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The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition (平装)
by Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC)
| Category:
GMAT Prep, GMAT |
| Market price: ¥ 420.00
MSL price:
¥ 358.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
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| MSL Pointer Review:
With a variety of questions to prepare for GMAT, this in-depth and comprehensive guide is a must-have for all test takers. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 6 items |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
I just took the GMAT and used this book and the Kaplan 2007 book (and CD) to study. I would definitely recommend starting and ending with this book (and use the Kaplan one in between for its larger qty of questions and tests). I started with the diagnostic test and then worked through the sample questions. I found the practice tests to be excellent at reproducing the actual GMAT, both in the type of questions and the scores (I got a 760 on the GMAT and a 770 and 720 on the practice tests). Unfortunately, there are only two tests, which is why I used the Kaplan book for more practice. Kaplan was good for practicing your speed, but it's not very good at teaching you the concepts you need to know. It completely missed some math topics, and tested you extensively on things you didn't need to know. Also, the verbal section of Kaplan is crap...the sentences are poorly worded (and sometimes just wrong) and it's frustrating if you're trying to figure out what good english should be like (since I wasn't educated in an ivy league, my spoken english can be rather...bush-like). It's also very frustrating/discouraging because my scores on the practice tests were between 550 and 650. My recommendation is to start with this book to get a feel for things, then use Kaplan for mass quantities of stuyding, and then finish up your studying with this book again so everything that you actually need to know is fresh on your mind for the test. |
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Buki (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
The Official Guide is an absolute must when preparing for the GMAT mainly because it provides practice questions that are similar to what you'll see on the exam day. It offers abundant questions and explanations of the answers. In particular, each of the Critical Reasoning and Sentence Completion answer choices is explained in detail. When going though the Sentence Completion answer choices, I began to notice more quickly which choices were irrelevant. This made it easier to eliminate wrong choices and focus on the remaining 2 or 3 possible right choices. I wish the Math Section had included tips for answering questions faster. If you follow the sometimes rigorous methods of finding answers, you'll end up wasting time on the exam, especially with the Data Sufficiency questions. Even without helpful tips, this book is great for lots of practice. The Sentence Completion and Critical Reasoning Sections alone make this book worth its weight in gold. Some words of advice: don't underestimate the amount of time it'll take you to go through all the questions in this book. I did most of them over a one week period and it was brutal. Also, time yourself on the questions. GMAT Prep has some great advice and recommendations for pacing yourself on the GMAT.
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Jeff (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
Weighing in with over 800 pages, 800 practice questions and answers, and a bright orange cover, this book is the best bucks you'll spend on preparing for the GMAT, hands down. When you're in the market for practice questions, your number one priority is authenticity. Since the Official Guide is written by the same folks who write the test itself, it doesn't get any better than this.
There are some drawbacks. The section overviews are well-nigh worthless, and the explanations are often opaque. You'll never find the "faster way" in this book, but if you're working with a tutor, that's what he or she is for. The book claims that questions are organized by difficulty level, but there are no markers to indicate what those difficulty levels are; also, I suspect they are organized only in the most general manner.
Most students will start with the Diagnostic Test (section 3), which is actually one of the more challenging parts of the book. The questions, on average, are set at about the level of a 600-650 test taker. Because the diagnostic is not adaptive, your score (the book provides a conversion table) is not all that predictive of how you'd do on the computer-based GMAT.
In other words, this book is far from being the perfect GMAT resource, but because it is the one location where you'll find hundreds of authentic test questions, it's a must have. It should be at the center of your preparation from day one. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
It is a must-have for every GMAT takers. It provides you lots of practice questions from past exams, which are in the same style as those that will appear in the actual exam. Practice with them improves your confidence. Highly recommended.
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Ronald Po Wing Hong (MSL quote), Hong Kong
<2007-01-11 00:00>
The previous comment about all questions in RC and CR being the same is incorrect. There are definitely new questions in both the Reading Comp and Critical Reasoning sections (I would say at least half the RC passages are new whe compared to the 10th edition). That said, there are a few things for any person preparing for the GMAT to consider.
Do you already have the 10th Edition?
If you do, this might not be necessary. There are less questions in the 11th Edition than the 10th Edition overall. One reason for you to HAVE to take the new version over the 10th is that you have used up all the questions in the old book.
Price.
Its way more expensive than the older version. Originally the 11th edition guide was set for $32.95 retail (pre-release stated price)but now, the website and everywhere else is pricing it at $36.95. Again, unless you have done all the questions in the 10th edition, or can't get your hands on the 10th edition anywhere, you might want to consider the 10th rather than the new.
Relevance.
Supposedly, the explanations for the answer choices have gotten better. I have yet to review the answer choices, but i must say that the answer explanations, in the 10th Ed, in nearly all the Verbal sections were absolutely useless. If you used their methodologies to arrive at the answer, you are more likely to hurt yourself than to help yourself. The explanations in the 10th edition were not systematic, so it always relied on internal logic for each question. More often than not, GMAT questions are similar to one another and I am sure the people at ETS (The people who wrote this book) knew that, but they seem hesitant to reveal the "tricks".
Overall it's not a bad book. Considering I been staring at my green/blue 10th edition for so many years, its nice to see a bright orange cover and nicer paper material inside the new book.
As for actual functionality, if you have a guided instructor, the 10th and 11th edition might not be that big of a difference. If you are working alone, and the rumors are true about better answer explanations, then you might benefit from the 11th Ed.
Irregardless of which one you decide, I really want to emphasize - all GMAT students MUST practice with the Official Guide. There is nothing out there that develops "air-tight" questions free from inconsistencies like the GMAT does. You can always use additional questions from various vendors as supplements, but the Official Guide is a must for your foundational GMAT preparation. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
Contrary to the information posted on some MBA chat sites, most of the reading questions and the CR questions are carried over from the 10th edition and/or the retired tests sold in PDF format on the MBA official store. (I haven't checked the math as thoroughly, but it looks pretty similar.) So if you have the 10th, you won't get as much as you might hope from buying this new edition. You will get what GMAT calls "improved" explanations. Improved? Maybe. They're still pretty circular at times (eg, D is correct because it's uh... correct), but they do seem more detailed and better organized. The two supplemantal volumes, one on verbal and one on math are pretty much the same story, old questions, "improved" explanations. They are all good study tools, just not as new as the GMAT folks would like us to believe. |
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1 Total 1 pages 6 items |
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