Kaplan GRE Exam 2003 with CD-ROM

Rating:
Summary: Better than Nothing... But...
Review: Having any study guide is obviously better than going in cold, but I wouldn't recommend this one if you actually want to score high. While I have a very high GPA and studied OVER 3 MONTHS for the GRE with this book and CD, I only ended up with average scores. I was very disappointed especially since the practice tests were scoring me about 200 points higher than I actually earned!!! The book is pretty good if you want some strategies to practice and become familiarized with the question types and format. However, I also got the Princton Review's Crash Course and it gave the same types of strategies for much cheaper and faster! Kaplan's CD was more of a joke than anything. It's helpful to do one computer-based test, but throw it away after that. The tests repeated questions from each other and the review lessons -- which were horrible. The cartoon format was patronizing, and once you started a lesson, you couldn't skip ahead even if you knew that material. I plan to use a different book to retake the GRE this year!

Rating:
Summary: Much better than princeton review
Review: I found the book itself to be very helpful when it came to the math section. Although I was a math major in college, I've been out of college for nearly 2 years and most of the math I did there had nothing to do with what was on the GRE. I was decent in math in high school, and I mostly felt that I needed a good review of the concepts involved, as well as tips and techniques to solve problems quickly, as my slow speed on standardized tests has always netted me a poor score.

That said, I feel that the Kaplan GRE book provided superb math review. It gave a very good synopsis of the main types of tricks and pitfalls, and an excellent section on how to deal with Quantitative Comparison questions. There's also an appendix in the back that goes over the math concepts you'll need to solve virtually any kind of GRE problem out there (the only major concept that wasn't included in the appendix, which I saw on a problem on the ETS CD, was the use of Venn Diagrams).

I also did some vocabulary review, learning the "top 200 GRE Words" and memorizing a few of the "word family" lists, but I don't recall seeing more than one or two of these words on the GRE (if even that). Still, it was kind of fun studying for it: learning the meaning of rare words that 99% of people don't know (like "prolix" or "vituperate") wasn't very useful, but learning the meaning of those words I heard frequently but didn't know the meaning of (like "prodigal") was very practical and even enjoyable.

I also felt that the verbal "tips and techniques" section was filled mostly with tips that were either completely obvious, horribly vague, or fairly useless. There were a few good ones, such as the tips for dealing with questions in which you have *no* idea what the words mean, but for the most part I didn't find these very helpful.

I didn't really study much for the analytical writing section, so I can't comment on the book's coverage of that.

I also think Kaplan's general attitude towards the GRE helped me--I'm a long time standardized-test-hater ("you can't quantitatively measure abstract qualities like intelligence! blah blah blah"), and I guess I still am, but Kaplan's philosophy is basically that hating a standardized test will probably make you do worse on it, and the best way to see it is as a game. Although this didn't make test day much less stressful, it certainly made studying for it a lot more fun. (Yes, I'm sorry to say that I actually had fun studying for this test, thanks in part to the attitude that Kaplan suggested I take.)

All this said, the CD is pretty useless. Others have said that it's buggy; I put it on both my Windows XP Professional desktop and my Windows 2000 laptop and it worked flawlessly on both, so that's a non-issue for me.

My major concern with the CD is the fact that its math sections are *completely* bogus, because they combine the "worst of both worlds" from the paper-based and computer-adaptive GRE's: in the paper-based GRE, a math section was comprised of 30 questions which you had 30 minutes to answer, but you could freely skip around and change your answers, just like on any paper-based standardized test. The CAT GRE math sections, however, give you 45 minutes to answer 28 math questions, but you can't skip around or change your answers. But the math sections on the Kaplan GRE CD (at least the practice sections and the diagnostic test) give you 30 minutes to answer 30 questions, but they don't let you skip around or change answers! Furthermore, I don't think they're adaptive, either (i.e., if you answer a question right or wrong, it doesn't give you a harder or easier one, it just gives you the next one on its list).

What all this means is that the math practice sections on the Kaplan CD are *far* more difficult than the actual GRE, because you have a much *shorter* time to answer *more* questions. When I took a Kaplan CD practice section 3 days before the test, I got about a 50th percentile score; when I took the actual GRE, I got a perfect score. That's how horribly inaccurate the practice sections are.

