Admissions Books

I think this was a great first book to look at if you're planning to do the GMAT, though I wish there was a little more explanation with the statistical answers. Otherwise it's an easy guide.

As a primary resource for preparing for the GMAT this book is invaluable. The questions are organized from easy to difficult and separated in to topics to help you find weaknesses. That said, there are a few minor mistakes in the book that can lead to hours of confusion. Those mistakes can be found at

http://www.gmatix.com/blogging/index.php?x=25

Other than that the book suffers from to few questions. This is not a good comprehensive study plan, just the best first step.

Unless you are one of the lucky few who don't need formal instruction to prepare for standardized tests, you can not use this GMAT book as your only resource. But, if you are using other instruction or practice materials the Official Guide is great for testing the accuracy of the strategies you've learned.

It's true that this guide will not tell you how to test better, but some people have left reviews saying there aren't any explanations. I don't understand why they're saying that though, because I thought one of the best features of the GMAT Review is that it explains every single answer in both the quant and verbal sections very clearly. There are some typos, but it's not like you can't figure what they meant to say. Some people have also said that random questions they tried from the book were too easy. I wonder what sections they tried, because at least in the quant portion the questions become increasingly difficult. So the first 50 questions are pretty easy, but the last 25 are much harder.

Just as a side note, I took the 7 week Veritas GMAT prep course and scored a 630 on the test right when I finished the class. But afterward I spent the next month testing the strategies in this Offical Guide and improved my score to a 700. So I would definitely say it's helpful.

I've been working with this book for about a month, and I'm very pleased with the progress I've made thus far. Reviewing questions in order of difficulty has allowed me to slowly build my skill level- I'm feeling much more confident than I once was about taking the GMAT. The only thing this book is missing is extended explanations of some of the concepts commonly used in questions.

It is ofcourse a must buy because it comes from the makers of the test.
But then this is not exhaustive. Atleast it doesn't look exhaustive to me. Moreover, the level for Problem Solving looks really low to me in this book.

This book was really fantastic in that it let out the exact things that go through a college admissions officer when they look at an applicant. However it was only one officer's point of view and that seemed to be a little limiting for me.
The book gave a lot of encouragement for me as a prospective college applicant and really helped me plan my way into applying for colleges and gave me a clear idea of what would be my best options, especially regarding when to take standardized tests and to arrange your extra-curriculars.
The thing that really bugged me about this book though is that it is a few years old. This led to a number of problems for me. First of all, the admittance rates were all much higher than they are now and the standardized testing results of applicants has completely changed. This left me with the illusions that it really is not that difficult to get into the ivy league.
The authors new book, "Acing the College Application," however is a great alternative and offers the same really great advice about constructing an application coupled with extremely relevant and current information.

This book has totally exceeded all my expectations! With absolute candor, simple but supberb writing style, and the expertise of an insider, the writer provides an amazing wealth of info and insight into the complex college admission process. To give an example: I never knew that the "Acadmic Index" (AI) is the key to predicting admissibility to a particular college. I strongly recommend this book to all college bound students and their parents!

So I thought I knew about getting into college. Wrong. The author worked at Dartmouth for four years doing Admissions and what she reveals is that there is an actual formula for getting in. There are also flags for minorities that allows these students to be pulled from the general pool and be evaluated seperately. There is a great list on what you should be doing year by year to prepare for applying to that Ivy League. Put this book in your cart, read, highlight and take notes. This is a page turner.

This certainly ranks up there. My other choices for 2007, hands down:

1) How To Ace Your Way Through College & Still Have a Life
2) The MLA Handbook
3) Fiske Guide to Colleges

Dr. Vernon M
Cambridge, MA

This book is the first one you need to get. Also get her other book, "Acing the College Application," "Winning the Heart of the College Admissions Dean," "You're Gonna Love this College Guide," "America's Elite Colleges," "Cracking College Admissions."

Ms. Hernandez was an admissions officer when she wrote this book, but now she is a private consultant, charging $40,000 to help privileged kids get into the Ivy League schools. Part of her expertise helps them present themselves as not privileged. Too bad with all of her talents she could help the ones who really need her help.

I'll admit...I'm a research addict. In addition to talking to admissions staff, current students, and alumni I also bought about 8 different MBA books to compare strategies, advice, and perspectives.

