Guide to buy Best GMAT Books and Preparation Software

Okay!! I know this is gonna be awesome! Books!! The best part of the entire exercise is the part where I get my new books. The smell is itself is so inspiring...forget about the content!! But yeah...there's a lot to be done before you get the books. Books and the prep material which you have can make or break your GMAT. So one needs to make a wise choice before buying the books. Also these books aren't very cheap so as to say. So when you get them, you better suck up every comma, full stop in that book.

Before you buy...think what you aim for, where do you stand right now, how much time do you have....things like that.

Many guys have been asking these questions again and again to me. So I was thinking of writing a post which tells you all about buying your books. And hey!! I am not endorsing any particular publications or any prep classrooms. Whatever I suggest to you is entirely based on my own experiences and my observations. So I can assure you that this is going to be the most unbiased and trustworthy suggestion you can get. And I am equally sure of the good results and benefits you all can reap. :)

Okay so enough of the disclaimer...now the gyan:D

You want to start your GMAT prep??
Get these books :

1. The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition
2. Kaplan GMAT, 2007 Edition: Premier Program (Kaplan Gmat (Book & CD-Rom))
3. Sentence Correction GMAT Preparation Guide (Manhattan Gmat Prep)

These books are a must. The OG is a must. I have told this several times that doing and redoing the OG is the key. The Kaplan Gmat book will help you know the question type better. It has good theory and will give you a solid background in all the sections. The Sc part is not very good in this book. So you will need a special SC book. No book does it better than the Manhattan SC. My acuracy in SC improved drastically. I cannot imagine my gmat prep without these books. For more info and reviews on these books, you can click on the thumbnails to your left.

You feel you need to work on the verbal/quant section??

Okay! So this is where the supplemental books come into the picture. You can get these books:

1. The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review
2. The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review
3. Kaplan GMAT Verbal Workbook
4. Kaplan GMAT Math Workbook

You can get either the Official guide reviews or Kaplan Workbooks. Both are not recommended. I would personally go for Kaplan. Why because the language in this book is very inspiring and I feel motivated while doing the problems.

The Verbal review really helped me a lot. I didn't get the Math workbook for myself, but one of my students did. And I am happy to say that it helped him. So if you are really weak in maths, you should get one right away. Its not recommended for people who are above average level in maths.

I think I am in the 750+ league!!

Is that so?? Great!! If this is the thing then there's one book I know which is great and a must must buy for people aiming for somewhere around 750...anyone aiming above than 700 should do this book. And I am very sure that this book will improve your score by 20-30 points if you follow this book well. No surprises here!!

Kaplan GMAT 800 2008-2009


Shortcomings in these books: none of the books is good enough for tough maths. Actual GMAT has tougher question than any of the problems in these books when you reach the 50 level. These books do not give you the "gyan". But that you can always get it from here :D Any one book is not sufficient in itself. They all demand rigorous practice.

For the test materials:

GMAT prep...free to download
Kaplan cd...comes with the book
Apart from that paper tests...both power prep ones and kaplan ones.
And if you get timeyou can always help yourself with some tests there on the web.
But I really dont think you need to spend extra bucks for taking practice tests.

For more info and reviews on these books, you can click on the thumbnails to your left.

Sentence Correction Tips for GMAT

1. Look out for : none, each,....pronoun number errors.
2. Verb agreement with subject w.r.t. number, tense, etc.
3. Modifiers...recognise them.
4. Possessive case --it's not the subject!!
5. Dangling Modifiers -- modifiers which have no subject --- wrong!!
6. Almost always Modifiers come immediately after the word they modify!
   
