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Rating: 
Summary: Very Poor Attention to Detail = Poor Credibility
Review: I've worked my way through the first 100 pages or so, and although the book is generally quite readable, I am very disappointed in the quality thus far. I have found numerous errors, for example:p. 87: (Question 3) Two answers are exactly the same. p. 92: (Question 23) The groups should probably include the suffix "A" (IA, IIA, etc.). p. 105: 2,3,5-trimethylhexane is misidentified as 1,3,5-... p. 107: The structure for 1-propyne is incorrect. Admittedly, some of these errors are minor, but my concern is for the mistakes that I will NOT find and thus potentially cause me problems as I study for this exam.
Rating:
Summary: Critical, but hopefully objective review.
Review: There are several conceivable uses of this StudyGuide: for initial familiarization of basic materials (that often is not covered in standard undergraduate curriculum), for subsequent in-depth study, and for practicing on the model tests / questions included. Writing a book that concisely yet succinctly covers every aspect of undergraduate curriculum in chemistry is a behemoth task, and it deserves credit for bringing up most of the material I've encountered in either other model tests, or the actual GRE I've taken. I estimate the coverage of the material on my actual exam be about 90%. I would not recommend anyone to rely solely on this for in-depth studying. As mentioned by a large number of reviewers, the guide is in much want of care and quality. I wonder if there has been any reviewer who have gone through the book before publishing. To cite an example, I refer you the Physical Chemistry practical questions #20 (pp. 277). The question implicitly requires examination and interpretation of a graph; however, the graph is nowhere to be found with the question; in fact, it is located with the *answers* on page 281. There are 4 pieces of possible facts that constitute the answer - I, II, III, V (not a typo on my part). The answers are [A. I and II] [B. II and IV] [C. II and III] [D. II and IV] [E. I and IV] - again, not a typo on my part for B and D to be identical. 3 critical errors in one single question is perhaps abit too much. Beyond the careless in proof-reading & preparation (like the multitude of five-bonded carbons), some of the material is outright *wrong*. To cite an example, on page 314, Median is defined as 'the value that appears the most frequently in the group' - this is the definition for Mode (median is the value in the middle of the series of number). These seriously hamper the use of the StudyGuide as a study guide - afterall, in case of doubt, one is never sure whether to trust the book or not! The model test is of appreciably better quality. My suspicion is that it's cropped directly from ETS materials (since some questions recurred from other guides) so there is not much to comment upon. My advice is to get an old edition of this book and treat it as a half-rotten treasure map. Yes, there's an X and some landmark that could be worth looking at - but to trust it wholehearted, and expect it to actually lead you to the treasure is something I'd do only as last measure. JKWC.
Rating:
Summary: Only good for its Table of Contents!
Review: This book (unfortunately, one of the only GRE Chemistry books out there) is filled with errors. Some of them are typos, and (even worse) some of them are blatant, chemically illogical errors.
If you try to study for the GRE using this book, it'll send you on a wild goose chase searching for other textbooks, to validate (or discredit) what's printed here. [In a way, that can be a good thing because you'll learn a lot from reading other textbooks. But of course, it can be a huge waste of time!]
I'd use this book for its Table of Contents, to serve as a list of topics. Then go elsewhere (like to your textbooks) to get the info you need and build your own study book.
Rating:
Summary: ERRORS ERRORS ERRORS
Review: This book is FULL of errors! DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: ERRORS ERRORS ERRORS
Review: This book is FULL of errors! DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Not worth it!!!!
Review: This is a terrible book. I am furious with myself for succumbing to the superior advertising tactics of the Princeton Review. I only read the reviews after wasting a gift certificate on it. The book (2nd ed.) is fraught with technical and grammatical errors. The hallmark of all Princeton review GRE material is the dire dearth of practice questions. This one is no exception. For instance, roughly 20 practice questions are provided for the entire Organic section. The quantity is poor, and the quality of the questions is equally poor - they too are error-stricken. What a scam. I strongly suspect that someone with very little knowledge of chemistry merely transcribed the bolded bits of a couple of textbooks. Also, DON'T BUY the PR general GRE book. It is smug in its self congratulation, lacks practice questions, and presents the material in an unimaginative fashion. The math is way too easy; the verbal is unexhaustive. ***BUY BARRON'S***. Please, somebody at Barron's put out a Chemistry review. Buying this book ranks amongst the two biggest mistakes of my life - the other being that I am currently too sleepy to write the scathing and indignant diatribe that this disgraceful book deserves. Get your act together, Princeton Review. This book is a slander to chemistry.
Rating:
Summary: Is this book reviewed by chemists????
Review: This is the most awful chemistry review book I have ever read. I cannot trust any of the information given in this book to be true because of the many mistakes that were made.
The most amazing thing occurred on the top of page 132: There are 5 bonds to carbon! Within the same example, the molecule containing a double bond is an alkene NOT an alkane. Other simple errors also occured, such as on page 111 when they spelled iso-butane, "iso-butnae." Also, on page 104, they spelled naphthalene, "naphtalene." Is there not an editorial staff looking for these errors? I must say I only read pages 104-132 because I fear to see MORE obvoius mistakes made. If you want to learn something about chemistry, DO NOT get this book!!
Rating: 
Summary: Errors, but better than nothing.
Review: Unlike tests such as the Psychology GRE, there really isn't much in the way of GRE Chemistry prep materials, excluding what is given on the GRE's site and a few obsolete or out of print books. I bought this book because it was the most modern and easy to find of books available. I'm not sorry that I bought the book, but I would warn anybody else who is using this as their main study guide that the book does have a lot of problems, including: 1. Errors! Drawings of molecules are often incorrect (are missing bonds, have extra or missing substituents), graphs are sometimes incomplete, and a lot of diagrams have formatting errors that make the contents unclear. ALSO, take note that this book considers the compression of air into a smaller volume by a piston as negative work, when the GRE test itself considers that positive work. 2. Level of difficulty of the review chapters are not at the same level as the questions on the practice test. The questions on the practice test are trickier and often are you-know-it-or-you-don't questions that aren't covered in the text of the book. 3. Not a very good review of PChem beyond macroscopic topics such as entropy and free energy. Also had what I considered a bad review of galvanic/electrolytic cells. I'd still recommend this book if you are looking for an inexpensive review of what topics to cover, but I'd get a couple good general Chemistry books to cover those topics in better detail.
Rating:
Summary: Errors, but better than nothing.
Review: Unlike tests such as the Psychology GRE, there really isn't much in the way of GRE Chemistry prep materials, excluding what is given on the GRE's site and a few obsolete or out of print books. I bought this book because it was the most modern and easy to find of books available. I'm not sorry that I bought the book, but I would warn anybody else who is using this as their main study guide that the book does have a lot of problems, including: 1. Errors! Drawings of molecules are often incorrect (are missing bonds, have extra or missing substituents), graphs are sometimes incomplete, and a lot of diagrams have formatting errors that make the contents unclear. ALSO, take note that this book considers the compression of air into a smaller volume by a piston as negative work, when the GRE test itself considers that positive work. 2. Level of difficulty of the review chapters are not at the same level as the questions on the practice test. The questions on the practice test are trickier and often are you-know-it-or-you-don't questions that aren't covered in the text of the book. 3. Not a very good review of PChem beyond macroscopic topics such as entropy and free energy. Also had what I considered a bad review of galvanic/electrolytic cells. I'd still recommend this book if you are looking for an inexpensive review of what topics to cover, but I'd get a couple good general Chemistry books to cover those topics in better detail.
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