Rating: 
Summary: Get Kaplan & ETS books
Review: Although some part of verbal & math section in the book is quite helpful, the GMAT test from the CD is too easy, doesn't reflect a real question in the test.Get Kaplan & ETS test-prep materials, allow 2-3 months for intense study, you will get a good results. Score above 650 is not impossible, if you study hard from this two books.
Rating: 
Summary: Makes Good Toilet Paper
Review: Although this book delves deeply into the twisted psyche of the GMAT test writers, it is little more than a supplement for Kaplan's GMAT Review. I found the abundance of typographical and math errors to be rather confusing. Also, several example questions lack explainations, often leading me to question the accuracy of the selected answers. Most of all, after reading the Kaplan book, I thought this book was rather stale and trite, and, aside from the abundant amount of paper contained within, a waste of money. My suggestion is to definitely buy the book by Kaplan, and then, if you feel like you need extra practice, download the practices from GMAC and scour the internet for free tests, because my "Princeton Review" has just become 432 pages of toilet friendly recyclable paper.
Rating:
Summary: NOT SO GREAT
Review: Despite some negative reviews that this book has received, Cracking the GMAT works. Yes, it does break down the test writers mindset and it shows you how you can avoid being Joe Bloggs, or the typical test taker. For instance, one tip the book states, "on difficult math problems, Joe Bloggs is always attracted to easy solutions that can be found in one step." It may seem obvious but that was my mentality exactly. My only criticism is that there are not many problem sets to work through. I crunched all the problem sets they had and I was still hungry for more. I can tell you from experience that this book was better than the $1000+ Kaplan prep course I took. Save your money, buy a good prep book, and force yourself to sit and crunch numbers. That is the only way you will learn. The classes rely on your fear of failure to get you enrolled! Don't do it!
Rating: 
Summary: Much better than Kaplan
Review: I bought 5 books for my GMAT preparation and unfortunately saved the Princeton Review for later in my review process. I started with the Kaplan books and although I found them to be a good review of the basics, that's about all I thought they were useful for. Now, the book isn't without errors. The CD that comes with offers practice tests and drills. The Reading Comprehension questions in the verbal portion of the practice tests are a bit messed up. YOu will sometimes get only 1 question per 350 word reading passage, then another passage will appear, followed by only one question- overall, you end up spending an enormous amount of time reading 6 or 7 different passages. The plus side is that once you have read them you are ready for all the other practice tests b/c they apparently use the same 7 or so passages for all the tests. However, with the exception of RC sections, I believe this book to be one of the better ones and the practice questions are similar to those on the real test, which is not the case with Kaplan. IN fact, the day before I took my test I took a Kaplan practice test since I had already completed all the Princeton tests and the Official GMAT Review tests. I scored a 490, which was not only 150 points below my last score, it was the lowest score I had ever gotten. I dismissed the score since I had already come to terms with the fact that Kaplan's questions and style were not a real representation of the GMAT. Anyway, the next day I got a 650 on my test, which I was happy with. I noticed that the majority of the GMAT book reviews are written by those who are trying for a 750 or something close to that, so I just wanted to share my experience, since I bet the majority of people applying to MBA programs are not looking to get a 750. My suggestion is to take as many practice test as you can and get a few different books, but please make the Princeton Review one of them.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best GMAT Books
Review: I bought the prior and this editions of the GMAT book and both exceeded my expectations. The tests are computer based and resemble the actual GMAT questions, although, they are slightly easier compared to the actual. However, the practice tests are less difficult only than the Kaplan CD based tests which makes the book and the accompanying CD a must have if a great GMAT score is your top priority.
Rating:
Summary: Reality check !
Review: I used this book inconjunction with the Official Gmat guide. My scores improved with each of the 4 cd tests included. My offical gmat score coincidentally was the average of the four test I did. The techniques work well , especially if they are backed up with alot of Prayer!.
Rating:
Summary: Princeton Review scores again
Review: I've never written a review before, but felt compelled after taking a test on the Princeton Review CD. This CD is riddled with errors and is as a whole, poorly designed. Let me explain: 1. The CD only contains the tests. Not by itself a flaw, but compared to Kaplan it's really lacking. Not to mention the fact that the overall design is poor. (It's hard to use with no instructions) 2. In the verbal section, it randomly switched among Reading Comprehension passages. It would have one question from one passage and then jump to another. Later, it would return to an old passage. This is NOT how the real test behaves. It asks you all of the questions from a particular passage and then moves on. 3. SOME OF THE ANSWERS ARE WRONG! I did poorly in the math section so I started to review the section. Many of the questions I answered were correct, but the program "thought" another answer was correct. (I did confirm this with two other people to make sure I wasn't crazy). 4. THERE ARE NO EXPLANATIONS. How can you have a bank of problems without explanations? Well, you can if you're the Princeton Review. But it's not going to help you if you'd like to actually know WHY you got a question wrong. What a waste of money. I expect to throw this in the garbage, but before I did, I needed to vent some of my anger. Thanks for listening/reading. By the way. The Kaplan book is excellent. And you don't need the Princeton strategies unless you are a sub-par student. The strategies don't assist those looking for 600+ and can actually harm those looking to go 700+.
