Kaplan: GMAT Math Workbook, 6th edition

Product Description

Targeted review of the math concepts students need to know
Hundreds of exercises to help readers assess their current skill level and focus study efforts, as well as explanations and practice for all the question types in the GMAT's quantitative section
Detailed answer explanations
Kaplan's proven score-raising strategies

Customer Reviews

"4 stars" - Surprisingly useful / by Jeff Sackmann, Author of "Total GMAT Math" and gmathacks.com

For years, Kaplan produced a math workbook that covered both GRE and GMAT material, which was an endless source of confusion for students. While those two tests have a lot of similarities, the question types and difficulty levels merited separate books, and Kaplan has finally provided that.

I hadn't seen this book before this week (it was published just this month) and I was impressed. It's not designed for the very high scorer, though I've worked with very few students who wouldn't benefit from it. The best aspects of this book are the content drills--problem sets that aren't GMAT-style questions, but ensure that you know the basics, such as dividing fractions and manipulating exponents.

There isn't a great deal of helpful explanatory material, but the math tutorials are quite a bit better than the equivalent chapters in The Official Guide for GMAT Math Review. If you're at a very remedial level in math, you probably need a tutor and/or a couple friendly algebra and geometry books, but if you remember the basics, this volume should be enough to get you up to speed.

Best of all, there's more practice in this book than just about any other GMAT resource. With about 600 questions, it'll quickly show you where your strengths and weaknesses lie. I strongly recommend this book for anyone currently scoring a 550 or less, or anyone just starting out who is uncomfortable with the GMAT Math they've seen so far.

"3 stars" - give this book a B or B- / By Todd Schechter

I've started studying for the GMAT last weekend and wanted one of the first things I did to be Math review. Why? I didn't want to take a full length diagnostic when I knew the results would be skewed by the fact that I hadn't looked at math problems in almost 10 years.

After a quick search, and a little online research I selected the Kaplan GMAT Math Workbook 6th edition, because it had a good mix of what I was looking for:

1. Fairly comprehensive review of the basic math concepts needed for the GMAT
2. Structure of the book allows you to work from start to finish, building on previous skills learned
3. Sections devoted to Word problem and data sufficiency questions
4. Large number of questions to practice on

After barreling through it, in one week, I would give this book a B or B-.

It did what I needed it to do. I was not gravely disappointed and I was not amazed. Some things to note:

* There were some holes in the information covered. Not the end of the world, you can find the information it lacks and you need elsewhere... online, etc.
* The book has answers and explanations for the questions on the section tests but only has answers not explanations for the section exercises which seemed like a silly omission to me for math review workbook.
* The book has a few errors. Without noticing or recognizing these in advance could throw off someone working through the book. [see below**]

Not that I have worked with any other comparable book to weigh it against but in summary the Kaplan GMAT Math Workbook, Sixth Edition gave me enough of a review of the material and enough experience with the question formats that I feel confident to take quantitative practice tests and diagnostics to start my regular study schedule.

Overall the Kaplan GMAT Math Workbook is worth getting, particularly if you feel like you haven't done math in ten years and are looking to reestablish a good baseline. Having said that if you're looking for a comprehensive Quant solution to score over a 750, this probably won't be it.

**if you decide to get the Kaplan GMAT Math Workbook, Sixth Edition here are the errors to look out for:

* p. 22, Q9 - the fraction 2/4 in the question is supposed to be 2/5 like in the answers and solutions but it's 2/4
* p. 105, Answer/Explanation 14 - in the first set of equations its supposed to say 27n = 94 to match the question, it doesn't
* p. 117, Q17 - there are two "when"s in the second sentence.
* p. 259, Q17 - Diane find that... >>> should be >>> Diane finds that [&] "more cans of" is repeated twice in a row.
* p. 332 Answer/Explanation 24 - The answer/explanation listed here is not for the listed Q24 on p. 320 in the Data Sufficiency Test One. There is no answer or explanation for the original Q24 on p. 320 anywhere I can find in the book. This Answer/Explanation on p. 332 appears to go with Q24 on p. 324 from Data Sufficiency Test Two however that question already has an answer. [see note below++]

++Note: This Q24 from Data Sufficiency Test Two already has an answer on p. 340. This answer does not agree with the misplaced answer on p. 332 that relates to the same question. In other words, this book contains no answer/explanation to Q24 from p. 320, and gives two different answers/explanations for Q24 on p. 324

If anyone knows the correct answer/explanation for Q 24 on either Data Sufficiency Test One or 2, please post it here in reply.

"4 stars" - good but... / By E. Park

This is a good book for reviewing and practicing math skills.
but be aware: it is EXACTLY -- chapter by chapter, problem by problem -- the same as Kaplan's GRE Math Workbook.

"5 stars" - Great Supplement / By Katie Louis "KTL"

I think this book is a great supplement to the Official GMAT Review. While the Official GMAT Review provides loads of practice questions, this book does a better job of explaining the math concepts that will be tested on the GMAT. This is especially helpful as the GMAT tests math concepts that most of us haven't reviewed since high school.

I would recommend this book, especially if you're someone who is not typically satisfied by the short answers and explanations to math questions that most review books contain.

"5 stars" - GMAT study guide / By Sarah Gibson "Sarah"

The book walks you through all the problems which I find very helpful. I definitely recommend!

"3 stars" Good basics review, far too many errors / By mark

This book is helpful, but chock full of errors, far more than the "Here are the errors" list posted by one of the other reviewers. If you buy the book you will find that several of the multiple choice practice and review problems don't have an answer that fits. Don't waste your time, flip to the answer and you can quickly deduce where the error in the book is.