The other major thing that makes this CD useless is the fact that its pseudo-competitor, the ETS PowerPrep software, is not only free (you get a complimentary copy when you sign up for the GRE, or you can download it of ETS' website), but it's also far superior to the practice sections and tests on the Kaplan CD. They have concise explanations for answering every problem correctly, and the practice math sections are actually legit and reflected far more accurately the score I received on the real GRE.

That said, if I had to get my GRE prep materials all over again, I'd buy the Kaplan book (sans CD) and download the ETS Powerprep software (I purchased the ETS GRE book, but almost all of its practice questions and explanations were already included in the free Powerprep software, so I wouldn't buy it again). Kaplan's tips and tricks helped me solve problems a little faster, but the part that I felt helped most was just doing tons and tons of practice questions, so I could learn from my mistakes and get a better idea of what to expect from the GRE.

Rating:
Summary: Essential; However, Annoying Mistakes on the Software
Review: I have found this book and CD essential and very helpful in my preparation for the GRE. I read through the book and did the problems in a couple of days and this provided an essential framework for approaching each question type.

The Verbal section has Antonymn, Analogy, Sentence Completion and Reading Comprehension questions and it is really important to know how to approach each of these questions, what steps to follow in coming to the right answer. While vocabulary is very important for Antonymns and Analogies and simply require memorization, the technique of coming up with your own opposite and looking for a close word in the answer choices (Antonymns)) and making a bridge and looking for that same relationship in the answer choices (Analogies) are necessary to tools for handling these question types well. I found their method for Reading Comprehension and Sentence Completion similary helpful.

The Math section has Quantitative Comparison and Problem Solving questions. In the book, they go through a bunch of topics in Algebra and Geometry, such as the formulas for the areas of triangles and circles, circumference of a circle, etc... that I had forgotten but need to know for the test. So I found this section a useful and concise refresher course for the kinds of thing one needs to know for the Math section of the GRE.

Now, after getting this framework for approaching each question type, the heart of any preparation program is applying these techniques on questions; in other words: practice, practice, practice. And that is what the CD is for. The CD has 6 practice sections for both Math and Verbal (Analytical, too, but that is not on the GRE anymore, as of October 1, 2002) and 3 full length practice GREs. These sections are very helpful but there are a couple of annoying things. First, as the reviewer from 8/2/02 points out, some of the questions on the practice sections, such as Reading Comprehension passages in 2 or 3 or 4 cases, were already used in the book. Second, some of the questions are unanswerable, at least on the math, because I wasn't able to read the letters, such as x, y, z or a on my computer screen or, in one case, a necessary piece of information was left out (then, the explanation proceeded using that piece of information!). The answer explanations are essential because you have to learn why you missed a question and they are generally very helpful but some of them have mistakes which is frustrating (I can't back this up right now with specifics but I did make a note of it).

All in all, this book and CD provides alot of bang for the buck and I have found it essential in my prepations. I just wish they wouldn't use the same Reading Comp passages on the CD as they do in the book and that they would make sure you could read the question on some of the geometry math questions because this is really annoying when you are trying to take a test and make everything as test like as possible and these kinds of things pop up.

Greg Feirman
[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Quantity over Quality
Review: I have the 2002 edition of the Book and CD-ROM, I can only hope that Kaplan has made the CD software more bugfree. Today I was planning on taking one of the practice tests on the CD-ROM and my computer has repeatedly crashed(once while I was half-way into the verbal section.)

The software has 18 practice sections that have been very helpful and IF the 3 full-length tests would not cause my computer to crash, I could recommend this product. Instead, I would recommend buying Barron's GRE book(it has 6 full-length tests on paper and many practice sections) and downloading PowerPrep from GRE.org.

But like I implied above, the 2003 edition may have fixed the software problems...

Rating:
Summary: GRE for the Elementary School Child
Review: I purchased this because it comes with the cd. Well, before putting it in your drive, turn OFF the volume. It is stupidly animated with music and cartoons. Come one, we are people preapring for GRADUATE SCHOOL! We do not need animated cartoons to make studying "FUN" I have the Barrons' book and the kaplan verbal worbook. Honestly, but Barron's or another book with CD, but not this one - unless you're a 10 year old preparing to enter a PHD program -

Rating:
Summary: What isn't being said about this book...
Review: I've attempted to use the Kaplan's CD to get ready for the GRE, but found several things down right irritating. The games on the CD, [are horrible]. The vocabulary drill is limited. I've run two questions on the diagnosis GRE by math professors, and they considered the questions poorly worded. Every animated section is followed by a complete review on how to the take the GRE CAT, repeating for the most part the same stuff. The helpful tips are annoying. And I hate having to sit through the self-esteem building yeahs when I get something right on a drill.

