Customer Rating:  
Summary: Essential for good score....master it completely
Comment: Official Guide, as the name suggests, is an official collection of retired GMAT questions, published by GMAC, who own GMAT. Here, I will review this book and its importance in the overall preparation.
First, I was short on time in preparing for GMAT and applying in time. So, I didn't had time to go over all the material and guides available in this universe, and then compare and review them.
Second, before you start your preparation, or make your plan, you need to understand what GMAT is and what it measures. Then try to understand how much time and effort you will need to achieve a good score, for the school(s) you are applying to.
- OG will certainly help you to understand what is GMAT, what it measures and how the different sections test your those capabilities.
- The Diagnostic Test, taken under strict examination conditions, will measure your current performance and identify the areas you need to focus.
- The Verbal and Quant sections of OG are mainly a collection of past GMAT questions, their answers, and explanatory solutions.
- There is very little theory/concepts and very generic strategies. However, do read them carefully.
Once you identify the areas you need to focus on, find the guides with concepts, fundamentals, and tips and tricks. Do your research by reading reviews, and consulting your peers who have used them in past. Every guide is different and have different difficulty levels. What works for one may not work for another.
For Sentence Correction, I will recommend Sentence Correction GMAT Preparation Guide (Manhattan GMAT Preparation Guides). For other sections, I used an old, borrowed edition of Nova's GMAT Prep Course (with Online Course). Unfortunately, I cannot comment about Kaplan, Princeton, Veritas etc since my aim was to get a good score and not compare all these guides. (I spent 3 weeks overall and got a very decent score)
Coming back to OG, here is what I recommend:
- Do all the questions.
- Do all the questions, at least three times. By doing so, you can master a lot of concepts and calculations.
- Do not get discouraged if you get low scores on simulated tests of the other study guides. Actual GMAT level is closest to this OG. Other guides' sample exams have a hidden marketing motive too. They want you to buy their books or take their course. So, their questions' level may not be same as that of actual GMAT. In fact, I found some of them very difficult. (Won't take names, but I took those online free sample exams from those famous names in Study Guides & preps)
- If you have time, get GMAC's Verbal and Quant supplements to practice more & more.
At last, it's all about speed & accuracy. Best of Luck!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Poor preparation material
Comment: This book begins by stating that it is virtually all you will need in order to score well on the GMAT. I went through the book backwards and forwards - again and again and again. Mind you, I have an MBA from a very good school already and am well able to study and master material. Upon taking the GMAT for my PhD program, the test had nothing even remotely similar to what this book prepared me for. Certainly, there are basic math principles involved, but the overall format and question types in this book didn't at all resemble what I was tested over on the actual GMAT. Outside of that, I was amazed at the number of grammatical errors in the book, especially as it is an 11th edition. Many of the exercises have incorrect verbiage and/or signage as it relates to math problems. If you are getting prepared to take the GMAT, you had better not leave it to this product.
Customer Rating:
Summary: USEFUL FOR BEGINNERS!
Comment: This book is very good for people who wuold like to start their preparation for the GMAT. You have enough exercices and and a useful section (explanations) about math, algebra and geometry.
After, if you need a more brilliant preparation you need to practice on GMAT 800.
I'm Italian and when I started to read GMAT 800 (by KEPLAN) I found it harder (contents and language).
Customer Rating:
Summary: so-so
Comment: I wasnt totally happy w/ this book. As other readers have posted there are countless errors in the math sections. For example on page 335 of the 11th edition they say (xr)^2 = x^(2r). This is hard to look over as a typo - as are other errors.
There are also no full-length exams in this book. I mean, come-on, why are the GMAC guys such tight-wads with their questions. I dont really like they way they run the show...
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good book but with some typo's
Comment: Math section has many typo's (more than 10 for sure), use google to find the corrections. Apart from that its good.
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