Manhattan GMAT Strategy Guides: Gmat Roadmap, Fractions, Decimals, & Percents, Algebra, Word Problems, Geometry, Number Properties, Critical ... Gmat Strategy Guides: Instructional Guide)

My study method: I bought these books about 2 months ago, and just took the GMAT today. I studied about 3 chapters per day for several weeks, and then used the remaining weeks for going over past mistakes and weak areas. I used the weekends only for doing practice problems/timed sets.First of all, I don't feel that I can really review the verbal guides, because since I'm strong in that area I just skimmed through them, did a few practice problems here and there but didn't really use the guides that much - I would recommend that if you're the same as me and know that you will do well on sentence correction/cr you don't buy the verbal guides - they weren't all that useful and I still scored in the 90th percentile. The diagnostic test in the official guide 13th edition should tell you whether it's worth spending any money on the verbal guides, I found it to be pretty accurate.The quantitative guides, however, are great! I consider myself pretty average when it comes to math, and much of the math tested on the GMAT is stuff I haven't looked at since Middle School/High School. These guides will definitely provide you with the necessary shortcuts that you need to do well on the GMAT. Also, I found the CATs that are available online (the ones that come with each guide) much harder than the actual gmat, ESPECIALLY for IR and quant. I scored around 620 on the CATs due to a low quant score and had a sad 4-5 on IR because I always ran out of time.. Most of the quant problems in the CATs require several steps and so within the given time I just had a hard time keeping up.However, I scored a full 100 points higher on the actual GMAT, and got a 7 in IR. The IR questions were a complete joke compared to the ones given by the Manhattan CATs. They required fewer steps and the data was also easier to understand. The quant questions were of the same difficulty as the ones in the Manhattan guides, however with fewer steps involved in each problem, which made it much easier to finish within the allotted time.Overall I deeply recommend these guides, as they force you to practice under significant time pressure, making the actual test feel more comfortable. The difficulty of the problems is the same as the difficulty of the actual GMAT, so you'll be prepared for anything you see. Just don't panic if your CAT scores are nowhere near where you're aiming for!

I could not recommend this set of books anymore than I do. I just took the GMAT today and studied from this as well as Kaplan Premier. Kaplan's Premier book was honestly a level below this. MGMAT seemed to be preparing folks who want to be in the 700-800 range and Kaplan seemed to be preparing folks more for the 600-700 range. I found that there were concepts that MGMAT really taught rather than just telling you to memorize a formula (e.g. combinatorics, permutations, compound interest). Kaplan often spent a bit too much time teaching the basics I think. My study technique started with Kaplan (I thought this would be the only book I need) but by the end of it I felt that while I had gotten a good review of old material I didn't really feel "ready" -- as in, I didn't have a solid grasp on deeper level stuff. MGMAT provided the critical next step to getting a higher score by going that step further. I think if you go through this guide thoroughly (take 2-4 pages of notes on things to remember), do the associated questions in OG and do the practice exams you will be set. Also, I don't know if this is everyone's experience but my practice exam scores were significantly lower with MGMAT vs. not only GMATPrep and Kaplan's practice exams but also the real thing. I scored about 100 lower on my last 2 MGMAT practice exams than I did on the official GMAT (most of this is because I was unable to finish any of MGMAT's quant exams -- always ended up with 10 questions left and 0:00 remaining). I think MGMAT really does a good job of teaching you a lot of the harder material very well, and testing you on it frequently (making their exams more difficult than the real thing). The good thing about this is that while the practice exams end up being more difficult (Quant at least), they serve to make you understand the material a lot better and ultimately get that higher score you deserve.

I am writing this review with the caveat that I will amend post taking the GMAT. I just started using the Manhattan strategy guides and have loved working with them. They are great books and make sure that you are founded on sure principles before trying to teach you timesaving tricks, because on test day, you better know your stuff otherwise no amount of strategy is going to be very useful.I have tried a few different course books and online stuff, and as far as the materials go, these are top rate. Very clear explanations and helpful tips in every chapter. I would make two recommendations for the next edition:1) More practice work, the questions at the end of each section are nice, as well as the map to the OG, but I think the more the merrier here and these seemed a little light. Obviously this has more pages than any other strategy guide, but not necessarily the compensatory number of questions.2) Error correction, I know no one is perfect, and maybe it is trying to teach students to be ok with good enough on the test, but there are a number of errors in the book that I didn't expect to be such an issue.The online resources for the books are a little light as well. I think that if they can't access the OG work, than there should be more access to problems, solutions, and maybe some more instructional videos available for what we pay for the books.All in all this has really helped me feel comfortable going in to test day, and I hope that I will get the score I am looking for and never have to read them again!

Bought the complete set of Manhattan GMAT prep books, but ended up using only the quantitative books and the roadmap. In my opinion, the Manhattan GMAT books are superior compared to other GMAT prep books (e.g. Kaplan) - all concepts are explained step-by-step and, when you put some effort into it, provide you with a solid understanding of everything GMAT-related. Very helpful were also the online Manhattan GMAT resources, including GMAT simulation tests. Full access to these materials required only one access code out of the ten you have, which increases the resale value of the set.Using these books in combination with the Official Guide for GMAT Review 13th edition (if you buy the Manhattan books, be sure to buy this book as well - the Manhattan books continually refer you to questions in the Official Guide), I went from 640 in the GMAT preparation tests to 720 on the official GMAT. I could probably have scored higher if I would have had more time to prepare (my full-time day job didn't leave a lot of time for studying), but I would nonetheless recommend everyone who plans to take the GMAT to consider using the Manhattan GMAT prep books.

These cover the whole syllabus and are well structured. some conclusions feel like leaps and several re-reads are needed to comprehend (or that just might be me). Really I think it's due to the condensed nature of the text. That point and the fact that I found 2-3 errors/typos in this edition mark it down by one star. In general these should get you well on your way to a decent GMAT study plan and score.

Practice makes perfect. These review guides will allow you to structure your GMAT workout to a better grade. Manhattan GMAT is not a get 800 easy scheme. Instead it is a structured approach to a better grade that need you to work hard reviewing the material and getting practise using Official Guide problems. I like it.

Perhaps it is too premature to write a review, however first impressions go a long way in my books (no pun intended!). Having reviewed the first book geared towards Quants has affirmed that the other books will have the same detailed reasoning (at times from grass roots!). This is seriously money spent wisely for me and along with the OG GMAT 2013, it will put me in good stead for my GMAT preparation.

These guides are excellent, particularly the quant ones. Ideal if, like me, you haven't done this type of maths in many years - it covers off the basics on each topic