I'm several years out of college, and that may affect my opinion of the CD. I like seeing things broke down simply with math, sectioning off each type of math problem, so I can go back quickly and easily. I bought this book for the math review, which it has done well.

That's the bad part. As for the rest, I agree with the others.

Rating:
Summary: Good General Info, but Lacking Info on New GRE Essay Section
Review: I've been studying for the GRE over the past few weeks. I've read just about every book out there that prepares students for taking the exam. The Kaplan book was by far the best of them all. It gives lots of test taking strategies and detailed examples. For example, it tells you how to go about reading passages and looking for particular identifiers. It also provides a word list based on synonyms, rather than a dictionary of words spread out in alphabetical order - a better way to learn. I highly recommend this book for anyone considering the GRE.

Rating:
Summary: Right On Target
Review: Kaplan's GRE prep is right on target. This edition is a transitional version since it covers both the "old" GRE and the "new" GRE. Give yourself plenty of time to prepare with this book. I seriously crammed with only a month of preparation. If you're applying to highly competitive programs, I would advise spending at least 3 - 6 months, especially to enhance your vocabulary and strengthen your arithmetic skills (calculators aren't allowed on the GRE). The CD-ROM provided with the book is excellent, even if some of the lessons are cheesy. I highly recommend going through the entire book, all of the book exercises, the practice test in the book, the CD-ROM lessons, and some of the activities and practice exercises on the CD-ROM. The CD-ROM totally ignores the new GRE, which was pretty frustrating. One thing to note is that the Kaplan exercises and practice tests (both the book and CD) are a bit harder than the actual exam. For practice tests, use the free PowerPrep software that you will receive after you register for the GRE. This CD use the exact same test software that the real GRE uses, including all of the instructions. The CD also provides you with a few sample essay topics, along with actual essays submitted by test takers, the scores of each essay, and graders' comments on the submitted essays. You'll get to see what a 6 essay is like, compared to a 5 or 2.

Rating:
Summary: Right On Target
Review: Kaplan's GRE prep is right on target. This edition is a transitional version since it covers both the "old" GRE and the "new" GRE. Give yourself plenty of time to prepare with this book. I seriously crammed with only a month of preparation. If you're applying to highly competitive programs, I would advise spending at least 3 - 6 months, especially to enhance your vocabulary and strengthen your arithmetic skills (calculators aren't allowed on the GRE). The CD-ROM provided with the book is excellent, even if some of the lessons are cheesy. I highly recommend going through the entire book, all of the book exercises, the practice test in the book, the CD-ROM lessons, and some of the activities and practice exercises on the CD-ROM. The CD-ROM totally ignores the new GRE, which was pretty frustrating. One thing to note is that the Kaplan exercises and practice tests (both the book and CD) are a bit harder than the actual exam. For practice tests, use the free PowerPrep software that you will receive after you register for the GRE. This CD use the exact same test software that the real GRE uses, including all of the instructions. The CD also provides you with a few sample essay topics, along with actual essays submitted by test takers, the scores of each essay, and graders' comments on the submitted essays. You'll get to see what a 6 essay is like, compared to a 5 or 2.

Rating:
Summary: Serious Students Buy This
Review: Kaplan's reputation is top-notch. Their GRE book/CD set will be helpful for the student who has time to plow through a myriad of study helps.

The GRE, especially the verbal section, cannot be reasonably crammed for. True, many have done it, but if you are at the 500-level and are serious about pulling off a 700, then you need a plan. The CD will help you plan it, and then you've got to crank through a ton of material.

The book is thick; there is a lot to learn. There are words you never heard of, techniques to testing you need to know, algebra you've not thought about since high school, and then there's that logic part of the test to work on. The "GRE Exam 2003 (Book and CD-ROM)" can help get you there.

This isn't for the wannabe 700s. This is for the self-disciplined student who wants to make a real go at it. The GRE general test is conquerable for the student who puts in the hours. Buy this book and CD set as early as you can, and get started. Even if you don't plan on taking the test for another year or two, enough will be similar that prepping now will make a huge difference.

I fully recommend "GRE Exam 2003 (Book and CD-ROM)".

Anthony Trendl