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Kaplan GMAT 2008 Premier Program (w/ CD-ROM) (Kaplan Gmat (Book & CD-Rom)) | 
| Author: Kaplan
Publisher: Kaplan Publishing
Category: Book
Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 32505
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.9
Dimensions (in): 10.7 x 8.3 x 1.4
ISBN: 1419551310
Dewey Decimal Number: 650
EAN: 9781419551314
Publication Date: June 5, 2007
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
Effective. But not for those scoring 700+ already September 6, 2007
98 out of 101 found this review helpful
I bought this book, studied for two weeks, did nearly every single question in the book, and took its diagnostic test at the end and got a 640. Given the grading system Kaplan used for their diagnostic test, I was appalled to find that I could only miss 8 questions total on the exam in order to score above a 700 on their fake GMAT. I went into the actual GMAT the next day dismayed and expecting to score in the mid 600s.
Then two totally unpredictable things happened:
One, I realized the questions I was getting on the actual GMAT test were a heck of a lot harder than the ones I studied for.
Two, I ended up scoring a 720.
So in retrospect, there are two important things you should know about this book.
1. if you're planning or expecting to score 700+, expect the questions in this book to look nothing like the actual questions on the GMAT. Because of the adaptive quality of the CAT, your GMAT questions will be a lot harder as you continue to answer correctly, and you should prepare accordingly (perhaps with a book like Kaplan's GMAT 800).
2. Don't be discouraged by the scores you get on the diagnostic tests in this book. I later researched and found out that Kaplan is notorious for grading strictly on their diagnostic tests and you should expect your actual GMAT score to far exceed the diagnostic score.
All in all, I found their strategies for Data Sufficiency, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction to be invaluable (though not ENTIRELY comprehensive). However, being more efficient in the quantitative side than most, I found their numbers picking strategy for problem solving to be a complete waste of time. My own methods of just brute force solving the problem proved to be faster than picking numbers and plugging them back in.
Good book to improve upon if you are scoring in the 600's. Bad book if you are already in the 700's looking to score higher.
 Useful as supplement to official GMAT prep materials August 11, 2007
29 out of 36 found this review helpful
Now that the GMAT has issued a revised 11th edition of the Official Guide for GMAT Review, plus new supplementary official guides for both the verbal and quantitative sections of the test, the case for spending additional hard-earned money and scarce study time on the Kaplan review prep book is not as strong as it used to be. On the other hand, a case can be made. While the questions in the official GMAT books have the advantage of being actual test questions rather than Kaplan attempts to emulate the well vetted questions written by ETS (and recently Pearson Vue), most of the official guides' questions have already appeared in the 10th edition of the official GMAT guide, which means that if you have the previous edition, you won't get much additional questions by buying the newer official GMAT books. Although the new GMAT books offer what the publisher calls "improved" explanations, many of the explanations for the reading passages and analytic reasoning sections are still useless and circular -- like answer D is correct because answer D is, uhm, correct. (I find the math explanations to be adequate, however.) In addition, because the computer administered test is adaptive, offering harder questions as you continue to get right answers, the Official Guide GMAT book questions won't be representative of the actual mix you will get when you actually take the test, particularly if you are likely to be a high scorer, in which case the hardest 20% in the GMAT book will be more likely to represent the actual questions you will be answering.
Kaplan, on the other hand, makes more of an attempt to offer insightful explanations to test questions, even if their answers are at times deficient. Kaplan also offers advice on test strategy with regard to timing, using process of elimination, and ways of coping with particularly difficult questions or reading passages, which GMAT seems to be reluctant to do. In other words, the Kaplan approach is more like true coaching, as opposed to offering just a bunch of practice test questions. In summary, I would say that this is a useful addition to the preparation arsenal, although the main focus should still be on the official GMAT preparation materials.
Honest Review of GMAT Books! January 13, 2008
21 out of 22 found this review helpful
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.
It provides the tools, you provide the brains December 24, 2007
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
I decided to take the GMAT on pretty short notice and ordered this book when I registered for the test. I spent about a month with this book and went through the practices from start to finish. It provides some good tips and tricks for various sections, but to make it even better it could provide a summary of the tips and tricks. I was really satisfied with the book because I got a 740 and a 6 on the writing. For $30, I couldn't have asked for more.
I found the verbal section of this book (and the accompanying CD) to be a bit harder than the GMAT. I found the math section to be a bit easier. However, it gave a really good, comprehensive review. One thing the CD really helps with is test timing. I was able to finish the verbal section on the real GMAT with 10 minutes to spare thanks to this book. Your scores on the CD tests will likely be disappointing, but the actual score you receive on the GMAT from this review should be higher than the review CD scores.
 2007 book with another cover September 24, 2007
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
I returned this book because it was exactly like the past edition, same exercises, just another cover.
It should be clear when you buy a "new" edition.
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