Best GMAT Books

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.

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?

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

BLITZ

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 )

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Thanks for the info!!!

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

Hope it serves the purpose!!

I'd appreciate some additional info about OG10 - is it obsolete by now or not?

^ everyone will have their opinions and there is no finite answer to your question. At the very least, it's more GMAT-like questions for you to practice with so I personally feel that it would be worth it to go through it. You can't simply the OG10 alone because I don't think it would adequately prepare you for the exam. I'd use the OG10 along with a ton of other materials during my prep work.

If you have the OG 10 now, use it for the sample questions. If you don't have the book, you can get the OG11 for pretty cheap since OG12 is already out.

Remember that it is a starter book, so just to get your feet wet and figure out what's missing. then the path most take is either the MGMAT Guides or combination of other books.

Hmm sure!! i started with the kaplan just yesterday, going through it. Thanks for the info though!!!

Overview of CliffsNotes GMAT Cram Plan has been added to the thread

I've been reading that several of the GMAT prep books don't teach concepts very well or there are errors in some of the theories. Might it be better just to use school textbooks (eg. grab a high school Finite book for the permutations/combinations questions).