7. IF Vs WHETHER -- If -- hypothetical... whether -- when you have to choose among options
8. Maintain PARALLELISM -- rather than, instead of, to X is to Y, etc.
9. Look out for sentences starting with "to"...maintain parallelism
10. BOTH -- only two things!! and parallel too!!
11. Look out for COMPARISONS --> LIKE, UNLIKE, SIMILAR TO...compare same types (number, type, etc.)
12. Look for countable and non-countable nouns. (amount, sum,etc.)
13. THAT Vs WHICH ...that is restrictive...which is non-restrictive.
14. LIKE Vs AS ... like expresses similarity ... As compare clauses
15. SUCH AS --> to give examples .. such X as x1, x2, x3.
16. JUST AS --> again to compare actions, not nouns.
17. BECAUSE Vs IN THAT ... because shows cause and effect ... in that is mostly correct on the gmat.
18. USUAL Vs IS USUAL ... usual... compared to itself... is usual...when compared to a sub-group it belongs to.
19. NATIVE OF Vs NATIVE TO ... Native of is used for a person...native to is correctfor person/thing..everything else.
20. CAN Vs COULD -- can = ability, opportunity, possibilty. could = assumption, condition, polite request, suggestion
21. WOULD --> a condition in the past, anticipation in the past
22. BECAUSE Vs ON ACCOUNT OF --> former is preferred over the latter. both are correct.
23. ECONOMIC Vs ECONOMICAL --> Economic is economy related... economical is money-saving
24. 'Declining revenues' -- > is plural !!

These pointers only tell you what should get the bells ringing. When you see any of these, you should know that okay I got to look for errors here. For the rest, see the sentence correction post.


Suggested Books : Wren & Martin, Manhattan SC, Kaplan 800, Kaplan Verbal Workbook, Official Guide

My GMAT Story

Yeah I know its totally confusing as to why I am posting this after so long. Funny thing is that I don't have an answer. But I always wanted to post my story here. You can find this post on couple of forums...so why not on my own blog.

I as a person believe that what makes one an achiever is passion. If you love what you are doing, you will do it. While the prepping period, if I was not studying for GMAT then whatever I was doing was a non-gmat thing. That meant frustration for me. That itch...you know...that constant thing going inside you, which said, "hey! You gotta go back...you're not studying". So when I ever get frustrated or depressed, I just told to myself that things will be just fine if I could go back to studies. Enough of gyan...now the actual story.

I have done my engg. from IIT Delhi '05 class. I took CAT two times and failed miserably. Both the times I screwed up the DI section. It's just not my cup of tea. I scored well in maths and english sections.

I was devastated...seeing all my batch mates go to IIMs and some to big companies like McKinsey, BCG, ML was doing me no good. I felt like a loser. It was not that my prep for CAT was not gud enough...but some things are just meant to happen in a certain way...

I can't express in words how miserable I felt when I had to leave IIT with a mediocre IT job. I did some introspection and got some advice from my sister who's in US...she told me something which now I totally believe..."everything happens for a reason". May be I didn't clear CAT because I have something better. She told me to prepare for GMAT and meanwhile get the feel of the industry. That's what i did. I didn't look for switching my job. I came to Pune and since then I am here...

I didn't expect my prep to start right away...so I waited and it was only in June when I started thinking about GMAT. I took out my Kaplan 2004 guide..which I bought in IIT but never read. Initially the prep didn/t get kick started. The reason was that I didn't have a test date.

Lesson learned till now:

Forget about past failures.
Look forward...try options and always have a positive attitude.
Have a dream and be passionate about it.
Lastly get a test date...keep yourself on the toes and focused!!

I took a test date...on 30 Oct..I can never forget that date...I also took a date for TOEFL on 1 Oct.

My actual preparation started in Aug when I took a date. I started looking for resources on the net. I started looking at the posts in PG, beat the GMAT, score top...I downloaded some stuff from eSnips.

Strategising was not a problem for me...I know how to study to make the most out of it...the trick is simple...I don't think/do anything when I study...and the other thing I do is kinda strange but works for me....I make a commitment to myself and all the time I think about how bad I would feel if i didn't keep that. So I thought I would score a 720 in my GMAT. That was an honest goal for me.

In a month I knew what all I lack...what are the areas where I need to push myself more...I was lacking the accuracy..I was making silly mistakes...and If I could cut down my silly mistakes and brush up some old CAT concepts, a 750 is not impossible for me.