This book was my favorite resource. It's strategies were clear and concise on how to approach the application process from timelines to essay steps. Warning: The book is dated so I did not use it for referencing school statistics (leveraged BusinessWeek Online and school websites) to fill in the holes.

But the perspectives of the students on each school. This gave me valued insight into what attributes to highlight for each school application. In the end, it all worked out for me and I got into the Ivy League MBA program I wanted.

In hindsight, I really did not need any other MBA book.

I just graduated from Wharton and work for a top consulting firm, and I have to say that this book definately helped me get my game on for the application process. It gave valuable insight into what the application committees would be looking for as well as where to focus my energy, when to apply, and what school would fit me best. It gives a great sense of the nuances between schools so you can tailor your entire application package to speak that school's 'language'. It might be a bit dated since it was written in 2001, but MBA's are really competitive again so the principles stand. I highly recommend it.

There seems to be no shortage of advice for applying to b-school. This book stands out for a number of reasons:
- in-depth review of the top schools (HBS, Stanford, Wharton etc), which is not ony invaluable in helping to make your selection of schools, but really makes a difference when you then apply. Schools all want to know why you are interested in their program, and The MBA Admissions Edge is the only book that gives such insight.
- clear and helpful advice for essays, interviews, letters of rec. The book provides the perspective from successful applicants at the top 10 schools, which gives a rounded picture of the interview process, or the ideas that lie behind the essays.
- good section on school reputation, explaining the various rankings, specializations.

I thought Montauk's book was a much better take...

How to Get Into the Top MBA Programs
by J.D., Richard Montauk

It covers Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, MIT, Chicago, Columbia, Berkeley, NYU, and INSEAD, but the strategies can be generalized to all schools. Does a great job of providing excellent insider information on each University, as well as providing strategies to each.

Others to look at:
1. ABC of Getting the MBA Admissions Edge: My personal favorite. It covers Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, MIT, Chicago, Columbia, Berkeley, NYU, and INSEAD, but the strategies can be generalized to all schools.
2. Your MBA Game Plan: Great overall resource! Has information about Top-30 Schools and general information about App Strategy, GMAT, Essays, and Letter of Recs.
3. How to Get Into the Top MBA Programs: Very good Resource. The most comprehensive list of old essays.
4. Business Week Best Business Schools: In-Depth info on Top-30 Schools. Good reference to get the 411 on each school.
5. WSJ Top Business School: Good reference to what recruiters think of each school.
6. USNew's America's Best Graduate Schools: In my opinion the most comprehensive/accurate rankings (BW, WSJ, FT, Forbes) on the market.

Reading this book took a huge weight off my shoulders before law school. This book is a crash course not only in how to succeed in law school, but also how to think about the law as a whole. The lessons learned here are designed to frame your legal education, and helps you learn a surefire, if not complex, method to taking all law exams and tacking legal problems.

I found this book very helpful in understanding features of law school that are important there but not necessarily taught there. It also is done in an interesting way, so that it's not just a completely practical guide to exams. It *is* practical, but it's got some intellectual content, too. Worthwhile for the law student.

I had Fischl for Contracts at UM a few years ago and highly recommend it if you find yourself in a similar position. The examples are pretty close to the type of questions he and other law school professors ask on exams. Think of this book as a Princeton Review type lesson on how to master the test not the material. It does a good job breaking down the different types of issue spotters etc and is helpful for those with no exam experience. I recommend it to my 1L friends (the ones I couldn't talk out of going to law school. 4 stars only because even knowing what to expect didn't help my grade in his class!

What a great book. I'm just sorry that I didn't discover it until my 2L year. I feel so much more prepared for exams this year, thanks to the great advice and information in this book. I plan to give my copy to the student services library when I leave law school, because I think every single 1L should read it!

Reading this book before school started had the benefit of getting me thinking about law and legal analysis. But it had no impact on my grades (I'm at or near the top of my class in all subjects and top overall). More importantly, it SHOULDN'T have any impact on one's grades. Attending the lectures, reading the cases, preparing your own outline, participating in class and seeking help from the professor when necesssary; THESE are the vital steps for success in law school.

I gave up using commercial aids for one crucial reason: they distracted me from getting inside the head of the professor and really grasping the nature of the topic. People who try to take artificial shortcuts like using a commercial aid will never excel. If their intellect cannot naturally expedite the studying process, how could a quick summary give someone that special, incisive grasp of a topic? In such a case one would be better off doing all the assigned tasks properly and methodically. Disagree with me at your peril!

