Can anyone review "Doing Grammar"

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Can anyone review "Doing Grammar"

by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:15 am
I have seen it referenced multiple times. Can anyone that has gone through explain the pros and cons. Also, how long did it take you to go through it. Thanks in advance.
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by sars72 » Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:44 am
Sorry for the delay. I do not have a personal copy of the book, but i had borrowed it for a couple of days from a friend of mine. I didn't manage to cover much, but the book is a must if you are looking to truly MASTER the GMAT. You can score 720-740 without the book, but I feel the book could make the difference between a 720 and say, a 770.

Allow me to quote from one of my favourite beat-the-gmat posts:
manuka wrote:Sentence Correction: Doing Grammar, by Max Morenberg, and MGMAT. I could not have used one without the other. The first one taught me grammar like nothing I have seen before, the second how to apply that knowledge on the gmat. Using only MGMAT might leave you vulnerable at the highest level, where they seem to consciously pick on tricks and common rules (I got one question like this, where you are tempted based on a basic rule, but where some overriding principle lets you go with a better choice). But don't get me wrong, MGMAT is a great source too. In fact, using only the grammar book doesn't give you the sharpness to catch errors that you get from MGMAT. I used OG 12 and the purple verbal book for question practice. Key to good verbal is getting SC down to about 1min per question so you can spend the additional time on CR and potentially RC. If you really learn your grammar, this is probably the easiest part of the test.
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:56 am
Thanks so much for this. This was exactly what I was looking for.
sars72 wrote:Sorry for the delay. I do not have a personal copy of the book, but i had borrowed it for a couple of days from a friend of mine. I didn't manage to cover much, but the book is a must if you are looking to truly MASTER the GMAT. You can score 720-740 without the book, but I feel the book could make the difference between a 720 and say, a 770.

Allow me to quote from one of my favourite beat-the-gmat posts:
manuka wrote:Sentence Correction: Doing Grammar, by Max Morenberg, and MGMAT. I could not have used one without the other. The first one taught me grammar like nothing I have seen before, the second how to apply that knowledge on the gmat. Using only MGMAT might leave you vulnerable at the highest level, where they seem to consciously pick on tricks and common rules (I got one question like this, where you are tempted based on a basic rule, but where some overriding principle lets you go with a better choice). But don't get me wrong, MGMAT is a great source too. In fact, using only the grammar book doesn't give you the sharpness to catch errors that you get from MGMAT. I used OG 12 and the purple verbal book for question practice. Key to good verbal is getting SC down to about 1min per question so you can spend the additional time on CR and potentially RC. If you really learn your grammar, this is probably the easiest part of the test.
https://www.beatthegmat.com/scored-780-t ... 44339.html
https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-retake-o ... 51414.html

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by money9111 » Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:43 am
Geez! $50? That's an investment that might have to be made down the line for me! I haven't heard much about this book on here. I think you're the first one to mention it.
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by uwhusky » Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:53 am
This book is certainly not written for someone who do not already possesses a good understanding of basic grammar and the English language. In fact, I don't think you should even touch this book unless you have ample time to dedicate solely on grammar. Other people's reviews didn't seem to covered this aspect...

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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Tue Jul 13, 2010 11:45 am
uwhusky wrote:This book is certainly not written for someone who do not already possesses a good understanding of basic grammar and the English language. In fact, I don't think you should even touch this book unless you have ample time to dedicate solely on grammar. Other people's reviews didn't seem to covered this aspect...
I would buy this and go through it thoroughly, but my coach looked at me like I was crazy when I tried to talk about retaking the GMAT...lol.
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by uwhusky » Tue Jul 13, 2010 12:00 pm
I am going through this book very thoroughly, but I can already tell that I will need a few passes through. It's a pretty tough read, especially without any foundation to grammar. I don't know if I have time to fully utilize this book before my next test...

I am becoming obsessed with GMAT =).

PS. I can tell that you are obsessed with GMAT as well, and I encourage you to continue to challenge yourself!

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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Tue Jul 13, 2010 12:04 pm
uwhusky wrote:I am going through this book very thoroughly, but I can already tell that I will need a few passes through. It's a pretty tough read, especially without any foundation to grammar. I don't know if I have time to fully utilize this book before my next test...

I am becoming obsessed with GMAT =).

PS. I can tell that you are obsessed with GMAT as well, and I encourage you to continue to challenge yourself!
I would but I have to begin writing essays. I'm fairly confident that I will get into many of the schools I'm targeting, I'm just a little worried about getting into Booth. I don't think its worth a retake though. I will just write amazing essays :)

Good luck on your retake. I can tell you from experience that your dedication will pay off.
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by uwhusky » Tue Jul 13, 2010 12:19 pm
Thank you for the kind encouragement.

Btw, do you have cliff's notes to this book? j/k =).