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Rating:  Summary: Helpful, but outdated Review: This book is incredibly useful in studying for the verbal and math sections of the GRE. However, the test has recently been changed, replacing the multiple-choice analytical section with a writing sample, and this book was published before the change. Almost half of the book is dedicated to solving the analytical questions which no longer are a part of the exam, and there is, of course, no information about the writing sample.Even if you only have a few weeks to study, I would recommend getting one of the more comprehensive, more up-to-date books. I found the one published by ETS, the organization that creates the test, to be the most helpful, as it has sample essays to look at and questions to practice writing on.
Rating:  Summary: Helpful, but outdated Review: This book is incredibly useful in studying for the verbal and math sections of the GRE. However, the test has recently been changed, replacing the multiple-choice analytical section with a writing sample, and this book was published before the change. Almost half of the book is dedicated to solving the analytical questions which no longer are a part of the exam, and there is, of course, no information about the writing sample. Even if you only have a few weeks to study, I would recommend getting one of the more comprehensive, more up-to-date books. I found the one published by ETS, the organization that creates the test, to be the most helpful, as it has sample essays to look at and questions to practice writing on.
Rating:  Summary: All you need for the GRE Review: This book should totally prepare you for the GRE. Don't fret and get the really big books - they are a waste of your time. This book has good practical advice for taking the test too. You can buy this book and finish it in less than a week, but I would read it a month before your test and then skim through it again a week before.
Rating:  Summary: Super high yield -- best money I spent on the GRE Review: This GRE book has basically all of the same techniques as much larger books from Kaplan and Princeton, but doesn't waste your time with lengthy discourse. It's right to the point, which is exactly the way you want it. I didn't use this book as a last-minute cram, I read it before starting my study program and it saved me countless hours of trying to figure out strategies for the question types. This method was extremely effective and highly recommended. Finishing the book in an afternoon or two is not difficult. Final note: You will definitely need a large word list to study and some practice tests. The free GRE powerprep tests are similar to actual GRE questions and are scaled correctly, unlike the Kaplan tests in both respects. I used the GRE Verbal Workout for it's word lists and was not especially satisfied. The book "1000 Most Important Words," while not designed for the GRE, would have been much more thorough and effective, not to mention a third of the price. Good luck!
Rating:  Summary: Super high yield -- best money I spent on the GRE Review: This GRE book has basically all of the same techniques as much larger books from Kaplan and Princeton, but doesn't waste your time with lengthy discourse. It's right to the point, which is exactly the way you want it. I didn't use this book as a last-minute cram, I read it before starting my study program and it saved me countless hours of trying to figure out strategies for the question types. This method was extremely effective and highly recommended. Finishing the book in an afternoon or two is not difficult. Final note: You will definitely need a large word list to study and some practice tests. The free GRE powerprep tests are similar to actual GRE questions and are scaled correctly, unlike the Kaplan tests in both respects. I used the GRE Verbal Workout for it's word lists and was not especially satisfied. The book "1000 Most Important Words," while not designed for the GRE, would have been much more thorough and effective, not to mention a third of the price. Good luck!
Rating:  Summary: great book Review: this is an excellent addition for anyone with a gre date looming. it should in no way be the only book you get, but it does help. i bought it along with the "barron's" review book and they worked well togather. it is slightly annoying, having some random letter "v's" added to words in the verbal section, and a crazy explination for one of the equation problems. but it could have just been a misprint in my book. still it was very helpful and a cofidence booster.
Rating:  Summary: Wait for new edition of book coming up Review: Were this book up-to-date I would have rated it with 4 stars. However, this edition is pre-October 2002, i.e. refers to the old analytical section instead of the new analytic writing one (essay). I had bought it more than a year and only got the chance to go through it now, so I read only what refers to the other two sections (verbal, math). This book is short-'n-sweet, but IMHO, in the math section, _too_ sweet. If you have a major in anything like math (as I happen to do), physics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or even economics, the way it approaches the math section may seem childish to you (and maybe confuse you rather than illuminate you). I don't know how useful it may appear to (say) English or Psych majors with weak math backgrounds, but it wasn't helpful to me, others than the sample questions, and a couple of nice, time-saver tricks it mentions (3:4:5, 5:12:13 triangles, Bowtie, etc.) The verbal section is the one I found more useful. For instance, it provides some useful techniques for attacking analogies. However, it is my strong belief that if you are weak in vocab all the nice tricks in the world can't help you much, especially with analogies and antonyms. Overall, it is not a bad book for its price and its goal (crash course for people w/ only a week in their disposal). However, (1) if you have a strong math background, you may find the math section too condescending and (2) (and most importantly) wait for the new edition of this book, coming out September, that will be updated for the new analytical writing section.
Rating:  Summary: One of the best GRE books ever Review: When I started preparing for the GRE, I bought the ubiquitous Kaplan Guide and after I took the practice test I was incredibly dissapointed in my scores. Picking up this book, I read through the strategies for answering questions correctly, and then returned to Kaplan and went through every question in the book, answering them as recommended in the Crash Course book. I got INCREDIBLE results -- one of my scores jumped 300 points from the practice test to when I actually took the GRE. If you are the type of person who is bad at standardized tests, THIS BOOK is what you need. I cannot recommend it strongly enough.
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