To be fair, after reading this book, I was able to provide some clever answers in class during my first month at school. After that, I was so involved and interested in the assigned materials, I long surpassed what this book could offer.

Once I began reading this book, I couldn't put it down. I should also admit that I am a college counselor to high school students. This book was interesting to read because of the different viewpoints the reader got. The Gatekeepers doesn't just provide insight into how an admission counselor does his or her job, it offered the perspectives of everyone - students, high school counselors, other admission officers, directors of admission and even college presidents. I think The Gatekeepers effectively demonstrated which aspects of an application are under one's control, and that some simply are not. The ending was satisfying, because one was able to hear about where each student enrolled, and how his or her college years unfolded.

Boring book about a boring job. Another article stretched out into a book. Still in all well-researched and obviously appeals to some.

Excellent book. I have been an admissions consultant for over ten years. When parents or applicants ask me what they should read to understand the process, I recommend this book.

This book paints a disturbing picture of the admissions process. I fingered through this book when I was applying to Wesleyan several years ago; recently, I read the book in its entirety as a college graduate from a similarly prestigious university. As a student who attended an average public high school, I was shocked to see the insane premium placed on obtaining students from elite private high schools (even students with quite mediocre grades and SAT's). I was, quite frankly, angered to see the pull that admissions officers allowed guidance counselors from private schools to have in the admissions process, and disturbed to see the preference given to pampered, wealthy children from a college claiming to value diversity. Goodness gracious-- affirmative action and racial/ethnic diversity right past (and current) wrongs and enable a broader perspective in the classroom. But denying middleclass students with good grades and high SAT's in favor of admitting mediocre students from private high schools to avoid harming the relationship with those "feeder" schools? Give me a break. (And read this book!)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it most helpful. Having no experience with the college admissions process, my husband and I felt somewhat lost in preparing our children for what would be required and/or expected by top colleges. The book gives insight into many scenarios, the brightest, the challenged, those who haven't given their best effort...and those, like our children, who were first generation. I was encouraged to read that admissions counselors consider non-college educated parents in regard to a students lower SAT scores. Although our kids both fell well within the top 10% in class rankings with highly rigorous courses of study, their SAT scores were not as impressive as their peers (who all seemed to have college educated parents). With so much pressure to perform on the SATs we were initially alarmed that our kids wouldn't get into the universities of their choice. After reading through an admission counselor's thought process as he considered an application I felt more confident that our children would be afforded a fair hearing based on so much more than their test scores. I am deeply appreciative for Mr. Steinberg's success at giving a realistic look at the process and for Wesleyan's and the many students' willingness to allow a viewing into a private area of their lives. I recommend that parents read this early in their children's high school years and buy it as a gift for their high school counselors if they haven't yet read it.

This particular copy of Audio Osmosis had garbled tracks. The information was helpful. Since my purchase was electronically delivered I do not know where the fuzziness began or if the set was complete and unabridged.

These are great to listen too. However, they do get old fast. There are lots of quirky sounds and really bad jokes that are amusing the first time you listen to the lecture but after a few listens they become very old. I really think listening to these helped alot, so I highly recommend them.

This is a great product, I've been listening to this in my car almost everywhere I go. It keeps you refreshed on the multitude of topics presented on the MCAT, while the cheesy/corny jokes keep the perspective lite in contrast to other preps available.

This product is comprehensive and well organized, and I believe one of the better audio MCAT reviews out there. In some of the reviews people have complained that the jokes and sound effects are distracting--I have a thought about this: The lack of monotony and homogeneity of the recordings keeps the listener interested. Other programs are easy to "tune out" after a short while. This program keeps you listening and gets the information into your head whether you are extremely focused or not---thus the name: Audio Osmosis. Fully recommended.

It was obvious that it was recorded several years ago and hasn't been updated in a while. It was okay, I wouldn't discourage anyone from buying it as the information is useful and presented in a simple format. But it's a little expensive and I'm not sure it helped me much other than offering audio to the examkrackers books I was reading. The books seemed to be a little more up to date than the cd's and I would recommend these books over the Kaplan ones. Good luck on the MCAT!

