World Famous Comics: Kaplan GMAT Premier Program, 2009 (Book & CD-ROM)
Kaplan GMAT Premier Program, 2009 (Book & CD-ROM)
By: Kaplan Publisher: Kaplan Publishing Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Kaplan Publishing Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 672 Publication Date: June 03, 2008
made me more confused The primary reason I bought this guide over the others was for the computer adaptive practice tests included on the cd-rom.
On my first practice GMAT, I found that a few of the explanations of the math problems used information not presented in the questions.
On my second practice GMAT, I found that it was recycling questions from the first practice exam. On the verbal section it gave me too many reading passages. On the math section I kept getting hard questions, depite a streak of several wrong answers.
I also found the editing in the math section to be very sloppy, and thus confusing to read.
Terrible Math Content Excessive is an understatement. After using this book for review I can safely say avoid at all costs for math content review. There are many omissions, = where - should be, p in place of [pi] randomly in questions and answers, faulty assumptions in the answers that were not provided in questions.
I would rejoice for Kaplan when I made it through a single page turn without finding a SERIOUS error.
Not only do they need a new editor, they need a content creator with better than 25% accuracy.
GMAT Study Guide This guide is just as described, the information is extremely helpful in studying for the GMAT, in addition to other resources that comes from the CD-ROM.
Better math editor needed There are excessive math errors in the book. Several times they use the same figure (ex. Triangle) with the exact same measures (congruent triangles) to show how the two figures are different. How can they be different when the 3 sides and the 3 angles are identical? One time they say find the "equation with and -5". Nothing between the two words.
They tend to introduce new concepts in the practice problems and then don't explain them in the answer explanations.
The english portion was OK.
Honest Review of GMAT Books! After going through all the GMAT books, here is my honest opinion about some of the most popular GMAT books:
Official Guide: Pros - Excellent source of GMAT questions. Very well organized with real test like questions. Cons - No review of any math content or test-taking strategies. Not enough explanations of practice questions. Overall, the Official Guide is a must have for all test-takers. It will give you a good idea about the type of questions to expect on the GMAT; however, if you need more than just a bank of questions, you need to look at some other source.
Kaplan: Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Unrealistic questions.
Princeton: Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Weird sense of humor.
Barrons: Pros - Good math review. Big list of questions. Good test taking strategies. Very well organized. This is by far the best of the all-in-one kinds of books. Cons - Although the book has a good math review, it doesn't go deep enough into each concept. Not enough explanations to practice questions. Does not have a good section for logical reasoning (permutation, combination, probability, etc) questions, which is one of the most important question-type. Does not break down the concepts/questions step by step.
EZ Solutions (set of 9 books): Pros - Thorough math review from A to Z. Effective test taking strategies. Abundant solved examples. Numerous practice exercises. Great practice question bank in basic and advanced workbooks. As with most books, you are expected to already have a good knowledge about the various match concepts, but with these books, you can literally start from scratch and reach the most advanced level of the GMAT. Cons - To get the best result from these books, you have to invest in buying several books (set of 9 books), but if you compare the cost and benefits, the benefits outweigh the cost, or you can buy a few not all. Missing the verbal section. This is not a good option if you are looking for a mediocre score or just looking for a very basic brush-up. Recommended for serious test takers only.
Some of the other books has no real content; whereas, there are some other books that I haven't yet had an opportunity to review, but may be some of them are good supplementary aids.
I hope my review will help some of you in making the right decision.
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