Perth Australia. any local courses? what to do books courses

[mousymouse]

Hi

My first post
Im in Perth WA Australia. I have been doing some research and am totally confused by the vast amount of choices and conflicting "marketing" out there in regards to which textbook, courses etc to take or purchase. Hence I am turning here for some solid proven reliable UNBIASED opinions so that I can start the right way.
I would like to score 700 or more if I can but 650 or so is good too. I will have ~2.5 months to get that score so that I could apply to my MBA course of choice.
Therefore I need to STUDY SMART and get MAX marks, not hard and all over the place.


1-I would first like to ask if anybody knows of any schools, tutors or courses that are offered in whatever capacity, be it group classes or 1on1 tutoring, in Perth WA AUSTRALIA???

Why am I asking this? Because I would prefer to get intensive guidance and simply attend a "course" or 1on1 tutoring in PERTH However I cant find anything available in PERTH. Is this correct? Nothings available here?



2-If thats so...Then What do people think about online prep courses? Which one is considered the best? and Is it worth it and will that on its own suffice or is books and self study the better way??


3-In terms of books and materials I am totally lost and confounded. Princeton, Kaplan, Barrons, Manhattan, McGraw, EZ etc soooooo many choices and I keep reading conflicting info regarding which to buy or use and which is better etc.
Two things I have managed to get from all the reviews and info out there is that the OFFICIAL GUIDE is a MUST so thats on my list and that McGraws book is the worst. But its after those 2 solid choices that I know I will buy/avoid that im lost and confounded.
Which all in one book is the best?
Kaplan GMAT Premier Program 2009 (book and cd) ?
Princeton Cracking the GMAT 2009 w/dvd?
Barrons GMAT 2009 w/cd?
Manhattan?
EZ?



Please do help and I really do appreciate it !!!!

Thanks.

[TedCornell]

Welcome to the forum

Sorry I don't know what's available in WA, but I can give my advice about books.

The Official Guide is a must have; I suggest that you use it along with the Offficial Guide Companion (from GMATFix) as I found the combination very good. The Companion explains each quant question in the Official Guide in great details, shows 2-3 different approaches to each question, outlines guessing strategies, and categorizes each question by type and difficulty so it made my study planning more easy.

I also really like the MGMAT Guides, especially the Sentence Correction Guide.

I've used Princeton Review and McGraw Hill and I'm not a big fan of either one. You can see a full report of the strategies that worked and those that didn't work for me at www.tinyurl.com/gmatpost

Best of luck!

[mousymouse]

thanks ted.

Im assuming you recommend the purchase of ALL THE OFFICIAL GUIDES which I think there are 3 of not just the main OFFICIAL GMAT REVIEW right?


Since ill be doing it within 2.5 months or so I would only be able to get 1 official guide the review one in the latest 2009 version the other 2 dont come out till August and if i do get them it would have to be the old 2005? versions.

For each OFFICIAL Guide you also recommend to get a companion for it such as the one from GMATFix ?


And having read ur post what u did for ur 610 score is exactly what I dont want to do as I dont consider that smart studying either.
I want to study the least and get the most marks and so I need to streamline everything and avoid wasting my time on repititions and or difficulties or questions that would not be on the GMAT anyway. So no point for me to practice on things that are harder than the GMAT nor easier.


Flashcards though? Really? How did they help u?



What do u think of using say KAPLAN PREMIER GMAT or Princeton Crack the Gmat books?


What I have now as definates are
Official Guides
Manhattan Sentence Correction
Powerscore Critical Reasoning Bible
Possibly the KAPLAN ADVANCED 2009-2010 book ie kaplan 800




But now I have come across something very very very curious and tempting and thats simply using KNEWTON. Seems very impressive and costs 675 and u get quite a lot for that teaching sessions, 45+ teaching hours, 300+ concept videos, 3400+ practice items, 5 CATs and 9 hours free trial class and Best of all U DONT NEED ANY TEXTBOOKS apparently and its COMPLETELY adaptive to ur needs and hence automatically streamlining and minimising time wastage and un-necessary study in areas ur already good at. Well atleast thats all the things they say. hmmm seems really good though......

[TedCornell]

Hey mousymouse,

I'd recommend that you purchase the main OFFicial Guide first. Once you're almost done with it, you can get the other official guides. In most cases though, the main guide offers plenty of great questions.

You can see a detailed analysis of the difference between the 11th and the new 12th edition of the official guides at https://www.manhattangmat.com/official-guide-12.cfm. Basically there is no significant difference in content. The new guide gets rid of many of the more difficult problem solving questions, and it has more data sufficiency questions. Anyway, because the content of the test hasn't really changed over the last couple of years, you would be fine with either edition.

I don't think the new version of the OG Companion is out yet. The version I used complements the 11th edition of the official guide. If you find another good companion book, please let us know.

In general, flashcardsthe are helpful when used often. They provide a quick and easy way to drill basic concepts into your prep program. By the 5th or 6th time you go over the same flashcard, you're not likely to forget or miss the concept tested. The flashcards I used are different from the other flashcards I've seen in that they're interactive. Rather than explain, I would recommend that you try them yourself to see how they work on the gmatfix website.

I've looked at the Knewton website and I have to admit that it looks/sounds good. I have no experience with their material though, so someone else may be better placed to give you feedback. My only comment is that regardless of which program you choose, you MUST get the main official guide.

[mousymouse]

got you on all points ted


I have now bought the following books:

The Official Review Guide 2009
The Official Quantative guide 2005
The Official Verbal Guide 2005
Manhattan Sentence Correction 2008
Manhattan Critical Reasoning guide 2008
Kaplan GMAT MATH WORKBOOK and finally
Princeton cracking the gmat 2009 w/dvd



Do you think thats enough? Am I covered perfectly with all that?

How would u arrange it in terms of studying order?

I was thinking maybe start with baseline gmat test and then math workbook+SR + CR books then the cracking with gmat book and finally the guides followed by lots of tests etc?

Alternatively I could start with cracking the gmat and use the others to "fill in" what ever I dont get or am weak in?