Advanced GMAT Quant (Manhattan Prep GMAT Strategy Guides) Supplement Edition

Before I elaborate on the 'What the heck?' title of my review - skip to the 6th paragraph if you only want to read my review of the book as the first 5 paragraphs are me explaining, albeit in a more profound way, what you may already know about the GMAT; if you want to cut to the chase - it's a fantastic book but I deduct one star because it contains a few errors here and there.So about the subject of the review - One of the most appropriate analogies that I have heard regarding the GMAT is that 'prepare for the GMAT as you would prepare for a boxing match' - you know you are fighting a very accomplished opponent , you do not have a clue about what kind of punches that opponent will throw at you but ,if you truly want to beat that opponent, you can very well prepare well enough to be able to anticipate what type of punches that opponent will throw at you and counter those punches when they do come.I am a GMAT retaker - a quick summary of what my standing was prior to my taking the GMAT the last time:1) I could easily solve at least 95% of all Official Guide (OG) problems2) On the 2 GMAT Prep tests, I scored a 710 and a 730 respectively3) Aside from the OG, I practiced over a 1000 questions from pretty much every well known resource out thereYet, I bombed the actual GMAT when I took itDon't let my example frighten you - the exam is very beatable (25,000+ people score in excess of 700 each year right?). Aside from the primary mistake, which I am going to elaborate on in this review , I also didn't sleep much before the exam and , on top of that, drove over an hour through traffic infested San Francisco, thereby already stressing out my mind before even sitting down for the test. So yeah, for starters, get some sleep and book your test date early so you don't have to drive 50 miles to nearest test center that has a slot available at your preferred date/time.In my case, the results documented in Point # 2 were an anomaly (I still believe that the GMAT prep tests are the most accurate indicator of how you will perform on the actual test), but points 1 and 3 , if not carried out correctly, represent classic mistakes that test takers make over the course of their practice. The mistake I speak off is believing that 'the harder you work, the better will be your results'. Now don't get me wrong, I am not recommending you ignore that very true principle (far from it), rather, I am recommending that, in the case of the GMAT, you slightly modify that statement to 'the smarter you work, the better will be your results' - this is where 'Advanced GMAT Quant' comes in.As 2 of the more famous people in the GMAT world (BB and Dana) have pointed out in the reviews before mine, 'Advanced GMAT Quant' is for you if you fall in to ALL of the below categories:- You are consistently scoring in at least the 70th percentile but are finding it hard to crack into the 90th percentile (aka you already a good fighter).- You have gone over all 5 of the Manhattan Quant supplements INCLUDING the advanced sections and are comfortable with the material taught in those guides- You realize that it is better to have more than 1 strategy in your repertoire to solve each question type- You are prepared to forget(only for the GMAT of course)everything your teacher taught you about solving questions the mechanical way or , as Manhattan puts it - 'a quick and dirty method that is not theoretically elegant'.I know a host of GMAT takers who studied no more than 2 weeks and scored 700+ and also know a host of test takers who studied many months and did not go past 650. What differentiates the 2 is that the former group of people , put simply, just got 'it'. By 'It' i mean that, those test takers understood that the GMAT operates on a fixed template and there is only so much manipulation the GMAC can do, meaning that if you understand how the GMAT works, i.e. you are prudent about the common traps (damn you inequalities!), know how to filter out the right information and basically understand what is being tested, you are very likely to succeed on this test. Of course there is the small matter of actually knowing all the topics and their concepts but that part is self explanatory and , moreover, is not the purpose of this book; this book teaches you how to master the 3 examples I just listed out regarding the GMAT template. So if you are picking up this book without knowing properties such as '3 consecutive integers are always divisible by 3' or the '1-x probability theory', you will find this book extremely challenging as the writing style of this book is such that, it assumes you know pretty much all the general theories that are covered in the manhattan quant guides.As this book correctly points out, the more complex problems do not necessarily require advanced computing , rather, the test makers just twist around the information making it very challenging to understand the problem at first glance (remember the test makers understand that all problems should be solved within 2 minutes and a majority of GMAT test takers may have had minimal to no exposure to 'advanced math')What this book does teach you are concepts such as 'how to eliminate answer choices just by looking at the information provided and comparing that to the answer choices. A simple example is that 'if the question asks 'If Y is a positive integer, what is the value of (-y)(y) and there are 3 positive answer choices and 2 negative answer choices, after going through this book, you will not be scared to eliminate all the positive answer choices before even beginning to solve the problem as you know that whatever the answer, it has to be negative.I think Dana and BB did a fine job of listing out the Pro's of this book so I will focus on some of the weaker points of this book:1) Errors - The only reason why I deducted 1 star. Having diligently studied 40% of the book, (will edit my review should my opinion change after fully completing the book) there are some errors that are downright dangerous and provide the incorrect information. A few that stand out are:Pg: 83 #7 - IS M not equal to 0 , is m^3 > m^2 - An experienced test taker such as myself can understand that, Manhattan meant to say 'IF M not equal to 0' but it may confuse other test takers on what the question is asking for.Pg 86 #3 - Wrong answer choice is circled - This is redeemed by the fact that the answer explanation shows 'D' to be the correct answer but it broke my heart for a second when I saw the answer to that seriously complex problem that I solve was circled as 'A'Pg 106 Try-it #4-9 - This one is downright dangerous - it's a data sufficiency question that shows (1) to be a^2 = b^2 but , when you see the explanation, the correct information was a = b^2.2) Be careful as some of the strategies used in this book may subconsciously make you unlearn the direct safe approach that should always be used as the first line of attack. The book does highlight the safe approaches but embracing the plan B 'dirty' approaches may unsettle your understanding of the fundamentals if you consistently keep practicing the plan B approaches.So far, I have not found any of these errors to be 'deal breakers' because the answer explanations make you realize the original mistakes but , initially, those errors can be frustrating.To summarize, this is a fantastic book for those of you who are comfortable with the concepts for all Quant topics tested on the GMAT but are having trouble applying these concepts to the more challenging problems. After diligently studying this book, you will be less fearful of employing tactics such as 'eliminating answer choices before even beginning to solve the problem, using approaches that your math teacher would have given you a 0 for if you tried those tactics in high school, able to recognize patterns allowing you to dissect the question to get to the relevant information (gmat template)etc. There are some errors but , so far, none of them are detrimental enough to over ride what is otherwise a fantastic, unique book that , mostly successfully, tries to get you to understand how to crack the 'GMAT code'.

