Princeton review people have proven that they actually KNOW what they are doing. However, I couldn't get my RevieWare Software when I bought the book. Instead I got 4 sample tests. Why? RevieWare Software is (in fact seems to be) a practical tool for the GMAT student, but it is not there, even though is fully explained in the book.

Now in year 2000, as we enter a new century, we experienced renewed political instability and serious threats, having their origin in the market for petroleum in northern South America. Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez might be the threat of the decade. So here it is, I go back to read books on this subject, and I find this one particularly useful. A thorough study, on a subject which is unfortunately so topical nowadays.

Author John D. Martz does a massive study of the domination of politics and society by political elites in Colombia. Martz dismisses rumor and scandal, using honest research to piece together a glaring examination of political rule in Colombia. The end result...Martz clearly cares for the Colombian people and shows how the selfish practice of "Clientelism" in the political system circumvents improving the standard of living inside the borders of the nation.

Martz explains that "Clientelism involves sets of patrons and clients cooperating with one another to retain maximum benefit for themselves from all assets which any of them handle by personally exchanging these assets among themselves." In essence, Martz demonstrates that much of the political system in Colombia is built to serve those in power. The author does an exhausting study that shows how the majority of politicians are loyal to the party and not to the people they represent and who elected them to office.

The author also focuses on the 1991 constitutional reforms that "rehabilitated the rule of law." The democratic reforms banned "Clientelism" and pork-barrel legislation. Moreover, the fortification of democratic rule prevented Colombian Congressional representatives from holding other public position while in office. Still and all, the political system was not completely sanitized, according to Martz. This is an excellent book with a close up study of every Colombian president from 1958 to 1997. This book is easy to read and filled with tremendous insights. Martz is an outstanding scholar with a firm understanding of what makes Colombia tick.

Bert Ruiz

The review provided by this book and CD are adequate, but notoutstanding. A lot of time is spent teaching test-taking tricks,which is time and paper that could have been better spent withadditional examples.

I studied on and off from this book for about 4 days, and completed 2 test sub-sections and 2 other complete tests from the CD that comes with the book. On each of the complete tests, my score was exactly the same -- 730. I just sat for the actual GMAT exam this morning and scored a 660. I took the GMAT (paper version) a little over 5 years ago (and about 1 yr out of undergrad) and scored a 690 with little more than a day or two preparation.

Did this prep material really do anything for me? You make the call.

The only book I purchased and the only one I needed. The CD-Rom worked perfectly and the practice tests were nearly identical to the actual GMAT - my score was exactly what I got on the last practice test. If you do not have a lot of time to study before you take the test, I highly recommend this book!

I was using the Kaplan and Cambridge books and consistently getting 580s on the practice tests. I got the Princeton Review on the Friday before my Wednesday test and cracked down. This book teaches you WHAT you need to know, not some general knowledge review like other study guides. The only downside is that the math sample tests seemed a bit easer than the real thing. I finished all of the practice tests in plenty of time, but on the real GMAT I had to guess on the last 12 math problems during the last two minutes. Final result 660!

Good Luck

Although some part of verbal & math section in the book is quite helpful, the GMAT test from the CD is too easy, doesn't reflect a real question in the test.

Get Kaplan & ETS test-prep materials, allow 2-3 months for intense study, you will get a good results. Score above 650 is not impossible, if you study hard from this two books.

This book offers some valuable tips and suggestions especially for cracking math. But overall it focuses more on the "Joe Blogg" tips and tricks approach, which may work for some people and not for others. I still believe knowing sincerely how to solve problems will get you far. But the PR book makes for an interesting read, gives you some excellent strategies (e.g., about the essay sections etc) and does the best job of introducing the concept of "difficulty level bins" -- which is how the CAT works. I, much to my surprise I admit, ended up with a 780 and for those about to take the GMAT, some tips:

1. Definitely get yourself the 'Official Guide' (published by ETS) -- that is indespensable. You should aim to complete it from cover to cover - it gives you a really good idea of the test questions though the math is a liitle easier than what I saw on the test. It even has a comprehensive, complete list of essay topics.

2. Practice tests -- my scores in Powerprep : 780,770; Kaplan : 670,650,690; Princeton : 750,720. So I'd venture to recommend this book to get a decent estimation of where you really stand, and therefore u must take the included tests seriously -- i.e., emulating the real testing conditions -- in order to get an accurate idea of your potential. Kaplan is really tough - I haven't seen too many folks scoring above 700 in thier tests - infact when i gave the first test straight after a 780 in powerprep and got a 650 I was pretty turned off - but later found out that it wasn't really a big deal. Get Kaplan for practice, but the PR and the official guide should be enough.

3. PREP BOOKS: Well other than the Official guide, I used PR and Kaplan. I found the math tips in Kaplan (50 of them) quite impressive but the practice tests in PR give you a very good idea of difficulty levels of math/analytic. This book lays out the test in "bins" (easy bin, medium bin, and the tough bin). I found this to be a very unique and useful feature.

All in all, this particular book is superb for its purpose and complements the ETS OG fabulously. Highly recommended!

Thank God for this book. I also bought the Kaplan book (without the CD-rom) and thought it was pretty fair. But then I went through the Princeton Review book and I realized how poor the Kaplan book actually was. The Princeton Review book gives you great test-taking tips/strategies and made me feel MUCH better prepared than the Kaplan book made me feel. Also, the 5 tests that Princeton Review gives you on the CD were very helpful. The tests analyze how well you do for each question type and lets you know on average how long you were spending on each question. Since timing is key for the GMAT, this information was extremely helpful in pacing during the actual test.

If you're only going to get one book, get this book NOW! I wouldn't waste your time getting the Kaplan book. Also make sure you take the practice tests that GMAC gives out for free (they will send you a free CD-rom when you register for the GMAT, or you can download the PowerPrep software at their website for free). You should definitely take the real thing since as good as the Princeton Review software was, these are NOT the real questions. Some of the Princeton Review questions were easier than the real questions and vice versa (some of the real GMAT questions were easier than the Princeton Review ones).... They had great math review on the site (also do a search on Google for "Gmat" - this turned up a lot of good sites that offer free diagnostic tests online). It is critical that you take as many computer tests before taking the real thing. I had never taken a computer-based test and it was very different from the paper tests I've done before. Good luck!