Admissions Books

ARCO's guide for taking the GMAT CAT is very thorough and well-written, although it lacks the humor and "chatty" attitude some other lines of study guides are well known for. My only true complaint about this book is that it does not offer any interpretation of the scores you achieve on the practice tests -- you know what you've missed and why, but you have no way of correlating your performance to true GMAT scores. Sort of a bummer...

The Software accompanying this book was the closest ( other than Poweprep from ETS ) that I got to the actual test, as far as the look and feel. Content-wise, it does have some tough math, but overall, it gave me consistent scores which matched almost exactly to my actual GMAT. Make sure to go through the book before you jump to the tests. Improved my score by at least 80-90. With this book , PowerPrep and some tester practice from Princeton Review, I jumped from an initial 570 to 660. Worth every penny.

The GMAT prep books can be overwhelming, especially for those of us who have been out of college more than 5 years! I tried starting w/ the OG and my moral was crushed! This "dummies" book, like all "dummies" books is very straightforward and simply written. Which is a good thing! If you have the luxury of having at least 2 months to study and therefore have the time to work through this book, invest in it! it is a good book to start with to not only explain the test, but to also give you some basic practice questions, some tips on strategy and some decent solution explanations. Good confidence builder prior to moving onto the OG, Kaplan, Barrons, EZ Solutions. From this book(again assuming you have at least 2 months to study) I would move onto Crackin the Gmat, then onto Kaplan and Official Guide(OG), for extra practice throw in Barrons and for subject specific help, look into EZ Solutions and PowerScore...=)

The previous reviews must be about an earlier edition of this book because I thought it was an excellent study aid for the GMAT. There were no typos that I could see, and the material was right on relevant to the way the questions are presented on the GMAT test.

The book was easy to read and actually (gasp!) made studying for the GMAT enjoyable. The practice test seemed to be at the same level as the actual GMAT, not harder and not easier.

This is a great prep tool. Check out this new edition by new authors. You won't be disappointed!

I just took the MCAT about an hour ago. I know, I should be sleeping. Anyway, regarding the book, I felt as though the physical science portion was the most helpful. That includes both physics and general chemistry. As far as biology and organic chemistry goes, it probably provides more information than you actually need. I admire the sheer amount of content, but the scope of biology in the book is both over-shot and off the mark. Most of the questions on the MCAT were biochemistry-based, and I'm not sure if Gold Standard integrates as much as it could. Still, if you take the entire book into account, read the whole thing (which takes a while), and write down what you don't already know, you will get what is offered in the introduction "an acceptable score on the MCAT."

Those of you who don't already have a solid science background and good test habits, however, might want to do more test-taking before you start studying content, so you know the nature of the beast. Take some online tests, and you're good. Definitely buy and take some AAMC practice tests. Either way, don't drop the HUGE $$$ on Kaplan because that's extortion. (Unless you have a metric ton of hundred dollar bills sitting in trunk of your SUV AND you really suck at science and test taking, in which case, be a business major. You'll be happier.)

UPDATE: MCAT score: 33T

Excellent science teaching/review, only pertinent information, below average verbal section (simply not in depth enough), very good writing sample advice/review, three very realistic challenging practice MCAT CBTs (which really is the only format you should practice with). I would give the book 4 and 1/2 stars but it was not an option.

This book has been a lifesaver for writing admission orders. Could not imagine working without it!

This text is useful for 3rd and 4th more medical students who are beginning to write admission H&Ps, as well as admission orders. I also could see this being useful for interns. The book starts with a section called "Guide Tables," which lists, in table format, commonly used information such as DVT prop. initial vent settings, abx spectrum, and more. The tables are made to be read quickly and are ordered well. The main text of the book is divided into specialty areas. For example, cards, endo, infxn disease and so on. Within each section, there are common admission orders. They follow the standard format. The orders also include a section called "management" which details initial treatment, as well as a section called "diagnosis," which provides more information on rule outs and pearls regarding the diagnosis. Overall, I found the orders to be accurate and succinct. Again, this text is for quick reference, so do not expect explanations, as they are not given. There is a bonus section on toxicology which I think is useful and usually left out of reference texts. In addition to the standard sections, there are sections based on "symptoms" (i.e., chest pain, cough); and a section on symptom management. I think the symptom management section is perfect for the intern who is beginning to memorize the commonly used symptomatic drugs. Overall, I think this is a perfect reference for the medical student who is beginning to write orders and even for a new intern. In comparison to "Medicine," another commonly used order book, this Instant Access book is more thorough, the orders are more reasonable (I have found many problems with the orders in the "Medicine" book. I would recommend this book without reservation.

A must have for all Pre-meds, I also suggesting getting the barrons book, it had other info like the class size and distribution etc

This is the classic, called the "bible" of med school guide books. It has the most up-to-date, from the horse's mouth (the schools') skinny on what each school requires, the admissions processes, mean MCATs and GPAs of accepted applicants, info on expenses, financial aid, and tons of stats on the applicant pool.

