 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 OG-2016.png 1. Official Guide for GMAT Review 2016 - 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 . yellow/0470449748 MGMAT-6th.png 2. Manhattan GMAT set of 10 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 10 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. veritas-books.png 3. Veritas Prep Complete Course Set:12 GMAT Strategy Guides Very strong challenger to the Manhattan GMAT set Strengths: 1. Very in-depth overview of every GMAT subject in 12 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 - $250 Kaplan-2016.png 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 marker board.gif 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. yellow/0979017580 -

abhi47

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07 Feb 2012, 01:25

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very useful post. Thanks for posting.

sayhellotofiona

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11 Feb 2012, 11:02

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Hi BB,

I am aiming to get 650+. Planning to purchase the OG 12 and MGMAT guides. Do you think it is necessary to purchase the OG Verbal, OG Quant, and/or Kaplan Premier? If so, what is the justification? I am a newbie to GMAT so I want to ensure that I have my basis covered. Thanks in advance!

Kansas

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12 Feb 2012, 02:07

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I have been browsing this forum for a couple of days now and found that supposedly, there are a few books available which have the range of questions in the 750+ range. Can u please refer to me some of those books, if u have experience with them.? Both for Quant and Varbal. I will use Manhattan Guides for the basics...

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12 Feb 2012, 04:54

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Hi Kansas,

in addition to Manhattan GMAT's strategy guides, in order to get some 750+ questions you can have a look at:

- GMATClubs Math Questions - seem to be a very good preparation for hard questions
- Jeff Sackmann's TOTAL GMAT Math

For Verbal I think MGMAT (particularly for SC) is the best you can get. It depends on your weak area. For Verbal you can rathermore think of some additional Grammar book as Doing Grammar or GMAT Club's Grammar. Both are frequent suggestions.

Regards!

Kansas

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12 Feb 2012, 07:09

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bgpower

Hi Kansas,

in addition to Manhattan GMAT's strategy guides, in order to get some 750+ questions you can have a look at:

- GMATClubs Math Questions - seem to be a very good preparation for hard questions
- Jeff Sackmann's TOTAL GMAT Math

For Verbal I think MGMAT (particularly for SC) is the best you can get. It depends on your weak area. For Verbal you can rathermore think of some additional Grammar book as Doing Grammar or GMAT Club's Grammar. Both are frequent suggestions.

Regards!

Thank u so much for the help. In the verbal section, how about referring to grammar books like Wren & Martin's High School Grammar and composition and Norman Lewis's How to read better and faster. I have seen people recommend them but am not sure whether they will increase my scores substantially..
And about the GMAT club Maths questions are there some more available other than the Maths tests.? I see some attachments but am not sure whether to use them..

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12 Feb 2012, 13:45

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tstud20

I just took the GMAT today and scored a 510 after a little over a month of studying. I had a 35 in Quantitative and a 25 in verbal. My ideal goal is 650+ but I need at least a 600. I am taking the test at the end of January. I did not use the OG guide 12 as much as I probably should. Do I need to use this material extensively and not worry about other materials or should I supplement the OG12 with the series of Manhattan books? The thing that I look at with the OG guide is that it is great for practice but it lacks strategy and I think I need a strategic foundation. If I get these Manhattan books and supplement with the OG12 guide can I feasibly increase my score by 90-140 points in a month of studying? Any suggestions by anyone? I'm open for all Ideas..I also have a subscription to Magoosh's online class...what would be the best way of studying to increase this score and what would be the best materials to use? I need help!!

I have mgmat and OG12. For practice Take the OG12. For Content MGMAT.

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candice

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21 Feb 2012, 02:45

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I will be going to attend the event which will be held in Bangalore for Gmat Quant Booster, By crackverbal and hope that i don't need any books for my Gmat perparation after that workshop.

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26 Feb 2012, 12:40

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I'm not planning to take the GMAT until after June 5th, but a classmate is going to sit it in April and so far he has been using the book Crack the GMAT. It was available in my university library, so I borrowed it to take a look at it. It is very, very basic. It is good to understand how the GMAT works and what is included in each part, but apart from that, I can only see it being useful for someone who has been out of college for several years, or who has studied an undegraduate in which no quantitative courses where taught.

