The GMAT Advantage with Professor Dave

Rating:
Summary: Preparing for the GAMT
Review: After many years in the workforce, I decided to pursue a graduate degree. The most significant hurdle was the GMAT. Writing and language are strengths for me, but for the past 18 years, I've let computers take care of quantitative issues. So, in short order I had to become reacquainted with math concepts long forgotten, and learn how to take a CAT exam and score reasonably well. All of my research led me to one conclusion: it takes more than one study guide to adequately prepare for the GMAT. The course I followed, with an evaluation of each guide, is outlined in the following paragraphs.

For my math review, I selected Peterson's Math Review for GRE, GMAT, and MCAT, 2nd edition. There have been some comments about errors in previous editions, but I found this guide quite helpful, and an excellent refresher on math topics I have not seen in years, but need to know for the GMAT. 4 out of 5.

The GMAT Advantage with Professor Dave was selected because of its readability and the questions. The material is challenging, and the more difficult questions in each category provide a good idea of the difficult questions faced on the GMAT. The verbal chapters are very strong and have excellent examples. The math problems are also very good, but the text assumes that the reader already is familiar with most math topics. This is why I recommend Peterson's Math Review to compliment this guide. Overall 4 out of 5, with a solid 5 for the verbal sections.

The Official Guide for GMAT is the best resource for practice questions. 1400 questions are in this guide, and the last 1/3 in each section represent some difficult concepts that will be tested. This book gets the reader prepared for the real questions that will be seen on the exam. In addition, the question writers provide excellent explanations for the solutions, and reveal some elegantly simple ways to solve math problems that at first appear to be very labor intensive. 4 out of 5. (Also, be sure to take the 2 free CAT tests available online from GMAC. These prepare the user well for the GMAT experience.)

Finally, I also used the Princeton Review Crash Course for GMAT. I used this as a final review and to gain some additional pointers and time savers. While brief, this book does provide excellent quick reference tips for all question types that will be seen on the test. The idiom list and formulas are worth the price alone. 4 out of 5.

I prepared over an 8 week period, with at least 1 hour of review per day, and more often it was 2 to 4 hours. Regular, consistent preparation, using different references that fit your style of learning will prepare you for this rigorous test. Prepare thoroughly with relentless repetition, and take the test. After 18 years out of school, I scored a 690.

Good luck.

Rating:
Summary: unique and comprehensive-just as advertised
Review: I followed the GMAT Advantage study plan closely: Brushed up with math and grammar using the CD ROM tutorials, then worked my tail off during the book-based classroom presentations, then back to the CD ROM for more practice. Just a ton of material, but really well organized.

Throughout the book, the graphics of this old professor, the quotes, and the humor made me, well, almost enjoy the review.

The strategies for the verbal critical reasoning questions allowed me to see inside the test makers mind. Very helpful. Also the insights for the verbal sentence correction grammar questions were the best help for me as my grammar skills needed help. I'm pretty strong in math so I usually worked the problems that were marked most difficult. This saved me a lot of time.

You have to work hard with this book but it was worth it. Thanks. Great review for the money.

Rating:
Summary: The BEST GMAT preparation CD-ROM available!
Review: I only had access to the CD ROM of The GMAT Advantage with Professor Dave, but I found it to be extremely helpful. The three math interactive tutorials were most useful. They covered every topic on the GMAT math section and presented definitions, examples, strategies, and sample exam-like questions for study.
The Practice Sets went into great depth especially for the Data Sufficiency problems where I have the most trouble. It seemed like there were 400 or so of these problems, each one exam level and well explained.
I loved the voice tracks. They contained a lot of pertinent information about choosing a Business School, the exam, and careers in business, (of course the job situation is not too good right now which is why going to grad school now is a good idea.)
The full-length exam is a excellent test. It looks just like the exams on the MBA website. Very good replication and helpful explanations.

Rating:
Summary: best deal around
Review: I received an advance copy of The GMAT Advantage from one of my professors. Just in time! I had been considering one of the high-priced courses. This book is structured like a course with lectures and practice exams. Easy to follow and considerably cheaper. This book is about strategies, especially in math. There are five or six basic strategies depending on the question. Professor Dave shows you which strategy to choose which is the most important first step. Very clean, clear presentations of the entire math area. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm sure what I learned will carry over to the test. I now feel very confident. What a bargain!

