Total Page : 608
Publisher : Princeton Review
Publication Date : 2007 06 12
>> Good Intro to the GMAT but inadequate for people seeking higher GMAT scores
I self studied and scored a 770 on the GMAT Here are my thoughts on Princeton Review s Cracking the GMAT book
OVERVIEW
The Princeton Review Cracking the GMAT book is like the Kaplan GMAT 2010 Premier Live Online book a general GMAT strategy guide However apart from the natural similarities such as separate chapters for the 5 types of problems you will see on the GMAT plus an essay section the two books follow markedly different paths to knowledge
As advertised from the beginning The Princeton Review Cracking the GMAT is not a guide that emphasizes building subject matter skills in the quantitative or verbal fields but rather focuses on what the authors call cracking the system tips and tricks to help you score higher with an obvious preference for process of elimination POE and picking numbers Personally I do not fully support such strategies for the GMAT I consider them more as backup plans Here s why POE cannot and will never replace actually knowing the answer to a question it will just improve your chances of getting it right Picking numbers is also quite risky I sometimes see this strategy discussed in online forums people try to pick numbers but particularly at an advanced level they pick the wrong set of numbers and everything falls apart
The book is a pleasant read though and I personally found the small info boxes on the sides of pages to be quite entertaining and interesting The authors use the average test taker for examples of do s and don ts However I didn t like the authors tone for describing the GMAT I felt an overall negative vibe about the test which was not the case when I read The PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible for instance An example would come from the Reading Comprehension chapter No one in her right mind would ever read one of these passages of her own free will They are almost always boring I strongly disagree with this view since I personally enjoyed most texts particularly those dealing with the social sciences My advice is to think of the GMAT as a sort of mind game you have to beat an interesting little challenge I assure you that feeling positive about the GMAT will make the experience a lot less painful
PROS
A good introduction to the GMAT an easy read to make you understand what the test is about how it s scored and what to expect on test day
If your quantitative skills are not fresh definitely give this book a chance It covers math basics pretty well Again the fact that it s an easy read will probably help you reconnect with junior high and high school math
Questions are structured in bins according to difficulty which means you can focus on your particular level when you practice
The book comes with a registration code you can use to gain online access to four CATs computer adaptive practice tests However I felt that these practice tests were a bit easier than the actual GMAT
CONS
If you re shooting for a higher score above 600 this book won t help much You will need other resources to help you reach your goal
At just over 280 questions this book has fewer and easier practice questions as compared to other guides like Kaplan GMAT 2010 Premier Live Online Also the explanations could use some more work particularly in verbal I personally get really upset if the best explanation for why an answer is wrong is because it s out of scope This will definitely not help a test taker understand where her error in reasoning was
The focus on strategies such as POE and number picking means that you ll have some potentially useful tools for G day but such strategies might backfire Cracking the GMAT does not provide an in depth analysis of question types and their respective approaches
BOTTOM LINE
After going through The Princeton Review s Cracking the GMAT all I can truly say is this the book is good but only for a certain level that is up to mid 600s As a basic guide it shines as a tool for getting into that top 10 MBA I do not think it delivers If you do not already know your starting level I advise you to do the following go to download the free GMATPrep software and take practice test 1 save 2 for the last days of your prep If you score significantly below 600 consider investing in this book If you score higher than 600 you d best search for a different resource since you ll need a more rigorous program to get to a higher percentile score
About me Dana Jinaru 770 GMAT scorer expert at Beat The GMAT a community serving 100K GMAT students/month
>> Good Book Horrible Horrible Shipping
I purchased this product with the understanding that I would recieve it within a week I purchased it at the end of September and did not recieve it until mid to late October For students looking to begin studying quickly this is not a place to order your book However the book was in great condition
>> Happy
Shipping very quick and great quality only I recieved two books instead of the 1 I intended to buy Otherwise great
