Rating: 
Summary: I took the GRE General 12 years ago...
Review: for my Master's degree and had to take it again this year to apply for my PhD (got tired of the corporate life). OTS only keeps the scores for 5 years (I'm sure to make money). Anyway, I only studied about 2 hours for 10 days for the GRE General, since I have to study for the dreaded GRE Literature test in 6 weeks. I used this study guide as my primary source, as well as all the free test and study questions (including the PowerPrep software) on the GRE website. I opted for this one rather than the Princeton Guide based on the reviews. 12 years ago my scores were 650 verbal, 630 quantitative.
My scores this time was 630 verbal and 720 math. I was hoping for a 700 verbal, and was pretty disappointed, but I'm not going to take it again. My scores are good enough to get me into the PhD program in English, but it seems over the intervening 12 years, I got a little dumber despite having read much more. I found the study guide only marginally useful. I didn't even study any of the math/quantitative stuff and my scores went up purely on an inadvertant guessing strategy. On the practice tests in the book, my verbal scores ranged from 630 (pretest) to 710 ( final test). I think the tests on the GRE website are much more like the kind of thing you can expect on the real GRE. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably buy the version with the CD, because even though the tests are probably the same, I found that the time pressure on the real test was very different than writing it down on paper. I found that PowerPrep software really great for practicing and getting used to the GRE interface. Especially helpful was the word processor in PowerPrep, which is helpful for practicing for the real test.
With words I didn't know, I wrote them down in a small address book and carried it around to review everywhere. The really nice part about this study guide is that the "most common words" list is pretty accurate. That, and that there is one spot you can look up the words you don't know. I did need about 10 or so words I learned in the study on the actual GRE. Still, there were still two questions in which I did not know the vocabulary. About the math, like I said I didn't really study it, they don't even look at those scores in English. I did review the page with the formulas for areas on it. And evidently I guessed really, really well, the last 10 questions I finished in 3 minutes.
Lastly, there is the new written sections on the GRE. I can't think of any way to prepare for those sections, and this study guide doesn't even try. They kind of give you general hints, similar to the stuff that is free on the GRE website. Pretty useless. The only thing I can think is that if you are really worried, then find your old English Comp 101 & 102 teacher to go over your papers again with you for really detailed analysis of your weaknesses or trends. Or volunteer for work in the school's Writing Center. You will see the same mistakes and range of problems over and over again, which will give you a better idea about how to struture your own work. One thing I did notice is that the GRE website does give you sample comments on how other essays were scored. Read those carefully. I learned that you have a much, much better chance of scoring high on the argument analysis section if you reject the argument. The scorers seem to have a bias toward initial rejection or partial rejection of the argument. Otherwise they think your work is somehow "uncritical." Similarly, in the "position on an issue" section, you must use some real examples to score higher. The scorers seem impressed if you ground your explication with some real examples (I chose literary examples and popular art examples for my actual GRE since I figured most of the people grading the test will be humanities types rather than science types.)
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't produce desired result
Review: I bought this as well as a few other books in an effort to raise my verbal score. I gave myself 6 weeks to get ready for the test and devoted most evenings to study.
End result -- my score dropped 10 points. I'm now somewhat convinced that there's a only a limited amount of preparing one can do for the computer-based GRE. The previous time, I only studied a few days.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best
Review: I did not find this book to be all that helpful. I found several errors in editing, and contradictory information. There were math problems that had explanations that contradicted what was shown in the examples. For someone like me who has been out of school for 15 years, this was rather frustrating. Additionally, I do not remember seeing any of the "hot" GRE words that Barron has in their book on the actual GRE test.
I found that my best preparation was to use the POWERPREP software that ETS sends upon registration. Use this software first and then analyze where your weaknesses are.
Rating: 
Summary: A good overall book
Review: I found this book very helpful and attuned to the questions that appeared on the GRE. There were a few errors but nothing compared to Princeton Review (of which I counted so many I stopped keeping track). They focus on a few things that never appeared on any sample tests or on my GRE (Standard Deviation, etc.) I would suggest coupling this book with a more specific book focusing on your weakest area. For me math is my weak point so I used The Ultimate Math Refresher (a highly recommended book). All in all, this is a good core study book.
Rating: 
Summary: Very useful book
Review: I prepared for the GRE General exam using only this book, and I am very satisfied with the results. The best part about this book is the extensive vocabulary review section: they have identified 300 words that they feel occur very often on GRE exams. I definitely think that reviewing the vocabulary section of the Barron's book helped me answer a few questions that I otherwise would not have known.
I didn't open the CD-ROM though so I have no idea how helpful that is. If you are studying to take the GRE, I highly recommend going to the GRE's own website and downloading their PowerPrep software in addition to buying this book. That software includes two full GRE tests and a few hundred separate practice problems; unfortunately I did not download it until the day before the exam so I didn't get to use all of its practice tools. Additionally, for the essay portion of the test, they have a few sample prompts and sample responses, so you can see the level of writing they are looking for.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: I prepped for the GRE General exam using no more than this book, and I am very pleased with the outcome. The paramount element concerning this book is the wide-ranging vocabulary review part: they have included 300 words that they feel crop up frequently on GRE exams. I unquestionably feel that reviewing the vocabulary part of the Barron's book helped me come back with a few questions that I would not have known.