This book is very good and is very detailed on every type of question. Plus you can actually remember what you are suppose to do on each type. The only down side is that it's very long. But if you want to do your best on the LSAT, you should read this book. Give yourself a month on this book alone.

Notice that the conditional reasoning, formal logic, and parallel reasoning sections are probably the most helpful sections. However, these questions are by far the hardest on the logical reasoning section. I recommend saving them for last to make sure you get done in time, since they are the most time consuming. (Before I read these sections I incorrectly thought conditional and logical reasoning was far to easy to be worth studying, since I had an engineering background.)

In short, I recommend the following study method for the LSAT:

Introduction to the test: Look at the free stuff from LSAC

Logic Games: Read the book "Ace the LSAT Logic Games", by Get Prepped.

Logical Reasoning: read the book "LSAT Logical Reasoning Bible", by Power Score.

Reading Comprehension: don't read any books that tell you to highlight and underline stuff, you won't have time to finish the exam. Instead, read a bunch of novels to improve your reading skills if you were never much of a reader before. So ladies, read some romance novels, and guys well you know what to read.

Kaplan/Princeton Review: I don't recommend wasting any time with either of these books. They are much too basic. If you want to study for a couple weeks and just get familiar with the test, then these are fine. However, you won't do your best if you rely simply on these general books.

Lastly, make sure to put down all study books the entire week before the test and simply do practice exams.

If you truly want to understand how logical reasoning questions are structured, how to analyze the questions to determine the best answer, this is the best prep I've found so far.

I took the TestMasters class, thinking it was the Test Masters course by Robin Singh, but it wasn't. If you want to take Robin's course, make sure you are looking at the right website (testmasters180.com, not testmasters.com). It was the worst online course I could have taken. The instructor for Logical Reasoning WAS AWEFUL!! Sometimes, he would just give you the right answer to the question, but wouldn't tell you why the others were incorrect. He also didn't give you insight into how and why the questions were designed. If you want more info on the course before you take it, I would be more than happy to share my experience with you before you spend $900.

I wish I had checked out this book first. It would have saved me over $800 bucks!!!

This item along with the Powerscore Logic Games Bible are must haves for LSAT study! I wish I would've spent more time on this book though. I took the June 2008 LSAT and receieved a 153. My logic games section was my best with 21/23 correct. I know that if I study this book more that I could definitely improve my score, which I plan on doing this upcoming October 4 LSAT! I've already pre-ordered the Powerscore Reading Comprehension Bible which will ship on Sept. 4 from Powerscore's website because that's by far my weakest section. If it's anything like the other books then it should be a big help!

this seller is awesome! the product arrived in impeccable condition! i am extremely satisfied!

50% of your score on the LSAT is tied to Logical Reasoning. You may think you are hot on this subject, but everyone can benefit, and should benefit, from detailed study on the subject. Logical Reasoning should be where you make up for points lost in the Logic Games. This book, with real LSAT examples (not imitations) will help you do this with well-expressed strategies to check your answers and to eliminate wrong answers - that means you SAVE TIME! Pay a little extra for this if you are serious about Law School. As for a Kaplan book? I got suckered into it over this book, at first. The comparison? Take your Kaplan book and use it as a coaster or kindling in the fireplace. Kaplan is useless.

Hello
Good source - the only book with real quesions from the test.

MBA Israel
www.mba.org.il

This book is great for rote practice...whether you are struggling with math or verbal, this will give you the drill practice you need, and it's the real deal, not made-up questions from Kaplan and PR. Spend the money. It's worth it. There were EXACT questions from this book on my test. Practicing these questionssaved me tons of time on the real exam which helped me get the score I needed to land at a top school.

Don't bother spending thousands of dollars on classes...this should be your final step in the prep process. I used books from Kaplan and Princeton Review to get familiar with the material and did pratice problems provided in those books. After feeling good about myself, I tackled this book and ALL 1400+ problems. Every problem I missed, I marked and came back to. The explanations were very helpful in determining what part of my thought process was flawed and where I went wrong on each problem. My result: 710.

