Manhattan Math

[Live4today]

I have a question for people who have finished giving their GMAT's...How is the Manhattan book for Quant. Ive heard about the Verbal part but is a Manhattan book good for Quant ?

[Kee]

I found the Manhattan red quant books to be very useful. They explain many concepts that I didn't see elsewhere.

[vells]

I liked manhattan GMAT quantitative books. They are very good and well written. They helped me to understand the concepts well.

[tajblunt]

I finally get to post on this forum! My trek with the GMAT started at a 410 (27q, 20v) and ended at a 610 (43q, 32v). I just wanted to let all those people know who have not broken a 700 or that are even struggling with breaking 600 that it can happen!

For starters I am a computer science major with 3 yrs of experience. I started last Dec with the recommended 3 hours a night of studying coupled with a Princeton Review class. WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE. Princeton Review is horrible, I would not recommend it to anyone. They teach a bunch of tricks with no substance and no real approach to understanding the material. After taking the class I took the test for the first time a week after. ANOTHER BAD MISTAKE. In retrospect, I should have waited a month or two to let the material sink in then take the test. Oh well….

Crushed I went back at it again 4 more times. Yes that number is correct 4 more times. I just refused to let the GMAT defeat me. I felt I knew the information but for some reason it just did not translate onto the test. I finally had my break through (if you want to call it that) in June when I hit 570 (35q, 34v). I was furious!! My quant score was waaaay below what I expected considering my background, but I decided to just focus on my completing my applications and take the GMAT again after I submit. I took it again (test #5) and got a 480!!!! What in the hell?? Obviously folks that was complete fluke…but that is where I was, and that is what I was willing to turn in. My 570.

It wasn’t until I talked to a couple of my college friends that were in the same quandary that scored 650 & 700 respectively that I decided to give it just one more shot. Test#6 I took today and scored my 610. Definitely not as high as the majority of the scores on this site, but I feel that for the average joe (such as myself), I can at least reach you all with more tangible goals. I was averaging 43 & 45 of my quant CATs and my verbal…just forget about it I suck at verbal AND ITS MY FIRST LANGUAGE…go figure dumb Americans I know I know.

My Practicing:
Ok so this is the section that I always looked forward to on ppl’s testimony. Well remember how I told you all that I took the Princeton Review class? Well, after that horror I took a Manhattan GMAT class online. BEST EVER! They had great material and the TEST ARE VERY SIMILAR TO THE GMAT. Meaning they ask a lot of similar questions. Screw studying combination and probability problems if you have not mastered number properties and exponents. I swear, that is all I received on this test. Only one combination problem that everyone puts so much weight on. Focus on the basics folks and then move on. But if you do not have a good handle on NP and Exponents (which were 80% of my questions), then forget it!

MGMAT #1 600 43q, 30v
MGMAT #2 650 45q, 34v

So as you see I took two test and got between the two scores respectively. Of course take the GMAT Prep test but I recycled those test so many times that I knew the scores would not be accurate. MGMAT gives you 6 test if you buy the book. I swear on my life MGMAT test are good practice and are very indicative. I personally felt the quant was easy for MGMAT once I got my rhythm. HOWEVER, when I first started taking MGMAT test in July (which I have not posted)…OMG I thought they were worst than Kaplan test! Oh yes I took the Kaplan CD test as well. SUCKS!

How I succeeded:
Well remember how I told you that I studied 3 hours a night and tried to kill myself by doing every single problem in every single book that every single person on this forum, to scoretop, to GMAT Forum, to blah blah blah would “recommend” that I study. Well yea to hell with that. The thing is folks, as much studying as we do…realize that YOU KNOW THE INFORMATION. Just give yourself time to really really understand it (Warning this post is for the average Joe not 700 plus takers). So knowing that coming into this test, all I used was the OG Review guide. Studied about 15 problems a night. Worked out, went to work, partied, got drunk, studied again the next day. It was a vicious cycle. My point is, continue to live a healthy and fun life. Continue to exercise and stay involved in community service. I only studied when I wanted to, not because I felt the need to. I KEPT going over every single problem I got wrong, and really tried to understand why I kept getting them wrong. I would study for no more than an a hour a night. And then I would go on and watch Heros on Monday and The Office on Thursdays. DAMN THAT WRITERS STRIKE!!

I went to the gym before the test, ate a good breakfast, bs’d on the writing section, and thought the quant section was a joke! I literally saw questions from OG review AND MGMAT. I was doing so well that I wound up guessing on the last 10 questions and still got a 43. I feel like I could get a 50 if I take it again but really im just a little tested out lol.

Materials I used:
Everything…only ones I would recommend are MGMAT SC, MGMAT Test, GMAT Prep, OG Review and OG 11th. That’s seriously all you need folks. Please don’t waste your time trying to master every single problem this forum has to offer. Or try to buy every book that worked for everyone else. Know yourself and be confident about the stuff you have been learning. I promise you if I could do it so can you. Hope this helps and keep hope alive.

[v-rap]

Thanks TajBlunt - that is encouraging. You have lot of patience and perseverance. Good luck with the apps.

Can you also detail how you prepared for verbal. Did you use MGMAT ?

thanks

[way2fast]

The Manhattan Quant book was the 3rd best useful for me. 1st was OG11. 2nd was OG Verbal.

[tajblunt]

I agree with way2fast. You can never go wrong with OG 11th and OG Verbal review. That is what what I used. I maxed out at 34 on the verbal but that's way better than a 20. Stick to the OG books and do the MGMAT test and GMATPrep Test. Can't really see how you could go wrong after that as all of the questions are very very similar to the test. Trust me...I know!

[boobooyah]

Hi taj,
Thanks for your detailed post. I am wondering if MGMAT Test CD's comes up with MGMAT books. Recently I ordered MGMAT SC Book but looked in online sites to buy MGMAT Test CD but couldn't find it.

[audi19]

I've been really happy with the MGMAT series. Their explanations are really useful in understanding the concepts... and how best to tackle them! Not just simple little tricks that are not guaranteed. Once you master the skills, you can really start to see a difference in your score.

You can purchase their products from their website!

[srikanths]

Good .. They are worth buying. But don't be in hunt for material.Gather all the things you need by analyzing your capabilities and then proceed practice.
Practising and revising the stuff is more important.

Good Luck and all the best!!!