Rating:
Summary: A very thorough GMAT review
Review: I've been researching GMAT prep books and courses for awhile and nothing
that I've run across comes close to being as helpful and on target. The GMAT
Advantage with Professor Dave is strategy oriented and includes tutorials
and hundreds of practice questions (on the CD ROM). Students at any level of
expertise with GMAT subjects will benefit enormously. I know I did, and I
wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone preparing for the GMAT!

Rating:
Summary: This book will raise your score
Review: If you've read my other reviews, you'll see that test preparation is a significant part of my life. After comparing nearly every GMAT book on the market, this relatively new entry is the unequivocal winner. The problems are the most GMAT-like of any available, and the explanations strike the perfect balance between traditional methods and state-of-the-art tricks specific to conquering the GMAT. The CD-ROM not only contains a very accurate computer adaptive exam, but also lessons and drills which reinforce the material presented in the book. We use this book in our Gorilla Test Prep GMAT course, and students and instructors alike have found it to excel in every way.

Rating:
Summary: excellent, especially for math
Review: Math freaks me out. As a Sociology major I took only one very easy statistics class. I hadn't seen a triangle since high school. I'm not worried about the verbal questions of the GMAT. I'm maxing those without a problem. It's Algebra and Geometry that make me nauseous.

In the GMAT Advantage they give a variety of useful strategies, then show you how to solve almost every problem by a common sense method. The questions in the book are similar to those in the GMAT Official Guide so I know my review is on the mark. One thing: Why doesn't the GMAT Official Guide offer multiple strategies and understandable shortcuts?

I'm only half through with my review (scheduled to take the GMAT in May) but already I'm starting to feel comfortable with the math.

The data sufficiency stuff on the exam is weird. Who came up with this kind of question? The best help for these questions are on the GMAT Advantage CD ROM. You just have to do a bunch of these to really understand them. The CD ROM categorizes these by certain characteristics which is extremely helpful. Then the author provides a specific strategy for each different question.

The interactive tutorials are great. I keep referring back to them. They gave me the basics (which I had forgotten) in a very imaginative way-each problem is "graded" as to difficulty to help you understand why you are missing certain types of questions. And there are more challenging, interactive exercises.

I'm looking forward to getting over the exam hurdle. Thanks GMAT Advantage.

Rating:
Summary: Do not get this book
Review: This book is a disappointment. There is not an actual review of the subject but a bunch of exercises. If you do not remember or struggle with math, do not get this book.

Rating:
Summary: The best of GMAT test prep
Review: This is the bible for GMAT prep. Without question, this book has the most extensive coverage imaginable. I packed the CD around--since it is cross platform I could use it at work on the Mac. The depth of problem analysis is astounding. I didn't realize there were 8-9 different types of questions in Data Sufficiiency. My problem is I didn't have a clue about how to attack these. The strategies in the book were very useful and helped me guess intelligently when I was stumped. My scores went up dramatically.
The verbal (grammar) tutorial is superb. It's a great review for someone like me who hasn't studied grammar since grade school. In the end it's been invaluable in working out the sentence correction problems.
The reading comp section is hardest for me and I take too much time on these questions. The book had insights, exercises, and sample passages that really helped my pacing problem.
Follow the study plan in the book and be prepared to put in 4-5 weeks before the exam. Get other CDs and take more exams. Download the PowerPrep and take those exams. I'm averaging close to 630 so I am ready!

Rating:
Summary: excellent review
Review: This was the first book I picked up. I didn't know what to expect but I had
heard of the author from friends. I was a little intimidated by the exam but
this book was just what I needed to ease me into a study mode. The style is friendly and inviting, but don't be fooled by the classroom style, levity, and graphics. The material is very challenging academic stuff.

The professor is friendly and polite, then challenges you with some very
difficult math problems. But he shows you how to categorize problems and several techniques to use. It really opened my eyes to math problem solving. I must have worked 300 problems. This was the most help. The math tutorials were excellent. There is a section in the book on new types of math problems that have appeared on the most recent exams. I'm not sure how they got this information but it shows they do their homework.

Be ready to work hard. There are four 7-8 hour classes in the book (plus
extensive homework) but it took me a lot longer than eight hours per class because I read every explanation carefully.

They rated every question in the book as to easy, medium, or difficult. I
didn't get this at first but later I realized recognizing harder questions
indicated I needed more time with these. This little tip made me aware of timing which has always been a problem for me. My pacing improved markedly.

The critical reasoning questions were abundant in the book, broken into
categories which made them easier to understand. Many of these questions were related to business (with some business terminology) that can be tough for Liberal Arts majors.

All in all, I strongly endorse this book and the Official Guide which is another great study guide, but without the pictures.

N. Luett, a student from Arizona