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Rating: 
Summary: So-so review
Review: Hi everyone,
I took the GRE's in 2004 and did well. I received my acceptance to graduate school! (Yeah!). Regarding this book, I originally bought it because I heard all Princeton Review books were a must have. At first, I thought so. Most of the review for the math/verbal section is basic, and for me, I felt the book talked down to me. The only valuable information I found was in the Writing Section. The Writing section provides a good starting point/helpful pointers for people who do not know how to start essays. But watch out. They follow the same pattern in each essay, so make your unique. I would rather wait for this book to be in the library or work/read the essay section only. DON'T waste your time on the CD-ROM. The CD-ROM is not updated to the current MCAT -- the Analytical section is still on it.
Rating: 
Summary: yet another complaint about the software
Review: I fully agree with jorinwolf's contempt for the software, but I wish to add another complaint: the practice exams, in my case, were significantly *easier* than the actual test. That, of course, is the opposite of how it should be--you want difficult practice tests that make the real thing seem easy.
Imagine my shock when I realized, halfway through the actual GRE, that it was taking me much longer to finish than the practice exams had. I panicked and almost froze up.
In the end, preparing with this software probably *hurt* my score.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm glad I used this book to prepare...
Review: I used it to take the GRE's last week, and I found it quite useful. Here's a quick rundown of my experience with preparing with this book. Note that I was told which section was experimental, so I know which Quantitative and Verbal section were the actual tests:
1) Analytical writing section - I was very grateful for the advice and practice I found in this part of the book. I firmly believe this made a big difference in my comfort level, if not my scores in the essay section. Plus, by having the CD you can get a taste of the setting for writing essays on a very simplistic word processor. While it's not identical, it was nice to have. All in all I highly recommend the essay section for those who are a bit concerned how they write with a time limit.
2) Quantitative section - I was less focused on the Math section, but I found Princeton Review's advice and practice to be useful and well-directed. After taking the Math section there was only one trigonometry question (the last question) that I was unprepared for by the Princeton Review's advice. So all in all, I think the Math was a very good review.
3) Verbal Section - Again, I was very glad I had this book for this section. There were at least three new vocabulary words that I had learned from this book that I found on the actual test - an impressively high number in my opinion. It makes me feel that their vocabulary list was a good indicator of the kinds of words found on the test. I also found their advice for approaching Antonym and Word Relationship problems to be very helpful - I often felt lost before I started trying the techniques suggested in the book to eliminate possible answers.
4) The Sample Test CD - the sample tests were a nice run-through to have right before the test. The multiple-choice sections can be scored, but through a convoluted login to Princeton Review's website. All in all the software was horrible, but the questions were real and a good preparation. There were some duplications between the practice questions in the book and those in the sample test, which can be frustrating if you're looking for the sample tests on the CD to be virgin territory.
So I'd recommend this book to anyone who's motivated to do better on the GRE, and is moderately-capable in the areas tested and doesn't require too much hand-holding. I can't compare this to a GRE-preparation class, because I didn't take one.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book, Horrible Software.
Review: The book follows the typical Princeton Review format of teaching you skills and vocabulary that will help you to score higher on the exam. This series has always, in my opinion, down an excellent job in this regard.But the software on the accompanying CD-ROM...AWFUL. First off, you are required to register at their web site to even utilize the features of the CD, so prepare yourself for all the Princeton Review spam you're going to recieve. Second, after you sit and spend hours taking the exam, sometimes the software will not even score your exam!!! The software will just exit back to the main screen and erase all the answers you just spent putting in!!! The book also makes mention to extra exams you can take at the PR web site in addition to the ones on the CD-ROM. I took these exams and guess what... the online exams use the same questions as the one on the CD-ROM!!! I give the book 5 stars, but take off two for the bad software. If you must buy this book, save your money and get the version without the CD-ROM. Then, if you want to take practice exams, take the free ones offered on their web site.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book, Horrible Software.
Review: The book follows the typical Princeton Review format of teaching you skills and vocabulary that will help you to score higher on the exam. This series has always, in my opinion, down an excellent job in this regard. But the software on the accompanying CD-ROM...AWFUL. First off, you are required to register at their web site to even utilize the features of the CD, so prepare yourself for all the Princeton Review spam you're going to recieve. Second, after you sit and spend hours taking the exam, sometimes the software will not even score your exam!!! The software will just exit back to the main screen and erase all the answers you just spent putting in!!! The book also makes mention to extra exams you can take at the PR web site in addition to the ones on the CD-ROM. I took these exams and guess what... the online exams use the same questions as the one on the CD-ROM!!! I give the book 5 stars, but take off two for the bad software. If you must buy this book, save your money and get the version without the CD-ROM. Then, if you want to take practice exams, take the free ones offered on their web site.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Preparation for Standard Tests
Review: The Graduate Record Examination is another one of those standard tests that schools like to have you take. Some schools use it heavily, some treat it more as a formality. At any case, if you are planning on grad school, it's probably something you have to do. The testing will take three hours.
This book, just out with a 2005 edition is based on many years of monitoring the test. While the actual questions are copyrighted and not released, questions that are very similar to the actual tests can be made up and used for practice. In addition, comments on strategy and test taking techniques can be of great help.
There are three parts to the test, Math, Verbal and Analytical Writing. This book has three major parts, one each for of the three test parts. Each part of the book has a description of the test, some hints and tips that have been frequently helpful in the actual testing, some study guide information, some sample questions to illustrate what they are talking about. Finally there's a CD-ROM included with the book. This has a practice test designed to be as much like a real GRE as possible.
It is often said that you can't practice for the GRE, that you should just go into it and do your best. This would be true if this were an intelligence test, but it isn't. It's just another standardized test. And you can certainly learn more about how to take a standardized test.
Rating:
Summary: Decent book, terrible software, nonexistent tech support
Review: The text of this book is a decent prep for the GRE general test. But the accompanying CD might as well be a coaster. I registered online to establish an account, then took the first test off the CD-ROM. When the program failed to authenticate my information with the website, it erased all the answers I'd provided for the test.
So then I made sure my login name matched with the CD-ROM and the website, and took the test over again, replicating all my answers precisely so as not to encounter different questions as the test progressed (I have a very good memory). After that, I was able successfully to upload my test info to the website.
Then I was informed that I would receive an email "in a few minutes" to let me know my test info was available online. No such email ever arrived. And I don't see any way to attempt to upload the info again, except perhaps to erase my test score and re-take the test. As I've done this once already, I really don't feel like doing it again.
Thus begrudgingly I decided to take the first of the free online-only tests advertised on the cover of the book. Lo and behold, that function doesn't work at all. Why am I not surprised? The pop-up window that appeared contained not a GRE practice test but an impenetrable error message insisting I was using Mozilla (I was using Internet Explorer; I don't even have Mozilla on my machine!) and urging me to notify a certain tech support address of the problem. I emailed the address given -- surely, I hear you say, that message didn't bounce! Alas, my brothers and sisters, it is my duty to inform you that the message did, indeed, bounce. I will never purchase another Princeton Review product.
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