Rating:
Summary: Decent book that does the job
Review: Princeton Review's Cracking the GMAT 2002 teaches you the GMAT test writer's thinking through Mr. Joe Bloggs. While there are several Joe Bloggs out there who would fall into the test makers' traps, a careful study of the tricks will lead you away from those GMAT landmines. All the areas are covered adequately. What is not covered, though, is an in-depth study of math or grammar. The book itself is pretty sparse on the practice questions - often asking that practice for each type of question be supplemented by the Official GMAT Guide. However, if you have the CD-Rom version of the book, which I highly recommend, then you are not short of practice. The questions are very representative of GMAT, varying in difficulty, although, there are really few questions that fall into the "really tough" bracket. What is contained in the CD-Rom is a huge set of practice questions along with 4 full-length CATs. The most IMPRESSIVE feature, that is not provided in any other CD-ROMs (such as from Kaplan), is the fact that the entire question pool from which the CATs are generated becomes available after you attempt all four CATs. This gives you access to well over 300+ sentence correction questions, 450+ data sufficiency questions, 650+ problem solving questions, 200+ critical reasoning questions and 200+ reading comprehension questions. Now that is what I call practice!!!
Rating:
Summary: BUY THIS BOOK if you're taking the GMAT
Review: Thank God for this book. I also bought the Kaplan book (without the CD-rom) and thought it was pretty fair. But then I went through the Princeton Review book and I realized how poor the Kaplan book actually was. The Princeton Review book gives you great test-taking tips/strategies and made me feel MUCH better prepared than the Kaplan book made me feel. Also, the 5 tests that Princeton Review gives you on the CD were very helpful. The tests analyze how well you do for each question type and lets you know on average how long you were spending on each question. Since timing is key for the GMAT, this information was extremely helpful in pacing during the actual test. If you're only going to get one book, get this book NOW! I wouldn't waste your time getting the Kaplan book. Also make sure you take the practice tests that GMAC gives out for free (they will send you a free CD-rom when you register for the GMAT, or you can download the PowerPrep software at their website for free). You should definitely take the real thing since as good as the Princeton Review software was, these are NOT the real questions. Some of the Princeton Review questions were easier than the real questions and vice versa (some of the real GMAT questions were easier than the Princeton Review ones).... They had great math review on the site (also do a search on Google for "Gmat" - this turned up a lot of good sites that offer free diagnostic tests online). It is critical that you take as many computer tests before taking the real thing. I had never taken a computer-based test and it was very different from the paper tests I've done before. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: AVOID this book, Get Kaplan, Fifth Edition (w/CD-ROM)
Review: The Kaplan Fifth Edition prep book comes with a CD-ROM with interactive multimedia presentations on how to increase your chances of doing a GREAT job on the GMAT. The book is very good for those who learn best through that medium. I found Kaplan's CD-ROM lessons to be excellent reviews of each type of question you'll find in the Quantitative, Verbal, and essay sections. Plus -- and this is the real value -- there are dozens of practice tests in addition to 4 complete practice computer-adaptive tests that simulate the GMAT's tests. You can keep track of all of your scores on these practice tests, and with graphs you can visualize the progress you make as you practice. Contrast this with this Princeton Review book w/CD-ROM. The book has ridiculous, self-defeating strategies. Plus, the quality of writing and explanations are much lower in the Princeton Review book than in the Kaplan book. The CD-ROM only has a smattering of practice tests and 4 full-length tests. Buyer beware: The Princeton Review CD-ROM is sparse and contains NO reviews or lessons, whereas the Kaplan CD-ROM is excellent and a wonderful piece of highly produced interactive, educational multimedia. Avoid the Princeton Review if you can get your hands on this Kaplan GMAT book/CD-ROM! I only had 1 week with this Kaplan book, but my score increased by 160 points in one week of practice and review. This was AFTER I had pored over the meager Princeton Review book. Don't make my mistake. Get Kaplan. [Note: I originally wanted to avoid Kaplan because I had a bias against this huge test prep company, but when I saw their book I realized that they quite simply had the superior product. (I'm writing this immediately after returning from the test center and you should know that this book prepared me excellently for the test! I scored higher than I thought possible.)]
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