Rating: 
Summary: This prep book rocks
Review: After putting off the GRE for 4 years, using this book to review finally gave me the confidence to take the darn thing. If all you want are a load of sample questions, practice tests, and how-to's so dull your eyes glaze over before you reach the third sentence, then go buy Barron's or some equally boring text--I could never get through them. Susie Vlk's jokes are corny, but the information in the book is solid. Her style makes for easy reading while you're soaking up knowledge, and the tips and tricks are indispensable. I can't say if this book can actually teach you material for the first time; I don't know if any prep book can do an adequate job of that. But if it's a matter of bringing back what you already knew, then this book is about as good as you'll find. I owe my 750's to Susie.
Rating: 
Summary: Math was Good but the Verbal needed some Help
Review: Although the intentions were good, the verbal portion of this book lacked a thorough definition section. The auhor tries to infuse vocabulary words throughout the text, and is succeessful in teaching those few random words, but the book lacks a much needed extensive vocabulary list. (If you have not taken the GRE yet, the verbal portion is littered with those hardly used fifteen lettered words like "pulchritudinous") As a person who has struggled with Math and excelled in the Verbal on standardized tests, I was shocked to learn that I scored better in Math than I did Verbal (A first for me!) On a positive note, the math sections were very helpful.
Rating: 
Summary: GRE for dummies, fifth edition
Review: Beware...althought this text is easy (and relatively painless) to read, the math section does NOT provide adequate preparation. Several types of questions found on the actual GRE are nowhere to be found in this supposedly comprehensive study guide. I was very disappointed when, after studying the math section religiously, I encountered problems on the GRE that I could have easily solved, had they been reviewed in the math section of the study guide. I would recommend using this guide in conjunction with another (possibly the ETS) study guide to prepare for the GRE.
Rating:
Summary: A different view
Review: First of all, in general it is a well-written book. However, the coverage of the Analytical Section is VERY weak, in my opinion. Repeating ad nauseum that some schools don't bother about Analytical scores does not help when, in your case, they in fact care about it.The math review is very good, but if you *have* background in mathematics or a related field (bear in mind that if it is not your case, just ignore this review), it is near useless. Seeing dozens of pages dedicated to this section and *near none* to the Analytical test is frustrating. If you have to buy only one book and need training in the Analytical section of the GRE, I cannot recommend this book. But if you do not have this need and would like to get a good math review, just read the other opinions.
Rating:
Summary: Looked good in the store - even better in practice!
Review: Graduated from college in'91I'm just now starting revision to take the GRE sometime in '97 and felt as if I needed a lot of prep since I've been out of school so long. The REVIEW sections of this book are written in easy to understand langauge, with clear explainations of what the test takers are looking for and perils and pitfalls to watch out for ... Or should that be for which to watch out?? I'd say this book is for anyone who feels they have to relearn this material and not just review it.If that's you - then I heartily reccommend this book
Rating:
Summary: Great quck study book
Review: I am not a person to sit around for hours and hours to study. This book was great, because it reviewed all the basics and refreshed my memory quickly and easily. If you're a heavy studier, this book is a great starter book, then you can always read as many other books as you want. For me, I just read this one, and was quite satisfied with the tips and review it provided. I've reccomended this book to all my friends, who are going to take the GRE.
Rating:
Summary: A must buy! Indispensible!
Review: I am taking the GREs to get a certain score to get into the school of my choice. I have taken this test twice and failed to reach my goal. Prior to the the first try I shelled out big money for a Kaplan course and bought Kaplan's cd-rom. For the second test I bought Princeton's cd-rom. I memorized hundreds of vocabulary words, took endless practice tests, and sat through banal classes -- and still was not able to meet my goal. If you are applying to graduate school, all of the standard guides and cd-roms will seem patronizing at best. In desperation and preparation of my third try I bought the 'Dummies' book. While some of the vocabulary is rather general, the tactics are marvelous! The vocabulary is based on roots, prefixes and suffixes... much better than memorizing definitions by rote. The study strategies are really useful. The math section explains each answer in full. The time management strategies are great. I would highly recommend using this book in conjunction with one of the standard ETS guides. While the title is daunting, you won't be disappointed with the content.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book, but maybe not only book
Review: I bought this book and the Kaplan book+CD-Rom on the basis of the reviews I read on Amazon. Suzee Vlk writes very clearly and knows her subject well. If I were not halfway around the world, I would definitely have looked into the possibility of taking private tuition from her. I believe strengths of this book are in the math review sections and the vocabulary material. It falls down a bit on preparation for the CAT. Sure, it mentions basic information like "you should answer everything" and "the first five questions count the most", but really fails to capture the nature of the test. I think this is a very good book for people who might have forgotten some of their maths, people who think their vocabulary needs a bit of a kick and people who want to learn some of the GRE tricks. However, even those people I would advise to ALSO buy one of the GRE prep books that comes with a CD-ROM of practice tests. It's a stressful enough experience without letting it be a totally unfamiliar one. (In case this matters in gauging whether my review is relevant to you: my scores were all over 750)
Rating:
Summary: Good for math and analytical, as well as a few chuckles...
Review: I bought this book based on the online reviews, and I have to say, the reviews are accurate. This book teaches you a lot about the tricks and traps of the GRE--some of which you can apply and some of which you won't see on the actual test. The math review is good and easy to understand. The analytical review helped me the most--just by practicng the logic games, you will learn a lot about how to do well on this section. The verbal review is okay, but it is better, I think, to start way ahead of time and learn as much vocabulary as possible. (It is extremely difficult to do well on the verbal section if you try to cram at the last minute--unless you have a superior vocab to begin with...) The best feature of this book is the fact that it is easy and interesting to read. As for my last word of GRE advice: take a snack or something to drink, because you will be so zonked by the time you have your break, you will need a little sustenance. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: An exception to the rule
Review: I bought this book hoping to especially improve my verbal scores on the GRE. I had taken them before and done really well in the math and analytical sections, but not so well in the verbal section. I studied the roots, prefixes, and suffixes, and unfortunately, I guess I just had a majority of questions where I couldn't apply them. And, so again, I did below average on the verbal section. I think the book is interesting and helpful. I guess it just doesn't work all of the time. It did, however, bring the verbal scores up somewhat, just not enough for me. I think if you are average in your verbal skills before studying with this book, you will be able to improve your scores. However, if you're like me, I don't think that this book performs miracles when you have weak verbal skills to begin with.
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