I am the founder of GMAT Club, online GMAT community and finally I have one of the first copies of the book in my hands (after pre-ordering it back in October 2010)! I have spent the evening going through it in quite a bit of detail and here are my thoughts:I got 49 on my quant but at first, I was not very comfortable with questions but as I got to know the book, it is actually very manageable. (and not so intimidating). I am giving it 5 stars for the effort and content; there are weaknesses, but they may not be relevant to you. The book is deisnged for someone who has already covered the 5 MGMAT Math books and/or is scoring above Q44 (70th percentile). That's actually the qualifications outlined on the second page of the book and I strongly agree - do not attempt this book/questions before you have become comfortable with math basics and are at a good level.~~~~ Book Overview ~~~~The book consists of 9 chapters:0. Introduction (they even start numbering chapters at zero)[3g, 0e]1. Problem Solving Principles [4g, 5e]2. Problem Solving Strategies & Tactics [12g, 14e]3. Data Sufficiency Principles - this is a very helpful section as DS resources are few and in between [6, 9e]4. Data Sufficiency Strategy & Tactics [16g, 15e]5. Pattern Questions (these are progressions/etc)[8g, 15e]6. Common Terms & Quadratic Templates [5g, 28e]7. Visul Solutions (Geometry, Statistics, Tables, Charts, etc) [14g, 10e]8. Hybrid Problems [4g, 10e]9. Workout Sets (150 GMAT-style questions)[3g, 0e] stands for 3 GMAT-like questions and 0 exercisesTotal GMAT-style questions: 150 in the sets + 72 in the examplesTotal exercises: 106~~~~ Pros ~~~~- Very innovative approach to DS questions (emphasizes consistent approach and involves rephrasing)- Designed as a class, teaching you through different questions- Many new (advanced and innovative) strategies for PS and DS- I like that the PS and DS sections are addressed separately as it is important to distinguish them even though they may cover the same material- Step by step review of questions in the book as you move along- Super-detailed explanations- Comes with an online Question bank- 150 GMAT-like questions in the back (uncommon for MGMAT since they most often utilize the questions in the OG)~~~~ Cons ~~~~- Many question types are mixed together (I found it a bit distracting since I am a single-tasker but it may work for you)- Guessing strategies (this never works for me). I appreciate another, more advanced approach, but I never seem to be able to use them. I just choose to guess and move on- Some chapters such as #6 are very short (could we have split others perhaps?)- Some questions are perhaps too hard? (such as the first three that are clearly there to give you a "reality check")- No listing of additional OG questions to practice with (would be good to revisit them even if they were covered in the other 5 guides)- In the chapters, the fractions are written in short hand (1/3) - kind of surprising- No cheat sheets for things to be memorize (I believe one should know squares, primes, etc)I guess if you are wondering whether it will face the fate of  Kaplan GMAT 800 , I would say not quite. Unlike that book, here you will find a number of strategies structured very well in a flow of a book rather than a collection of hard questions.~~~~ My Suggestions ~~~~- Read explanations to every question. Even if you got a question right, it does not mean, yo solved it correctly (that is you used the correct approach or found all the shortcusts). You will be surpised sometimes and will pick helpful tips even from explanations of questions you got right- Follow the actual strategies (DUH). You bougth the book because of them. Yes, there are questions, but the value is in the strategies. Don't just take the fish - go for the fishing pole- IF you are not comfortable with something and the book does not cover it, don't just glance over it and move on - research and investigate. Get the book or someone to explain to you the missing components- Memorize the common math elements such as primes, squares up till 20. E.g. what is 15*15? or square root of 3 is approximately how much? 2 to the power of 5 is?This is it so far. I will edit the review as I continue to discover new elements in this book.Good luck on your GMAT!BB, Founder of GMAT ClubGMAT 750 (q49, v 42)P.S. Let me know if any questions - I reply to comments!

