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Barron's How to Prepare for the Gre Graduate Record Examination (Barron's How to Prepare for the Gre Test (Book and CD-Rom), 14th ed)

Barron's How to Prepare for the Gre Graduate Record Examination (Barron's How to Prepare for the Gre Test (Book and CD-Rom), 14th ed)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Helpful review & practice tests
Review: Hi!

The review section is excellent, and the explanation of the test format was exactly what I needed. I not only worked on the CD-ROM (which by the way, the GRE is computer-based anyway), but on the paper-based exams. Both helped. I highly recommend this book!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This book rules!
Review: I ordered 2 GRE books and this is the only one I kept. It is packed with information. The word list and the math review are extremely helpful, and there are about a million practice exercises (including 6 full-length tests) with full explanations. The practice questions were exactly like the questions on the test, so I knew what to expect. I did every practice exercise and only found about 5 errors, so I don't think the proofreading's a huge issue like other reviewers did. I got 800's on both the Verbal and the Quantitative!!! Thanks for the book!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best book for GRE preparation
Review: I studied for 2 months for the GRE's and tried out lots of books. This one was the best. (I used the 15th edition which is bit more recent). The math review was the most comprehensive I found, and I needed a great deal of math review because I've been out of school 15 years and haven't taken a math course in 19 years. The vocabulary lists were terrific too. Unlike some other reviewers, I found the practice questions to be about the same, and in some cases a bit easier, than the actual test. But I scored higher than I'd expected to on both the math and verbal sections, largely due to this book. My one complaint was there there is no index listing where to find help with specific math concepts so I had to do a lot of flipping around to find particular sections. I'd say: leave yourself plenty of time to study, try several books out to get different tactics (such as Cracking the GRE, the GRE for Dummies, the Kaplan's GRE Prep) but use this book extensively and definitely, definitely, definitely work with the GRE Powerprep software offered by the ETS, the people who make up the real GRE. I'd recommend downloading it from the web site because, although you're supposed to receive it in the mail once you register for the GRE's, it may not arrive in time. Best of luck!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great for practicing and Great Vocab!!
Review: I used this book (not the CD), the Princeton Cracking the GRE, and the ETS Powerprep software. I have to say this book was the most helpful to get my scores (V 730, Q 790, A 800). I only really studied the Verbal part, and the 3500 word list in this book was exceptional (and needed for the test). I also liked the large number of questions after each section that you could practice on.

For each section of the GRE, and type of question in each section, Barron's gives you tactics to answer each question effectively. I felt those tactics did help me, on all sections. Especially on the math section, which had a whole chapter which reviewed, point by point, each math concept which you could be expected to know. That geometry is always a pain! :)

I didn't miss the CD, and one word of caution, don't take the Diagnostic Test too seriously, just practice alot and get familiar with questions and strategies to deal with them. That will help more, because you are probably more aware of your weak areas than the test can show you.

I recommend this book, not necessarily for it's tests, but for the abundance of study material, and for practice questions at the end of each section to review what you just learned. Also for the LARGE vocab list (love those notecards).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This book rules!
Review: Let's just start by saying that I never used a test prep book of any kind that was more helpful---and I've used plenty: for both the PSAT and SAT, for AP courses, NYS Regents exams, etc. The best parts for me were the math---because everything was explained so clearly, and I was never very good at math--- and the analytical reasoning--because I had never seen questions like that before, and I found them intimidating. The practice analytical questions were just like what I saw on the real test, and I got most of them right!

I can't contradict any other review, but I didn't find a single error in the math section---maybe because my book was the fourth printing and the typos from the first printing were already corrected. In any event, what was even more helpful than the math review were the math tactics, which enabled me to answer correctly several questions for which I was clueless at to the correct mathematical solution. That was amazing.

I also found the vocabulary section good, but I spent less time on that, since that wasn't my problem area.

Good luck to anyone taking the test. I honestly think this book will help you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A must for GRE preparation
Review: The math review of this book is a tremendous help to revise basic and important math concepts. It has given important formulae in bullet points with very instructive excercises. This is important for the people who are out of touch with this level of math. The vocabulary list is an essential for anyone serious about increasing their verbal score (unless your verbal skills are already phenomenal).

The only drawback is that the full-length tests are not indicative of the actual CAT test questions and expected scores.

Overall a book necessary to go through before you are gruelled by ETS!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best book for GRE preparation
Review: This and the ETS software were all that I used. The book is great, with really helpful explanations. On my first practice test I got in the low 600s in all 3 sections, and on the real test I got 800Q, 770A, and 630V. Since in my field the Q is by far the most important, I was quite happy with the results :)

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Has the Info, but Needs Better Presentation
Review: This Barron's guide to the GRE probably has equivalent information and study tips to the other GRE guides that are available, making it an acceptable guide. This especially applies to the Verbal Ability section and the diagnostic and model tests. The 3500-word dictionary of brainiac words is also useful but takes forever to get through if you tackle it from a study angle. The biggest problem with this guide is the Quantitative (math) Ability section, in which complex solutions are difficult to read and sometimes contain errors and typos. Take this example: "x+.25x=1.25x=2000=>y=2000/.75=2666.67." Now imagine that crammed into the middle of a paragraph containing various fonts and typefaces - and this example doesn't even contain square roots, exponents, fractions, or other hard to read symbols. Add to that some flat-out errors (see some of the other reviews here for examples) and the Quantitative section presents some difficulties. The Analytical Ability section falters in some places as it tries to explain how you should "infer" or "deduce" answers. I found myself just plain disagreeing with some of the answers in the Analytical section, with no explanation as to why I should agree with the guide's answer. One final humbug in this edition is the 2-page synopsis on the new Analytical Writing portion of the test, which is hidden at the end of the book after about 140 pages of model test information.

This guide will surely help you practice adequately for the GRE, but the presentation leaves a little to be desired. Also, you can buy this book with the optional CD-ROM, which gives tips on the current computer-based version of the test. If you have at least competent computer skills, the CD-ROM is unnecessary, so skip it and save some money.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Help for GRE
Review: This book was helpful in preparing me for the GRE.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Test Prep
Review: You will not find a better GRE Test prep than this book and CD-ROM. The 3500-word vocabulary list and practice questions are right on target with what you will need to know. The diagnostic test specifically narrows down the math subject areas you need the most help in reviewing. The math tutorial pages are informative and concise, with practice mini-tests after each section. The Analytical practice questions are also very similar in length and complexity to the kinds of questions you will receive on the actual test if you are aiming for a high score.

To top it all off, there are five full-length practice tests at the back of the book, in addition to the CD-ROM exam, which can be taken a number of times, and offers (mostly) different questions each time. The CD-ROM exam thoroughly prepared me for the rigors of the actual test.

Yes, there are a few typos in this book, as in almost any other book of this nature, and no, they are not significant enough to greatly alter your prep experience.

I was satisfied with my test results (V 610, Q 650, A 800), and I relied solely on this book for preparation.


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