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Experts-need info on books selection

by RBBmba@2014 » Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:43 am
I'm bit confused about which book to go after for solving 700+ SC questions, between Veritas Prep's SC1 and SC2...? Can you please let me know that between your SC1 and SC2 what's the basic difference ?
Also any idea-to what percentage the questions in these two books(SC1 and SC2.) and those in the Veritas prep Quiz Bank are same?

It would be great if you shed some light on Veritas' Algebra & Arithmetic book...how many Questions(700+),any special strategies etc.!
Which one is better and worth to own-Algebra or Arithmetic book in your opinion?

P.S: I already own MGMAT's number properties,4th Edn. and Word Problems GMAT Strategy Guide, 5th Edn and MGMAT SC,4th Edn.

Experts-would highly appreciate if you please come up with your feedback.
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by bpolley00 » Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:25 am
Debayan222,

While I am no expert, I believe that the consensus online is generally to stick to the OG and Manhattan GMAT books. I would also recommend you google Thursdays with Ron and take detailed notes. I have never actually read the veritas Prep Books; however, I think the Manhattan SC is quite thorough. In general, it would also be wise to look at some debriefs of people who have gotten a 700+ plus and consider their advice.

-BP
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by Tommy Wallach » Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:38 pm
Hey Guys,

Here's what I know. We're a great company. Veritas is a great company. Kaplan is a great company. Obviously, I know our books very well, and I don't know the others half as well. But I have faith that any serious, dedicated student will be able to get what they need from the books of any reputable company.

The one thing I will say for sure is this: I would not mix and match books. Stick with one company's books and the OGs. That should be MORE than enough for anyone. And I do mean MORE than enough; all of the major companies are in a kind of war of increased content. In the past few years, my company has added the Foundations of Math book and the Foundations of Verbal book and the Advanced Math book, but people were scoring really well and seeing improvement back before we had any of those. My point? You do NOT need any more books than the OGs and the books of one company.

You might be thinking: "But I need more practice!"

No you don't.

If you're looking for more to do, go through the entire OG again. Top to bottom. Or go through the Veritas/Manhattan/Kaplan books you already have again. If you get into another company's books, you're just going to get confused between the differences in terminology, methodology, and MOST importantly, categorization.

Doing well on the GMAT involves being really good at categorizing questions. But the different companies have different names for these categories, and sometimes even different opinions for what kind of question goes in what category. This will be deeply confusing in the long run.

So that's my opinion. Remember it's not about quantity of questions studied, but the quality of your understanding. Good luck in your studies!

-t
Tommy Wallach, Company Expert
ManhattanGMAT

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by vomhorizon » Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:29 am
I'm bit confused about which book to go after for solving 700+ SC questions, between Veritas Prep's SC1 and SC2...? Can you please let me know that between your SC1 and SC2 what's the basic difference ?
Also any idea-to what percentage the questions in these two books(SC1 and SC2.) and those in the Veritas prep Quiz Bank are same?

It would be great if you shed some light on Veritas' Algebra & Arithmetic book...how many Questions(700+),any special strategies etc.!
Which one is better and worth to own-Algebra or Arithmetic book in your opinion?

P.S: I already own MGMAT's number properties,4th Edn. and Word Problems GMAT Strategy Guide, 5th Edn and MGMAT SC,4th Edn.

Experts-would highly appreciate if you please come up with your feedback.
I do not think one really needs to buy additional books for practice (verbal) other then perhaps for RC. I would stick to either VP or MGMAT (as both SC books are highly rated) for strategy and then hit the two OG's ( OG Verbal and OG12/13). 2-300 odd questions should cover pretty much all the concepts tested. If you find you need more practice you have the option of purchasing the GMAT Pack 1 to get access to more recent SC questions along with explanation (these are in addition to the practice questions that come with the free GMAT PREP Software).. If you need some more questions, you can consult this forum or gmatclub for free questions that are usually accompanied by expert explanations. I would do the same with CR - where in addition you can download certain free LSAT tests if you want a few dozen more CR questions to practice. If you do the OG's properly you should not feel the need to practice more questions ( until you do your CAT's where you will get around 15 good quality SC questions similar to the GMAT per CAT) so if you think you are struggling with SC questions that you have allready covered then you should re do your strategy guides instead of practicing more questions. You can always take a practice CAT to see where you stand in each section.

Gmat Verbal is about "thinking" and "reasoning" , with SC you need to learn and sufficiently practice certain set rules (even a smaller group if you look at the type of problems which show up on the test the most) with CR and RC you basically need to learn to THINK and analyze the problem. From my expereince of learning the GMAT and having taken various prep CAT's (GMAT PREP, MGMAT, VP) - one does not need to practice hundreds of questions to be good in verbal, but needs to understand the various categories of questions tested, and have one's mind tuned in for the type of question that is on the screen. So it is more about unlocking the thinking ability in one's brain, and then learning strategy for short cuts, timing, and avoiding common mistakes.
"When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful." - Eric Thomas
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