I also recommend going to the GRE's website and downloading the free PowerPrep software in addition to buying this book. It includes two full GRE tests and a few hundred practice problems. Additionally, for the essay part of the examination, they include a few sample prompts and responses, so you can see the writing they grade highly.
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother with the Kaplan book and focus on this book.
Review: I spent two weeks looking through the Kaplan book and as soon as I went through the first chapter of this book I realized how I'd been wasting my time. This book really helped me - the math review is thorough, the vocabulary list taught me several words that appeared on the actual test, and the examples in the book are excellent practice.
I took the test today and feel that I owe much of my score to this book.
Rating:
Summary: This is the BEST GRE book I found
Review: I tried a couple of books for the GRE and by far found the Barron's book to be the best, most comprehensive one out there. I took the test yesterday and am very happy with the results. I tried the Kaplan books and found them to be too easy and not comprehensive enough. I also tried another math review book (which I forget the name of) but stuck with the Barron's book. Reasons why I love this book:
- The practice tests and CD-ROM are highly realistic, although harder than the real thing. If you can do the questions in this book you are set for the test.
- The math review section is great, it covers EVERYTHING and is geared only towards the GRE, not other tests like other books on the market. Each section of the book contains a topic and it's easy to set goals, finish one topic a day or whatever. You review the subject and then there are a bunch of very realistic questions in GRE format to quiz you over what you just learned. I really liked this approach since it allowed me to break things up and make a nice study schedule. Plus the questions had all difficulty levels which was great practice.
- The book's verbal section is complete and contains a ton of words, including a list of crucial ones needed for the test. It has verbal practice sections which match the difficulty of the exam.
- It also contained 4 simulated tests plus a test on the CD-ROM. I recommend taking the diagnostic test to see what areas you should focus on then work hard on those areas. Take one of the other 3 diagonstic tests every once in a while to guage your progress.
- The last thing I liked was the test taking tips the book provided. They were great and allowed me to try to figure out answers to questions that I had no idea how to do.
The things I did not like about this book were:
- The analytic writing section was short and a little vague. I subsized my studying by going to the GRE website and using there $10 essay practice tools. It's a great way to simulate the test environment and, most importantly, you can see what the GRE considers a 6 answer, 5 answer, 4 answer..... And you can compare that to what you put down.
- The CD-Rom basically contained questions that were from the book. It says it's computer adaptive and the test did get harder but I did recognize some of the questions from the book.
Lastly, I would recommend NOT taking a review course unless you want to waste the money or don't have the discipline to study and use a book. The book basically contains everything you'll learn in a $1,000 class. I would also recommend using the GRE supplied software to take one of their practice tests. Good luck.
Rating:
Summary: Quick work
Review: I'm from the UK and applied to take an MA in US colleges and wasn't aware of the GRE test until I saw that I needed to in order to be accepted onto a graduate course. I then realised my testing date was in two months...leaving me with just eight weeks to polish up on all that algebra, geometry, long division and all the other good stuff that I hadn't encountered since my high school maths classes six years ago.This book helped me immensely in those eight weeks. Take comfort in the fact that not all of us are top students who can ace tests and get 1600s. I only scored a 920 (which was enough to get me accepted onto my chosen course). But that improved from 500-600 before I bought the book. Yes - my math is THAT bad!! The strategies and tactics are great and its a wonderful refresher, especially for people like me who get extremely confused when presented with x2=y2-4 stuff. The step by step tactics, strategies and explanations can even substitute for have to know the cold hard facts. This book took me from not even knowing what the test even was, to passing it in just eight weeks. I know that if I had more time and spent 6 months preparing diligently, I would have made a MUCH higher score. Trust this book, its fantastic and very "reader friendly".
Rating:
Summary: Very helpfool
Review: In my opinion, the Barron's GRE book is the best book available. I worked through the entire vocab list and the Math section, and both, I think, helped. Keep this in mind: the GRE test is more of an "intelligence test" than a knowledge test. The vocab and math on the real test are quite simple; the difficult part is solving them correctly. I found that much of the vocab that I learned was more obscure than the vocab required for the test. Essentially, it doesn't take a large vocabularly to determine that up is the opposite of down, that soothe is the opposite of vex, etc... I scored a 740 English/750 Math/6 writing, and the reason I didn't do better was not because I was unfamilar with the vocab or math, but simply because I could not solve the math and recognize the analogies... That said, as a grad school applicant, GRE's, I think, are only one component to your application--everything else will count for more. GRE's, from what I understand, will only keep you out of a competative program, not vice-versa.
I'm giving this book 4 stars because I think the CAT's are somewhat incorrect. The Math scores you about 50 points scores you about 50 points lower and the English scores you about 50 points higher than the actual test.
In addition to this book I would also use the Powerprep software. It mimics the GRE test well, except for the fact that on the actual test I score lower than on the Powerprep (790/800 verbal and 750/760 on the math). The bottom line is that nothing perfectly predicts your score.
This book is great, and I think learning the vocab is helpful. But remember, I felt like I knew every vocab word and math problem--but--I couldn't get perfect score. The book can bring you up a bit, but remember the nature of the GRE's: its not simply a knowledge test. Otherwise, perfect scores should be attainable by everyone willing to put the time into the test.
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