There's something to be said for the comfort of working with the "official" book. The review sections are dry and offer nothing in the way of helpful strategy, but the skills you need are there (for tips and tricks, Princeton Review might be the best). My assessment of this resource is that the questions tend to all be in the middle range of difficulty. After a lot of studying, these questions all seemed average and I wanted something more challenging so that I would be ready to do battle with the real test. For that I turned to the Kaplan 800 guide. I felt I had to stray outside this book after awhile because it was dulling my sense of difficulty. It's a good idea to do as much of this as you can - but I recommend paying attention to how you're doing and eventually leaving this book behind for deeper waters when you start to get bored. My recommendation: start with Princeton Review (fun and easy with good tips, but not hardcore enough). Then do any specialized "workout" books you need (I got math workout books from Princeton Review and GMAC). Get this book and get into the dry math review and practice questions. Buy the Barron's book if you really have nothing better to do than waste your time and money (this wasn't totally useless, but mostly so). Then go nuts with Kaplan and scare yourself to death with their overly difficult practice tests - you'll score lower on those by 200 points than on the real thing, if you're like me. Then take the test - the light on the other side of the exam awaits you!

I'd taken a GMAT course, and then I took the exam: Imagine my surprise, when I've discovered that I got only 600 (Quantative: 50, Verbal: 21, AWA: 3.5). I've realized that this preparation was not enough, so I've read any GMAT book I could put my hands on, just to be on the safe side. Here is my ranking of those books, from the most worthy to the least worthwhile:
1. The Official Guide For The GMAT Review, 10th Edition:
Without doubt, if you can allow yourself only one book - this is it. Its questions (and there are A LOT of them) are the ones that reflect the actual exam in the most realistic way, since this book was written by the creators of the tests, and the questions are real GMAT questions from old exams. The verbal section is excellent, and is at the same level of difficulty of the actual test. The quantitive section's questions are a bit easier then in the actual exam, especially for the stronger students, mainly due to the fact that those questions are taken from the pen-and-paper version of the test, so they are at a medium difficulty level, apart from a few exceptions.
This book does not, however, offer you any sort of strategy to solve the questions more quickly or efficiently, since the writers of the book do not want to sabotage their own exam...
Also, while every question has detailed answers, containing all possible mistakes in all of the wrong answers, I did not always understand all of the explanations to the questions in the verbal part - there is an extensive use of the phrase "unidiomatic" in the answers, even when the are plain explanation to be given. This might bother people whose first language isn't English (like me  )...
Other people who reviewed this book have mentioned that the most difficult questions at this book are at the end. I did not feel any difference, but, hey, this is just my opinion...
Note: There are rumors about a new edition of this book, more expensive and with fewer questions - but from newer exams. If such edition does exist - it is highly recommended - since you want to have questions that reflect the test in the best way, and nobody would do all the questions in this book (A LOT...) anyway...
2. Cracking The GMAT, 2006 Edition\The Princeton Review:
The BEST book for strategies tips and hints to solve questions fast and to eliminate wrong answers correctly. I was especially impressed by the great Critical Reasoning section, attacking each type of question separately, and provides useful ways to "crack the question" - something that was not taught even during the prep course I took.
However, while I didn't use this book for the quantative part, I've reviewed it, and it does contain only about 95% of the material in the actual exam. To prepare properly, you should add 'Math Workout For The GMAT\The Princeton Review', which does cover those remaining 5% (like questions dealing with groups and percent or relay on the 'Official Guide', mentioned before.
3. Kaplan's GMAT 800:
I've noticed that this book got a bad review at this site. I, however, do not concur. This book has a great verbal section - mostly in the sentence correction section: While the "Eight most common mistakes" are the same standard section that you'll also find in Princeton's book, the "Seven more errors" section that follows is unique, and reveal types of error that, while not to be found in any other book, actually do appear in the test (I, for example, had a subordinate SC question at mine).
This book, however, neither represent all the question types in the test, nor does it include all the basic strategies that can be found on the Princeton's or Kaplan's regular books.
4. Kaplan's GMAT, 2005 Edition:
This book is a HUGE letdown: while it does cover some basic strategies, it does achieve neither Princeton's depth (strategy-wise), nor breadth (question-wise). The only reason you should not pass this book is the CD attached to it: The CD contains concise lessons, a lot of practice questions, and 4 really hard tests (much more then the actual one!).
If you can acquire the CD without the book - it's the best deal for you!
Also, the answers to the question that do exist in this book are comprehensive and easy to understand.
5. GMAT CAT Answers to the Real Essay Questions\ARCO:
A good book to improve your essay-writing level: have more then 200 essays to the topics of the official essays poll (published at the ETS web site)!
It also has some good tips on writing a good essay, like essay's template and comprehensive Analysis Of An Argument strategies section.
6. Barrano's How To Prepare For The GMAT, 13th Edition:
The questions in this book are much too easy, and their explanations are not sufficient. The only good thing about it is the fact that it gives you a detailed yet concise review of the most common mistakes in English in the sentence correction section.
I would pass this one.
In conclusion, if you want my advice (and off-course you do, while else are you still reading?), take the Official Guide, Princeton's, and maybe 'Princeton's math workout'. The over-achievers can add 'GMAT 800' and 'GMAT CAT Answers to the Real Essay Questions\ARCO ' to their arsenal.
Couple of last tips for the road:
- Download the PowerPrep (the demo test, available to download for free from the GMAT web site), but notice that the question there are taken from the official guide, so don't be surprised if you get a strong feeling of De-Ja-Vu, while taking those tests...
- Get a GMAT idioms list from the web. I saw a few variations, all of them are of the same list, and it's quite useful.
- Get from the internet a document called "The Unofficial Guide To The Official Guide" - it's an index of the questions in the Official Guide, sorted by topic and difficulty level. This will make your study much easier.
- Whenever you take a test at home, add to it an essay from the actual poll. This way you'll develop your stamina, and improve the chance to get an essay you've already did at home in the actual test (as I did, in the second time...)
- RELAX. It's only a test (easy for me to say - I've already passed it...)