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I have bought all the MGMAT strategy guides and plan to write a review as I finish them. I have completed Number properties guide and I have found it very useful. Before starting with MGMAT I had completed Priceton Review Cracking the GMAT and Kaplan Comprehensive GMAT. I would say that the above 2 books use concepts straight out of college textbooks. However MGMAT explains these concepts as tested by GMAT. It gives more concepts per topic instead of cramming up everything under 1 book. Every page worth reading specially about prime, consecutive numbers and average.

Some people find it pricey but I would question if they cannot but these books for $18, how can they afford their MBA ?

"Very good for the target audience" - I think this sums it all. If you are someone who has not done active maths for some time now, and therefore does not remember the concepts involved very well, this is the book for you. This I will say holds true for most of the books of the Manhattan Quant series.
The Manhattan Quant series books cover the concepts only to the degree that gets asked in the GMAT, and do not overwhelm you.
Plus, as each of the Manhattan books then turns to the Official Guide for practice, each of the books has a section where the appropriate questions for that topic are numbered from the OG. They also detail the toughest of the lot from OG. Here I think the book is useful for anyone, irrespective of the personal comfort level with maths.
Therefore if you are true to yourself and practice the questions marked from OG as you go along, this would prove to an excellent resource for cracking the quant part of the GMAT.

In my studies for the LSAT, I found these great prep-tests - they are real former LSAT tests (without the experimental section). They helped in my preparation for the real thing. Now I'm just waiting to get my score!

LSATs are hard!!!!! This book was great to practice with. I wrote all over it and really feel that I have a greater understanding of what is expected of me. There is only one full test in this booklet and for me, it is much better than having 10 or more practice tests in one book. I really liked this format and this booklet and I look forward to getting another and another to practice with.

Although I have yet to put the advice in this book to the test - my son graduates from high school next week - it has given me many things to think about as we prepare for his departure to college in just a couple of months. I'm sure much of it I would have figured out on my own, but reading this book has given me some ideas (where and how to bank, where should he register to vote, make hotel reservations early for parents weekend) that it's better to think of early than late. I expect as we get into packing and shopping mode, I will be referring to it more and more.

My wife and I just gave birth to our baby daughter Marilyn. Actually, my wife did all the hard work, but we are both as happy and proud as parents can be. We want everything for our daughter that we never had, including a college education, so we began looking at college admissions guides as soon as Marilyn was born, because we both know that it is never too early to start planning for her future.

One of the books we looked at is Robin Raskin's "Parents' Guide to College Life". While we may not actually employ the advice for another eighteen years, we wanted to be as prepared as possible.

"Parents' Guide to College Life" collects together Ms. Raskin's own experience as the parent of college-aged kids along with advice from college administrators, advisors, students, and parents in an easy-to-read, question-and-answer format divided into ten chapters covering such topics as finance, long-distance parenting, health, academics, and safety. Tips range from the mundane, such as packing and laundry, to the very serious, such as course selection and alcohol abuse. Especially helpful are the appendices which contain information on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), useful websites for parents, and a "Parents' Trivia Test" to determine the extent of your involvement with your kids.

After carefully reading and reviewing the honest and straightforward information contained within "Parents' Guide to College Life", my wife and I have decided to home-school Marilyn for her college degree. There is absolutely no way that we are going to expose our precious daughter to all the possible dangers that might harm her while being on her own in a closed, insular environment surrounded by unformed, immature peers whose degenerate behaviours are barely policed, if not secretly condoned, by spineless and officious administrators who kowtow to rich alumni who care only about their corrupt sports team or puerile fraternities. No way. My wife and I are thankful Ms. Raskin has opened our eyes to the truth behind college life, enabling us to do all in our power to keep our daughter away those breeding grounds for sin.

I'm Arthur Hu, and I'm mentioned as the prime culprit in turning UC away from strict quotas. She's got me wrong when she says I'm against all preferences, I'm just for putting on a limit, disclosing differential standards, and putting a ban on strict quotas, which is exactly what Berekeley and UCLA were doing with 8%+ black and 20% Hispanic admissions, exactly equal to their stated goals. I've stashed away a few extra copies of you need them.

During the 1980s, there was a big controversy over whether elite colleges were placing a ceiling on the number of Asian-Americans they would admit. Takagi takes a sociological look at this issue as it affected two premier UC schools. Takagi tracks how universities pitifully defended themselves first by saying, "Well, we have enough science majors" and then by saying, "We can't admit Asians if we have to give so much affirmative action to blacks." It is particularly interesting seeing this book in light of Proposition 209's aftermath. Having read this book before I headed to Berkeley's law school, I found it a very useful guide. I think this text is a good addition to the burgeoning field of Asian-American studies.

One of the best guides for students interested in a pharmacy career and getting into pharmacy school. This book is highly recommended!

This book is meant for those who are deciding if they want to go into Pharmacy/trying to figure out a career. There is a brief overview of the application process, roles of a pharmacist, and interviews from Pharm. students and professionals

However, don't buy this if you have already decided to pursue pharmacy/want a "how to get in" type of book. The Kaplan rx for success is a much better choice if that's the type of material you're looking for.