The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review

From the Publisher
The only official verbal review for the GMAT from the creators of the test
Anyone preparing for the Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT) knows it's important to study with the experts. With The Official GMAT Verbal Review you'll get questions, answers, and explanations straight from the source. The only official verbal review for the GMAT Exam, this book targets your study and helps you improve your verbal skills by focusing on your ability to read and comprehend written material, to reason and evaluate arguments, and to correct written material to conform to standard English. Inside, you'll find

• 300 actual questions from past GMAT tests
• Sections on Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, Sentence Correction, and Analytical Writing Assessment
• Questions organized in order of difficulty to save study time

The Graduate Management Admission Council certifies all content so you can trust that you're getting expert guidance as you prepare for the GMAT Exam.

The Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC) is the association of leading graduate business schools around the world. GMAC's mission is to meet the needs of business schools and students through a wide array of products, services, and programs. It is the owner and administrator of the Graduate Management Admissions Test® (GMAT), the first and only standardized test specifically designed for graduate business and management programs. Available in nearly 100 countries, it is the global standard for entry to the MBA degree course.

"4 stars" - Excellent Supplement to the Official Guide / by Jeff Sackmann, Author of "Total GMAT Math" and gmathacks.com

There isn't much in this book to distinguish it from the verbal portion of The Official Guide for GMAT Review, but that's ok: if there's one thing GMAT students need, it's practice questions that look and feel just like the ones on the test. While the questions in the Quantitative Review book are somewhat easier than in the Official Guide, that isn't the case (to the same degree, anyway) with the verbal, so I can recommend this to just about anybody.

Further, the difference between authentic questions and inauthentic ones (i.e., those generated by writers at test-prep companies) is much greater in verbal material than in math. I should know: I've written hundreds of practice verbal questions, and matching the voice, structure, and objectives of the original is a daunting task. Some inauthentic practice materials are better than others, but you should take advantage of all the "real" questions that the testmaker has made available.

"4 stars" - A Good Source of Additional Questions / by Vanessa Maserati

The difficulty level of the questions in this book is about the same as that of the Official Guide for GMAT Review. I recommend this book to people who wish to have more practice. I think two of the questions in this book can be found in the official guide as well. But it's only 2 out of 300 questions. It shouldn't be a big deal.

"4 stars" - good practice/ by Chrissie Padilla

I have worked through most of the guides out there and the OG is one of my favorites. I believe their verbal explanations are only OK.Therefore if you are looking for detailed explanations on solutions this may not be worth your money as you will get the same level of detail found in the OG 11th edition main book. I liked this book because it gives you 100 questions to practice in each section CR/RC/SC. As anyone studying for GMAT knows the more practice the better! my only wish is that they would rank the questions so you know what is "easy vs. hard." GOOD value if you need more material to practice with.

"5 stars" - More of what is in the General Review Guide - but useful / by Michael Bond

While I did not compare this with other guide books, like some reviewers have, I did use it to prepare for the GMAT. There are tons of questions, their answers and explanations for the answers. There is also a good section on how to approach the analytical writing section of the GMAT.

If - again for some insane reason - I were to have to take the GMAT again, I would buy this book again.

PS: I scored 90% on the verbal and 6 on the writing (hazaa!)

"5 stars" - Required reading / By Brett W. Johnson "Ansuz"

If you are serious about taking the Gmat and getting a good score, you absolutely must buy this book along with the other two official supplements. Between the three books, you will have access to over 1,000 problems that have been retired from the Gmat and are 100% representative of what you are going to see come test day.

My scores:

Powerprep 1 (Official software) - 700 - no studying
Princeton 1 - 630
Kaplan 1 - 560
Kaplan 2 - 600
Kaplan 3 - 580
Powerprep 2 - 730
Actual Gmat - 750

I am 100% certain that using all three books is what raised my score those last 50 points. On test day I was the only one at the center and I got to know the receptionist pretty well. She told me that she sees hundreds of these scores a year and the ones who get 700+ all have one thing in common - they have all done every problem in all three books.

My advice: spend the money on all three. Work every problem, noting which ones are hard and which you get wrong. When you are done, go back and work the hard/incorrect problems again. Then, when you are done, start over from page one. You effort will be rewarded on test day.

"5 stars" - Must Have Book For GMAT Preparation / By SK -PEACE