Oh, and by-the-way, the second time I took the exam, I got 740 (Quantative: 50, Verbal: 38, AWA: 4.0) so I guess the books did help a bit...

Have fun, and good luck!

I have to admit that I am not a fan when it comes to the Examkracker series, however, this verbal book is an exception. I was able to raise my score from a 7 to 11 on the mcat over the course of 5 wks and that is pretty cool! Prep companies will teach you the whole thing with underlining and stuff but honestly, ont he actual test, you'll see that the only way to score above a 10 is to finish the entire test and that's what examkracker teaches you to do for this section. However, i have to say that the one thing i am disappointed by is the fact that this book does not have the variety that mcat has. For instance, the mcat verbal is broken down into 3 sections, history, social sciences, or literature. This book does not have enough literature which is actually one of the hardest sections to do. I would strongly recommend this book for studying cause it does amazing things :)

This book was quite helpful in preparing for the MCAT. The passages are similar in length and difficulty. The questions help prepare one for what type of questions will be asked on the MCAT.

Since the MCAT changed from an 8 hour exam to a 5 hour exam, this book has lost its relevance. It is not that helpful anymore because it does not reflect the AAMCAS structure or question type. It is far too difficult and irrelevant. They need to come up with a newer version where the verbal tests are 40 minutes each, the passages are shorter, and the questions at par with the real test.

does anyone know if the next edition will be out any time soon? Or should I just get this one (pub 2002) for my test in may?

Thanks

This is a great book with multiple timed exams that will help you improve your verbal score by at least 3-4 points. It helped me immensely. Many people think they do not need to study for verbal and then are shocked how they don't have enough time to complete a section and they generally choose incorrect answers. You don't want that to be you! Buy this book -- it really is amazing :)
If you can't afford it here, look on craigslist!

A necessity for any pre-med. Most colleges have their own, but I wanted a personal copy... Breaks down school by school what is needed to apply and gives a little bit about the school atmosphere and program type. Also gives degree types that are available. Extremely helpful!!! Very reasonably priced, item arrived in excellent condition.

this book just summarizes what individual med schools' websites say about their entrance requirements. it does have a few errors.

I got the book and it was in perfect condition, in its plastic covering. Thanks so much!

This is a great reference book and resource. It has all the information you need about medical schools and their admissions requirements, standards, and much more. A must have for the medical school application process. Great book!!

unfortunately, it was only when i got this book that i realized how much of a waste of $30 it was. i really wish i could have skimmed through it at a nearby bookstore so i wouldnt have to pay 30$ to look through less than 1/10 of it. i strongly recommend browsing through it at a bookstore (if it has it in stock!!!) or chipping in on buying one with a friend or borrowing a friend's. i remember that the 2007 edition strongly resembled this year's- so recent editions should be okay!