Which Package of books to buy for GMAT?

[ahmeda931]

Hi,

I am looking to buy prep books for GMAT test. I found that many people over the internet is recommending Manhattan books.

But I want to clear something. Which package should I buy?

Is the Strategy and Advance prep books are in the complete Prep guide package?

I mean, do I need to buy any other books if I will buy the complete guide?

Appreciate your explanation.
Thanks,
Ahmed

[StaceyKoprince]

I recommend that everyone study from the Official Guide books (the books published by the people who make the real exam). There are 3 and, collectively, they have something like 1,500 practice problems.

Our main book set includes 10 Strategy Guides:
3 books for Verbal (1 each for SC, RC, and CR)
5 books for Quant (algebra, number properties, geometry, word problems, and fractions, decimals, and percents)
1 book for IR / essay
1 book for overall study and timing strategies (and other strategies)

There are also two Foundations books (one for quant and one for verbal) for people who need to build up their foundational skills before moving to the main Strategy Guides. Generally, if you're scoring above the 50th percentile in a section, you're probably okay to start with the main strategy guides. If not, then you may want to start with Foundations of Math and/or Foundations of Verbal.

We also have an Advanced Quant math book that assumes that you have mastered all of the information in the 5 main strategy guides. Don't use that one until you really have mastered the main books. (And you only need this book if you're at around the 47 level on quant and are trying to push up to 50 or 51.)

These are sold in various bundles, so you'd just want to figure out which ones you think you're likely to need and then find the bundle that has those books.

If you haven't taken a practice CAT yet, you can take a free one on our website. After you buy a book, you'll have access to the full set of 6 CATs.

When are you planning to start studying? We are publishing new versions of the 10 main books on December 2nd, just FYI.

[samwong]

Hi Stacey,

Can you please elaborate on the difference between the 5th edition MGMAT books and the new version that is coming in December? Thank you.

[StaceyKoprince]

Sure!

Quant:
Each of the 5 quant guides contains between 1 and 4 new strategy chapters on topics such as Choosing Smart Numbers, Testing Cases, Working Backwards, and so on.

Verbal:
The SC book has an expanded opening chapter that talks about process and strategies for getting through an SC problem efficiently. The Subject-Verb Agreement chapter has also been expanded quite a bit to include Sentence Structure (which is more commonly tested on the GMAT now). All of the chapters in general have been overhauled.

The RC book has been completely re-written. It is the most-changed of all of the books - and I'm really excited about it. :)

The CR book is the least-changed of the books. We have reorganized a little bit, but the main strategies are still the same.

IR / Essay: this book has also been completely rewritten, particularly the IR chapters.

Roadmap: this book has been updated in various places but is still fairly close to the 5th edition version.