Loving this book - absolutely recommended you get this if you are serious about getting a high GMAT Quant score. As the title implies, this book focuses on advanced quantitative concepts. It builds on the previous quant strategy guide books, so it's recommended you finish the previous books first. As well, you need a 45+ to be able to use this book effectively. It introduces new tips for tackling quant that I found useful. I wouldn't say it's groundbreaking strategies, but it does delve more into different ways / thought processes to tackle challenging questions. As well, there's many details on the 'traps' that the GMAT tests and this book provides tips to make educated guesses based on the answers provided if needed. The first chapter was kind of a wash (I didn't really understand the top down and bottom ups approach), but I appreciated the detailed way of thinking about approaching problems.There are so many practice questions in this - absolutely amazing for getting a new bank of practice problems! I'm trying to save as many OG problems as I can for closer to the exam date, so getting your hands on high quality material that's similar to GMAT questions is an absolute must!There are a few typos in the book that I was surprised to see. I have the full set of Manhattan Prep's GMAT prep book set and I never noticed a single typo in those books. There are quite a few typos in this one; really obvious ones though, so you won't be confused by why you got the answer wrong. For example, in a data sufficiency (DS) question, it said statement (1) is sufficient and (2) is insufficient, but the answer key will say D - either statements are sufficient. The answer is D (fortunately, I got this right and was absolutely positive because I was able to determine the value), so I didn't get stuck; however, I can see this being a big pain if you get the question wrong and read an answer key with typos! Hoping this gets resolved in the next edition!

O melhor do livro, na minha opinião, é o nível dos exercícios, que te obrigam a lidar com problemas que estão um degrau acima daquele que é cobrado na prova GMAT.Recomendo para aqueles que já tem uma base matemática SÓLIDA e buscam aumentar o seu nível.

オフィシャルガイドの問題集は、日本の受験生にとっては簡単に感じることがあると思いますが、本番では高得点領域に入ってくると、それなりに複雑な問題が出てきて、免疫が無い人は慌ててしまうことがあります。難しい問題に触れるには、予備校が何らかの手段でストックしているGMAT過去問難問集を高額で購入することが一般的でしたが、この問題集にはそれなりに歯ごたえのある問題が揃っていて、免疫を作りたい人に最適だと思います。

I really think this book is unnecessary for most GMAT takers. I scored a 770 (50Q 45V) on the real test and although I probably still didn't hit the very hardest questions on the test, this book was way too complex and difficult for it to help you prepare for the GMAT. Pretty much every GMAT question I've encountered can be easily solved in under 2 min. I don't think this is true for the majority of questions in this book.What this book IS good at is teaching you how to think and help you practice problem solving. It's not a bad tool if you want to be a GMAT instructor or just need to work on your math skills in general but if you're looking for a GMAT prep tool, move on.

Material diferenciado e profundo. Ajuda o usuário a enxergar o detalhe que falta para a prova.Entretanto, antes de usá-lo, é preciso já estar com os estudos bem avançados.