I took GMAT prep for the first time and scored 710...I was happy to see the 700 figure...and happiness is good..especially if you've been depressed all the time!!

It gave confidence and I made a master plan for me. The plan was for Sep and Oct...two months....I made a big chart....its basically a calendar with big blocks for each day....
I collected all the Materials....1000 SC, 1000 CR, OG, Kaplan guide, Kaplan 800, Kaplan verbal, Manhattan, all the tests...Kaplan, GMAT Prep, and IMS Cds.

I made a schedule...and fitted all of it in those two months. Each day I would come after office and without having food, start my study sessions...at the end I would cross out the date...like an executioner....The crosses gave me confidence and a sense of satisfaction. It felt gud to see that the days were not just passing by but I was progressing and getting nearer to my goal.

I stuck post-its all over my place with quotes and motivational stuff...each day when I woke up I would know that I would finish this thing today...I knew that GMAT was the only way to redeem myself...I took TOEFL...which helped me get a feel of the computer test...also I learnt a lesson that always reach your centers early.

I was inline with my schedule...and some days I would not keep up with the schedule...which I would make up on weekends...I had scheduled my sessions taking the possibility of over times...

Two weeks before the test I started my practice test Marathon. I had 12 IMS tests. 4 Kaplan tests, 1 GMAT test. I finished all of them in those two weeks. My sequence was...12 IMS tests. were not so good. CR was no way GMAT type...maths was good. helped me with time management in maths but totally screwed up in English...because CRs were very short....unlike actual GMAT where it takes time just to read the CR.

Anyways I moved to Kaplan...I was aware of the notorious reputation of Kaplan tests...so I knew that if I managed a 650 average on all 4 tests....I was good...and i did...

I had kept the GMAT prep for the last...because I knew its the fairest approximation...so i took it two days before...i got a 740. I was sure i would get 740-750 on GMAT....

last two days I prepared for AWA. and revised my SC tips, CR pointers and did some reading...random stuff...

Lesson learnt:

keep the GMAT prep test 2 for last day....and yess memorise the format...its exactly the same....even the colors...that is blue...everything is ditto...except the questions

On the final day:

I went to Mumbai a day before....went to my fellow IITian friend's place (thanks Somu!)...had light chit chat....talked bout good old days when all we had to do was play quake and gossip at nescafe....

woke up early...reached the center early...the guard didn't allow me in before time...finally the hour arrived...went in...did some formalities...and entered the test room.....

I know why..but I was totally relaxed...I thought to myself, "Mukul this is your chance buddy...U had taken so many tests and scored well...no reason why you would screw up today...U r going to make it big" and then I thought of my parents and how happy they would be...and started off...

paced through the usual yada lada...and arrived at the AWA section...was good...ten there was the optional break after one hr of AWA...which I didn't take!! should have taken tho...but I was too excited...

I started getting tough problems after 5-6 question..meant i was doing good...got stuck in a question....my IITian ego was not letting me go off the question...but after some time i had to guess and move forward..

Lesson learnt...let go off the question after an intelligent guess..

Overall i felt my Quants section was good...more than 50 I thought...

then took a break....verbal....bold face CR in the 6th quesn...was happy...okkk i am doing good...now time to concentrate and get this one rite at any cost...I guess i did it correctly....after that I don't know why...but I thought questions were easy...i got sad...but didn't let myself be bothered...I finished the verbal well before time....

and thennnnnnnnnnnnnnn..................i was so excited...i just paced through the screens...atleast 10 screens....then it said...show scores???

Hell yesssssss!! I expected a 740 to be honest....

it said 770 !! I raised my hands and literally jumped up....I came out of the room...and the invigilator looked at my score sheet and gave a big smile...

I was ecstatic....guys I am so much more relieved and confident now...
I learnt a lot from my preparations....and I thought I wud write all of it to help you guys....

Hope it helps....

ATB...if I can do it...so can you...