The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition

 by Graduate Management Admission Council
(based on 152 customer reviews)

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition (Paperback)
Edition: 11
Author: Graduate Management Admission Council
Publisher: Graduate Management Admission Council


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Most useful review as voted by customers:
1141 out of 1148 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 1/29/06


A Must Have

The secret for the GMAT is practice and stamina.

For my own preparation, I used The Princeton Review, Kaplan's Book and ETS' The Official Guide for GMAT Review.

I will go through the advantages and disadvantages of each, and explain why The Official Guide for GMAT Review was the best of the three and why you should give it more time than the others.

Princeton:
Plus
- Good review sections (both quantitative and verbal)
- Practice tests similar to the GMAT
- Online tests are easy to review
- Provides you with a test strategy on how to crack the questions
- Explicitly advises you to practice also with The Official Guide for GMAT Review
Disadvantages
- Does not explain why a choice is wrong
- Not enough practice questions

Kaplan:
Plus
- Good quantitative review sections (appendix was great)
- Interactive software for reviewing the Kaplan GMAT strategies
- Practice tests similar to the GMAT
- Practice tests and sections are difficult, this creates in you a sense of urgency
- Plenty of practice questions
Disadvantages
- The software interface is old and slow, you are left to work with a little box on the screen
- Practice tests and sections' answer choices are not very well explained
- The questions are far fetched and do not fall in the spirit of the GMAT, this might lead you the wrong path

The Official Guide for GMAT Review:
Plus
- More than plenty of practice questions
- You might get the same or similar questions on the GMAT (like I did)
- The practice questions are organized by level of difficulty, the last ones are the most difficult
- Free PowerPrep software that has two practice tests exactly similar to the GMAT in look and feel (free online tests at the mba dot com website http://www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT/Tools/PowerprepSoftware.htm)
- The practice questions reveal actual GMAT test patterns
Disadvantages
- Absence of test taking techniques
- The skills review sections are poor
- Only the last 200 questions in every practice section will be like the ones you will see on the GMAT (unless you perform poorly)

This Official Guide from GMAC should be the cornerstone of your preparation, simply because the questions are from past tests and are very thoroughly researched. This will allow you to develop insight into the test mentality.

Equally important the correct and the wrong answer choices for each question are explained in detail. You will learn the various ways used to lead you in error and consequently, you will develop the feel to spot and eliminate wrong answers.

The rules of grammar on which the GMAT Sentence Correction questions are based are best outlined in this guide. I had a lot of difficulty with the Verbal section until I read through the explanations here.

Overall, this book shows you all the tricks of the GMAT. I did not have bad surprises when I took the actual test; it seemed that I had seen all the questions before.


201 out of 229 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 11/4/05


New Guide vs 10th Edition (Little Difference)

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.

89 out of 90 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 3/21/07


An absolute must for any GMAT Prep

This book, coupled with the Official GMAT Verbal and Quant Review Guides (by the same company, GMAC) is enough to give you a thorough understanding, of the type of questions that can be expected in the GMAT and the reasoning needed to answer them correctly. I found the reasoning provided with each answer, especially useful. Another nice thing about these books is that the questions are arranged in increasing order of difficulty. So, if you find some questions very easy, just jump a few questions forward. The only setback with these books is that they do not give detailed explanations in the 'concepts review sections'.

You will need to turn to other books/websites to get tips and tricks for the exam. I recommend Princeton for this purpose: The Princeton guide gave me very clear and effective test taking strategies that helped me a lot. I highly recommend NOT USING Kaplan, especially to take practice tests. The scoring is very tough, and you are tested in areas that are absolutely unnecessary for the GMAT. Also, very low scores on these tests are discouraging. I highly recommend taking the two Powerprep practice tests available for download from the GMAC website. These tests consist of 'retired' GMAT questions, and are very much identical to the actual GMAT. Your scoring on these tests would be identical to your actual GMAT score.

My practice scores are as below (in chronological order):
Powerprep Test 1: 630 (35 days before my GMAT)
Princeton Test 1: 650
Kaplan Test 1: 600
Princeton Test 2: 670
Princeton Test 3: 700
Princeton Test 4: 720
Kaplan Test 2: 530 (One day before my GMAT - Very, very discouraging!!)
Powerprep Test 2: 750 (One day before my GMAT)
Powerprep Test 3 (Reinstalled): 760 (with some repetitions from Powerprep Test 2)
GMAT: 750 (Verbal 40, Quant 50)

My GMAT Prep consisted of lots and lots of practice, analysis of my practice test results, and noting down where I erred, and making sure that I did not repeat my mistakes.

58 out of 59 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 2/22/08


770 - Essential Resource

After 3 months of study, I just took the GMAT last week. This is my first and only attempt at the GMAT-CAT. In fact this is the first standardized test I have taken in 12 years. Overall I am happy with my score (770 Q51 V44).