For anyone considering to buy it, I'm pretty sure there's better material available such as the one recommended in this thread.

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06 Mar 2012, 23:33

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gjrr4x1

I'm not planning to take the GMAT until after June 5th, but a classmate is going to sit it in April and so far he has been using the book Crack the GMAT. It was available in my university library, so I borrowed it to take a look at it. It is very, very basic. It is good to understand how the GMAT works and what is included in each part, but apart from that, I can only see it being useful for someone who has been out of college for several years, or who has studied an undegraduate in which no quantitative courses where taught.

For anyone considering to buy it, I'm pretty sure there's better material available such as the one recommended in this thread.

gjrr4x1, are you talking about Princeton Review? I have just started praparing and I have this book so far.... It seems pretty simple but anyway good to warm up I guess)

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07 Mar 2012, 06:07

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AAngelica

gjrr4x1

I'm not planning to take the GMAT until after June 5th, but a classmate is going to sit it in April and so far he has been using the book Crack the GMAT. It was available in my university library, so I borrowed it to take a look at it. It is very, very basic. It is good to understand how the GMAT works and what is included in each part, but apart from that, I can only see it being useful for someone who has been out of college for several years, or who has studied an undegraduate in which no quantitative courses where taught.

For anyone considering to buy it, I'm pretty sure there's better material available such as the one recommended in this thread.

gjrr4x1, are you talking about Princeton Review? I have just started praparing and I have this book so far.... It seems pretty simple but anyway good to warm up I guess)

Yeh. Exactly. It's good for those who haven't done any maths for a few years, but useless for those who are currently in their final year of their undergraduate, or have been working for a year or two.

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09 Mar 2012, 12:27

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I gave my GMAT in Feb and scored 570. I have done OG 12th Edition and few test from GMATClub. I am planning to retake my exam in the month of June or July again.
Will prepare thoroughly this time around.

Very helpful post BB. Thanks a ton.

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28 Mar 2012, 15:03

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If any of you can help me confirm if this would be a good bundle (I am coming from prepping for the MCAT, so having everything in order is a downfall of mine)

Kaplan Premier - For general strategy and a good primer to studies
The MGMAT Set of 8 to review everything
OG 12th for additional real GMAT problems
Scattered gmatclub online tests as I find weaknesses

does that sound good?

I also have a TPR Hyperlearning verbal reasoning book that I bought for mcat prep but didn't have time to utilize. Would this help on the GMAT verbal?

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28 Mar 2012, 15:51

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Hi, miabullitt.

I think that it might be better to choose either Kaplan or Manhattan, but not both as they are comprehensive guidebooks. In other words, covering both would probably be redundant.

The OG 12 (or the upcoming OG 13) is essential, but the OG Verbal and OG Quant books are good too.

The GMATClub tests should be saved until later - after you completed your math guidebook and the OG material.

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28 Mar 2012, 19:05

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I see

I mentioned the kaplan premier because it was listed in it's own row for general strategy. The MGMAT books also provide this? Sorry if I am a little green at this.

bb

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28 Mar 2012, 19:41

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miabullitt

I see

I mentioned the kaplan premier because it was listed in it's own row for general strategy. The MGMAT books also provide this? Sorry if I am a little green at this.

Yes, they do.
Kaplan Premier comes with 5 CAT tests, which is nice but otherwise, you will pick all of it up from MGMAT Guides.

BM

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28 Mar 2012, 20:15

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miabullitt

I mentioned the kaplan premier because it was listed in it's own row for general strategy. The MGMAT books also provide this? Sorry if I am a little green at this.

No worries! It does take some time to figure out exactly what's going on, though it seems that you're on solid ground. The Kaplan Premier, as bb confirmed, is a comprehensive study guide. The Manhattan series (all eight guidebooks) is also complete, though I would personally switch the Manhattan CR guidebook for the Powerscore CR Bible.

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MGMAT Advanced Quant and Total GMAT MATH are really challenging me ... great suggestions!!

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