The GMAT Advantage

By David Scalise

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 8122415806
• ISBN13: 9788122415803
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: New Age International Publisher
• Weight: 2.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.5" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

excellent 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   

The best of GMAT test prep

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!

excellent, especially for math

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.

unique and comprehensive-just as advertised

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.

The BEST GMAT preparation CD-ROM available!

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.