The only study materials I used were:

- Official 11th Edition
- Official Verbal Review Guide
- Official Quant Review Guide
- Official GMATPrep Software (sent to you once you schedule your test)
- Manhattan GMAT Guides (reviewed for techniques only)

The three official books are the absolute bible for sample problems. I am a firm believer in quality over quantity. I NEVER did any problem that was not provided by the real GMAT company...NONE. Using problems written by other vendors is not needed, and could be counter productive. I would rather fully understand 200 official problems, than slog through 1000 non-official problems.


STUDY TIPS:

- First master all the problems in the printed official guides (11th, Verbal Guide, Quant Guide). NOTE: Getting the correct answer is not the same as "mastering" a question.

- Any problem you miss or find changing, repeat many times (even after you may have memorized the answer). Keep repeating the problems, until the basic skill is fully understood.

- Keep accurate records every time you do a problem (correct / incorrect, easy / challenging / stuck).

- Focus on core concepts. In truth, the GMAT tests very few concepts, but will use these simple building blocks to construct an unlimited number of tricky problems. Know the core concepts, become aware of the tricks, and the rest is timing.

- Only once the printed materials are exhausted (took me about 2 months), then you should "graduate" to the GMATPrep software. This should be used mostly for developing timing skills. In the end, you need to gain the confidence to flex your time during the actual test. You should be able to answer simple questions quickly, so you can invest more time in higher value problems.


This book is not a problem solving technique book. You will not find tips and tricks. Basically this is book should be considered a "question bank". In the quantitative section it will provide the questions and an answer key...period. For the verbal section, it will provide very useful detailed explanations of the correct answers. If you are you looking for a book on techniques, I would recommend the well organized Manhattan book set.

Bottom-line: you need this book for any serious attempt at the GMAT.

41 out of 52 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 9/30/05


Improved over 10th Edition, but....


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.

29 out of 30 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/4/07


2 books: Official Guide and Princeton Review

I've tried The Official Guide, Arco, Kaplan and Princeton Review books. After taking the test the first time using only the Kaplan and Arco guides I was not happy with my score, nor the review material in either book. I then purchased and used the Princeton Guide and the Official Guide (big orange one). An important point concerning me was that it helped raise my score by 90 points to where I needed it to be. More importantly, for this review, is to let you know that the tips, practice tests, questions and hints on how to prepare and take the exam were top notch in the Princeton Guide. Using the Princeton Guide as your strategy and the Official Guide for the practice questions is the best way to raise your score. The diagnostic test in the Official Guide helps and the warm up tests in the Princeton Review both help give you a feel for what type of questions you'll need to practice most. Use the 2 online practice tests from Princeton Review after you buy the book also since the Official Guide only comes with questions in the book, no CAT.
My advice:
1) Read the information about the test and thoroughly understand the time limits per question to finish on time
2) Take the warm up test and the diagnostic test to determine your strong and weak points
3) Go through the Princeton Review, every section to learn strategies
4) Go through the Official Guide and answer the first 20, middle 20 and last 20 of each section to get a feel for what level of difficulty you are consistently scoring well at
5) Then take a practice exam and time it
6) Go back and answer the next 20/20/20 from the Official Guide
7) Then take the other practice exam
8) Then just finish as many questions in the Official Guide as you have time for

I would recommend at least 1 month preparation and if you don't score as good the first time, take it the very next month after studying the addional weeks.

The best things are having a very good feel for timing (practice timed tests) and do as many practice problems from the Official Guide as you can. Finish the book if possible. I did about 75% of all the questions in each section. I answered like 30 questions almost each night for a month until I was sick of GMAT type questions but well aware and familiar with all the questions types.

So 2 books: Official Guide and Princeton Review and you are off to the score you'll need. Practice and endurance. And drink a red bull 30 min before the test.


23 out of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 2/17/06


Powerprep practice exams not reflective of true GMAT score

Don't panic if you get low scores on Powerprep practice exam. Check out my scores:

Kaplan (first try): 530
Powerprep 1: 600
Powerprep 2: 590
Powerprep 3: 610

Actual GMAT score: 670 (88th percentile)

This book is GREAT practice, as the problems are all old GMAT problems. Keep in mind that the HARD problems are in the last 100 questions of each section. The easy ones are in the first couple hundred, and might waste your time.

This book has answer explanations, but NO tips or tricks. Definitely use this book along with the Kaplan and/or Princeton review books. The tips and tricks are what help you solve the tricky problems in the limited time available.



18 out of 19 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/31/06


Good first start and last review, too few questions & tests

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.

15 out of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 8/15/06


THE must-have book for GMAT students

Weighing in with over 800 pages, 800 practice questions and answers, and a bright orange cover, this book is the best twenty-two 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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